Patent Publication Number: US-2015070827-A1

Title: Touch display module

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 102132258, filed on Sep. 6, 2013. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a display module, more particularly, to a touch display module. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     As information technology, wireless mobile communication and information appliances have been rapidly developed and applied, to achieve more convenience, more compact and light volume and more user-friendly designs, various information products have changed from using conventional input devices such as key boards or mice to using touch devices. Due to the interface user-friendly advantage, touch panels have been widely applied in various electronic products, especially in mobile electronic products such as mobile phones, tablet computers. Based on differences in the sensing principles, the touch panels can be categorized into resistive touch panels, capacitive touch panels and optical touch panels. Among them, the capacitive touch panels now have become the mainstream of touch panels as they are characterized by better a sensing effect. 
     Typically, a touch display module includes a display unit and a touch unit. The display unit is fixed on a frame, and the frame surrounds the display unit. The touch unit is adhered and fixed to the display unit to form a touch display module using an adhesive material, such as double-sided adhesive tape or the like, and then the touch display module is fixed to a casing. Nevertheless, the assembly process is complicated and leads to defects, such as the increase of assembly tolerance and assembly offset. 
     Taiwan patent publication, No. 201037396, discloses a touch-control display device, which utilizes a two-piece frame to fix the display unit and the touch unit respectively, and the frame has an inner frame to fix the display module and an outer frame to fix the touch unit. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention provides a touch display module capable of decreasing an assembly tolerance between a display unit and a touch unit to reduce an offset amount of the assembly. 
     The invention provides a touch display module, suitable for being assembled to a back cover of an electronic apparatus. The touch display module includes a frame, a display unit and a touch unit. The frame has a first supporting surface and a second supporting surface and is disposed on the back cover. The display unit is supported on the second supporting surface. The touch unit is supported on the first supporting surface and adhered to the display unit and the first supporting surface. The display unit is held between the second supporting surface and the touch unit. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the frame includes a first supporting portion and a second supporting portion. The first supporting portion has a accommodating slot, and the first supporting surface is located on the first supporting portion, and the display unit is located in the accommodating slot. The second supporting portion is connected with the first supporting portion and located in the accommodating slot. The second supporting surface is located on the second supporting portion. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the second supporting portion includes an opening and is held between the display unit and the back cover, such that the opening forms a buffer space. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the frame further includes reinforcing ribs and fixing portions. The reinforcing ribs are connected to a side surface of the first supporting portion. The fixing portions are connected to the side surface of the first supporting portion. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the fixing portions further includes at least one frame locking portion and at least one frame fastening portion. The frame locking portion extends from the side surface of the first supporting portion and is suitable for being locked with at least one back cover locking portion of the back cover. The frame fastening portion extends from the side surface of the first supporting portion. The touch display module is suitable for being fastened onto the back cover using the frame fastening portion. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the frame further has an extension portion extending from the first supporting portion and structurally locked with the back cover. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the touch unit has a touch surface, the extension portion has a frame surface, and the touch surface is flush with the frame surface. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the touch display module further includes a decorative sheet attached to the touch surface and the frame surface. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the touch display module further includes an adhesive layer disposed on the touch unit. The touch unit is adhered to the first supporting surface and the display unit using the adhesive layer. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the display unit includes a display panel and a backlight module. The display panel is adhered to the touch unit, and the backlight module is assembled to the display panel and supported on the second supporting surface. 
     In an embodiment of the invention, the electronic apparatus includes a first body and a second body pivoted to the first body. The second body includes the back cover and the touch display module. The touch display module includes the frame, the display unit and the touch unit. 
     Based on the above, in the invention, the display unit and the touch unit of the touch display module can be fixed with each other by the frame. The display unit is supported on the second supporting surface of the frame, the touch unit is supported on the first supporting surface of the frame, and the touch unit is adhered to the display unit and to the first supporting surface, such that during an assembly process of the touch display module of the invention, tolerance accumulation can be decreased so as to reduce an offset amount of the assembly. 
     In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, several 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. 1A  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 1B  is a partially cross-sectional diagram of the touch display module depicted in  FIG. 1A  along line A-A. 
         FIG. 1C  is a partially enlarged diagram illustrating the region surrounded by a dotted line in  FIG. 1B  with the front bezel and the decorative sheet being removed. 
         FIG. 2A  is a schematic diagram illustrating the touch display module of  FIG. 1A  disposed on the back cover. 
         FIG. 2B  is a partially enlarged diagram illustrating the region surrounded by a dotted line in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3A  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to the electronic apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3B  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to the electronic apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3C  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to the electronic apparatus according to still another embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 1B  is a partially cross-sectional diagram of the touch display module depicted in  FIG. 1A  along line A-A.  FIG. 1C  is a partially enlarged diagram illustrating the region surrounded by a dotted line in  FIG. 1B  with the front bezel and the decorative sheet being removed. With reference to  FIG. 1A  through  FIG. 1C , an electronic apparatus  10  applied with a touch display module  100  of the present embodiment includes a first body  12  and a second body  14 . The second body  14  is movably connected (e.g., pivoted) to the first body  12 . The second body  14  includes a back cover  14   a  and a front bezel  14   b . The touch display module  100  is assembled to the back cover  14   a  and surrounded by the front bezel  14   b . The touch display module  100  includes a frame  110 , a display unit  120  and a touch unit  130 . The frame  110  is disposed on the back cover  14   a . The display unit  120  is supported on the frame  110 . The touch unit  130  is also supported on the frame  110  and adhered to the display unit  120  and the first supporting surface  112 . The display unit  120  is held between the second supporting surface  114  and the touch unit  130 . 
     In the present embodiment, the frame  110  has a first supporting surface  112  and a second supporting surface  114 . The display unit  120  is supported on the second supporting surface  114 . The touch unit  130  is supported on first supporting surface  112  and also adhered to the display unit  120  and the first supporting surface  112 . The aforementioned adhering manner is, for example, disposing an adhesive layer  140  on the touch unit  130 , such that the touch unit  130  is adhered to the first supporting surface  112  and the display unit  120  using the adhesive layer  140 . It should be noticed that the display unit  120  and the touch unit  130  may be adhere to each other and assembled to the same frame  110 , such that tolerance accumulation of the touch display module  100  during the assembly process may be decreased to reduce an offset amount of the assembly. 
     The frame  110  includes a first supporting portion  111  and a second supporting portion  113 . The first supporting portion  111  has an accommodating slot  111 - 1 , the first supporting surface  112  is located on the first supporting portion  111 , and the display unit  120  is located in the accommodating slot  111 - 1  and surrounded by the first supporting portion  111 . The second supporting portion  113  is connected with the first supporting portion  111  and located in the accommodating slot  111 - 1 . The second supporting surface  114  is located on the second supporting portion  113 . When the touch display module  100  is assembled to the back cover  14   a , the second supporting portion  113  contacts the back cover  14   a . In the present embodiment, the second supporting portion  113  includes an opening  113 - 1  and is held between the display unit  120  and the back cover  14   a , such that the opening  113 - 1  forms a buffer space S. When the back cover  14   a  of the electronic apparatus  10  is subjected to a force from the external, the buffer space S is capable of absorbing impact from the external so as to prevent the display unit  120  from being directly affected by the external force. 
     In the present embodiment, the touch display module  100  further includes a decorative sheet  150 . The decorative sheet  150  is attached onto the touch unit  130  and the front bezel  14   b  and covers a gap G between the touch unit  130  and the front bezel  14   b  so as to maintain an aesthetic appearance. To be more specific, the touch unit  130  has a touch surface  130 - 1 , the front bezel  14   b  has a front bezel surface  14   b - 1 , and the touch surface  130 - 1  is flush with the front bezel surface  14   b - 1 . The decorative sheet  150  is attached to the touch surface  130 - 1  and the front bezel surface  14   b - 1 . Additionally, the decorative sheet  150  may have different appearance designs according to design demands, but the invention is not limited thereto. 
       FIG. 2A  is a schematic diagram illustrating the touch display module of  FIG. 1A  disposed on the back cover.  FIG. 2B  is a partially enlarged diagram illustrating the region surrounded by a dotted line in  FIG. 2A . With reference to  FIG. 1A ,  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , in the present embodiment, the frame  110  may further include a plurality of reinforcing ribs  115  and a plurality of fixing portions  116 . The reinforcing ribs  115  are connected to a side surface  111 - 2  of the first supporting portion  111 . The fixing portions  116  are connected to a side surface  111 - 2  of the first supporting portion  111 . 
     When the touch display module  100  is applied to an electronic apparatus  10 , such as a notebook computer (NB), the first body  12  is, for example, an NB host including a keyboard  12   a , and the second body  14  is a display screen of the NB. The electronic apparatus  10  further includes a hinge  16  connected between the first body  12  and the second body  14 . When a user applies a force on the second body  14  relatively to the first body  12 , with the disposition of the hinge  16 , the second body  14  is capable of being opened or closed relatively to the first body  12 . When the user rotates the second body  14  relatively to the first body  12  for operation, the touch display module  100  is easily subjected to the external force and deformed. 
     For preventing the touch display module  100  from being deformed easily due to the external force, in the conventional art, a reinforcing element is disposed below the frame  110 , or the hinge  16  is extended to a place below the frame  110  to reinforce rigidity of the frame  110 . However, comparing with the conventional art, the frame  110  of the present embodiment may improve the rigidity of the frame  110  with the reinforcing ribs  115  protruding from the frame  110 . Thus, the touch display module  100  of the present embodiment does not need to the reinforcing element additionally disposed to the frame  110  like the conventional art does and thus, can lower down production cost. 
     In the present embodiment, the touch display module  100  is capable of being fixed onto the back cover  14   a  of the second body  14  using the fixing portions  116 . The fixing portions  116  may include one or more frame locking portions  116 - 1  (which are illustrated as two in  FIG. 2A ) and one or more frame fastening portions  116 - 2  (which are illustrated as four in  FIG. 2A ). The frame locking portions  116 - 1  extend from the side surface  111 - 2  of the first supporting portions  111  and are suitable for being locked with at least one back cover locking portion  14   a - 1  (illustrated in  FIG. 2B ) of the back cover  14   a . The frame fastening portions  116 - 2  extend from the side surface  111 - 2  of the first supporting portions  111 , such that the frame  110  is suitable for being fastened to at least one back cover fastening portion  14   a - 2  (illustrated in  FIG. 2B ) of the back cover  14   a  using the frame fastening portion  116 - 2 . When the touch display module  100  is assembled to the back cover  14   a , the frame locking portion  116 - 1  is locked with the back cover locking portion  14   a - 1 . The frame fastening portion  116 - 2  and the back cover fastening portion  14   a - 2  are flush with each other and fastened to each other using a locking element (e.g., a screw) so as to fix the frame  110  onto the back cover  14   a.    
     A material of the frame  110  is, for example, plastic, and the reinforcing ribs  115  and the fixing portions  116  (i.e., the frame locking portions  116 - 1  and the frame fastening portions  116 - 2 ) of the frame  110  may be fabricated together with the frame  110  by using a plastic injection molding method. Additionally, the frame  110  may also be made of a metal material, such as stainless steel formed by stamping or magnesium aluminum material formed by casting, but the invention is not limited thereto. 
       FIG. 3A  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to the electronic apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention. With reference to  FIG. 3A , in the present embodiment, a touch display module  100   a  is assembled to the back cover  14   a  of the electronic apparatus  10 . Likewise, the touch unit  130  is supported on a first supporting surface  112   a  of the frame  110   a  of the touch display module  100   a  and adhered to the display unit  120  and the first supporting surface  112  using the adhesive layer  140 . The display unit  120  is supported in the second supporting surface  114   a  of the frame  110   a . Differing from the above embodiment, the frame  110   a  of the touch display module  100   a  illustrated in  FIG. 3A  further has an extension portion  117  extending from a first supporting portion  111   a  and structurally locked with the back cover  14   a . Thereby, the frame  110   a  is capable of supporting the display unit  120  and the touch unit  130 , and the extension portion  117  of the frame  110   a  may further substitute for the front bezel (e.g., the front bezel  14   b  illustrated in  FIG. 1B ) and serve as an appearance element. Additionally, the touch unit  130  has a touch surface  130 - 1 , the extension portion  117   a  of the frame  110   b  has a frame surface  117   a - 1 , and the touch surface  130 - 1  is flush with the frame surface  117   a - 1 . 
       FIG. 3B  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to the electronic apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the invention. With reference to  FIG. 3B , in the present embodiment, a touch display module  100   b  is assembled to the back cover  14   a  of the electronic apparatus  10 . A first supporting portion  111  of a frame  110   b  of the touch display module  100   b  likewise has an extension portion  117   b  substituting for the front bezel (e.g., the front bezel  14   b  illustrated in  FIG. 1B ) and serve as an appearance element. Differing from the touch display module  100   a  illustrated in  FIG. 3A , the touch display module  100   b  of the present embodiment further includes a decorative sheet  150   b  attached onto the touch unit  130  and the frame  110   b . To be more specific, the touch unit  130  has a touch surface  130 - 1 , the extension portion  117   b  of the frame  110   b  has a frame surface  117   b - 1 , the touch surface  130 - 1  is flush with the frame surface  117   b - 1 , and the decorative sheet  150   b  is attached to the touch surface  130 - 1  and the frame surface  117   b - 1 . In the present embodiment, the decorative sheet  150   b  is capable of covering a gap G between the touch unit  130  and the frame  110   b  to maintain an aesthetic appearance. Additionally, the decorative sheet  150   b  may have different appearance designs according to design demands, but the invention is not limited thereto. Additionally, in the embodiments illustrated in  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B , the structural designs of the frames  110   a  and  110   b  are similar to that of the frame  110 , and will not be repeatedly described hereinafter. 
       FIG. 3C  is a schematic diagram of a touch display module applied to the electronic apparatus according to still another embodiment of the invention. With reference to  FIG. 3C , in the present embodiment, a touch display module  100   c  is assembled to the back cover  14   a  of the electronic apparatus  10 . A frame  110   c  of the touch display module  100   c  likewise has a first supporting surface  112   c  for supporting the touch unit  130  and a second supporting surface  114   c  for supporting the display unit  120   c . The display unit  120   c  includes a display panel  122   c  and a backlight module  124   c . The display panel  122   c  is adhered to the touch unit  130  using the adhesive layer  140 . The backlight module  124   c  is assembled to the display panel  122   c  and supported on the second supporting surface  114   c . In the present embodiment, the frame  110   c  may be made of a metal material to have better rigidity, while the backlight module  124   c  includes elements, such as a light-guiding plate, an optical film set, a light source and so on. Thus, the backlight module  124   c  of the display unit  120   c  may be directly disposed in the frame  110   c , and only an inner frame  126   c  requires to be disposed in the backlight module  124   c  to support the display panel  122   c , wherein the inner frame  126   c  may be made of a plastic material. The display panel  122   c , the backlight module  124   c  and the inner frame  126   c  may be entirely surrounded by the frame  110   c , such that the backlight module  124   c  does not have to be additionally disposed with a frame body, and the production cost can be reduced. 
     To sum up, in the electronic apparatus of the invention, the display unit and the touch unit of the touch display module can be fixed together by a single frame. The display unit is supported on the second supporting surface of the frame, the touch unit is supported on first supporting surface, and the touch unit, the display unit and the first supporting surface are adhered to one another, such that tolerance accumulation of the of the touch display module of the invention during the assembly process can be decreased to reduce an offset amount of the assembly. The frame of the touch display module can be disposed with the reinforcing ribs according design demands to advance the frame strength, and thereby, the electronic apparatus does not any additional reinforcing element to improve the rigidity of the touch display module. Additionally, the frame can be further extended to the outer of the electronic apparatus to serve as the appearance element, and thus, the electronic apparatus does not need to be disposed with any front bezel. Moreover, when the frame is made of a metal material, the backlight module of the display unit may be further directly disposed inside the frame, and therefore, the frames required for supporting backlight module which are typically disposed in the display unit in the conventional art are no longer required. 
     Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.