Touch-sensing OLED display with tilted emitters

• US 10,318,074 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2016
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
• Original Assignee: FlatFrog Laboratories AB
• Inventors: Klinghult, Gunnar, Karlsson, Ivan
• Primary Examiner(s): Michaud, Robert J
• Application Number:
  US15/008,018
• Publication Number:
  US 20160224144A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,231 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04109 FTIR in optical digitiser, i.e. touch detection by frustrating the total internal reflection within an optical waveguide due to changes of optical properties or deformation at the touch location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• 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

A touch-sensitive display, comprising a transmissive panel defining the touch surface, a first set of OLED emitters forming display pixels, a second set of OLED emitters configured to emit light via an adjacent cell into the transmissive panel for propagation therein via total internal reflection, and a set of detectors configured to receive light from the second set of OLED emitters after the light has propagated inside the transmissive panel via total internal reflection. The first set and the second set of OLED emitters are arranged on the same substrate.

Claims

1. A touch-sensitive display, comprising:

a transmissive panel defining the touch surface;

a first set of OLED emitters forming display pixels;

a second set of OLED emitters configured to emit light via an adjacent cell into the transmissive panel for propagation therein via total internal reflection, each of the second set of OLED emitters comprise a top surface proximate with a bottom surface of the transmissive panel, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, a first side surface proximate to the adjacent cell, and a second side surface opposite the first side surface,

wherein the top, the bottom, and the second side surfaces comprise a reflective material, thereby preventing the emitted light from being emitted through the top surface and emitted into the transmissive panel only via the first side surface; and

a set of detectors configured to receive light from the second set of OLED emitters after the light has propagated inside the transmissive panel via total internal reflection;

wherein the first set and the second set of OLED emitters are arranged on the same substrate.

2. The touch-sensitive display of claim 1, wherein the adjacent cell is an OLED emitter of the first set.

3. The touch-sensitive display of claim 1, wherein the adjacent cell is a light transmissive aperture cell.

4. The touch-sensitive display of claim 3, wherein the light transmissive aperture cell comprises plastic material, transparent OLED carrier or OLED compound.

5. The touch-sensitive display of claim 1, wherein each OLED emitter of the second set is configured with an at least partially reflective layer between the transmissive panel and an active material of the OLED emitter of the second set.

6. The touch-sensitive display of claim 5, wherein the reflective layer is at least 70% reflective.

7. The touch-sensitive display of claim 5, wherein the reflective layer is less than 50% transmissive.

8. The touch-sensitive display of claim 5, wherein the reflective layer comprises silver.

9. The touch-sensitive display of claim 5, wherein the reflective layer comprises an anode or cathode of the OLED emitter.

10. The touch-sensitive display of claim 5, wherein the reflective layer is in a plane that is at an angle of 0-45 degrees to a plane of the touch surface.

11. The touch-sensitive display of claim 1, wherein the OLED emitter is configured with an anode and a cathode layer arranged perpendicular to the plane of the panel.

12. The touch-sensitive display of claim 1, wherein the touch-sensing display panel is provided with a reflective material between a back substrate and the aperture cell.

13. The touch-sensitive display of claim 1, wherein the touch-sensitive display comprises organic photo detectors.

14. A method of producing a touch sensitive display panel, comprising:

providing a transparent substrate;

providing a matrix of image pixels and emitter pixels at a surface of the substrate;

providing at least one of the emitter pixels with an adjacent cell, configured to allow light to be emitted from the emitter pixel to the transparent substrate via the adjacent cell, the at least one of the emitter pixels comprise a top surface proximate with a bottom surface of the transmissive panel, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, a first side surface proximate to the adjacent cell, and a second side surface opposite the first side surface,

wherein the top, the bottom, and the second side surfaces comprise a reflective material, thereby preventing the emitted light from being emitted through the top surface and emitted into the transmissive panel only via the first side surface;

providing a cover sheet over the pixel matrix; and

sealing the cover sheet to the substrate.

15. A method of producing a touch sensitive display panel, comprising:

providing a carrier sheet;

providing a matrix of image pixels and emitter pixels on the carrier sheet;

providing at least one of the emitter pixels with an adjacent cell, the at least one of the emitter pixels comprise a top surface proximate with a bottom surface of the transmissive panel, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, a first side surface proximate to the adjacent cell, and a second side surface opposite the first side surface,

wherein the top, the bottom, and the second side surfaces comprise a reflective material, thereby preventing the emitted light from being emitted through the top surface and emitted into the transmissive panel only via the first side surface;

providing a transparent substrate over the image pixels and the emitter pixels; and

sealing the transparent substrate to the carrier sheet;

wherein the adjacent cell is configured to allow light to be emitted from the emitter pixel to the transparent substrate via the adjacent cell.