Abstract:
A connection member for a flat-panel display is coupled to an electrode terminal part on one side of the panel and an integrated driving circuit on an opposing side of the panel. The connection member provides driving signals to at least one scan electrode and at least one common electrode coupled to the electrode terminal part. The connection member further includes joining parts, each of which has a two-tier structure of scan and common electrode pads. Moreover, the connection member is provided for the scan and common electrodes in the panel on only one side of the panel, thereby saving space and reducing power requirements through use of the integrated driving circuit which provides driving signals for both the scan and common electrodes.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of the Korean Patent Application No. P2003-48251 filed on Jul. 15, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly to a connection member that connects an integrated board with an electrode and a driving device of a plasma display panel. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Recently, Flat Panel Displays have briskly been developed, which include Liquid Crystal Displays (hereinafter ‘LCD’), Field Emission Displays (hereinafter ‘FED’), Plasma Display Panels (hereinafter ‘PDP’). The PDP among them has advantages of easy production due to its simple structure, excellence of high brightness and high light-emission efficiency, memory function, and wide viewing angle of over 160°, in addition, being realized into a large screen of over 40 inches. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram representing a front substrate where electrodes are arranged according to prior art.  FIG. 2  is a diagram representing a rear substrate with a driving device according to prior art. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in the front substrate  1 , an address electrode  2  is arranged and a scan electrode  3  and a common electrode  4  are arranged to cross the address electrode  2 . A dielectric layer, a protective layer, barrier ribs and a phosphorus layer etc are formed in the front substrate by use of a plasma process technique though they are not shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Also, a scan electrode terminal part  12  and a common electrode terminal part  14  leading to the scan electrode  3  and the common electrode  4  are provided at both sides in the front substrate  1 . 
     A driving device for applying a driving signal to each of electrodes  2 ,  3 ,  4  which are arranged in this way, is provided in the rear substrate  7  which is adhered to the front substrate  1  opposite thereto. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the rear substrate  7  includes a controller  8  to control the driving signal, a scan driver  9  and a common driver  10  to generate a designated driving signal in accordance with the control signal of the controller  8 . At this moment, the scan driver  9  is provided at one side of the rear substrate  7 , and the common driver  10  is provided at the other side of the rear substrate  7 . Also, though not shown in  FIG. 2 , the rear substrate  7  further includes an address driver to generate a driving signal for driving the address electrode  2  of  FIG. 1 . 
     Also, the rear substrate  7  includes connection members  5 ,  6  connecting each of electrode terminal parts  12 ,  14  with each of drivers  9 ,  10  in order to apply the driving signal generated at the scan driver  9  and the common driver  10  to the scan electrode  3  and the common electrode  4  of  FIG. 1 . 
     At this moment, the rear substrate  7  further includes a buffer  16  for applying the scan signal generated from the scan driver  9  to a corresponding scan electrode. In this case, the connection member  5  is connected between the buffer  16  and the scan electrode terminal part of the front substrate  1 . 
     The connection members  5  and  6  are provided at one side of the rear substrate  7  in case of being connected to the buffer  16 , and at the other side of the rear substrate  7  in case of being connected to the common driver  10 . Accordingly, the connection member  5  connected to the buffer  16  is connected to the scan electrode terminal part  12  and the connection member  6  connected to the common driver  10  is connected to the common electrode terminal part  14 . 
     In the operation when composed as above, the control signal for driving each electrode is inputted to the scan driver  9  or the common driver  10  by the controller  8 . 
     The scan driver  9  generates the scan signal in accordance with the control signal and transmits it to the buffer  16 . The buffer  16  finds the corresponding scan electrode on the basis of the scan signal and inputs the scan signal to the corresponding scan electrode through the connection member  5  and the scan electrode terminal part  12 , thereby driving the corresponding scan electrode. 
     On the other hand, the common driver  10  generates the common signal in accordance with the control signal of the controller  8  and applies the common signal to the common electrode  4  through the common electrode terminal part  14 , thereby driving the common electrode  4 . 
     The driving device of prior art as above has the drivers  9  and  10 , which drives the scan electrode  3  and the common electrode  4 , separated from each other. And the connection members  5  and  6  connected to the drivers  9  and  10  are also separated from others. Thus the area occupied by the components in the rear substrate is as broad as that, thereby resulting in the increase of the size. 
     In this way, using a plurality of the drivers  9  and  10  and the connection members  5  and  6  is to go against the trend of the plasma display panel being made thin, one of its major advantages. Therefore, it is strongly required to reduce such components to a minimum. 
     Also, because the plurality of drivers  9  and  10  and the connection members  5  and  6  are used as in prior art, there is a disadvantage of high cost. 
     Further, in case that the drivers  9  and  10  and the connection members  5  and  6  are separated from each other, its driving characteristic becomes bad when being controlled by the controller  8 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connection member that is adaptive for reducing cost as well as give room to a rear substrate by being integrated with drivers, and a driving device of a plasma display panel. 
     In order to achieve these and other objects of the invention, a connection member connected to a electrode terminal part and an integrated driving circuit, wherein each joining part of both sides of the connection member has a two tier connection structure of a scan electrode pad and a common electrode pad according to an aspect of the present invention. 
     In the connection member, any one of the scan electrode pad and the common electrode pad is drawn out longer than the other. 
     In the connection member, the rest part except for a designate part of the end of the scan electrode pad and the common electrode pad is coated with an insulating material. 
     In the connection member, the width of one joining part connected to the electrode terminal part is at least wider than that of the other joining part connected to the integrated driving circuit. 
     A driving device of a plasma display panel according to an aspect of the present invention, includes an integrated driving circuit installed at one side of a rear substrate to integrally driving a scan electrode and a common electrode which are arranged on a front substrate; an electrode terminal part provided at a location opposite to the integrated driving circuit on the front substrate to lead to the scan electrode and the common electrode; and a connection member, wherein each of both joining parts has a two tier connection structure of a scan electrode pad and a common electrode pad, one joining part is connected to the integrated driving circuit, and the other joining part is connected to the electrode terminal part. 
     In the driving device, any one of the scan electrode pad and the common electrode pad is drawn out longer than the other. 
     In the driving device, the rest part except for a designate part of the end of the scan electrode pad and the common electrode pad is coated with an insulating material. 
     In the driving device, the width of one joining part connected to the electrode terminal part is at least wider than that of the other joining part connected to the integrated driving circuit. 
     In the driving device, a connector of the integrated circuit is formed to correspond to the connection structure of the connection member. 
     In the driving device, the joining part of the connection member side of the electrode terminal part is formed to correspond to the connection structure of the connection member. 
     In the driving device, the connection member has a first layer where scan electrode pads are arranged and a second layer where common electrode pads are arranged. 
     In the driving device, the scan electrode pad and the common electrode pad are arranged on the same surface in both of the joining parts of the connection member. 
     In the driving device, the scan electrode pad and the common electrode pad are each arranged on the first layer and the second layer in both of the joining parts of the connection member. 
     In the driving device, the integrated driving circuit includes a driver to generate a scan signal for driving the scan electrode and a common signal for driving the common electrode; and means for applying the scan signal to a corresponding scan electrode to drive. 
     In the driving device, the applying means includes the connector. 
     In the driving device, the common signal is inputted directly to the connection member without going through the applying means. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram representing a front substrate of prior art where all electrodes are arranged; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram representing a rear substrate of prior art that includes a driving device; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram representing a front substrate where all electrodes are arranged according to a desirable embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram representing a rear substrate having a driving device according to a desirable embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram representing a connection member according to a desirable embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 to 5 , embodiments of the present invention will be explained as follows. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram representing a front substrate where all electrodes are arranged according to a desirable embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 4  is a diagram representing a rear substrate having a driving device according to a desirable embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , address electrodes  52  are arranged in a front substrate  51  and scan electrodes  53  and the common electrodes  54  are arranged to cross the address electrodes  52  in the front substrate  51 . Of course, a dielectric layer, a protective layer, barrier ribs and a phosphorus layer are formed in the front substrate  51  though they are not shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     Further, an electrode terminal part  66  leading to each of the scan electrode  53  and the common electrode  54  is provided at one side in the front substrate  51 . In the prior art, as shown in  FIG. 1 , whereas the electrode terminal part is separated from the scan electrode terminal part  12  and the common electrode terminal part  14  and provided at each of both sides of the front substrate  1 , only one of the electrode terminal parts  66  is provided at one side of the front substrate  51  in the present invention. 
     A driving device for applying a driving signal to each of electrodes  52 ,  53 ,  54  which are arranged in this way, is provided in the rear substrate  56  which is adhered to the front substrate  51  opposite thereto. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the rear substrate  56  includes a controller  57  to control the driving signal, and an integrated driver  58  to generate a scan signal or a common signal in accordance with the control signal of the controller  57 . The integrated driver  58  is connected to the controller  57  and provide at one side of the rear substrate  56 . To describe more specifically, the integrated driver  58  is desirable to be provided in the rear substrate of the same side as the electrode terminal part  66  provide at one side of the front substrate  51  if possible. In the prior art, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the driver is divided into the scan driver  9  and the common driver  10 , but in the present invention, the driver is an integrated driver  58  of the prior art scan driver and common driver. 
     Also, though it is not shown in  FIG. 4 , the rear substrate  56  includes an address driver to generate a driving signal for driving an address electrode  52  of  FIG. 3 . 
     Further, a connection member  55  is connected between the electrode terminal part  66  and the integrated driver  58  in order to apply a signal generated at the integrated driver  58  to the scan electrode  53  and the common electrode  54  of  FIG. 3 . 
     At this moment, the rear substrate  56  further includes a buffer  59  for applying the scan signal generated from the integrated driver  58  to a corresponding scan electrode. In this case, the connection member  55  is connected between the buffer  59  of the rear substrate  56  and the electrode terminal part  66  of the front substrate  51 . The buffer  59  might include a connector (not shown) to connect the connection member  55  thereto. 
     The present invention has the most principal characteristic in how the connection member is composed in case that the driver is integrated, so the connection member  55  is to be described below in more detail according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram representing a connection member according to a desirable embodiment according to the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , designated connection pads are arranged in the connection member  55 . At this moment, the connection member  55  is desirable to be a flexible printed circuit FPC. Scan electrode pads Y  61 ,  71  and common electrode pads Z  62 ,  72  are arranged in parallel. If the electrodes arranged in the front substrate  51 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , are arranged in order of the scan electrode  53 , the common electrode  54 , the common electrode  54  and the scan electrode  53 , the electrode pads arranged in the connection member  55  of the rear substrate  56  are desirable to be arranged in order of the scan electrode pads Y  61 ,  71 , the common electrode pads Z  62 ,  72 , the common electrode pads Z  62 ,  72 , and the scan electrode pads Y  61 ,  71 . Accordingly, the electrodes  53 ,  54  arranged on the front substrate  51  are correspondingly connected to the electrode pads  61 ,  62 ,  71 ,  72  arranged on the rear substrate. 
     In the connection member  55 , each of both bonding parts  60 ,  70  has two tier connection structure of the scan electrode pads  61 ,  71  and the common electrode pads  62  and  72 . Herein, the two tier connection structure means that the positions of the ends  67 ,  68 ,  75 ,  76  of the scan electrode pads  61 ,  71  and the common electrode pads  62 ,  72  are arranged differently. That is, the ends  68 ,  76  of the scan electrode pads  61 ,  71  can be arranged to be drawn out longer than the ends  67 ,  75  of the common electrode pads  62 ,  72 . Or, on the contrary to this, the ends  67 ,  75  of the common electrode pads  62 ,  72  can be arranged to be drawn out longer than the ends  68 ,  76  of the common electrode pads  61 ,  71 . At any rate, the ends of any one of the scan electrode pads  61 ,  71  or the common electrode pads  62 ,  72  is drawn out longer than the ends of the other. Herein, the distance between the ends of the scan electrode pads  61 ,  71  and common electrode pads  62 ,  72  become different in accordance with the distance or width between the electrode pads  61 ,  62 ,  71 ,  72 , thus it might be set to be optimized upon designing. 
     At this moment, each of the scan electrode pads  61   71  and the common electrode pads  62 ,  72  are all coated with an insulating material except for designated parts  63 ,  64 ,  73 ,  74  of the ends  67 ,  68 ,  75 ,  76 . In this case, the electrode pads  61 ,  62 ,  71 ,  72  corresponding to the designated parts  63 ,  64 ,  73 ,  74  are used when bonding the electrode terminal part  66  with the buffer  59 . 
     The position of the end of each electrode pad is made different in this way and the designated part except for the end of each electrode pad is coated with the insulating material, so that a short circuit, which might be generated between electrodes arranged with minute distance, can be prevented in advance, thereby preventing mis-operation from occurring upon driving. 
     As described above, the connection member and a driving device of a plasma display panel according to the present invention integrates the scan driver and the common driver, which were previously separated from each other, into one. And, on the other hand, it includes one single connection member that can connect the integrated driver with the electrode terminal part in order to apply the scan signal or the common signal generated from the integrated driver to the scan electrode and the common electrode arranged on the front substrate, thus it can reduce the number of the connection member and the driver as well as realizing a thinner type of the plasma display panel because more space can be secured on the rear substrate, thereby saving more cost. 
     Further, the driver and connection member, which were separated in the prior art, are integrated, thus having an effect of improving its drive characteristic when being controlled by the controller. 
     Although the present invention has been explained by the embodiments shown in the drawings described above, it should be understood to the ordinary skilled person in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments, but rather that various changes or modifications thereof are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention shall be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.