# Patent

## Title
Direct backlight module

## Abstract

A plurality of reflecting structures are provided at the corner portions of a backlight module, so that the dark areas occurring at the corner portions or edges of the backlight module are prevented from forming, thereby uniforming the luminance performed by the display.

## Background
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/278,619, filed on Apr. 4, 2006, which claims the priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 094143406.
This application claims the benefit from the priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 095145678 filed on Dec. 7, 2006, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight module, especially to a direct backlight module and a liquid crystal display (LCD) using the same, whereby the undesired dark areas on the corners and/or edges of the display can be efficiently reduced, resulting in a uniform overall luminance.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have become the most popular displays because of the light weight and good displaying quality. The backlight module is an important illumination structure of the LCD. Controlling the transmissive light provided from the backlight module in association with the liquid crystal cells in a matrix of a panel, and appropriately controlling switches, make the brightness and quality of the images presented on the display be determined. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) widely serve as the light source of the backlight module because of the low power consumption, light weight and high luminance. Therefore, LEDs have gradually become substitutes for fluorescent lamps when selecting light sources for the backlight module.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional LCD, which comprises an LCD panel 30, a front frame 20 disposed on the LCD panel 30, a backlight module 10 having an LED array 103 disposed on a back bezel 101, and a frame assembly 102 disposed along the edges of the back bezel 101. The backlight module 10 is a direct type backlight module. There are a plurality of optical films 40 disposed between the LCD panel 30 and the backlight module 10 for enhancing the efficiency of light usage and luminance promotion. The optical films 40 can be diffusing films, prism films, acrylic films and/or light enhancing films.
Generally, the LCD panel 30 comprises an upper glass substrate, a lower glass substrate, and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) disposed therebetween. The upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate can be a color filter substrate and an active (or passive) array substrate, respectively. The voltage difference between the upper and the lower glass substrates makes the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer rotate or tilt accordingly. Therefore, the light transmitting through the LCD panel 30 will be controlled and will then produce images on the LCD panel 30.
The LED array 103 can be constituted by individually packaging a plurality of single LEDs or by integrally packaging a module that has a plurality of LEDs. A printed circuit board (not shown) is electrically connected to the LED array 103 for supplying power. The LEDs of the LED array 103 can be red, green, blue, or white LEDs, depending on the requirements of the LCD panel 30.
The material of the frame assembly 102 and the back bezel 101 can be light reflective. The inner walls thereof can also be made of reflective materials or have reflective films adhered thereon to reflect the light projected from the LED array 103.
Nevertheless, there is no light source disposed on the corner or edge portions of the backlight module because the undesired dark areas may occur in those parts, thereby causing the brightness of the overall backlight module to not be uniform. Additional light sources that are disposed on the corner or edge portions of the backlight module make the design and manufacturing procedures more complicated. Thus, it is not facilitated to control the uniformity of the brightness by adding light sources at the edges and corners.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a direct backlight module. By disposing a reflector on the corner portions of the backlight module, the undesired dark areas on the corner portions or the edges of the backlight module can be reduced.
Another objective of this invention is to provide an LCD comprising a direct backlight module. By disposing a reflector on the corner portions of the backlight module, the brightness of the backlight module can be more uniform, resulting in the enhancement of the overall quality of the LCD.
The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional LCD;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an LCD according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an LED backlight module according to the present invention;
FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D are reflectors of different configurations according to the present invention;
FIG. 5A is an experimental diagram showing the light intensity (in nit), in view of each area measured from the conventional backlight module;
FIG. 5B is an experimental diagram showing the light intensity (in nit), in view of each area measured from the backlight module according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the comparison between the representative optical paths of the present invention and the prior art at the corner portion of the backlight module;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 8A and 8B are schematic views illustrating other preferred embodiments of the present invention;
FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic views illustrating still a further preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic views illustrating yet a further preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are schematic views illustrating the alternative tubular light sources of the backlight module of the present invention.



DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the LCD according to the present invention. The LCD comprises an LCD panel 30, a front bezel 20 disposed above the LCD panel 30, and a backlight module 10 that has at least one light source. Preferably, at least one light source should be an LED array 103 disposed on the back bezel 101. A frame 102 is disposed along the two adjacent edge portions of the back bezel 101. The frame 102 and the back bezel 101 form at least one corner portion. There are a plurality of optical films 40 disposed between the LCD panel 30 and the backlight module 10 for enhancing the efficiency of light usage and luminance promotion. The optical films 40 can be diffusing films, prism films, acrylic films and/or light enhancing films.
There are reflectors 104 disposed on the corner portions of the back bezel 101. The reflectors 104 are provided for reducing dark areas occurring on the corners or edges of the backlight module and for increasing the uniformity of the luminance. The reflectors 104 can be disposed on the areas adjacent to the edges of the back bezel 101 as well.
The LCD panel 30 comprises an upper glass substrate, a lower glass substrate, and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) disposed therebetween. The upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate can be a color filter substrate and an active (or passive) array substrate, respectively. The voltage difference between the upper and the lower glass substrates make the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer rotate or tilt accordingly. Therefore, the light transmitted through the LCD panel 30 will be controlled and will then produce images on the LCD panel 30.
The LED array 103 can be constituted by individually packaging a plurality of single LEDs or by integrally packaging the same in advance into a module that has a plurality of LEDs. A printed circuit board (not shown) is electrically connected to the LED array 103 to provide electrical power. The LEDs of the LED array 103 can be red, green, blue, white or other colors, depending on what the LCD panel 30 requires.
The material of the frame 102 and the back bezel 101 could be reflective materials. The inner walls thereof can be made of reflective materials or have reflective films adhered thereon to reflect the light emitted from the LED array 103.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an LED backlight module 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, there is a frame 102 (including four assembled elements or only a single element) disposed along four edge portions of the back bezel 101 of the backlight module 10. Four reflectors 104 are disposed on the four corner portions formed by the frames 102 and the back bezel 101. The contact area between the reflectors 104 and the back bezel 101 is about, but not limited to, 2% to 10%, preferably, about 4% to 8%, of the planar area of the back bezel 101.
The reflector 104 can be made of silver or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, or similar materials comprising the same. The reflector 104 and the back bezel 101 can be formed integrally into one piece, then assembled with the frame 102. Alternatively, the reflector 104, the back bezel 101 and the frame 102 can be formed integrally into one piece to constitute the desired structure. It is understandable that the method employed for manufacturing the reflector 104 can be through a computer numerical control (CNC) process or a press process if the reflectors 104 are made of metal. The well-known CNC process includes inputting orders or numerical values to the computer. According to the input orders or numerical values, devices connected to the computer, for example, operate when creating, chamfering, drilling, moving, pressing, sticking or forming additional elements onto the workpiece or elements. Advantages thereof include saved time, precision, low cost and no need for molds. Alternatively, the reflector 104 can be formed on the backlight module by adding it onto the corner portion. The reflector 104 can be made according to the above-mentioned CNC process. The reflectors 104 and the back bezel 101 can be formed integrally. The reflectors 104 and the frame 102 can be formed integrally too.
As shown in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D, the reflector 104, for example, can be pyramid-shaped, which comprises a body that has a reflective surface formed thereon. The reflective surface reflects lights with its original material property, or by a reflective film additionally adhered thereon. An alternative way to reflect light is to apply or coat at least one layer of reflective material, for example, silver, barium sulfate, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin or the combination thereof, onto the reflective surface of the reflector 104.
As shown in FIG. 4A, a curved surface of the reflector 104a projects convexly out of the corner portion. In FIG. 4B, a curved surface of the reflector 104b projects concavely into the corner portion. In FIG. 4C, a reflective surface of the reflector 104c is a flat plane. In FIG. 4D, a curved surface of the reflector 104d is a regularly or an irregularly curved face. It is understandable that the shape or structure of the reflective surface of the reflector 104 is not limited, provided that its configuration provides the basic functions to better reflect lights to eliminate the dark areas occurring at the edge and corner portions.
FIG. 5A is an experimental diagram showing the light intensity (in nit) which is measured by each unit area at the light output from a backlight module of the existing art FIG. 5B is a diagram according to the present invention that corresponds to FIG. 5A. With reference to these two diagrams, it can be observed that the light intensity of corner portions C1, C2 and C3 of the backlight module is generally lower than that of the central area; therefore, the luminance of the light output is not uniform. For example, it can be found in FIG. 5A that the lowest light intensity (nit) is about 5722 nit, which is about 81% of the highest one, 7069 nit. Turning to FIG. 5B, the lowest light intensity (nit) is about 5929 nit, which is about 85% of the highest one, 7016 nit. In conclusion, the decrease in the highest light intensity (nit) is merely about 0.75% which makes no substantial influence on the image quality. On the other hand, the increase in the uniformity of the luminance is 4%, which apparently improves the output quality of the image. The backlight module according to the present invention can increase the efficiency of light usage and luminance promotion, and ultimately, increase the uniformity of the luminance provided by the backlight module.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the optical paths along the vertical cross-section at the corner portion of the present invention. The dash lines show a representative optical path as in the conventional technology without any reflector. After the back bezel 101 and the frame 102 partially reflect the light, the light will travel toward the central area of the panel. On the other hand, the solid lines show a representative optical path of the present invention having the reflectors 104. After the reflectors 104 reflect the light, the reflected light will be guided toward the corner portion or the periphery area of the frame 102. This helps to enhance the brightness at the corner portion or the periphery area, and promote the luminance uniformity of the panel.
A preferable embodiment of the present invention is that the frame 102 is partially formed with the back bezel 101 integrally. In specific, as shown in FIG. 7, the frame 102 comprises two opposite first frame portions 102a and two opposite second frame portions 102b, in which the first frame portions 102a is formed by extending integrally and bending from the back bezel 101. In manufacture, the back bezel 101 and the first frame portions 102a can be simultaneously formed and then be bended by sheet metal works. As shown in FIG. 7, the first frame portions 102a are longer than the second frame portions 102b. 
To further illustrate the connection between the first frame portions 102a and the second frame portions 102b, the first frame portion 102a has two opposite end portions 106a and 106b, and the second frame portion 102b has two opposite end portions 106c and 106d. One of the end portions 106a and 106b of the first frame portion 102a is affixed to one of the end portions 106c and 106d of the second frame portion 102b. The structure as mentioned for connection can be altered in any way that can perform the similar functions. FIG. 8A illustrates another preferable embodiment of the present invention. In specific, the first frame portion 102a has bending portions 102c at the end portions 106a and 106b respectively, for connecting with the end portions 106c and 106d of the second frame portions 102b. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8B, bending portions 102d extends from the end portions 106c and 106d of the second frame portions 102b respectively, for connecting with the first frame portion 102a. Those skilled in this field can easily implement variations as to the connection according to the demands, and the abovementioned connecting manner includes screwing, riveting or any other known skills, which are not limited and superfluously addressed. Accordingly, the first frame portions 102a, the second frame portions 102b and the back bezel 101 can be formed to define the aforesaid four corner portions therewith. As shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the first frame portions 102a are longer than the second frame portions 102b. 
Still another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B. Both of the first frame portions 102a and the second frame portions 102b are formed with the back bezel 101 integrally and subsequently bended to form the backlight module 10 to come with the reflectors 104. Further, as shown in FIG. 10A, the first frame portions 102a, the second frame portions 102b and the reflectors 104 are formed by extending integrally and bending from the back bezel 101. After the sheet metal works are performed, the backlight module 10 as shown in FIG. 10B can be formed. Alternatively, it will be practicable that the reflectors 104 are not integrated with the back bezel 101 but with the frame 102 (not shown) instead.
It is noted that adopting light emitting diodes (LEDs) as the light source in the direct backlight module 10 in the aforementioned embodiments is only for exemplified, but not limited. Various tubular light sources 103a can be used, for example, straight tubes as shown in FIG. 11A, U-shape tubes as shown in FIG. 11B, or hybrid tubes by combining those types as shown in FIG. 11C. The tubular light source 103a is selected from the group consisting of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL), and an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL).
The above disclosure relates to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.

## Claims

1. A backlight module comprising:
a bezel having four adjacent edge portions;
a frame, disposed on the bezel along the four edge portions, comprising two opposite first frame portions and two opposite second frame portions, wherein the two opposite first frame portions are formed by extending integrally from the bezel and wherein the frame and the bezel form four corner portions;
at least one light source disposed on the bezel; and
at least one reflector disposed on at least one of the four corner portions.

2. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector is made by material comprising silver, barium sulfate, polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET resin), or combinations thereof.

3. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector is pyramid-shaped.

4. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector comprises:
a body having a reflective surface; and
a reflective film adhered onto the reflective surface.

5. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector includes a reflective surface having a reflective element coated thereon.

6. The backlight module according to claim 5, wherein the reflective element is comprised of silver.

7. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector has a curved surface projecting convexly out of the corner portion.

8. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector has a curved surface projecting concavely into the corner portion.

9. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector has a reflective surface.

10. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector has an irregularly curved reflective surface.

11. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the first frame portion is longer than the second frame portion.

12. The backlight module according to claim 11, wherein the two opposite second frame portions are formed by extending integrally from the bezel.

13. The backlight module according to claim 11, wherein each of the first frame portions has two opposite end portions and each of the second frame portions has two opposite end portions, in which one of the end portions of the first frame portion is affixed to one of the end portions of the second frame portion.

14. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the second frame portion is longer than the first frame portion.

15. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the two opposite second frame portions are formed by extending integrally from the bezel.

16. The backlight module according to claim 15, wherein the at least one reflector is formed by extending integrally from the bezel.

17. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one reflector is formed by extending integrally from the frame.

18. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode array, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL), an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) or combinations thereof.

19. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first frame portions and the second frame portions includes at least one inner wall having a reflective element disposed thereon.

20. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the frame includes:
at least one inner wall; and
a reflective film adhered onto the at least one inner wall.

21. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the reflectors and the bezel define a contact area which ranges from about 2% to about 10% of a planar area of the bezel.

22. The backlight module according to claim 1, wherein the reflectors and the bezel define a contact area which ranges from about 4% to about 8% of a planar area of the bezel.

23. A liquid crystal display comprising the backlight module according to claim 1.