Liquid crystal display including display panel that includes wires and protruding spacers

• US 9,753,319 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2015
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xiaomi Inc. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xiaomi Inc. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Inventors: Liu, Anyu, Li, Guosheng, Jiang, Zhongsheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Rabindranath, Roy
• Application Number:
  US14/968,028
• Publication Number:
  US 20160320649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 631 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-174
• 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 1/134309 characterised by their geometrical arrangement
• 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 3/047 using sets of wires, e.g. crossed wires

Abstract

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is provided. The LCD includes: a display panel and a touch panel, each electrically connected to a control unit, a top surface of the display panel being adhered to a bottom surface of the touch panel. The display panel includes: a lower substrate; an upper substrate disposed in parallel with the lower substrate; a liquid crystal layer and n wires enclosed in a cavity defined by the upper substrate and the lower substrate, each of the n wires including a first conductive terminal, a second conductive terminal, and a switch opening configured to connect the first conductive terminal and the second conductive terminal, n being a positive integer; and a plurality of protruding spacers disposed inside the cavity.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal display (LCD), comprising:

a display panel and a touch panel, each electrically connected to a control unit, a top surface of the display panel being adhered to a bottom surface of the touch panel, wherein the display panel comprises;

a lower substrate;

an upper substrate disposed in parallel with the lower substrate;

a liquid crystal layer and n wires enclosed in a cavity defined by the upper substrate and the lower substrate, each of the n wires including a first conductive terminal, a second conductive terminal, and a switch opening configured to connect the first conductive terminal and the second conductive terminal, n being a positive integer, wherein a number of wires per unit area is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

a plurality of protruding spacers disposed inside the cavity, the plurality of protruding spacers being coupled to at least one of a bottom surface of the upper substrate and a top surface of the lower substrate,

wherein the switch opening of each of the n wires is configured to face one of the plurality of spacers, and

the first conductive terminal and the second conductive terminal are electrically disconnected when a corresponding spacer is not pressed down, and the first conductive terminal and the second conductive terminal are electrically connected when the corresponding spacer is pressed down.

2. The LCD of claim 1, wherein

the plurality of spacers comprises i rows of spacers, the n wires are configured to be inside the cavity in n rows, and each of the n wires is disposed below one of the i rows of spacers, i being a positive integer, and i≧

n.

3. The LCD of claim 2, wherein the n wires comprise two or more groups of wires, and

for each group of wires, the switch opening of each of the wires is configured to be at a different position in a horizontal direction.

4. The LCD of claim 2, wherein

spacers over two adjacent wires are in adjacent rows or separated by a predetermined number of rows.

5. The LCD of claim 1, wherein

the plurality of spacers comprises j columns of spacers, the n wires are configured to be inside the cavity in n columns, and each of the n wires is disposed below one of the j columns of spacers, j being a positive integer, and j≧

n.

6. The LCD of claim 5, wherein the n wires comprise two or more groups of wires, and for each group of wires, the switch opening of each of the wires is configured to be at a different position in a vertical direction.

7. The LCD of claim 5, wherein spacers over two adjacent wires are in adjacent columns or separated by a predetermined number of columns.

8. The LCD of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spacers are made of conductive material, or bottom surfaces of the plurality of spacers are coated with the conductive material.

9. The LCD of claim 1, wherein

the n wires include metal wires;

or

the plurality of spacers are coupled to the bottom surface of the upper substrate, and the n wires include rows or columns of conductive pattern on the top surface of the lower substrate;

or

the plurality of spacers are coupled to the top surface of the lower substrate, and the n wires include rows or columns of conductive pattern on the bottom surface of the upper substrate.

10. A method for measuring an external pressure force at the LCD of claim 1, the method comprising:

when a press operation is performed on the LCD, acquiring one or more signals generated by one or more wires of the n wires when the first conductive terminal and the second conductive terminal of each of the one or more wires are electrically connected;

identifying a total number of the signals; and

determining a pressure value of the press operation based on the total number of the signals.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining a pressure value of the press operation based on the total number of the signals comprises:

determining a first value corresponding to the total number of the signals based on a preset corresponding relationship, and determining the first value as the pressure value of the press operation.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein determining a pressure value of the press operation based on the total number of the signals comprises:

calculating a density of the signals according to the total number of the signals; and

determining a second value corresponding to the density of the signals based on a preset corresponding relationship, and determining the second value as the pressure value of the press operation.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein calculating a density of the signals based on the total number of the signals comprises acquiring a plurality of positions associated with the signals.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein calculating a density of the signals based on the total number of the signals further comprises:

calculating an area of a region formed by the plurality of positions; and

dividing the total number of the signals by the calculated area to obtain the density of the signals.

15. A device, comprises:

the LCD of claim 1;

a processor; and

a memory configured to storing instructions executable by the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to;

when a press operation is performed on the LCD, acquire one or more signals generated by one or more wires of the n wires when the first conductive terminal and second conductive terminal of each of the one or more wires are electrically connected;

identify a total number of the signals; and

determine a pressure value of the press operation based on the total number of the signals.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a first value corresponding to the total number of the signals based on a preset corresponding relationship, and determine the first value as the pressure value of the press operation.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

calculate a density of the signals according to the total number of the signals; and

determine a second value corresponding to the density of the signals based on a preset corresponding relationship, and determine the second value as the pressure value of the press operation.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to acquire a plurality of positions associated with the one or more signals.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:

calculate an area of a region formed by the plurality of positions; and

divide the total number of the signals by the calculated area to obtain the density of the signals.