TOUCH PANEL AND DISPLAY APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME

• US 20120146950A1
• Filed: 05/25/2011
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Yonghan, Lee, Soobeom, Byeon, Myungsuk, PARK, Wonbae
• Granted Patent: US 8,907,925 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/175
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421

Abstract

Provided are a touch panel and a display apparatus having the touch panel. The touch panel includes a substrate, and a plurality of optical devices arranged on the substrate, in which a distance between two adjacent optical devices of the plurality of optical devices may gradually decrease toward a corner of the substrate.

Claims

1. A touch panel comprising:

a substrate; and

a plurality of optical devices arranged on the substrate,

wherein a distance between two adjacent optical devices of the plurality of optical devices gradually decreases toward a corner of the substrate.

2. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the optical devices comprise one or more light emitting devices for emitting light and one or more light receiving devices for receiving the light emitted by the light emitting devices.

3. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein a distance between two adjacent light receiving devices of the light receiving devices gradually decreases toward the corner of the substrate.

4. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein a distance between two adjacent light emitting devices of the light emitting devices gradually decreases toward the corner of the substrate.

5. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein a distance between a light emitting device and a light receiving device, adjacent to each other, among the light emitting devices and the light receiving devices gradually decreases toward the corner of the substrate.

6. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein a number of the light receiving devices is greater than that of the light emitting devices.

7. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein at least one of the optical devices is arranged at the corner of the substrate.

8. A touch panel comprising:

a substrate; and

optical devices arranged on the substrate,

wherein the optical devices comprise a light emitting device for emitting light and a light receiving device for receiving the light emitted by the light emitting device, and

a direction to which a light emitting surface of at least one of the light emitting devices, arranged next to each other, directs is different from a direction to which a light emitting surface of at least one of other light emitting devices.

9. The touch panel of claim 8, wherein the optical devices comprise first, second, and third light emitting devices,

the first light emitting device is arranged closer to a center of the substrate than the second light emitting device, and the second light emitting device is arranged closer to the center of the substrate than the first light emitting device, and

an angle between a direction to which the light emitting surface of the first light emitting device directs and a direction to which the light emitting surface of the third light emitting device directs is greater than an angle between the direction to which the light emitting surface of the first light emitting device directs and a direction to which the light emitting surface of the second light emitting device directs.

10. The touch panel of claim 8, wherein a distance between two adjacent optical devices among the optical devices gradually decreases toward a corner of the substrate.

11. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel; and

a plurality of optical devices arranged around an edge of the display panel,

wherein a distance between two adjacent optical devices of the plurality of optical devices gradually decreases toward a corner of the display panel.

12. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel comprising an active area on which an image is displayed and a dummy area arranged outside the active area; and

a plurality of optical devices arranged in the dummy area of the display panel,

wherein at least one of the plurality of optical devices does not overlap the active area in a direction parallel to a short side of the active area and a direction parallel to a long side of the active area.

13. The display apparatus of claim 12, wherein a distance between two adjacent optical devices of the plurality of optical devices gradually decreases toward a corner of the display panel.

14. The display apparatus of claim 12, wherein the optical device not overlapping the active area in the direction parallel to the short side of the active area and the direction parallel to the long side of the active area is arranged at a corner of the dummy area.

15. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel comprising an active area on which an image is displayed and a dummy area arranged outside the active area; and

a plurality of optical devices arranged in the dummy area of the display panel,

wherein the plurality of optical devices comprise light emitting devices for emitting light and light receiving devices for receiving the light emitted by the light emitting devices, and

a direction to which a light emitting surface of at least one of the light emitting devices, arranged next each other, directs is different from a direction to which a light emitting surface of at least one of other light emitting devices.

16. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel comprising an active area on which an image is displayed and a dummy area arranged outside the active area; and

a plurality of optical devices arranged in the dummy area of the display panel,

wherein a distance between an end of the dummy area and the optical devices is smaller than a distance between the optical devices and the active area.

17. The display apparatus of claim 16, wherein a number of the optical devices per unit distance in a first part adjacent to a corner of the dummy area is greater than a number of the optical devices per unit distance in a second part located farther from the corner than the first part.

18. The display apparatus of claim 16, wherein the optical devices comprise at least one light emitting device for emitting light and at least one light receiving device for receiving the light emitted by the at least one light emitting device.

19. The display apparatus of claim 18, wherein a number of the light receiving devices is greater than that of the light emitting devices.