Patent Description:
With the introduction of full-screen phones, mobile terminal displays can be further enlarged without changing the phone dimensions. To meet the requirement for a high screen-to-body ratio, the bottom bezel of mobile terminal display is removed; therefore the front-facing fingerprint recognition module formerly designed to be located at the bottom bezel cannot be kept at the same place and has to be moved to another place.

In the related art, there are two design schemes for fingerprint recognition module in mobile terminals with a high screen-to-body ratio: scheme <NUM>, the fingerprint recognition module is arranged in the backside or side bezel of the mobile terminal; scheme <NUM>: a fingerprint recognition area is defined on the screen, and the fingerprint recognition module is disposed underneath this fingerprint recognition area, wherein the fingerprint recognition module and the fingerprint recognition area are of the same size.

However, in scheme <NUM>, performing fingerprint recognition at the backside or side bezel of a mobile terminal goes against the principle of ergonomics, causing poor user experience with regard to fingerprint recognition. While in scheme <NUM>, fingerprint recognition can only be done at a fixed area on the screen, which cannot meet the requirement for full-screen fingerprint recognition in a high screen-to-body ratio mobile terminal.

<CIT> relates to a touch display apparatus capable of fingerprint recognition, which includes a display panel, a cover plate, a touch sensing electrode set and a fingerprint recognition electrode set.

<CIT> relates to a fingerprint sensor which includes a conductive layer incorporatable within an electronic display.

<CIT> discloses a liquid crystal display module.

<CIT> provides a method and device for controlling power of an active matrix organic light-emitting diode.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a display module is provided according to claim <NUM>.

Furthermore, a mobile terminal is provided, which includes a display module provided in the first aspect of the present disclosure.

The following briefly describes the accompanying drawings to be used in the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, so as to elaborate the technical solutions more clearly. It is apparent the drawings in the following description are merely a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure. A person of ordinary skill in the art may obtain other drawings based on the drawings of the present disclosure without creative efforts.

The following describes clearly and completely the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is apparent the embodiments in the following description are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure provides a display module and a mobile terminal, to solve the problems in the related art that the requirement for full-screen fingerprint recognition in a high screen-to-body ratio mobile terminal cannot be met and poor user experience is caused.

Hereinafter, the display module and the mobile terminal provided in the present disclosure are explained in details with reference to several specific embodiments.

<FIG> depicts a schematic structural diagram of a display module provided in the present disclosure. The display module includes: a screen cover plate <NUM>, a fingerprint sensitive component <NUM>, and a display component <NUM>; the fingerprint sensitive component <NUM> is arranged between the screen cover plate <NUM> and the display component <NUM>; the fingerprint sensitive component <NUM> includes an optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> which is made of a transparent conductive material, and a sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer includes a plurality of pixels; a sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is attached to a surface of the screen cover plate <NUM>, a attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is attached to a display surface of the display component <NUM>.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the application scenarios of the display component <NUM> of the display module include but are not limited to active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays and thin film transistor (TFT) displays. The largest difference between a TFT display and an AMOLED display is that the latter does not have a backlight panel.

Furthermore, the screen cover plate <NUM> can be made of glass or organic material, and may have a <NUM>. 5D/3D curved edge or a 2D flat edge. The embodiments of the disclosure do not set limits in this regard. The purpose of the screen cover plate <NUM> is to protect the fingerprint sensitive component <NUM> and the display component <NUM>. Meanwhile, the images of the display component <NUM> are visible through the screen cover plate <NUM> as the screen cover plate <NUM> is transparent. In addition, the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is made of a transparent conductive materials with good transmittance; and the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> includes a plurality of pixels arranged according to a preset rule, which are able to receive light and determine an amount of light. Therefore, when a finger is pressed on the screen cover plate <NUM>, the light emitted by the display component <NUM> may impinge on the finger on the screen cover plate <NUM> and be reflected back to the pixels on the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM>.

Specifically, referring to <FIG>, when the display component <NUM> is on, if a finger <NUM> is pressed on the screen cover plate <NUM> and the mobile terminal is performing a fingerprint verification operation, the light emitted by the display component <NUM> passes through the fingerprint sensitive component <NUM> towards the screen cover plate <NUM> in a direction a, and part of the light is reflected by the finger on the screen cover plate <NUM> to the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> in a direction b. A pattern of the fingerprint corresponding to the finger <NUM> is calculated by the fingerprint sensitive component <NUM> based on a difference of the amount of light received by the pixels and a preset amount of light. It should be noted that, to perform the fingerprint identification, the display component <NUM> must be on, i.e., the screen of mobile terminal is activated, otherwise, the screen must be activated before the verification can be performed.

Additionally, <FIG> depicts a schematic structural diagram of the sensitive surface of an optical fingerprint sensitive layer provided in the present disclosure. A pattern of the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is made of a transparent conductive material, such as an indium-tin-oxide material, and a manufacture principle thereof is similar to that of pixels in a display screen, i.e., a plurality of pixels <NUM> are manufactured on the entire sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> and each pixel <NUM> is used to collect the light at a corresponding position. The pattern design may not be confined to that in <FIG>, but suits the actual needs of applications. When a fingerprint verification is performed on the mobile terminal, part of the light is reflected towards the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> by the screen cover plate <NUM>. When no finger is pressed on a surface of the screen cover plate <NUM>, the amount of light received by each pixel <NUM> on the sensitive surface is the same, which equals the preset amount of light. When a finger is pressed on the surface of the screen cover plate <NUM>, the light is refracted by the uneven ridges and valleys on the surface of the finger at different angles and reflected back at different intensities, the pixels <NUM> on the sensitive surface sense the variations of amount of light impinging on the corresponding positions, thus capturing the pattern of the fingerprint.

In summary, some embodiments in the present disclosure provide a display module, including: a screen cover plate, a fingerprint sensitive component, and a display component; the fingerprint sensitive component is arranged between the screen cover plate and the display component; the fingerprint sensitive component includes an optical fingerprint sensitive layer made of a transparent conductive material, and a sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer includes a plurality of pixels; the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer is attached to a surface of the screen cover plate, the attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer is attached to the display surface of the display component. When the display component is on, the light emitted by the display component passes through the fingerprint sensitive component towards the screen cover plate, part of the light is reflected to the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer by a finger pressed on the screen cover plate. The fingerprint sensitive component derives the pattern of fingerprint by calculating based on a difference of the amount of light received by the pixels and a preset amount of light, therefore the requirement for full screen fingerprint identification on high screen-to-body ratio mobile terminal is met and user experience is improved.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a fingerprint identification solution for a display module applied to an AMOLED display. Referring <FIG>, the display component <NUM> includes: a first polarizer <NUM>, an upper glass <NUM> and a lower glass <NUM>. A surface of the first polarizer <NUM> is attached to the attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM>, the other surface of the first polarizer <NUM> is attached to a surface of the upper glass <NUM>, the other surface of the upper glass <NUM> is attached to a surface of the lower glass <NUM>, the upper glass <NUM> is used to protect the lower glass <NUM>.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first polarizer <NUM> is a type of polarizer, which is configured to filter natural light outside the mobile terminal to prevent the natural light from getting into the display component <NUM> to cause light interference that affects the operation of AMOLED displays. In addition, the upper glass <NUM> is made of encapsulation (ENCAP) glass and serves to protect the lower glass <NUM>. The lower glass <NUM> is used to emit light and display images.

A conductive circuit and a light-emitting layer are electroplated on a surface of the lower glass <NUM>. The conductive circuit is connected to the light-emitting layer. When the conductive circuit is turned on, the light-emitting layer emits light at the screen cover plate <NUM>. A very thin conductive circuit and a light-emitting layer are electroplated on the surface of the lower glass <NUM> facing the upper glass <NUM>. The light-emitting layer is made of an organic small-molecule material, and may emit light when powered to serve as a display light source.

Referring to <FIG>, the display component <NUM> further includes a pre-pressed foam <NUM> which is arranged on the other surface of the lower glass <NUM>. The pre-pressed foam <NUM> is made of an elastic buffer material with good cushioning effect, so as to protect the other surface of the lower glass <NUM> and prevent it from being damaged under external force.

Optionally, some embodiments, not forming part of the present invention, of the present disclosure provide a fingerprint identification solution for a display module applied to a TFT display. Referring to <FIG>, the display component <NUM> includes a second polarizer <NUM>, a color-filtering glass <NUM>, a liquid crystal <NUM>, a TFT glass <NUM>, a third polarizer <NUM> and a backlight panel <NUM>. The TFT glass <NUM> is configured to carry the liquid crystal <NUM>; a surface of the second polarizer <NUM> is attached to the attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM>, the other surface of the second polarizer <NUM> is attached to a surface of the color-filtering glass <NUM>, the other surface of the color-filtering glass <NUM> is attached to a surface of the TFT glass <NUM>, the other surface of the TFT glass <NUM> is attached to a surface of the third polarizer <NUM>, the other surface of the third polarizer <NUM> is attached to a light-emitting surface of the backlight panel <NUM>.

The TFT glass <NUM> may include a plurality of TFTs, and each TFT is configured to carry part of the liquid crystal <NUM>, such that each pixel of the liquid crystal <NUM> is driven by the TFT integrated behind the pixel. Therefore a TFT display is also a type of active matrix liquid crystal display device. The color-filtering glass <NUM> may provide three primary colors of red, green and blue and filter other colors to enable the rendition of different colors. The backlight panel <NUM> is configured to provide backlight and serve as the light source of the display component <NUM>.

The polarization direction of the second polarizer <NUM> is perpendicular to that of the third polarizer <NUM>. The third polarizer <NUM> is configured to rotate the polarization direction of the light emitted by the backlight plate <NUM> by <NUM> degrees. Having passed through the liquid crystal <NUM> in the TFT glass <NUM>, the polarized light undergoes further changes in polarization direction. Then the polarization direction of the light is further rotated by <NUM> degrees by means of the second polarizer <NUM>, thereby converting the natural light emitted by the backlight plate <NUM> into polarized light for display.

Optionally, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the fingerprint sensitive component further includes: a flexible circuit board <NUM> and an optical fingerprint integrated circuit (IC) <NUM>; an end of the flexible circuit board <NUM> is connected to the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM>, the other end of the flexible circuit board <NUM> is connected to the optical fingerprint integrated circuit <NUM>.

In some embodiments, not forming part of the present disclosure, the flexible circuit board <NUM> is configured to transmit the fingerprint data collected by the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM>, while the optical fingerprint integrated circuit <NUM> is configured to process and match the fingerprint data, to determine whether the fingerprint data match with that in a preset fingerprint database.

Optionally, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the display module further includes: a photoresist layer <NUM> arranged between the attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> and the display surface of the display component <NUM>. The photoresist is an adhesive with good light transmittance and used to bond the fingerprint sensitive component <NUM> and the display component <NUM>.

Optionally, the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is made of transparent indium tin oxide (ITO). In chemistry, the indium tin oxide is a nanoscale metal oxide of indium and tin. The indium tin oxide has good conductivity and transparency, and can block harmful electron radiation, ultraviolet rays and far infrared rays. Therefore, ITO is usually sprayed on glass, plastic and electronic display screens to serve as a transparent conductive film while reducing the harmful electron radiation. Since the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is made of transparent ITO, the conductivity of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> can be guaranteed, and the light transmittance of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer <NUM> is improved.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a mobile terminal including the display module in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The mobile terminal may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, or a tablet computer.

Claim 1:
A display module applied to a mobile terminal, comprising:
a screen cover plate (<NUM>), a fingerprint sensitive component (<NUM>) and a display component (<NUM>); wherein,
the fingerprint sensitive component (<NUM>) is arranged between the screen cover plate (<NUM>) and the display component (<NUM>);
the fingerprint sensitive component (<NUM>) comprises an optical fingerprint sensitive layer (<NUM>) made of a transparent conductive material, and a sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer (<NUM>) comprises a plurality of pixels;
the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer (<NUM>) is attached to a surface of the screen cover plate (<NUM>), and a attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer (<NUM>) is attached to a display surface of the display component (<NUM>);
when the display component (<NUM>) is on, light emitted by the display component (<NUM>) passes through the fingerprint sensitive component (<NUM>) towards the screen cover plate (<NUM>), part of the light is reflected to the sensitive surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer (<NUM>) by a finger (<NUM>) pressed on the screen cover plate (<NUM>), and a pattern of a fingerprint is obtained according to an amount of light received by the pixels;
characterized in that the display component (<NUM>) comprises:
a first polarizer (<NUM>), an upper glass (<NUM>) and a lower glass (<NUM>),
a surface of the first polarizer (<NUM>) is attached to the attaching surface of the optical fingerprint sensitive layer (<NUM>), an other surface of the first polarizer (<NUM>) is attached to a surface of the upper glass (<NUM>), and an other surface of the upper glass (<NUM>) is attached to a surface of the lower glass (<NUM>);
wherein
the surface of the lower glass (<NUM>) is electroplated with a conductive circuit and a light-emitting layer;
the conductive circuit is connected to the light-emitting layer;
wherein the display component (<NUM>) further comprises:
a pre-pressed foam (<NUM>) arranged on an other surface of the lower glass (<NUM>).