Touch screen display with transparent electrical shielding layer

• US 9,329,314 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2012
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Cheng, Dorjgotov, Enkhamgalan, Kuwabara, Masato, Choi, Wonjae, Grunthaner, Martin P., Lin, Albert, Zhong, John Z., Chen, Wei, Hotelling, Steven P., Youngs, Lynn R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Phu
• Application Number:
  US13/549,311
• Publication Number:
  US 20140016043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 349/8
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/11 Anti-reflection coatings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/16 having an anti-static effect, e.g. electrically conducting coatings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/3033 in the form of a thin sheet or foil, e.g. Polaroid
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133308 Support structures for LCD panels, e.g. frames or bezels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133334 Electromagnetic shields
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133502 Antiglare, refractive index matching layers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133514 Colour filters
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133528 Polarisers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134363 for applying an electric field parallel to the substrate, i.e. in-plane switching [IPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136218 Shield electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2202/28 Adhesive materials or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04107 Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• 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 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3105 for displaying all colours simultaneously, e.g. by using two or more electronic spatial light modulators simultaneous projection in colour photography G03B33/10; beam splitting or combining systems per se G02B27/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3197 using light modulating optical valves

Abstract

A polarizer includes a polarizer component having a top surface and an opposite bottom surface. The bottom surface is configured to couple to a color filter layer for a liquid crystal display. The polarizer also includes a transparent conducting layer disposed over the top surface. The transparent conducting layer being configured to electrically shield the LCD from a touch panel. The polarizer further includes a coating layer disposed over the transparent conducting layer.

Claims

1. A polarizer comprising:

a polarizer component having a top surface and an opposite bottom surface, the bottom surface being configured to couple to a color filter layer for a liquid crystal display;

a transparent conducting layer disposed over the top surface of the polarizer component, the transparent conducting layer being configured to electrically shield the LCD from a touch panel;

a first conductive tape contacting the transparent conductive layer at a first position;

a second conductive tape contacting the transparent conductive layer at a different second position; and

a conductive bar configured to connect the first and second conductive tapes.

2. The polarizer of claim 1, wherein the transparent conducting layer comprises silver nano wire (AGNW) mesh.

3. The polarizer of claim 1, wherein the transparent conducting layer has a sheet resistance ranging from 5 ohm/sq to 600 ohm/sq.

4. The polarizer of claim 3, wherein the transparent conducting layer has a sheet resistance ranging from 5 ohm/sq to 150 ohm/sq.

5. The polarizer of claim 1, wherein the transparent conducting layer has a transmittance equal to or greater than 97%.

6. The polarizer of claim 1, wherein the transparent conducting layer has a reflectance equal to or less than 0.5%.

7. The polarizer of claim 1, wherein the transparent conducting layer has a haze equal to or less than 0.3%.

8. The polarizer of claim 1, wherein the polarizer component comprises:

a first adhesive layer;

an optical film layer disposed over the adhesive layer, the optical film configured to polarize a light;

a second adhesive layer disposed over the optical film layer; and

a transparent glass layer disposed over the second adhesive layer.

9. The polarizer of claim 8, wherein the transparent glass layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of TAC, COP, PET, and PMMA.

10. The polarizer of claim 1, further comprising a coating layer disposed over the transparent conductive layer.

40. The polarizer of claim 10, wherein the coating layer is selected from a group consisting of anti-reflection (AR) coating, anti-glare (AG) coating, anti-fingerprint (AF), hard coating, and anti-smudge coating.

11. An LCD device, the device comprising:

a front polarizer;

a transparent conductive layer on a top surface of the front polarizer;

a color filter layer coupled to a bottom surface of the front polarizer;

an indium-tin oxide layer between the color filter layer and the bottom surface of the front polarizer;

a rear polarizer at a bottom of a stack of the LCD; and

a liquid crystal layer between the rear polarizer and the color filter layer.

12. The LCD device of claim 11, wherein the transparent conductive layer has a substantially rectangular shape.

13. The LCD device of claim 12, the device comprising:

a first conductive tape at a first corner of the transparent conductive layer;

a second conductive tape at a second corner of the transparent conductive layer, the second corner being the nearest corner to the first corner; and

a conductive bar configured to connect the first and second conductive tapes.

14. The LCD device of claim 13, further comprising a third conductive tape at a third corner of the transparent layer.

15. The LCD device of claim 14, further comprising a fourth conductive tape at a fourth corner of the transparent layer.

16. The LCD device of claim 15, further comprising a conductive bar configured to connect the third and fourth conductive tape.

17. The LCD device of claim 13, wherein each conductive tape comprises copper.

18. The LCD device of claim 13, wherein the conductive bar comprises silver.

19. The LCD device of claim 11, wherein the transparent conducting layer comprises silver nano wire (AGNW) mesh.

20. The LCD device of claim 11, further comprising a coating layer disposed over the transparent conductive layer, the coating layer being selected from a group consisting of anti-reflection (AR) coating, AG coating, hard coating, and anti-smudge coating.

37. The LCD device of claim 11, the device comprising:

a first conductive tape contacting the transparent conductive layer at a first position;

a second conductive tape contacting the transparent conductive layer at a different second location; and

a conductive bar configured to connect the first and second conductive tapes.

21. A portable electronic device, the device comprising:

a touch panel;

an LCD (liquid crystal display, wherein the LCD comprises;

a front polarizer coupled to a bottom surface of the touch panel;

a transparent conductive layer on a top surface of the front polarizer;

a color filter layer coupled to a bottom surface of the front polarizer;

an indium-tin oxide layer between the color filter layer and the bottom surface of the front polarizer;

a rear polarizer at a bottom of a stack of the LCD; and

a liquid crystal layer between the rear polarizer and the color filter layer.

22. The portable electronic device of claim 21, further comprising a cover glass layer on a top surface of the touch panel.

23. The portable electronic device of claim 21, further comprising a first coating layer on a top surface of the transparent conductive layer;

a second coating layer on the bottom surface of the touch panel; and

an air gap between the touch panel and the LCD.

24. The portable electronic device of claim 21, wherein the transparent conductive layer has a substantially rectangular shape.

25. The portable electronic device of claim 24, the device comprising:

a first conductive tape at a first corner of the transparent conductive layer;

a second conductive tape at a second corner of the transparent conductive layer, the second corner being the nearest corner to the first corner; and

a conductive bar configured to connect the first and second conductive tapes.

26. The portable electronic device of claim 25, further comprising a third conductive tape at a third corner of the transparent layer.

27. The portable electronic device of claim 26, further comprising a fourth conductive tape at a fourth corner of the transparent layer.

28. The portable electronic device of claim 27, further comprising a conductive bar configured to connect the third and fourth conductive tape.

29. The portable electronic device of claim 21, wherein the transparent conducting layer comprises silver nano wire (AGNW) mesh.

38. The portable electronic device of claim 21, the device comprising:

a first conductive tape contacting the transparent conductive layer at a first position;

a second conductive tape contacting the transparent conductive layer at a different second location; and

a conductive bar configured to connect the first and second conductive tapes.

30. A portable electronic device, the device comprising:

a touch panel;

an LCD (liquid crystal display, wherein the LCD comprises;

a front polarizer coupled to a bottom surface of the touch panel;

a color filter layer coupled to a bottom surface of the front polarizer;

a transparent conductive layer on a top surface of the color filter and coupled between the front polarizer and the color filter;

a rear polarizer at a bottom of a stack of the LCD; and

a liquid crystal layer between the rear polarizer and the color filter layer.

31. The portable electronic device of claim 30, wherein the transparent conductive layer has a substantially rectangular shape.

32. The portable electronic device of claim 31, the device comprising:

a first conductive tape at a first corner of the transparent conductive layer;

a second conductive tape at a second corner of the transparent conductive layer, the second corner being the nearest corner to the first corner; and

a conductive bar configured to connect the first and second conductive tapes.

33. The portable electronic device of claim 32, further comprising a third conductive tape at a third corner of the transparent layer.

34. The portable electronic device of claim 33, further comprising a fourth conductive tape at a fourth corner of the transparent layer.

35. The portable electronic device of claim 34, further comprising a conductive bar configured to connect the third and fourth conductive tape.

36. The portable electronic device of claim 30, wherein the transparent conducting layer comprises silver nano wire (AGNW) mesh.

39. A polarizer comprising:

a polarizer component having a top surface and an opposite bottom surface, the bottom surface being configured to couple to a color filter layer for a liquid crystal display;

a transparent conductive layer disposed over the top surface of the polarizer component; and

at least one conductive bar each contacting a portion of the transparent conducting layer adjacent a respective edge of the transparent conducting layer.