Display panel and display apparatus having the same

• US 20090073138A1
• Filed: 08/01/2008
• Published: 03/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Uh, Kee-Han, Kim, Hyung-Guel, Rho, Soo-Guy, Lee, Myung-Woo
• Application Number:
  US12/221,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20090073138A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/047 using sets of wires, e.g. crossed wires

Abstract

A display panel having a touch screen, the display panel includes an array substrate having a plurality of pixels and an opposite substrate having a plurality of touch electrodes. The array substrate includes the pixels receiving a data signal through thin film transistors and sensors electrically and physically making contact with the touch electrodes in response to an external pressure. Each sensor generates a common voltage input through the touch electrode in response to a scan signal controlling the thin film transistor as a sensing signal. Based on the generated sensing signal, a location coordinate to which the external pressure is applied is calculated, so that the number of wires for the display panel may decrease.

Claims

1. A display panel comprising:

an array substrate on which pixels are arranged, the array substrate comprising;

a plurality of first signal lines;

a plurality of second signal lines intersecting with the first signal lines; and

sensors receiving a scan signal through the second signal lines and generating a sensing signal in response to application of an external pressure to output the sensing signal through the first signal lines in response to the scan signal.

2. The display panel of claim 1, further comprising an opposite substrate facing the array substrate, wherein the opposite substrate comprises:

a base substrate;

an insulating part on the base substrate, the insulating part having a protruding portion extending from the base substrate; and

a touch electrode covering at least a portion of the base substrate and the protruding portion of the insulating part and receiving a voltage.

3. The display panel of claim 2, wherein the sensors make contact with the touch electrode responsive to application of an external pressure to generate the voltage as the sensing signal.

4. The display panel of claim 3, wherein each sensor comprises:

a sensing electrode positioned to selectively make contact the touch electrode responsive to the application of external pressure; and

a switching device electrically coupled to the sensing electrode.

5. The display panel of claim 4, wherein the switching device comprises:

an input electrode electrically connected to the sensing electrode to receive a voltage through the sensing electrode;

an output electrode branched from the first signal lines to output the common voltage; and

a control electrode branched from the second signal lines to receive the scan signal.

6. The display panel of claim 1, wherein the array substrate further comprises:

a plurality of data lines extending in a direction substantially parallel to the first signal lines to receive a data signal; and

thin film transistors electrically connected to the data lines to provide the data signal to pixels in response to the scan signal, and wherein the second signal lines serve as gate lines providing the scan signal to the thin film transistors.

7. The display panel of claim 1, wherein the array substrate further comprises:

a first base substrate;

gate lines on the first base substrate, the gate lines extending substantially parallel with the second signal lines;

data lines intersecting with the gate lines; and

a plurality of thin film transistors each of which is connected to an associated gate and data line.

8. The display panel of claim 7, further comprising:

a second base substrate facing the first base substrate;

an insulating part having a portion partially protruding from the second base substrate; and

a touch electrode covering the second base substrate and the protruded insulating part and receiving a voltage, and

wherein the touch electrode makes contact with a corresponding sensor of the sensors by the external pressure to output the voltage as the sensing signal.

9. A display apparatus comprising:

a scan driver sequentially outputting a scan signal;

a data driver outputting a data signal; and

a display panel comprising pixels that display an image in response to the scan signal and the data signal, and

the display panel comprising;

a plurality of first signal lines;

a plurality of second signal lines intersecting with the first signal lines; and

sensors receiving a scan signal through the second signal lines and generating a sensing signal in response to application of an external pressure to output the sensing signal through the first signal lines in response to the scan signal.

10. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the display panel comprises:

an array substrate on which pixels are arranged; and

an opposite substrate facing the array substrate and comprising a touch electrode that receives a common voltage.

11. The display apparatus of claim 10, wherein the array substrate further comprises:

a plurality of data lines extending in a direction substantially parallel to the first signal lines to receive a data signal; and

thin film transistors electrically connected to the data lines to provide the data signal to pixels in response to the scan signal, and wherein the second signal lines serve as gate lines providing the scan signal to the thin film transistors.

12. The display apparatus of claim 10, wherein the array substrate further comprises:

gate lines extended in substantially parallel with the second signal lines;

data lines intersecting with the gate lines; and

thin film transistors each connected to the gate lines and the data lines.

13. The display apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sensors make contact with the touch electrode by the external pressure to generate the common voltage as the sensing signal.

14. The display apparatus of claim 13, wherein each sensor comprises:

a sensing electrode that makes contact with the touch electrode by the external pressure; and

a switching device electrically connected to the sensing electrode.

15. The display apparatus of claim 14, wherein the switching device comprises:

an input electrode electrically connected to the sensing electrode to receive the common voltage through the sensing electrode;

an output electrode electrically connected to the first signal lines to output the common voltage as the sensing signal; and

a control electrode electrically connected to the second signal lines to receive the scan signal.

16. The display apparatus of claim 15, wherein the common voltage is an alternating current voltage that swings between a high voltage and a low voltage.

17. The display apparatus of claim 16, wherein the switching device outputs either the high voltage or the low voltage as the sensing signal in response to the scan signal.

18. The display apparatus of claim 15, wherein the common voltage is a direct current voltage.

19. The display apparatus of claim 18, wherein the switching device outputs the direct current voltage as the sensing signal in response to the scan signal.

20. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the data driver comprises a signal analyzer that calculates a coordinate value of a position to which the external pressure is applied in response to the sensing signal and the scan signal.

21. The display apparatus of claim 20, wherein the signal analyzer comprises:

an amplifier receiving the sensing signal from the display panel to amplify the sensing signal;

a counter receiving the amplified sensing signal from the amplifier and the scan signal from the scan driver and counting the scan signal corresponding to an input timing of the amplified sensing signal to output the counted result; and

a location calculator calculating the amplified sensing signal and the counted result as an x-axis coordinate and an y-axis coordinate, respectively, and combining the calculated x-axis and y-axis coordinates to calculate a last touch coordinate.