Patent Publication Number: US-2011063195-A1

Title: Soft display system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/819,005 for the same title, filed on Jun. 25, 2007, which claims foreign priority from a Taiwan patent application Ser. No. 096208412, filed on May 23, 2007. The entire content of the above applications is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is related to a soft display system which includes a soft display panel as a display unit. The soft display panel can be rolled and easily stored. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The current electronic whiteboards are widely used for demonstration instead of the conventional whiteboards. The market occupation rate of the electronic whiteboards is greatly increased. However, the display panel of such electronic whiteboard is quite heavy. Therefore, structurally, it is necessary to frame the display panel with a rigid frame or fix the display panel on a wall. In general, the weight of the display panel of the conventional electronic whiteboard is about 3050 kilograms. Therefore, it is quite inconvenient to install the electronic whiteboard. Moreover, in case the electronic whiteboard is not firmly mounted or after a long period of use, the electronic whiteboard tends to loosen and fall off from the wall to hurt a user or other people. 
     In addition, it is impossible for a user to carry the heavy electronic whiteboard with him/her. Therefore, each application site necessitates a set of electronic whiteboard which is fixedly mounted. Consequently, the cost for the equipment and installation is very high so that the electronic whiteboards still cannot be popularly used. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a soft display system including: a soft display panel composed of a transparent substrate layer, a soft circuit layer and a display layer; a controller having a signal transmission device connected to the soft circuit layer; an input control device for making the soft circuit layer of the soft display panel generate signals corresponding characters or drawings, wherein the input control device comprises: a first ground layer; at least one position sensing circuit layer being disposed on the first substrate layer; a second ground layer being disposed on the position sensing circuit layer; an emitting layer being disposed on the second ground layer; a touch sensing layer being disposed on the emitting layer; and a surface layer being disposed on the touch sensing layer; and; and a computer equipment having a computer application interface connected to the signal transmission device. When a user uses the input control device such as an electronic pen, a wireless handwriting board etc. to write characters or draft drawings, the signals corresponding to the characters or drawings are generated and processed by the computer equipment. By means of the conversion of the computer application interface, via the signal transmission device, the signals are output to the soft circuit layer. The images of the characters or drawings are shown on the display layer of the soft display panel. After used, the user can separate the soft display panel from the controller and roll the soft display panel to store the same in a containing barrel. Accordingly, the user can easily carry the soft display system with him/her and conveniently use the same. 
     The soft display system of the present invention has the following advantages:
         1. After used, the soft display panel of the present invention can be rolled and stored in a containing barrel. Therefore, the user can easily carry the present invention with him/her.   2. The soft display system of the present invention is lightweight.   3. The soft display panel of the present invention can be easily mounted without expertise. The soft display panel can be stretched and hung on a wall and readily used.   4. The input control device of the present invention can be employed to accurately generate signals corresponding characters and drawings, and the input control device can selectively be rigid or flexible, so as to increase the flexibility of use.       

     The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a connected view of the present invention, showing the use thereof; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the soft display panel of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing that the soft display panel of the present invention is rolled to be stored in a containing barrel; 
         FIG. 5  is a block flow chart of the operation of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of an input control device of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of the input control device connected with a hardware device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 5 . The soft display system of the present invention includes a soft display panel  10  composed of a transparent substrate layer  11 , a soft circuit layer  12  and a display layer  13 . The soft display system of the present invention further includes a controller  20  having a signal transmission device  21  connected to the soft circuit layer  12 . The soft display system of the present invention further includes an input control device  30  for generating signals corresponding to characters and drawings. The soft display system of the present invention further includes a computer equipment  40  having a computer application interface  41  connected to the signal transmission device  21 . Accordingly, when a user uses the input control device  30  such as an electronic pen, a wireless handwriting board, etc. to write characters or draft drawings, the signals corresponding to the characters or drawings are generated and processed by the computer equipment  40 . By means of the conversion of the computer application interface  41 , via the signal transmission device  21 , the signals are output to the soft circuit layer  12 . The images of the characters or drawings are shown on the display layer  13  of the soft display panel  10 . Alternatively, an external computer equipment  40  can directly output a signal which is converted by the computer application interface  41 . The signal transmission device  21  outputs the signal to the soft circuit layer  12 . The images of the characters or drawings are shown on the display layer  13  of the soft display panel  10 . Therefore, the input control device  30  is omissible. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the soft display panel  10  of the present invention further has a protective layer  14  overlaid on outer side of the display layer  13  to prevent the display layer  13  from being scraped and thrust by alien article. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the soft circuit layer  12  of the soft display panel  10  includes a receiving circuit  121  and a display circuit  122 . The receiving circuit  121  serves to responsively receive the signals generated by the input control device  30 . The display circuit  122  serves to correspondingly show the images on the display layer  13 , which images correspond to the signals transmitted from the signal transmission device  21 . 
     In the soft display system of the present invention, the receiving circuit  121  of the soft display panel  10  can be a touch control receiving circuit. When a user uses the input control device  30  such as an electronic pen or a finger of the user to write characters or draft drawings on the display layer  13  or on the protective layer  14 , the receiving circuit  121  of the soft circuit layer  12  generates a signal. The signal is transmitted to the computer equipment  40  for processing by the signal transmission device  21  which is connected with the receiving circuit  121 . The processed signal via the computer application interface  41  is then output by the signal transmission device  21  to the display circuit  122  of the soft circuit layer  12 . Accordingly, the images correspond to the characters or drawings written by the user are shown on the display layer  13  of the soft display panel  10 . 
     In the soft display system of the present invention, the receiving circuit  121  of the soft circuit layer  12  can be a wireless receiving circuit for correspondingly receiving the wireless signals sent from the input control device  30  such as a wireless handwriting board. 
     In the soft display system of the present invention, the soft display panel  10  is equipped with hanging sections  15 , whereby the soft display panel  10  can be hung on a wall. Alternatively, multiple fixing devices  16  can be first attached to or fixed on a wall face or a glass face and then the hanging sections  15  of the soft display panel  10  are hooked on the hanging hooks  161  of the fixing devices  16 . Under such circumstance, the soft display panel  10  can be stretched. The fixing devices  16  pertain to prior art and are not included in the scope of the present invention. The type and structure of the fixing devices  16  are not limited to any specific pattern. 
     The hanging sections  15  of the soft display panel  10  can be through holes or hanging hooks. Alternatively, the soft display panel  10  can be directly equipped with the fixing devices  16 . This is not limited. 
     In the soft display system of the present invention, the signal transmission device  21  of the controller  20  can be connected to the computer equipment  40  via a signal transmission cable  22 . Alternatively, the signal transmission device  21  can be bi-directionally connected to the computer equipment  40  via a wireless element. 
     In use of the soft display system of the present invention, a user only needs to stretch the soft display panel  10  and plug the controller  20  with the soft display panel  10 . Then the controller  20  is connected to the computer equipment  40 . Thereafter, the user can use the input control device  30  such as his/her finger, an electronic pen or a wireless handwriting board to write characters or draft drawings. At this time, the display layer  13  of the soft display panel  10  will immediately show the same characters and drawings for demonstration or teaching as shown in  FIG. 2 . After used, the user can separate the soft display panel  10  from the controller  20  and roll the soft display panel  10  to store the same in a containing barrel  50 . Accordingly, the user can easily carry the present invention with him/her and conveniently use the same as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     According to the above arrangement, it is no more necessary to use a frame or a casing for fixing the soft display panel  10  of the present invention. Therefore, the soft display system of the present invention is lightweight. In addition, the soft display panel  10  can be made with different sizes as necessary to meet the requirements of different users. Moreover, after used, the soft display panel  10  can be rolled and stored in a containing barrel  50 . Therefore, the user can easily carry the present invention with him/her and conveniently use the same. 
     In the soft display system of the present invention, the input control device  30  can be a handwriting board. Referring to  FIG. 6 , which is an exploded view of the input control device of the present invention. The input control device  30  includes: a first ground layer  310  which is coated with interference-preventing coating for resisting the interference of an external electromagnetic wave; two position sensing circuit layers  320  and  340  being disposed on the first substrate layer  310 , wherein the two position sensing circuit layers  320  and  340  includes an X-axis sensing circuit layer  320  and a Y-axis sensing circuit layer  340 , and an insulated layer  330  being disposed between the X-axis sensing circuit layer  320  and the Y-axis sensing circuit layer  340  for preventing the interference of the X-axis sensing circuit layer  320  and the Y-axis sensing circuit layer  340  to each other; a second ground layer  350  being disposed on the two position sensing circuit layers  320  and  340  for insulating the components on the opposite lateral of the second ground layer  350 ; an emitting layer  360  being disposed on the second ground layer  350 , wherein the emitting layer  360  is coated with emitting material, and the emitting material being formed a designed pattern on the emitting layer  360 ; a touch sensing layer  370  being disposed on the emitting layer  360 , wherein the touch sensing layer  370  is composed of a transparent material; and a surface layer  380  being disposed on the touch sensing layer  370 , wherein the surface layer  380  is printed with a designed pattern  381 , such as a keyboard pattern. 
     In the above input control device  30 , when a user touches or writes on the surface layer  380 , the touch sensing layer  370  can receive signals from the surface layer  380  and then sending the signals to a hardware device. Furthermore, the input control device  30  can be rigid or flexible. If one of the first ground layer  310 , the X-axis sensing circuit layer  320 , the insulated layer  330 , the Y-axis sensing circuit layer  340 , the second ground layer  350 , the emitting layer  360 , the touch sensing layer  370 , and surface layer  380  is made of a rigid material (such as a glass sheet), the input control device  30  is rigid; if all the above layers are made of flexible materials, then the input control device  30  is flexible and can be rolled. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , which is a schematic diagram of the input control device connected with a hardware device. The input control device  30  of the present invention is connected with a control board  302  through a connector  301 , and then the control board  302  is connected with the hardware devices  303  (such as the soft display panel  10  and/or the computer equipment  40 ) by a wired manner (such as USB or UART) or a wireless manner. The control board  302  can exchange the signals between the input control device  30  and the hardware devices  303 , and the control board  302  can provide power to the input control device  30  for working. The control board  302  can selectively provided power to one or more of the X-axis sensing circuit layer  302 , the Y-axis sensing circuit layer  304 , the emitting layer  306 , and the touch sensing layer  307 , so as to make the input control device  30  to adapt for different using condition of the soft display system of the present invention. 
     The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.