Patent Publication Number: US-2011063245-A1

Title: Touch apparatus and display panel thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 98131390, filed on Sep. 17, 2009. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of specification. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a touch panel, more particularly, to a touch apparatus integrated to a display panel. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     With quick development of technology, touch panels are equipped to a plurality of electronic devices (such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, etc.) for operation convenience. Conventionally, the electronic device having the touch panel can be formed by attaching an independent touch panel and an independent display module. However, considering a fabrication cost, an idea of integrating the touch panel with a display panel of the display module is provided, so as to reduce the fabrication cost of the electronic device having the touch panel. 
       FIG. 1  is a partial schematic diagram illustrating a conventional display panel integrated with a touch panel. Referring to  FIG. 1 , to integrate the touch panel with the display panel  101 , a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor T is specially configured on a lower substrate  101   a  (which is generally a pixel array substrate) of the display panel  101  to electrically connected to a selection line SL, a readout line RL and a conductive bump CB disposed on the lower substrate  101   a , respectively. Wherein, a gate of the MOS transistor T is electrically connected to the selection line SL, a source of the MOS transistor T is electrically connected to the readout line RL, and a drain of the MOS transistor T is electrically connected to the conductive bump CB. 
     When the selection line SL receives a selection signal SS, and an upper substrate  101   b  (which is generally a color filter substrate) of the display panel  101  that is located above the conductive bump CB is pressed by a finger or other medium, since the MOS transistor T is now conducted, a common voltage Vcom received by a conductive layer (which is generally a indium-tin oxide layer) of the upper substrate  101   b  is transmitted to the readout line RL through the conductive bump CB and the MOS transistor T. Therefore, by determining whether the readout line RL obtains the common voltage Vcom, it can be determined whether the upper substrate  101   b  of the display panel  101  that is located above the conductive bump CB is pressed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a touch apparatus integrated to a display panel. The touch apparatus includes an upper substrate and a lower substrate. The lower substrate at least includes a first selection line, a first readout line intersected with the first selection line, a first conductive bump, and a second conductive bump. The first conductive bump is disposed at an intersection of the first selection line and the first readout line, and is electrically connected to the first selection line. The second conductive bump is disposed at the intersection of the first selection line and the first readout line, and is electrically connected to the first readout line. The upper substrate at least includes a first conductive layer without potential, which is disposed above the first and the second conductive bumps. When an external force is exerted to the first conductive layer without potential, the first and the second conductive bumps are electrically connected to each other by the first conductive layer without potential. 
     In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a partial schematic diagram illustrating a conventional display panel integrated with a touch panel. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating an upper substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch apparatus  200  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the touch apparatus  200  includes a touch panel  201  and a read mechanism  203 . Wherein, the touch panel  201  is integrated with a display panel, and includes an upper substrate  201   b  (for example, a color filter substrate) and a lower substrate  201   a  (for example, a pixel array substrate). For simplicity&#39;s sake, only two selection lines SL 1  and SL 2  used for sequentially receiving selection signals SS 1  and SS 2 , two readout lines RL 1  and RL 2 , and eight conductive bumps CB 1 -CB 8  are illustrated on an amplified diagram of a region A of the lower substrate  201   a , and one conductive layer with potential CE (for example, an indium-tin oxide layer, which is used for receiving a common voltage) and four conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4  are illustrated on an amplified diagram of the region A of the upper substrate  201   b , wherein the conductive layer with potential CE respectively surrounds the conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4  in the same plane, and is not electrically connected to the conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4 . 
     In the present embodiment, the readout line RL 1  is individually intersected with the selection lines SL 1  and SL 2 , and the readout line RL 2  is also individually intersected with the selection lines SL 1  and SL 2 . The conductive bump CB 1  is disposed at an intersection of the selection line SL 1  and the readout line RL 1 , and is electrically connected to the selection line SL 1 . The conductive bump CB 2  is also disposed at the intersection of the selection line SL 1  and the readout line RL 1 , and is electrically connected to the readout line RL 1 . Similarly, the conductive bump CB 3  is disposed at an intersection of the selection line SL 2  and the readout line RL 1 , and is electrically connected to the selection line SL 2 . The conductive bump CB 4  is also disposed at the intersection of the selection line SL 2  and the readout line RL 1 , and is electrically connected to the readout line RL 1 . 
     The conductive bump CB 5  is disposed at an intersection of the selection line SL 1  and the readout line RL 2 , and is electrically connected to the selection line SL 1 . 
     The conductive bump CB 6  is also disposed at the intersection of the selection line SL 1  and the readout line RL 2 , and is electrically connected to the readout line RL 2 . The conductive bump CB 7  is disposed at an intersection of the selection line SL 2  and the readout line RL 2 , and is electrically connected to the selection line SL 2 . The conductive bump CB 8  is also disposed at the intersection of the selection line SL 2  and the readout line RL 2 , and is electrically connected to the readout line RL 2 . 
     The conductive layer without potential CL 1  is disposed above the conductive bumps CB 1  and CB 2 , and when an external force (for example, by a finger or other medium) is exerted to the conductive layer without potential CL 1 , the conductive bumps CB 1  and CB 2  are electrically connected to each other by the conductive layer without potential CL 1 . Similarly, the conductive layer without potential CL 2  is disposed above the conductive bumps CB 3  and CB 4 , and when the external force is exerted to the conductive layer without potential CL 2 , the conductive bumps CB 3  and CB 4  are electrically connected to each other by the conductive layer without potential CL 2 . 
     The conductive layer without potential CL 3  is disposed above the conductive bumps CB 5  and CB 6 , and when the external force is exerted to the conductive layer without potential CL 3 , the conductive bumps CB 5  and CB 6  are electrically connected to each other by the conductive layer without potential CL 3 . The conductive layer without potential CL 4  is disposed above the conductive bumps CB 7  and CB 8 , and when the external force is exerted to the conductive layer without potential CL 4 , the conductive bumps CB 7  and CB 8  are electrically connected to each other by the conductive layer without potential CL 4 . 
     According to the above description, when the selection line SL 1  receives the selection signal SS 1 , and meanwhile a user presses the conductive layer without potential CL 1  through a finger or other medium, since the conductive bumps CB 1  and CB 2  are electrically connected to each other by the conductive layer without potential CL 1 , the selection signal SS 1  is transmitted to the readout line RL 1 , so that the readout line RL 1  obtains the selection signal SS 1 . Now, if the user does not press the conductive layer without potential CL 3  through the finger or other medium, the readout line RL 2  does not obtain the selection signal SS 1 . Therefore, the read mechanism  203  determines that the user now presses the conductive layer without potential CL 1  through the finger or other medium according to a fact that the readout line RL 1  obtains the selection signal SS 1 . 
     On the other hand, when the selection line SL 1  receives the selection signal SS 1 , and meanwhile the user simultaneously presses the conductive layers without potential CL 1  and CL 3  through the finger or other medium, since the readout lines RL 1  and RL 2  simultaneously obtain the selection signal SS 1 , the read mechanism  203  determines that the user now simultaneously presses the conductive layers without potential CL 1  and CL 3  through the finger or other medium according to a fact that the readout lines RL 1  and RL 2  simultaneously obtain the selection signal SS 1 . Similarly, the read mechanism  203  can also determine whether the user presses the conductive layer without potential CL 3  and/or the conductive layer without potential CL 4  through the finger or other medium according to whether the readout line RL 1  and/or the readout line RL 2  obtain/obtains the selection signal SS 2 , and detailed descriptions thereof are not repeated. 
     In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the conductive layer with potential CE respectively surrounds the conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4  in the same plane, and is not electrically connected to the conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4 , though in another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 3 , an insulation layer IL can be disposed between the conductive layer with potential CE and the conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4  (i.e. the conductive layer with potential CE and the conductive layers without potential CL 1 -CL 4  are not in the same plane), by which the same technical function of the above embodiment can also be achieved, and detailed descriptions thereof are not repeated. 
     Accordingly, two conductive bumps are disposed at the intersection of the selection line and the readout line to electrically connect with the selection line and the readout line, respectively, and a conductive layer without potential is disposed above the two conductive bumps. By such means, once the selection line receives the selection signal, by determining whether the readout line obtains the selection signal, it can be determined whether the conductive layer without potential that is disposed above the two conductive bumps is pressed. Therefore, compared to the conventional technique, the structure of the touch panel of the present invention is quite simple, and a method for detecting a touch operation is also simple. Moreover, since a technique of detecting the touch operation of the present invention is to determine whether the conductive layer without potential is electrically connected to the conductive bumps, almost no power is consumed during the process of detecting the touch operation, so that a power consumption of the applied electronic/touch apparatus can be reduced. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.