Patent Description:
The OLED illumination plate comprises a first surface which is formed to be entirely flat and a second surface which has a center surface and a border surface stepwisely formed around the center surface and a transparent electrode is formed on the stepped surface.

In order to assemble the OLED illumination plate for a lighting module, a power needs to be supplied through a transparent electrode. However, the transparent electrode is formed on a stepped surface and the stepped surface is formed of glass, which may cause difficulty in coupling for stable connection.

Publication <CIT> discloses an organic electroluminescence illumination device which includes an anode flexible printed circuit board. The organic EL illumination device includes four anode terminal electrodes to evenly supply a current to the organic EL element formed in a rectangular shape. The organic EL element is formed on the anode terminal electrodes in a center portion. The anode FPC board covers almost an entire light-emitting surface of the organic EL element. Four anode FPC electrodes are formed respectively in four sides of the anode FPC board. The anode FPC electrodes and the anode terminal electrodes are electrically connected together by a thermo-compression bonding method using an anisotropic conductive film.

<CIT>) entitled "Large-area OLED lighting panel with radiant heat wire and lighting system with low-contact resistance" is a related art. Further exemplary lighting modules are known from <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>.

An object of the present invention is to provide a lighting module using an organic light emitting device which stably combines a printed circuit board for supplying a power with a stepped portion on which an electrode of an OLED illumination is formed.

According to the present invention, an OLED lighting module defined in claim <NUM> is provided.

The OLED lighting module according to the present invention uses a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) and an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) to stably couple a power terminal to the OLED illumination plate.

As a result, it is possible to stabilize a quality of the OLED lighting module and allow mass production.

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of an OLED lighting module according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Various advantages and features of the present invention and accomplishing methods thereof will become apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to exemplary embodiment disclosed herein but will be implemented in various forms. The exemplary embodiment is provided by way of example only so that a person of ordinary skill in the art can fully understand the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will be defined only by the scope of the appended claim.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an OLED illumination plate which is used for an OLED lighting module according to the present invention.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an OLED illumination plate which is a test object of a substrate for a test of an OLED illumination plate according to the present invention.

As illustrated in the drawing, the OLED illumination plate <NUM> comprises a first surface <NUM> which is formed of a flat surface and a second surface <NUM> which is opposite to the first surface <NUM> and comprises a border surface <NUM> which is stepwisely formed at a border of a center surface <NUM>.

An OLED is a device which emits light with a high brightness by low voltage direct current driving by laminating an organic hole transport layer or an organic field emitting layer between a lower electrode and an upper electrode.

The OLED illumination plate <NUM> comprises a transparent electrode (not illustrated) which is formed on the border surface <NUM> and is driven by coupling a power supply to the transparent electrode.

The present invention provides the OLED illumination plate <NUM> and an OLED lighting module in which a connection terminal is coupled to the transparent electrode of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> and provides a structure in which the connection terminal is stably packaged in the transparent electrode.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an FPCB substrate which is used for an OLED lighting module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and <FIG> and <FIG> are cross-sectional views illustrating a combined status of the OLED lighting module according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection terminal is coupled to the transparent electrode using the FPCB substrate and an anisotropic conductive film.

The exemplary embodiment comprises the above-described OLED illumination plate (<NUM> of <FIG>), an FPCB substrate <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>, and a conductive adhesive film <NUM> which couples and electrically conducts the transparent electrode of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> and the connection terminal <NUM> of the FPCB substrate as illustrated in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, the FPCB substrate <NUM> comprises a main substrate portion <NUM> which has a size corresponding to a center surface <NUM> of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> and wing substrate portions <NUM> which are formed to extend in four directions from the main substrate portion <NUM> and comprise the connection terminal <NUM> corresponding to the transparent electrode.

The FPCB substrate <NUM> comprises a power terminal <NUM> which is coupled to a power supply of the main substrate portion <NUM> on a surface opposite to a surface on which the connection terminal <NUM> is formed.

The main substrate portion <NUM> and the wing substrate portions <NUM> are integrally formed but boundaries of the main substrate portion <NUM> and the wing substrate portions <NUM> are represented by one-dot chain lines for the convenience of description.

According to the exemplary embodiment, the FPCB substrate <NUM> is attached onto the first surface <NUM> of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> so that the transparent electrode of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> is coupled to the connection terminal <NUM> of the FPCB substrate <NUM>.

In this case, the transparent electrode of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> and the connection terminal <NUM> of the FPCB substrate <NUM> are adhered and connected to each other by the conductive adhesive film while facing each other.

When the connection terminal <NUM> of the FPCB substrate <NUM> is attached to the transparent electrode so as to face each other as described above, the power terminal <NUM> is disposed on an opposite surface of the attached surface so that the power terminal <NUM> is exposed to the outside (in <FIG> , the power terminal is represented by a dotted line in order to indicate that the power terminal is formed on an opposite surface of the connection terminal. Accordingly, a power line of a power supply (normally, a driving driver) is coupled to the power terminal <NUM>.

The FPCB substrate <NUM> is mounted with a circuit pattern which couples the power terminal <NUM> to the connection terminal <NUM>.

In the meantime, an anisotropic conductive film which provides electrical conduction only in a direction to which a compressive force is applied and provides a binding force by thermal compression may be used for the conductive adhesive film.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the wing substrate portion <NUM> of the FPCB substrate <NUM> may be bent as an L-shape to be attached onto the border surface <NUM> of the OLED illumination plate <NUM>. In order to prevent damage of the stepped border surface <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG>, a reinforcement member <NUM> which has a height similar to the step is formed above the wing substrate portion <NUM> which is attached onto the border surface <NUM>.

The reinforcement member <NUM> may be formed by applying a silicon resin or using a separate injection molding product or a rubber packing.

As illustrated in <FIG>, when the reinforcement member <NUM> is formed on the step portion, the OLED lighting module has a rectangular parallelepiped panel shape which does not entirely have a step and thus a subsequent packaging process is easily performed. Further, even when no additional packaging is used, damage may be prevented and the FPCB substrate may be prevented from being peeled off.

A further OLED lighting module which is not covered by the invention provides a structure in which a flat panel PCB substrate (in order to distinguish from the FPCB, a terminology of a hard PCB substrate is used, but a terminology of a PCB substrate is used in this description) is coupled to a transparent electrode of an OLED light guide plate using a conductive rod which is mounted in the PCB substrate.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view of an OLED lighting module which is not covered by the present invention.

As illustrated in the drawing, a PCB substrate <NUM> has a size corresponding to a first surface <NUM> of an OLED illumination plate <NUM> and comprises a power terminal, which is coupled to a power supply, on one surface thereof and a connection terminal <NUM> in a position corresponding to the transparent electrode on the other surface.

A conductive rod <NUM> is mounted on the connection terminal <NUM>. Depending on an arrangement pattern of the connection terminal <NUM>, one conductive rod <NUM> may be formed on one side or a plurality of divided conductive rods may be formed on one side.

The conductive rod <NUM> has a square column shape and a metal having an excellent conductivity may be used as a material. When considering a production cost, a strength, and a corrosion resistant, a brass rod may be desirably used.

A surface of non-metal rod which is enclosed by a conductive member may be used.

The conductive rod <NUM> may be mounted in the connection terminal <NUM> of the PCB substrate <NUM> by a surface mounting method.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of a combining process of the OLED lighting module shown in <FIG>.

As illustrated in the drawing, a conductive paste <NUM> is applied in a region where the transparent electrode of the OLED illumination plate <NUM> is formed and then the PCB substrate <NUM> in which the conductive rod <NUM> is mounted is attached.

A thickness (t) of the conductive rod <NUM> may correspond to a height (h) of the step of the OLED illumination plate <NUM>.

When the conductive rod <NUM> is mounted in the PCB substrate <NUM> to be attached on the OLED illumination plate <NUM> as described above, the conductive rod <NUM> fills the step so as to protect the border of the OLED lighting module.

The conductive paste <NUM> is required to have a conductivity and a binding force, so that a silver (Ag) paste may be representatively used.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view of a further OLED lighting module not covered by the present invention.

The OLED lighting module shown in <FIG> provides a structure in that a FPCB substrate is formed to have a frame shape corresponding to a border surface so as to be attached only on the border surface except a center surface of an OLED illumination plate. Such a structure provides an excellent radiation effect of the OLED lighting module and has advantages in view of a production cost and light-weight.

As illustrate in the drawing, the OLED lighting module is formed such that a frame shaped FPCB substrate <NUM> is attached to a border surface <NUM> of an OLED illumination plate <NUM> using a conductive adhesive film (not illustrated).

The adhesion structure using the conductive adhesive film is the same as the exemplary embodiment, and thus the redundant description will be omitted.

The frame shaped FPCB substrate <NUM> comprises a power terminal <NUM> which is formed to protrude, on one side. In the case of the frame shaped FPCB substrate <NUM>, the power terminal <NUM> is formed to outwardly protrude so as to be coupled to the power supply.

The frame shaped FPCB substrate <NUM> comprises a connecting FPCB substrate portion <NUM> which has a length corresponding to a length of each side and has a connection terminal and a coupling FPCB substrate portion <NUM> which couples adjacent connecting FPCB substrate portions <NUM> to each other and is formed in an L shape.

The frame shaped FPCB substrate <NUM> comprises a positive electrode pattern which is coupled to a positive power terminal and a negative electrode pattern which is coupled to a negative power terminal. The frame shaped FPCB substrate <NUM> may have an arrangement in which the positive electrode pattern is formed inside and the negative electrode pattern is formed outside and vice versa so that two electrode patterns may be formed inside the frame shape.

Claim 1:
An organic light emitting device, OLED, lighting module, comprising:
an OLED illumination plate (<NUM>) which comprises a first surface (<NUM>) which is formed to be entirely flat, a second surface (<NUM>) which is opposite to the first surface and which has a center surface (<NUM>) and a border surface (<NUM>) stepwisely formed around the center surface (<NUM>), and a transparent electrode which is formed on the stepped surface (<NUM>);
an FPCB substrate (<NUM>) which comprises a main substrate portion (<NUM>) which comprises a power terminal (<NUM>) configured to be electrically connected to a power supply, the power terminal (<NUM>) corresponding to the center surface (<NUM>), and a wing substrate portion (<NUM>) which is formed to extend from the center surface (<NUM>) in four directions and comprises a connection terminal (<NUM>) corresponding to the transparent electrode;
a reinforcement member (<NUM>) which has a height the same as a step formed above the wing substrate portion (<NUM>) which is attached onto the border surface (<NUM>),
a circuit pattern coupling the power terminal (<NUM>) to the connection terminal (<NUM>); and
a conductive adhesive film (<NUM>) which is attached between the stepped surface (<NUM>) and the wing substrate portion (<NUM>) to electrically conduct the transparent electrode and the connection terminal (<NUM>),
wherein the conductive adhesive film (<NUM>) is an anisotropic conductive film which is attached by thermal compression to provide electrical conduction only in a direction to which a pressure is applied.