DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20130050126A1
• Filed: 04/13/2011
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kimura, Tomohiro, Fukuyama, Keiichi
• Granted Patent: US 8,878,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13394 spacers regularly patterned on the cell subtrate, e.g. walls, pillars G02F1/133377 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136286 Wiring, e.g. gate line, drain line
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13629 Multilayer wirings
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/12 electrode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04106 Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1214 comprising a plurality of TFTs formed on a non-semiconducting substrate, e.g. driving circuits for AMLCDs
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1259 Multistep manufacturing methods

Abstract

A liquid crystal display device includes a glass substrate having a first main surface, a glass substrate spaced apart from a first substrate and having a second main surface facing said first main surface, and a highly-sensitive sensor and a low-sensitive sensor arranged between the glass substrate and the glass substrate.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

a first substrate having a first main surface;

a second substrate spaced apart from said first substrate and having a second main surface facing said first main surface; and

a first pressure sensor and a second pressure sensor arranged between said first substrate and said second substrate,

sensitivity of said first pressure sensor being different from sensitivity of said second pressure sensor.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor outputs a first output corresponding to a load applied to said first pressure sensor,

said second pressure sensor outputs a second output corresponding to a load applied to said second pressure sensor, and

when the loads applied to said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor fluctuate, a difference between a first output value of said first output and a second output value of said second output fluctuates.

3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor outputs a first output corresponding to a load applied to said first pressure sensor,

said second pressure sensor outputs a second output corresponding to a load applied to said second pressure sensor, and

a rate of change in a first output value of said first output is larger than a rate of change in a second output value of said second output.

4. The display device according to claim 2, wherein

said first output value is larger than said second output value when pressing force applied to said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor is smaller than a predetermined value, and said first output value becomes smaller than said second output value when the pressing force becomes larger than said predetermined value.

5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

when the load applied to said first pressure sensor becomes larger than a first reference load, said first pressure sensor can output said first output corresponding to the applied load,

when the load applied to said second pressure sensor becomes larger than a second reference load, said second pressure sensor can output said second output corresponding to the applied load, and

said first reference load is different from said second reference load.

6. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a pressing member pressing both said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor.

7. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor are arranged to be adjacent to each other.

8. The display device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a matrix substrate including said first substrate;

a common substrate including said second substrate and spaced apart from said matrix substrate; and

a spacer located between said matrix substrate and said common substrate, wherein

said spacer serves as said pressing member, and

said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor are arranged between said spacer and said matrix substrate or between said spacer and said common substrate.

9. The display device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a matrix substrate including said first substrate; and

a common substrate including said second substrate and a color filter formed on said second main surface, and spaced apart from said matrix substrate, wherein

said color filter includes a black matrix having a light blocking function and a colored layer, and

said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor are arranged below said black matrix, and said black matrix serves as said pressing member.

10. The display device according to claim 6, further comprising:

a matrix substrate including said first substrate;

a common substrate including said second substrate and spaced apart from said matrix substrate;

a liquid crystal layer filled between said matrix substrate and said common substrate; and

a sealing member extending along an outer periphery of said matrix substrate and said common substrate, and sealing said liquid crystal layer between said matrix substrate and said common substrate, wherein

said sealing member serves as said pressing member, and

said first pressure sensor and said second pressure sensor are arranged between said sealing member and said matrix substrate.

12. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor includes a first sensor electrode located between said first substrate and said second substrate, and a second sensor electrode spaced apart from said first sensor electrode in a stacking direction of said first substrate and said second substrate and arranged to face said first sensor electrode,

said second pressure sensor includes a third sensor electrode located between said first substrate and said second substrate, and a fourth sensor electrode spaced apart from said third sensor electrode in the stacking direction of said first substrate and said second substrate and arranged to face said third sensor electrode,

at least one of said first sensor electrode and said second sensor electrode can be displaced toward the other, and

at least one of said third sensor electrode and said fourth sensor electrode can be displaced toward the other.

13. The display device according to claim 12, further comprising:

a first insulating layer formed between said first sensor electrode and said second sensor electrode;

a second insulating layer formed between said third sensor electrode and said fourth sensor electrode; and

a detecting unit capable of detecting a capacitance between said first sensor electrode and said second sensor electrode as well as a capacitance between said third sensor electrode and said fourth sensor electrode.

17. The display device according to claim 12, wherein

said second sensor electrode can be displaced when pressed,

said fourth sensor electrode can be displaced when pressed,

said first pressure sensor includes a first support unit supporting said second sensor electrode and a second support unit spaced apart from said first support unit and supporting said second sensor electrode,

said second pressure sensor includes a third support unit supporting said fourth sensor electrode and a fourth support unit spaced apart from said third support unit and supporting said fourth sensor electrode,

said first support unit and said second support unit define a first recess that can receive said second sensor electrode that has been displaced,

said third support unit and said fourth support unit define a second recess that can receive said fourth sensor electrode that has been displaced, and

a spacing between said first support unit and said second support unit is larger than a spacing between said third support unit and said fourth support unit.

18. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor includes a first sensor electrode and a second sensor electrode facing said first sensor electrode,

said second pressure sensor includes a third sensor electrode and a fourth sensor electrode facing said third sensor electrode,

the display device further comprises:

a first pressing member pressing said second sensor electrode toward said first sensor electrode; and

a second pressing member pressing said fourth sensor electrode toward said third sensor electrode,

when said second sensor electrode is pressed by said first pressing member, said second sensor electrode comes into contact with said first sensor electrode to conform to said first sensor electrode,

when said fourth sensor electrode is pressed by said second pressing member, said fourth sensor electrode comes into contact with said third sensor electrode to conform to said third sensor electrode, and

a shape of said first pressing member is different from a shape of said second pressing member.

20. The display device according to claim 18, wherein

said first pressing member presses a central portion of said second sensor electrode, and

said second pressing member presses a portion of said fourth sensor electrode located closer to a peripheral edge of said fourth sensor electrode than a central portion of said fourth sensor electrode.

22. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor includes a first sensor electrode, a second sensor electrode spaced apart from said first sensor electrode, and a first support member and a second support member spaced apart from each other and arranged to keep a spacing between said first sensor electrode and said second sensor electrode,

said second pressure sensor includes a third sensor electrode, a fourth sensor electrode spaced apart from said third sensor electrode, and a third support member and a fourth support member spaced apart from each other and arranged to keep a spacing between said third sensor electrode and said fourth sensor electrode, and

a spacing between said first support member and said second support member is different from a spacing between said third support member and said fourth support member.

23. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor includes a first coil located between said first substrate and said second substrate, and a second coil spaced apart from said first coil in a stacking direction of said first substrate and said second substrate and arranged to face said first coil, and

said second pressure sensor includes a third coil located between said first substrate and said second substrate, and a fourth coil spaced apart from said third coil in the stacking direction of said first substrate and said second substrate and arranged to face said third coil.

24. The display device according to claim 23, wherein

said first coil and said third coil are located closer to said first substrate or said second substrate than said second coil and said fourth coil, and

a size of said first coil is different from a size of said third coil.

25. The display device according to claim 24, wherein

said first coil and said third coil are located closer to said first substrate or said second substrate than said second coil and said fourth coil, and

an amount of current supplied to said second coil is different from an amount of current supplied to said third coil.

26. The display device according to claim 1, wherein

said first pressure sensor is located closer to a central portion of said first substrate than said second pressure sensor, and

the sensitivity of said first pressure sensor is lower than the sensitivity of said second pressure sensor.

11. (canceled)

14-16. -16. (canceled)

19. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

27. (canceled)