TWI412861B - Electronic paper device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic paper device is provided. The electronic paper device includes a common electrode layer, an electrophoresis layer, a plurality of pix electrodes, a conductively layer a touch panel, and a processing unit. The electrophoresis layer is electrically connected between the plurality of pix electrodes and the common electrode layer. The conductively layer and the common electrode layer have a voltage which capable of driving the electrophoresis layer to change the display state. When the user touches the electronic paper device and causes the conductively layer connected to a pix electrode corresponding to the touch position, then the pix electrode and the common electrode layer have the voltage existed between the conductively layer and the common electrode layer, therefore, the position of the electrophoresis layer corresponding to the touch position is drive to change the display state. At the same time, the touch panel produces a touch signal in response to user's touch, the processing unit receives the touch signal and determines the touch position.

Description

Electronic paper device

The present invention relates to an electronic paper device, and more particularly to an electrophoresis type electronic paper device.

Electronic paper has gradually become a widely used display device because of its close proximity to ordinary paper, that is, high contrast, wide viewing angle, low power consumption and high comfort of reading.

In the prior art, there has been an electronic paper device that implements pen writing or handwriting input. However, most of the current handwriting input electronic paper devices can only realize the function of the drawing board, that is, when the electronic paper device is touched by a stylus or a finger, the area touched by the pen or the finger instantly displays the touch track, but the user cannot touch the touch track. Location and touch track. However, when it is necessary to acquire the user's touch position to control the electronic paper display, the electronic paper device which can only realize the handwriting input obviously cannot satisfy the requirement.

At present, some electronic paper devices control the display of electronic paper through a processing unit by superimposing a touch panel on the surface of the electronic paper, and sensing the user's touch through the touch panel. However, the refresh speed of the electronic paper is slow, if the software is passed through the software. When the user touch is detected, and the change of the corresponding position display of the electronic paper is controlled according to the touch position, the response time is obviously longer.

In addition, current handwritten electronic paper devices cannot be used as ordinary displays.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide an electronic paper device that supports both handwriting input and touch position recognition or can be used as a general display to solve the above problems.

In view of this, the present invention provides an electronic paper device that supports handwriting input as well as touch position recognition or as a general display.

An electronic paper device includes a common electrode layer, an electrophoretic layer, a plurality of primitive electrodes, a conductive layer, a touch panel, and a processing unit. The touch panel is adjacent to the conductive layer for generating a touch signal in response to a user's touch. The common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, the plurality of primitive electrodes, the conductive layer and the touch panel are sequentially arranged, and the common electrode layer is made of a transparent conductive material, which is located on the side of the viewing surface of the electronic paper device; the electrophoretic layer and the common electrode layer And the plurality of primitive electrodes are electrically connected, and the common electrode layer and the conductive layer have a potential difference, the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer, and when the user touches the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, and the touch position correspond to The element electrode is pressed, so that the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position is in contact with the conductive layer, so that the element electrode has a voltage of the conductive layer, so that a potential difference exists between the element electrode and the common electrode layer, so that the electrophoretic layer pair The area where the position should be touched displays a certain color; after the element electrode contacts the conductive layer, a pressure is generated on the touch panel, and the touch panel generates the touch signal after detecting the pressure, and the processing unit determines the touch position according to the touch signal. .

The electronic paper device of the present invention can simultaneously support handwriting and touch position recognition.

1‧‧‧electronic paper device

10‧‧‧Common electrode layer

20‧‧‧electrophoretic layer

30‧‧‧ element electrode

40‧‧‧ Conductive layer

34‧‧‧Isolation

341‧‧‧Insulated Grid

201‧‧‧Microcavity

202‧‧‧suspension

203‧‧‧Black charged particles

50‧‧‧ touch panel

60‧‧‧Processing unit

70‧‧‧Protective layer

80‧‧‧Substrate

90‧‧‧TFT matrix circuit

100‧‧‧Drive Control Circuit

110‧‧‧Power Management Unit

120‧‧‧Power supply

K‧‧‧Double-pole double-throw switch

1 is a detailed structural view of an electronic paper device of the present invention.

2 is an embodiment of an electronic paper device implementing an eraser erasing function according to an embodiment of the present invention; Schematic diagram of the structure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an eraser-type erase function portion of an electronic paper device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a detailed structural diagram of an electronic paper device supporting handwriting and touch position recognition according to the present invention. The electronic paper device 1 supporting handwriting and touch position recognition includes a common electrode layer 10, an electrophoretic layer 20, a plurality of primitive electrodes 30, and a conductive layer 40. The common electrode layer 10 is adjacent to the viewing surface side of the electronic paper device 1. The plurality of primitive electrodes 30 are arranged in a matrix, and are distributed on a plane parallel to the common electrode layer 10, the electrophoretic layer 20, and the conductive layer 40. The conductive layer 40 further includes an isolation layer 34 between the plurality of pixel electrodes 30. The isolation layer 34 includes a plurality of insulating grids 341 for shielding the electronic paper device 1 when the user does not touch the electronic paper device 1. Conductive layer 40 is separated from a plurality of primitive electrodes 30. The electrophoretic layer 20 is located between the common electrode layer 10 and the plurality of primitive electrodes 30 and is electrically connected to the common electrode layer 10 and the plurality of primitive electrodes 30, respectively. In the present embodiment, the common electrode layer 10 is made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide).

There is a potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40, and the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer 20. When the user touches the electronic paper device 1, the common electrode layer 10, the electrophoretic layer 20, and the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position are pressed, thereby pressing the isolation layer 34 so that the pixel electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position is When the conductive layer 40 is in contact, the primitive electrode 30 obtains the same voltage as the conductive layer 40, so that a potential difference is formed between the primitive electrode 30 and the common electrode layer 10, and the area of the electrophoretic layer 20 corresponding to the touch position is driven to be displayed. Color, that is, the user sees from the viewing surface, the electron The paper device 1 displays a certain color in an area corresponding to the touched position.

In the present embodiment, the electrophoretic layer 20 includes a plurality of microcavities 201, wherein at least one microcavity corresponds to one primitive electrode 30, and each microcavity 201 includes a suspension 202 and at least one charged particle, when the primitive electrode 30 is When the common electrode layer 10 generates a potential difference, the charged particles in the microcavity 201 corresponding to the primitive electrode 30 move, thereby causing the electrophoretic layer 20 to display a certain color corresponding to the region of the primitive electrode 30. For a specific display process of the electrophoretic layer 20, reference may be made to the patent application file of the Patent No. 03820879.2 published by the Chinese Patent Office on June 25, 2008. The microcavity 201 can be a micro-capsule or a micro-cup.

In the present invention, the charged particles in the microcavity 201 include a charged particle 203 of a specific color (for example, black) (hereinafter referred to as black charged particle 203), and the black charged particle 203 is moved to the side close to the common electrode layer 10. The electrophoretic layer 20 displays the color of the black charged particles 203 corresponding to the region of the primitive electrode 30. When the black charged particles 203 move to the side close to the primitive electrode 30, the region is different from the black charged particles 203. s color. The microcavity 201 can also include other color particles (not labeled) that are different from the black charged particles 203.

With continued reference to FIG. 1 , the electronic paper device 1 further includes a touch panel 50 positioned below the conductive layer 40 and a processing unit 60 coupled to the touch panel 50 . As described above, when the user touches the electronic paper device 1, the pixel electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position is pressed down to contact the conductive layer 40, and the area of the conductive layer 40 corresponding to the touch position is correspondingly given to the touch panel 50. Pressure effect. The touch panel 50 detects the pressure to generate a touch signal, and the processing unit 60 receives the touch signal and determines the user touch position to implement the touch position detection function. In the embodiment, the touch panel 50 The pressure-sensitive touch panel includes a pressure type touch panel, a resistive touch panel, a mutual-capacitive touch panel, and the like that require the touch panel to be elastically deformed to cause the touch panel to generate a touch signal.

The electronic paper device 1 further includes a protective layer 70 above the common electrode layer 10 and a substrate 80 under the touch panel 50. The protective layer 70 is made of an insulating transparent material for preventing the electronic paper device 1 from being scratched and to prevent the user from directly contacting the common electrode layer 10. The substrate 80 is used to carry the common electrode layer 10, the electrophoretic layer 20, the plurality of primitive electrodes 30, the conductive layer 40, and the protective layer 70.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic paper device 1 further includes a TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) matrix circuit 90 and a drive control circuit 100 . The TFT matrix circuit 90 includes a plurality of thin film transistors (not shown), each of which is connected to a picture element electrode 30, and the drive control circuit 100 is connected to the TFT matrix circuit 90 and the processing unit 60. The processing unit 60 is configured to generate a display signal in response to the user's operation. For example, when the user performs an operation of opening a picture, the processing unit 60 generates a display signal including the picture material. The driving control circuit 100 is configured to receive the display signal generated by the processing unit 60, and control the corresponding thin film transistor in the TFT matrix circuit 90 according to the display signal, and the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the conductive thin film transistor. A driving voltage is applied to drive a corresponding region of the electrophoretic layer 20 to display a certain color.

In the present embodiment, the screen for handwriting input by the user and the overall screen clear of the display can be sent to the drive control circuit 100 by the processing unit 60 to control the electronic paper device 1 to display a blank, for example, white. For example, it is assumed that the black charged particles 203 in the electrophoretic layer 20 are negatively charged, and when displayed, for areas where black color is required to be displayed, The voltage applied to the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the region by the drive control circuit 100 is a positive voltage, so that the black charged particles 203 are moved toward the side close to the common electrode layer 10, and the corresponding region of the electrophoretic layer 20 is displayed in black. When the overall cleaning is performed, the processing unit 60 sends the clear display signal to control the driving control circuit 100 to apply a negative voltage to all of the primitive electrodes 30, thereby controlling the black charged particles 203 to move closer to the primitive electrode 30, so that the electrophoretic layer 20 displays black. The color of the area is replaced by another color (for example, white), and the entire screen is blank.

The eraser-type clearing can be controlled by the processing unit 60 to control the driving control circuit 100 to apply a voltage to the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position so that the area displays blank, that is, the eraser-type clearing is implemented. The user can select to perform overall clearing or eraser-type clearing of the screen by means of function table selection or button pressing, and whether the electronic paper device 1 is to write a screen or clear the screen.

In the present embodiment, the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 are respectively connected to the positive and negative electrodes of a power source, so that the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 have a potential difference.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a schematic structural diagram of an Eraser-type erasing function portion of an electronic paper device supporting handwriting and touch position recognition according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic paper device 1 further includes a power management unit 110 and a power source 120. In the embodiment, the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 are respectively connected to the power management unit 110, and the power management unit is controlled by the processing unit 60. 110 distributes the voltage supplied from the power source 120 to the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 such that the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 is positive or negative, correspondingly causing the electronic paper device 1 to be in the write mode. Or eraser-style clear mode. For example, if the black charged particles 203 in the microcavity 201 are negatively charged, pass through the power management unit 110 at the time of writing. The voltage distributed causes the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 to be positive, and the user touches the electronic paper device 1 so that the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position is also positive. Thereby, the black charged particles 203 in the microcavity 201 corresponding to the primitive electrode 30 are moved toward one side of the common electrode layer 10, and the area of the electronic paper device 1 corresponding to the touch position is displayed in black, thereby displaying the user by touching the pen or the hand Touch the touch track to achieve handwriting. At the time of erasing, the processing unit 60 controls the power difference management unit 110 to assign a potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 to be negative, and the user touches the electronic paper device 1 such that the common electrode layer 10 corresponds to the touched position. When the pixel electrode 30 is in contact, the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the primitive electrode 30 is also negative, so that the black charged particles 203 in the microcavity 201 corresponding to the touch position move toward the side close to the primitive electrode 30. The screen displayed by the area touched by the user is cleared, so that the eraser type can be cleared.

In the present embodiment, the user can also select the write screen or erase the screen by the function table selection or key press.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a structural diagram of an eraser-type erasing function portion of an electronic paper device supporting handwriting and touch position recognition according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the electronic paper device 1 further includes a double-pole double-throw switch K, and the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 are respectively connected to the positive and negative electrodes of the power source 120 through the double-pole double-throw switch K. The external performance of the double-pole double-throw switch K can be a button switch or a slide switch, and the user can switch the connection relationship between the common electrode layer 10, the conductive layer 40 and the positive and negative electrodes of the power source 120 through the double-pole double-throw switch K. Thereby, the positive and negative of the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 is switched, thereby realizing the switching between the writing and the eraser-type cleaning of the electronic paper device.

The electronic paper device of the present invention can support handwriting, touch position recognition, and general electronic paper display functions.

1‧‧‧electronic paper device

10‧‧‧Common electrode layer

20‧‧‧electrophoretic layer

30‧‧‧ element electrode

40‧‧‧ Conductive layer

34‧‧‧Isolation

341‧‧‧Insulated Grid

201‧‧‧Microcavity

202‧‧‧suspension

203‧‧‧Black charged particles

50‧‧‧ touch panel

60‧‧‧Processing unit

70‧‧‧Protective layer

80‧‧‧Substrate

90‧‧‧TFT matrix circuit

100‧‧‧Drive Control Circuit

Claims (7)

An electronic paper device is improved in that the electronic paper device comprises: a common electrode layer; an electrophoretic layer; a plurality of primitive electrodes; a conductive layer; and a touch panel adjacent to the conductive layer for generating a touch signal in response to a user touch; And a processing unit; wherein the common electrode layer is made of a transparent conductive material, located on a side of the viewing surface of the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, the plurality of primitive electrodes, the conductive layer, and the viewing surface of the touch panel from the electronic device One side is arranged in a direction away from a side of the viewing surface of the electronic device; the electrophoretic layer is electrically connected to the common electrode layer and the plurality of primitive electrodes, and the common electrode layer and the conductive layer have a potential difference, and the potential difference is sufficient to drive The display of the electrophoretic layer, when the user touches the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, and the primitive electrode corresponding to the touch position are pressed, so that the primitive electrode corresponding to the touch position contacts the conductive layer, so that the primitive electrode strip There is a voltage of the conductive layer, so that there is a potential difference between the element electrode and the common electrode layer, so that the electrophoretic layer should touch The display position of a predetermined color region; after the picture element electrode in contact with the conductive layer, also create a pressure on the touch panel, the touch panel detects a touch signal to generate the pressure, the processing unit determines a touch position based on the touch signal. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device is further included An isolation layer between the conductive layer and the plurality of primitive electrodes, the isolation layer comprising a plurality of transparent grids, the plurality of transparent grids and the plurality of primitives when the user does not touch the electronic paper device The electrodes are separated. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a TFT matrix circuit and a driving control circuit, the TFT matrix circuit comprising a plurality of thin film transistors, each of the thin film transistors respectively The pixel electrode is connected to the TFT matrix circuit and the processing unit for receiving the display signal of the processing unit to control the corresponding thin film transistor in the TFT matrix circuit, and corresponding to the conductive thin film transistor A driving voltage is applied to the element electrode, and the electrophoretic layer is driven to display a certain color corresponding to the area of the element electrode, and the electronic paper device displays a picture corresponding to the display signal. The electronic paper device of claim 3, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate a clear display signal to the drive control circuit, thereby controlling the drive control circuit to clear the image displayed by the entire electrophoretic layer. The electronic paper device of claim 3, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine a user touch position, and then control the drive control circuit to apply a voltage to the primitive electrode corresponding to the touch position, thereby clearing the corresponding position of the touch position. The screen displayed in the area of the electrophoretic layer. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a power source and a power management unit, the conductive layer and the common electrode layer are connected to the power management unit, and the power management unit is in the processing unit The voltage supplied to the conductive layer and the common electrode layer is distributed under control by making the potential difference between the conductive layer and the common electrode layer positive or negative. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further The utility model comprises a double-pole double-throw switch and a power source, wherein the conductive layer and the common electrode layer are connected with the positive and negative poles of the power supply through the double-pole double-throw switch, and the conductive layer, the common electrode layer and the power source are switched by the double-pole double-throw switch The connection relationship between the positive and negative electrodes changes.