Abstract:
A driver IC has a rectangular shape, and includes a first input terminal group in which first input terminals are disposed at intervals along a first long side, that is opposite a side that faces a display section, from a first short side. A second input terminal group is provided in which second input terminals are disposed at intervals along a second long side that faces the display section, from the first short side. An output terminal group is provided in which output terminals that output signals to the display section are disposed at intervals along the second long side from a position, which is spaced apart for a predetermined distance from where the second input terminals are disposed, to a second short side. A terminal group is not provided at positions that oppose the output terminal group at the first long side.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 13/064,084, filed Mar. 4, 2011 and allowed on Jul. 6, 2015. This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-049657, filed on Mar. 5, 2010. The disclosures of these prior applications are incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a display panel. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A conventional display panel that has narrowed frame by not providing groups of wirings including transparent electrodes provided between a panel end portion of a panel body and a driver IC for driving a display unit, so as to reduce an interval defined between the panel end portion and the driver IC, has been known. 
         [0006]    Input terminals of the driver IC are normally disposed along a first short side of the driver IC. However, when the number of input terminals is large, and the input terminals cannot be disposed along the first short side, the input terminals may be disposed along the first long side of the driver IC. 
         [0007]    In such case, when the above method for aligning the input terminals is adopted, the number of input terminals which can be disposed along the first short side of the driver IC depends upon an interval defined between the input terminals. Therefore, the area of the driver IC becomes greater to an increase in number of input terminals. 
         [0008]    On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 10-214858 discloses the configuration in which plural input terminals of a semiconductor chip are disposed along first long side of the semiconductor chip, and along the second long side of the semiconductor chip. 
         [0009]    However, in the configuration disclosed in JP-A No. 10-214858, wirings are drawn from both of the long sides of the semiconductor chip outward of the driver IC. Therefore, the above configuration cannot be applied to a display panel that has no wiring interposed between a panel end portion and the driver IC. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The present invention provides a display panel that may suppress increase in area of a driver IC due to increased numbers of input terminals. 
         [0011]    A first aspect of the invention is a display panel including: a panel body including a display section; a rectangular driver IC, provided between the display section and a panel end portion of the panel body and disposed with the display section in a longitudinal direction, which drives the display section; a first input terminal group in which input terminals are disposed at intervals along a first long side of the rectangular driver IC that faces the panel end portion; a second input terminal group in which input terminals are disposed at intervals along a second long side of the rectangular driver IC that faces the display section; a first wiring group that is connected to the first input terminal group, that is formed on the panel body between the rectangular driver IC and the panel body, that passes under a first short side of the rectangular driver IC and that extends out from between the rectangular driver IC and the panel body; and a second wiring group that is connected to the second input terminal group, that is formed on the panel body between the rectangular driver IC and the panel body, that passes under the second long side of the rectangular driver IC and that extends out from between the rectangular driver IC and the panel body. 
         [0012]    According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first wiring group, that has reduced intervals between the wirings or the smaller width of the wiring than the first input terminal group, is disposed along the first short side in the driver IC. Due thereto, in the first aspect of the present invention, the input terminals of the first input terminal group, that are to be respectively connected to the first wiring group, is disposed, according to the number of the wires of the first wiring group that may be disposed (wired) along the first long side in the driver IC. 
         [0013]    Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the number of input terminals that can be disposed may increase, since the input terminals are disposed along the first long side in the driver IC, when compared with, for example, a case where the first input terminal group is disposed along the first short side in the driver IC. Moreover, the first aspect of the present invention may suppress the increase in area of the driver IC due to increased number of input terminals. 
         [0014]    In the display panel according to the first aspect, each of the wirings is not drawn from the first long side in the driver IC to the panel body. Accordingly, the present invention may be particularly effective in a so-called “narrowed edge panel” in which a frame is narrowed by aligning no wire between a panel end portion and the driver IC. 
         [0015]    Note that, the term “narrowed edge panel” refers to a panel provided with configuration where no inputting wiring is formed between the driver IC and the panel end portion. 
         [0016]    A second aspect of the invention, in the above first aspect, the first input terminal group and the second input terminal group may be sequentially disposed from an end portion of the first short side of the rectangular driver IC; and wirings of the first wiring group that are connected to the input terminals of the first input terminal group and that are disposed further toward a second short side of the rectangular driver IC than the second input terminal group, may extend out from under the second long side of the rectangular driver IC. 
         [0017]    According to the above aspect, even when the number of the terminals in the first input terminal group is increased, and some of the wirings in the first wiring group may not extend out from the first short side of the driver IC, some of the wirings in the first wiring group may extend out from the second long side in the driver IC. 
         [0018]    A third aspect of the invention, in the above aspects, a width of wirings of the first wiring group that extend out from under the first short side of the rectangular driver IC may be smaller than a width of the input terminals of the first input terminal group and the second input terminal group. 
         [0019]    According to the above aspect, when compared with, for example, a case where the first input terminal group is disposed along the first short side of the driver IC, the number of input terminals that can be disposed may be increased, since the width of the wiring in the first wiring group is smaller than width of each terminal. Accordingly, the above aspect of the present invention may suppress the increase in area of the driver IC due to increased number of input terminals. 
         [0020]    A fourth aspect of the invention, in the above aspects, intervals between wirings of the first wiring group and intervals between wirings of the second wiring group may be smaller than the intervals between the input terminals of the first input terminal group and the intervals between the input terminals of the second input terminal group. 
         [0021]    According to the above aspect, when compared with, for example, a case where the first input terminal group is disposed along the first short side of the driver IC, the number of input terminals that can be disposed may be increased, since the interval between the wirings in the first wiring group is smaller than the interval between the terminals in the first input terminal group. Accordingly, the above aspect of the present invention may suppress the increase in area of the driver IC due to increased number of input terminals. 
         [0022]    A fifth aspect of the present invention, in the above aspects, a number of input terminals disposed along both of the long sides of the rectangular driver IC may be larger than a number of input terminals that can be disposed at either short side of the rectangular driver IC. 
         [0023]    According to the above aspect, when compared with, for example, a case where the first input terminal group is disposed along the first short side of the driver IC, the increase in area of the driver IC due to increased number of input terminals may be suppressed. 
         [0024]    A sixth aspect of the present invention, in the above aspects, the first wiring group may extend from the first input terminal group toward the second input terminal group, then may extend toward the first short side of the rectangular driver IC before reaching the second input terminal group, and may extend under the first short side of the rectangular driver IC; and the second wiring group may extend from the second input terminal group toward the second long side of the rectangular driver IC, and may extend under the second long side of the rectangular driver IC. 
         [0025]    According to the above aspect, the first wiring group may be wired in the panel body between the first input terminal group and the second input terminal group of the driver IC. 
         [0026]    A seventh aspect of the present invention, in the above aspects, the rectangular driver may IC include a CPU interface and a driving circuit; and the first input terminal group and the second input terminal group may be groups of input terminals for the CPU interface and the power source circuit. 
         [0027]    According to the above aspect, the first input terminal group and the second input terminal group may work as groups of input terminals for the CPU interface and the power source circuit. 
         [0028]    An eighth aspect of the present invention, in the above aspects, the wirings of the first wiring group and the second wiring group may be transparent electrodes. 
         [0029]    According to the above aspect, the first wiring group and the second wiring group may be transparent electrodes. 
         [0030]    According to the above aspects, the present invention provides a display panel that may suppress increase in area of a driver IC due to increased numbers of input terminals. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0031]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein: 
           [0032]      FIG. 1  is a view illustrating the schematic configuration of a display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of a driver IC disposed on the display panel shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0034]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating the arrangement of input terminals and output terminals in the driver IC illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0035]      FIG. 4  is a partially enlarged view of the driver IC enclosed by a dot line X of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0036]      FIG. 5  is a view illustrating the driver IC shown in  FIG. 4 , turned at 180°; and 
           [0037]      FIG. 6  is a partially enlarged view of a conventional driver IC. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0038]    Hereinbelow, a description will be given of a display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. Note that constituent elements having substantially the same functions will be designated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings, and their explanations may be omitted. 
         [0039]      FIG. 1  is a view showing the schematic configuration of a display panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         [0040]    A display panel  10  of the exemplary embodiment according to the present invention includes a panel body  12  formed into a rectangular shape when viewed from the front. At substantially the center of the panel body  12 , a rectangular display section  14  is disposed so that a longitudinal direction of the rectangular display section  14  matches with a longitudinal direction of the panel body  12 . 
         [0041]    One end of each transparent electrode  16 , wired to the panel body  12 , is connected to the display section  14 . To the other end of each transparent electrode  16 , a driver IC  18  is connected. 
         [0042]    The driver IC  18  is disposed between the display section  14  and a panel end portion  12 A of the panel body  12  (i.e., the outer peripheral portion of the panel body  12 ) so that the driver IC  18  extends along the display section  14  in the longitudinal direction. Namely, the driver IC  18  is disposed so that the longitudinal direction of the driver IC  18  matches with the longitudinal direction of the display section  14 . The driver IC  18  outputs a drive signal or the like, to the display section  14  through the plural transparent electrodes  16 . Signal is input to the driver IC  18  via plural transparent electrodes  20 , that are connected to one end of the driver IC  18 , and are connected to the panel body  12 . 
         [0043]    The other end of each of the plural transparent electrodes  20  is collected within a flexible board  22 , to be drawn outward of the panel body  12 , and is connected to a CPU (not shown), a voltage source device, or the like. 
         [0044]    Note that, in order to achieve a narrowed edge, a space defined between the panel end portion  12 A and the driver IC  18  is made minimum by not wiring any transparent electrodes  20  therebetween. On the other hand, spaces for wiring the transparent electrodes  20  are defined in the panel body  12  between the driver IC  18  and the display section  14  or in the panel body  12  in the longitudinal direction of the driver IC  18 . Note that the term “narrowed edge panel” refers to a panel that has a configuration in which inputting transparent electrodes  20  (wirings) are not disposed between the driver IC  18  and the panel end portion  12 A, in order to reduce the area of the panel body  12 . In general, a signal is input into the driver IC  18  from the outside of the display panel  10  via the transparent electrodes  20 . In this case, the flexible board  22 , for example, is overlapped on the side of the panel  12 , and the driver IC  18  is electrically connected to the transparent electrodes  20 . Accordingly, when the transparent electrodes  20  are drawn between the driver IC  18  and the panel end portion  12 A, it is necessary to secure the space for the overlap between the driver IC  18  and the panel end portion  12 A, which may result in increase of area of the panel body. Therefore, in the conventional display panel, the increase in area of the panel body  12  has been suppressed by interposing no transparent electrode  20  between the driver IC  18  and the panel end portion  12 A. 
         [0045]    Note that, since the length of the display section  14  in the longitudinal direction is generally longer than the longitudinal direction of the driver IC  18 , the transparent electrodes  20  are drawn in a horizontal space of the driver IC  18 . 
         [0046]    Next, the driver IC  18  of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described in detail. 
         [0047]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the driver IC  18 . 
         [0048]    The driver IC  18  includes a CPU interface  100 , a control circuit  102 , a power source circuit  104 , and a driving circuit  106 . 
         [0049]    The CPU interface  100  receives an input signal from the CPU (not shown), via the transparent electrodes  20  (i.e., signal wirings), and transmits data based on the input signal to the control circuit  102 . 
         [0050]    The control circuit  102  produces display data based on the data received from the CPU interface  100 , and transmits the display data to the driving circuit  106 . 
         [0051]    On the other hand, the power source circuit  104  receives a voltage from the voltage source device (not shown), via the plural transparent electrodes  20  (i.e., power source wirings), generates a voltage required for the driving circuit  106 , and supplies the required voltage to the driving circuit  106 . 
         [0052]    The driving circuit  106  outputs the voltage generated in the power source circuit  104  and an output signal, in accordance with the display data, to the display section  14  in a desired drive waveform, via the plural transparent electrodes  16 . 
         [0053]      FIG. 3  is a view showing the arrangement of input terminals and output terminals in the driver IC  18 . Note that the wirings connected to each of the terminals are omitted in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0054]    Output terminals  200  are the output terminals for the driving circuit  106  in the driver IC  18 , that outputs the signal in the above desired drive waveform. In order to provide a narrowed edge, the plural output terminals  200  are disposed along a long side  18 A facing the display section  14  in the driver IC  18 . The other ends of the above plural transparent electrodes  16  are connected to the output terminals  200 , respectively. 
         [0055]    In contrast, input terminals  202  are the input terminals for the CPU interface  100  and the power source circuit  104  in the driver IC  18 , that receives the signals from the CPU (not shown) or the voltage from the voltage source device (not shown). The plural input terminals  202  are disposed at intervals along the first long side  18 B of the driver IC  18  that faces the panel end portion  12 A, and are disposed at intervals along the second long side  18 A of the driver IC  18  that faces the display section  14 . 
         [0056]    Hereinafter, the plural input terminals  202  disposed with intervals along the first long side  18 B of the driver IC  18  that faces the panel end portion  12 A are referred to as a first input terminal group  204 . Further, the plural input terminals  202  disposed at intervals along the second long side  18 A of the driver IC  18  that faces the display section  14  are referred to as a second input terminal group  206 . 
         [0057]    In order to suppress an increase in area of the driver IC  18 , it is preferred to sequentially dispose the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206  from the first short side  18 C (a left short side in  FIG. 3 ) of the driver IC  18 , and is preferred not form a group of input terminals or the like on the second short side  18 D (a right short side in  FIG. 3 ) of the driver IC  18 . However, a dummy terminal may be disposed on the second short side  18 D of the driver IC  18  to enhance adhesion strength. Further, counterparts of the input terminal group formed on the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18  may be formed on the second short side  18 D of the driver IC  18 . 
         [0058]      FIG. 4  is a partially enlarged view of the driver IC  18  enclosed by a dot line X of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0059]    The plural transparent electrodes  20  are connected to the first input terminal group  204 . Note that, hereinafter, the transparent electrodes  20  connected to the first input terminal group  204  are referred to as a first wiring group  300 . 
         [0060]    The first wiring group  300  is formed on the panel body  12  between the driver IC  18  and the panel body  12 . Further, the first wiring group  300  extends from the first input terminal group  204  toward the second input terminal group  206 , then extends toward the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18  on the way toward the second input terminal group  206 , and then extends out from between the driver IC  18  and the panel body  12  through under the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18 . In this case, a wiring that extends from the input terminal  202  formed right side of a certain input terminal  202  (i.e., on the second short side  18 D side) circumvents a wiring drawn from the input terminal  202  formed left side (i.e., on the first short side  18 C side of the driver IC  18 ), and extends leftward above the wiring drawn from the input terminal  202  formed on the left (i.e., on the second long side  18 A side of the driver IC  18 ). 
         [0061]    Note that some of the wirings (i.e., a wiring arranged lowermost in  FIG. 4 ) in the first wiring group  300  extends immediately toward the first short side  18  of the driver IC  18  without extending from the first input terminal group  204  toward the second input terminal group  206 , and extends out from under the short side  18 C. 
         [0062]    Further, the width of the wiring in the first wiring group  300  that extends under the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18  is formed smaller than width of the terminals in the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206 . 
         [0063]    Furthermore, the intervals between the wirings that extend from under the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18  in the first wiring group  300  is formed smaller than the intervals between the terminals of the first input terminal group  204 . 
         [0064]    On the other hand, rests of the above plural transparent electrodes  20  are connected to the second input terminal group  206 . Note that, hereinafter, the transparent electrodes  20  connected to the second input terminal group  206  are referred to as a second wiring group  302 . 
         [0065]    The second wiring group  302  is formed on the panel body  12  between the driver IC  18  and the panel body  12 . Further, the second wiring group  302  extends from the second input terminal group  206  toward the second long side  18 A of the driver IC  18 , and then extends from between the driver IC  18  and the panel body  12  through under the second long side  18 A of the driver IC  18 . Note that, some of wiring in the second wiring group  302  (i.e., a wiring arranged lowermost in the second wiring group  302  in  FIG. 4 ) does not extend from the second long side  18 A to the panel body  12 , but extends from under the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18 , as the first wiring group  300 . 
         [0066]    The interval between the wirings of the second wiring group  302  is made smaller than the intervals between the terminals of the second input terminal group  206 . 
         [0067]    When connecting the first wiring group  300  to the first input terminal group  204 , while designing the display panel  10 , the input terminal  202  nearest to the first short side  18 C of the first input terminal group  204  is first connected. At this time, the number of wirings to be connected to the input terminals  202  is the number of wirings that can pass between the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206 , or less. Note that, in  FIG. 4 , maximum number of wirings that can pass between the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206  are wired. Further, when connecting the second wiring group  302  to the second input terminal group  206 , it is wired from between the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206  if there still remains a space capable of allowing the wiring to pass therebetween. However, if there remains no space, it is wired from the second input terminal group  206  toward the second long side  18 A of the driver IC  18 . 
         [0068]    Next, explanation will be made on a configuration of a comparative example. The comparative example used herein illustrates the configuration of a conventional driver IC.  FIG. 6  is a partially enlarged view of a driver IC in the comparative example. In a driver IC  500  of the comparative example (hereinafter referred to as a comparative driver IC  500 ), input terminals  502  are disposed at intervals along the first short side  500 C of the comparative driver IC  500 . In the case where the number of input terminals  502  is large such that the input terminals  502  cannot be disposed along the first short side  500 C, the input terminals  502  are disposed at intervals along a long side  500 A on the side of a display section  14  in the comparative driver IC  500 . In this case, the number of the input terminals  502  that can be disposed along the first short side  500 C of the comparative driver IC  500  depends upon, not the intervals between wirings  504  connected to each of the input terminals  502 , but the intervals between the input terminals  502  or the width of the input terminal  502 . Further, when the number of the input terminals  502  that cannot be disposed along the first short side  500 C increases, length of the long side  500 A, in which the input terminals  502  are disposed, increases. Accordingly, the area of the comparative driver IC  500  increases. 
         [0069]    On the other hand, according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the first wiring group  300 , having intervals or width that are smaller than the intervals or the width of the input terminals of the first input terminal group  204 , is disposed along the short side  18 C of the driver IC  18 . Due thereto, according to the number of wires of the first wiring group  300  that can be disposed along the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18 , input terminals of the first input terminal group  204  can be disposed along the first long side  18 B of the driver IC  18 . 
         [0070]    Accordingly, in comparison with the comparative driver IC  500 , in which the input terminals  502  are disposed along the first short side  500 C of the comparative driver IC  500 , the input terminals  202  are disposed along the first long side  18 B of the driver IC  18 , so that the number of input terminals  202  that can be disposed increases. Therefore, the present invention may suppress the increase in area of the driver IC  18  due to increased number of input terminals  202 . 
         [0071]    Namely, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, since the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206  are disposed along the long sides  18 A and  18 B of the driver IC  18  respectively, the area of the driver IC  18  also increases due to the increased number of input terminals  202 . However, in the comparative example, when the number the input terminals  502  (i.e., the input terminals  502  disposed along the long side  500 A of the driver IC  500 ) exceeds the number of input terminals  502  that can be disposed along the short side  500 C (namely, when the entire number exceeds  14  in  FIG. 6 ), the present invention may suppress the increase in area of the driver IC  18  due to increased number of input terminals  202 , by the reduced amount of the intervals between the wirings or the width of the wiring of the first wiring group  300 . 
         [0072]    Further, according to the exemplary embodiment, even when the driver IC  18  shown in  FIG. 4  is turned at 180°, the wirings can be fixedly wired in the panel body  12 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . Therefore, both of right and left alignments can be coped with ( FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 ) even when no wiring can be wired between the driver IC  18  and the panel end portion  12 A. 
         [0073]    The present invention is not limited to the above exemplary embodiment, and various modifications, alterations, and improvements can be implemented. 
         [0074]    For example, a case where the wirings connected to the first input terminal group  204  and the second input terminal group  206  are the transparent electrodes has been described, the wirings may not be transparent. In addition, materials of the electrodes are not particularly limited, as long as they are conductive. 
         [0075]    Moreover, in  FIG. 4 , a case where the first wiring group  300  extends from the first input terminal group  204  toward the second input terminal group  206 , extends toward the first short side  18 C of the driver IC  18  on the way toward the second input terminal group  206 , and extends out from the short side  18 C to the panel body  12 , has been described. However, as long as the first wiring group  300  is extended from the short side  18 C to the panel body  12 , its arrangement or shape under below the driver IC  18  may take any aspects. For example, the first wiring group  300  may extend from the first input terminal group  204  toward the short side  18 C with a curve. 
         [0076]    Further, as shown in  FIG. 5 , in a case where the number of input terminals  202  formed downside becomes larger than the number of input terminals  202  formed upside, a configuration in which the wirings extending from input terminals  202  by the number of excessive input terminals leftward are extended from upside can be applied to the case where wiring are extended from leftward, as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0077]    Note that, although the input terminals  202  are disposed with the equal intervals in  FIG. 4 , it is preferable to form input terminals with separate intervals rather than equal intervals in consideration of a crosstalk with an adjacent terminal.