JP2013037537A - Display device with input function - Google Patents

Abstract

A display device with an input function that is thin and has high display quality is provided.
A position information reading unit includes a position information reading unit that acquires position information based on detection light reflected by the position information pattern, and a position information pattern that represents position information on a display area. The display device with an input function 100 includes display means 120 that performs display based on information read from the position information pattern 16 by the 110. The display unit 120 divides a plurality of spaces between the first substrate 11 having transparency to the detection light, the second substrate 300 disposed to face the first substrate 11, and the first substrate 11 and the second substrate 300. In addition, the position information pattern 16 is provided between the partition wall 37 and the second substrate 300.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device with an input function.

  In recent years, a display device having a thin and lightweight device called electronic paper has been put into practical use. The reflective display system that reflects external light diffusely reduces power consumption compared to self-luminous display devices such as transmissive liquid crystal display devices and EL displays that have a backlight. The display device can be reduced in size and weight.

  A representative example of an electronic paper display device is an electrophoresis display device. In addition, in electronic paper, it is desirable to be able to input handwritten characters using an input device or to intuitively operate a display device. As a thin and lightweight input device suitable for electronic paper, an optically readable position information pattern layer is provided on the display surface of the electronic paper, and the position information pattern is imaged by an imaging unit installed on the pointer. A technique for specifying an indicated position on a display surface of electronic paper is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  This input method is an input device suitable for thin and light electronic paper because an input function can be added only by adding a position information pattern layer to the display device. In this display device, an infrared light reflection layer is provided between the position information pattern layer and the display device in order to prevent the display information from being mixed with the position information pattern image.

JP 2008-21168 A

  However, in the above prior art, the transmittance of visible light is reduced by the infrared light reflection layer composed of the dielectric multilayer film, and both the incident light to the display device and the reflected light from the display device are weakened. In particular, the reflective display device has a problem that the display quality is greatly lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a display device with an input function that is thin and has high display quality.

  In order to solve the above problems, a display device with an input function according to the present invention represents position information reading means for acquiring position information based on detection light reflected by a position information pattern, and position information on a display area. Display means having the position information pattern and performing display based on information read from the position information pattern by the position information reading means, wherein the display means has a transparency to the detection light. Including a substrate, a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, and a partition wall that divides a space between the first substrate and the second substrate into a plurality of portions and has a transparency to the detection light, and An information pattern is provided between the partition wall and the second substrate.

  According to the display device with an input function of the present invention, since the position information pattern is formed in the partition formation region that does not contribute to display, it is possible to input handwriting information without impairing display quality, and a good display image Can be obtained. In addition, for example, even when infrared light is used as detection light, it is not necessary to provide an infrared reflection layer on the display region, so that the provision of the infrared reflection layer reduces the transmittance and increases the thickness of the device. Occurrence can be prevented. Therefore, the device can be thinned without deteriorating the display quality.

In the display device with an input function, it is preferable that the position information pattern is a part of a pixel electrode provided on the second substrate.
According to this configuration, since a part of the pixel electrode is used as the position information pattern, it is possible to eliminate the process and material for forming the position information pattern separately, and to reduce the cost of the apparatus.

In the display device with an input function, it is preferable that the position information pattern is a part of a wiring of a pixel driving circuit unit provided on the second substrate.
According to this configuration, part of the wiring of the pixel drive circuit unit is used as the position information pattern, so that a process and material for forming the position information pattern can be eliminated, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. it can.

In the display device with an input function, the position information pattern is preferably a coating film provided on the second substrate.
According to this configuration, since the position information pattern is configured by the coating film provided on the second substrate, the apparatus can be thinned.

In the display device with an input function, the display means is preferably an electrophoretic display device.
According to this configuration, since the display unit including the electrophoretic display device is provided, it is possible to provide a device with an input function using electronic paper that is thin and excellent in flexibility.

The top view which shows the whole structure of a display apparatus with an input function. Sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the display main body in a display with an input function. The top view which shows the principal part structure of a display main body. The figure which shows schematic structure of an electronic pen. (A), (b) is a figure which concerns on the modification of a positional infomation pattern. The figure which shows the structure which concerns on the modification of a positional infomation pattern. The figure which shows the structure which concerns on the partition of a honeycomb structure.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each screen used in the following description, the scale of the core member is appropriately changed so that each member can be recognized.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a display device with an input function according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the display main body in the display with an input function. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the main configuration of the display main body.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the display device with an input function 100 includes an electronic pen (position information reading means) 110 and a display body (display means) 120, The display device is capable of handwritten input using the pen 110. Here, a time series of contact points of the electronic pen 110 with respect to the display surface of the display body 120 is used by using a position information pattern 16 described later as means for detecting the position information (coordinate values in time variation) of the electronic pen 110 on the display body 120. Handwritten information is acquired from the data and displayed.

  The display body 120 includes a display body (display unit) 10 having the position information pattern 16 and a housing 9 that holds the display body 120, and is configured so that handwriting input can be performed with respect to the display area 5 using the electronic pen 110. Has been.

As the display body 10, an electrophoretic display (Electrophoretic Display, hereinafter referred to as “EPD”) having an electrophoretic element 32 (FIG. 2) which is a memory display element is used, and a plurality of pixels G are arranged in a matrix form on the display surface. The display area 5 is arranged in an array. The electrophoretic element 32 has a plurality of electrophoretic particles arranged on the outermost surface of an element substrate (second substrate) 300.
Note that a display device other than the electrophoretic element may be used as the display body 10 and is appropriately selected from, for example, a liquid crystal device and an OLED.
The various display bodies described above require an outer peripheral space called a frame because of the seal structure and mounting of the driving IC. Although not shown, a wireless communication unit, a control unit, a drive control unit, and the like of the display body 10 are mounted in the housing 9.

  In this embodiment, by using an electrophoretic display element as the display body 10, it is possible to provide the display device 100 with an input function including a flexible display that can follow a curved surface.

  In the display area 5, m scanning lines 66 and n data lines 68 are formed, and pixels G are provided corresponding to the intersection positions of the scanning lines 66 and the data lines 68. Each pixel G is provided with a selection transistor (not shown), a pixel electrode 35 and an electrophoretic element 32.

The selection transistor is, for example, NMOS (Negative Metal Oxide).
This is a pixel switching element made up of a semiconductor (TFT) -TFT (Thin Film Transistor). The selection transistor has a gate terminal connected to the scanning line 66, a source terminal connected to the data line 68, and a drain terminal connected to the pixel electrode 35.

  In the peripheral area of the display area 5, a plurality of scanning lines 66 extending from the display area 5 are connected to the parallel output of the shift register 61, the connection wiring 66 a serving as the serial input of the shift register 61, and the connection terminal 6. , 7 and 8 are formed. The connection terminal 6 is connected to all the scanning lines 66 in the display area 5 by serial-parallel conversion connection using the connection wiring 66a as an input. The connection terminal 8 is connected to all the data lines 68 in the display area 5 through the shift register 62 using the connection wiring 66b as a serial input. The connection terminal 7 is connected to a common electrode 13 having a common potential for the plurality of pixels G. These connection terminals 6, 7, and 8 are connected to the controller. The controller controls an image display operation on the display area 5 based on an input signal from the electronic pen 110. Specifically, a predetermined potential is input to the scanning line 66 and the data line 68 via the connection terminals 6 to 8, and a predetermined image is displayed in the display area 5.

  The element substrate 300 includes a base material 30 made of glass, plastic, or the like, and a circuit layer 34 on which scanning lines 66, data lines 68, selection transistors, and the like are formed is provided on the electrophoretic element 32 side of the base material 30. Yes. A plurality of pixel electrodes 35 are arranged on the circuit layer 34. The pixel electrode 35 is made of a metal material such as silver, aluminum, copper, or chromium, and is an electrode that applies a voltage to the electrophoretic element 32.

  The counter substrate (first substrate) 11 has a size corresponding to the display area 5, and sandwiches the electrophoretic element 32 between the element substrate 300. The counter substrate 11 includes a transparent resin film 12 formed using a flexible material such as PET, and a common electrode 13 formed on one surface side of the resin film 12.

  The common electrode 13 is an electrode for applying a voltage to the electrophoretic element 32 together with the plurality of pixel electrodes 35, and includes Al (aluminum), Ag (silver), Au (gold), Cu (copper), Ni (nickel), It is formed from metals such as Cr (chromium) and Mo (molybdenum), alloys thereof, and conductive paints.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the space between the element substrate 300 and the counter substrate 11 is divided into a plurality of cells C by the partition walls 37, and white particles 27 and black particles 26 as electrophoretic particles are provided in each cell C. Is filled with an electrophoretic dispersion liquid dispersed in the dispersion liquid. Note that microcapsules including the white particles 27 and the black particles 26 may be arranged in each cell C. Further, in this description, an example of two particles of white and black is shown. However, the configuration may be such that full color display is performed by increasing the color of electrophoretic particles.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the partition 37 divides the space between the substrates 300 and 11 so as to include four pixels G in one cell C. The height and width of the partition walls 37 are several tens of μm to several hundreds of μm, and the pitch of the cells C is set to about several hundreds of μm to several mm. The magnitude relationship and relative position between the partition wall 37 and the pixel G are not limited to this embodiment, and other forms may be used as long as a predetermined periodicity is maintained.

  As shown in FIG. 2, on the lower surface of the partition wall 37, there are a region where a protruding portion 36 formed by partly protruding the pixel electrode 35 and a region where the protruding portion 36 is not provided. is there. As described above, since the pixel electrode 35 is made of a metal material such as silver, aluminum, copper, or chromium, the surface of the protruding portion 36 is optically reflective or scattering. On the other hand, the region where the pixel electrode 35 is not formed is a base layer and is composed of a circuit layer 34 having light absorption.

  The partition wall 37 is configured to transmit inspection light emitted from the electronic pen 110 described later. The inspection light transmitted through the partition wall 37 is reflected by the overhang portion 36 formed on the bottom surface in the region where the pixel electrode 35 is formed, and is absorbed by the circuit layer 34 in the region where the pixel electrode 35 is not formed. Therefore, the electronic pen 110 can determine the presence or absence of the overhanging portion 36 by receiving the light reflected by the overhanging portion 36 again. Note that the light received by the electronic pen 110 includes light that returns to the electronic pen 110 side by being totally reflected by the side surface of the partition wall 37.

  In the present embodiment, as the position information pattern 16, the location where the overhanging portion 36 overlaps the lower surface of the partition wall 37 is denoted by “1”, and the location where there is no location is denoted by “0”. A total of 16 values can be assigned to each intersection by setting 4-bit codes on the top, right, bottom, and left. As an example of the code of the position information pattern 16 assigned to the intersection of the partition walls 37 as shown in FIG. 3, when the overhang 36 exists only at the position 4a, the code is indicated by “1000”. When 36 exists only at the position of 4b, the code | symbol is shown by "0100", when the overhang | projection part 36 exists only at the position of 4c, a code | symbol is shown by "0010", and the overhang | projection part 36 is 4d. If it exists only at the position, the code is indicated by “0001”.

  Further, the material constituting the partition wall 37 is light transmissive, for example, polyurethane, polyurea, polyurea-polyurethane, urea-formaldehyde resin, melamine-formaldehyde resin, polyamide, polyester, polysulfonamide, Examples thereof include resins such as polycarbonate, polysulfinate, epoxy resin, polyacrylate ester, polymethacrylate ester, polyvinyl acetate, and gelatin; resin materials based on polymethyl methacrylate, novolac resin, polystyrene, and the like. The partition wall 37 is patterned into a desired shape by using a photolithography technique.

  The resist material for the partition pattern includes polyacrylate, polyvinyl compound, polyurethane, polyester, epoxy compound, polyamide, polyimide, novolac resin, fluorene resin and other binder resins, polyfunctional acrylate, polyfunctional methacrylate and other radical polymerizable compounds. , A resin composition comprising a photopolymerization initiator and the like, and a mixture thereof can be used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the electronic pen 110. As shown in FIG. 4, the electronic pen 110 is configured to include a collimator lens 42, a light emitting element 43, an imaging element 44, an electronic circuit component 45, a battery 46, and the like inside a thin rod-shaped pen case 41. As the light emitting element 43, a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode (semiconductor laser) is suitable. As the image pickup device 44, a CCD camera or a CMOS sensor capable of picking up and recording a partial pattern of a minute unit region of the position information pattern is used. The light sensitivity of these semiconductor sensors has a peak in the vicinity of 600 nm, and a light emitting element in the infrared region may be used to suppress the influence of the display image. In this case, an infrared transmission filter that transmits infrared light and blocks visible light is disposed together with the collimator lens 42. That is, by using an element that emits infrared light as the light emitting element and using an infrared light transmission filter, background light (display image) other than the position information pattern 16 can be removed. As a result, accurate position information with the electronic pen 110 on the display area 5 in the display body 10 can be obtained.
A pyroelectric element that detects light including infrared rays by the pyroelectric effect may be used.

  The electronic circuit component 45 includes image processing means such as a CPU that performs light emission, imaging, and detection calculation processing, a wireless circuit that transmits detection data to the main body, and the like. The power of the electronic pen 110 is supplied from a battery 46 attached in the pen type case 41. The light emitting element 43 does not always have to be lit, and the display element 10 is illuminated in a pulsed manner toward the display region 5 from the scanning speed of the electronic pen or the imaging timing of the imaging element. The light emission time and power consumption are controlled according to (background luminance). Here, if the information obtained by the imaging device 44 at the previous illumination is fed back at the next illumination, the SN ratio can be further improved.

  The electronic pen 110 captures the position information pattern 16 with the image pickup device 44 provided at the pen tip, assigns the captured image, the position in the display area of each divided space, and each divided space created in advance. The position in the display area of the divided space included in the captured image can be detected based on the correspondence table indicating the correspondence relationship with the code string. In order to increase the size of the M-plane (more coordinates), these adjacent 4-bit codes are further combined with several windows (for example, 4 × 4 codes), and the windows are set so that the numerical values are unique in all regions. What is necessary is just to arrange. The size of the window is comprehensively determined from the range that can be captured once by the image sensor 44, the scanning speed of the pen tip, the pitch of the intersection of the partition walls 37, and the like. In addition, the method of decoding the coordinate of the display body 10 from the code | symbol of M plane can illustrate a Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2006-277492 and Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2006-127081, for example, In this embodiment, as the means Do not mention.

  Based on such a configuration, in the present embodiment, the position on the display area 5 is specified from the partial pattern detected by the imaging device 44 provided at the pen tip of the electronic pen 110, and the locus of the pen tip is used as the handwriting. Input to the display area 5. That is, the time-series coordinate data (stroke data) of the electronic pen 110 becomes handwriting data.

  Next, the operation of the display device with an input function 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. Note that in this description, the operation of performing handwriting input on the display main body 120 using the electronic pen 110 will be mainly described.

  When the electronic pen 110 held by the user is moved on the display area 5, light is emitted from the light emitting element 43 provided at the tip of the electronic pen 110 to the display area 5. At this time, the light emitted from the light emitting element 43 is reflected by the position information pattern 16 provided on the display area 5 and imaged by the imaging element 44 of the electronic pen 110.

  Specifically, the illumination light from the light emitting element 43 passes through the partition wall 37 and is reflected by the overhang portion 36 formed on the bottom surface in the formation region of the pixel electrode 35, and in the non-formation region of the pixel electrode 35. Absorbed by layer 34. Therefore, the electronic pen 110 can detect where the current pen tip is arranged in the display area 5 by receiving the light reflected by the overhanging portion 36 constituting the position information pattern 16. Then, the imaging device 44 transmits the detection result to the corresponding display main body 120 side via the wireless circuit of the electronic circuit component 45. At this time, the display main body 120 acquires the position coordinate information, and displays handwriting information on the display area 5 based on the position information.

  Specifically, the display main body 120 controls the voltage applied between the pixel electrode 35 and the common electrode 13 corresponding to the acquired position coordinate information, and moves the electrophoretic particles (white particles 27 and black particles 26). The handwritten handwriting input by the user using the electronic pen 110 can be displayed on the display area 5.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the input information from the electronic pen 110 can be output to the display main body 120 side by a wireless method, and therefore it is not necessary to connect the electronic pen 110 and the display main body 120 by wiring. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as tangling of wiring when handwritten input is performed on the display main body 120, and high operability can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the display device with an input function 100 according to the present embodiment, since the position information pattern 16 is formed in the formation region of the partition wall 37 that does not contribute to display, the handwriting information is not impaired without impairing the display quality. Can be input and a good display image can be obtained. In addition, for example, even when infrared light is used as detection light, it is not necessary to provide an infrared reflection layer overlapping the display region 5, and thus providing the infrared reflection layer reduces the transmittance and increases the thickness of the display body 120. The occurrence of defects can be prevented. Therefore, the display main body 120 can be reduced in thickness without degrading the display quality.

  Further, since the position information pattern 16 is constituted by a part of the pixel electrode 35, the positions of the respective pixels G and the position information pattern 16 can be accurately aligned. Further, from the viewpoint of the manufacturing process, since the position information pattern 16 can also be formed when the pixel electrode 35 is manufactured, an increase in cost due to the provision of the position information pattern 16 can be suppressed.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention, it can change suitably. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the position information pattern 16 is configured by the overhang portion 36 that is a part of the pixel electrode 35 has been described, but an independent pattern separated from the pixel electrode 35 may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a part of the metal wiring 34 a provided in the circuit layer 34 including the TFT layer of the driving circuit may be simultaneously formed as the position information pattern 16. Alternatively, the position information pattern 16 that can be optically identified may be formed by selectively applying a material other than metal to the lower surface of the partition wall 37. In this case, the positional information pattern 16 and the surrounding ground portion need to be optically identified within the sensitivity wavelength range of the image sensor 44, and reflection (or scattering) and absorption, or absorption and reflection (or (Scattering) combination must be satisfied. In the case of visible light, reflection means white and absorption means black.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the position information pattern 16 is configured by the overhanging portion 36 provided on the lower surface side of the partition wall 37 has been described as an example. However, as shown in FIG. The position information pattern 16 may be formed. A location where the position information pattern 16 can be seen at the intersection of the grids of the partition walls 37 is denoted by “1”, and a location where the position information pattern 16 is not denoted by “0”. In this case, since the position information pattern 16 is 1 bit, the electronic pen 110 can obtain coordinate information using these codes as 10 × 10 or more windows.

  Further, as the partition wall 37, not only the lattice shape according to the above-described embodiment but also a honeycomb structure may be adopted. FIG. 7 shows a case where a circular position information pattern 16 is formed on the lower surface of the partition wall 37 having a honeycomb structure. A location where the position information pattern 16 is present on the lower surface of each vertex of the hexagon of the partition wall 37 represents the code “1”, and a location where there is no position represents the code “0”. Thus, the shape of the partition walls 37 is not limited to the lattice, and may be any of honeycomb, triangle, circle, and the like.

  In addition, the position where the position information pattern 16 is formed does not necessarily need to be set at the apex or intersection of the partition wall 37, as long as the imaging element 44 can be identified and has a periodicity that can identify the position of the code. good. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the overhang portion 36 constituting the position information pattern 16 absorbs the inspection light, and the position information is absorbed in the non-formation region of the pixel electrode 35 where the overhang portion 36 is not formed. Although the case where the presence or absence of the pattern 16 is identified has been described as an example, the presence or absence of the position information pattern 16 is detected by absorbing the inspection light on the position information pattern 16 side and reflecting the inspection light in the area where the pixel electrode 35 is not formed. The configuration may be such that the determination is made on the pen 110 side.

5 ... display region, 11 ... counter substrate (first substrate), 16 ... position information pattern, 32 ... electrophoretic element, 34a ... metal wiring, 35 ... pixel electrode, 36 ... overhang (part of pixel electrode), 37 ... partition wall, 100 ... display device with input function, 110 ... electronic pen (position information reading means), 120 ... display body (display means), 300 ... element substrate (second substrate)

Claims (5)

Position information reading means for acquiring position information based on detection light reflected by the position information pattern;
A display unit having the position information pattern representing position information on a display area, and performing display based on information read from the position information pattern by the position information reading unit;
The display means divides a plurality of spaces between the first substrate and the second substrate, a first substrate having transparency to the detection light, a second substrate disposed to face the first substrate, and a space between the first substrate and the second substrate. A partition wall having transparency to the detection light,
The display device with an input function, wherein the position information pattern is provided between the partition wall and the second substrate.   The display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the position information pattern is a part of a pixel electrode provided on the second substrate.   2. The display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the position information pattern is a part of a wiring of a pixel drive circuit unit provided on the second substrate.   The display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the position information pattern is a coating film provided on the second substrate.   The display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is an electrophoretic display device.

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