U.S. patent application number 17/721381 was filed with the patent office on 2022-08-04 for electronic device.
This patent application is currently assigned to InnoLux Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is InnoLux Corporation. Invention is credited to Chang-Chiang Cheng, Huai-Ping Huang, Chih-Lung Lin.
Application Number | 20220244601 17/721381 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-08-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220244601 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang; Huai-Ping ; et
al. |
August 4, 2022 |
Electronic Device
Abstract
The present disclosure provides an electronic device, and the
electronic device includes a touch sensing element including a
plurality of touch sensing electrodes, a fingerprint sensing
element overlapped with the plurality of touch sensing electrodes,
and a plurality of pixels. A portion of the plurality of touch
sensing electrodes is not overlapped with the fingerprint sensing
element. The plurality of pixels includes a first sub-pixel, a
second sub-pixel, and a third sub-pixel configured to display a red
light, a green light, and a blue light respectively, wherein the
fingerprint sensing element overlaps at least two of the plurality
of pixels.
Inventors: |
Huang; Huai-Ping; (Miao-Li
County, TW) ; Lin; Chih-Lung; (Miao-Li County,
TW) ; Cheng; Chang-Chiang; (Miao-Li County,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
InnoLux Corporation |
Miao-Li County |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
InnoLux Corporation
Miao-Li County
TW
|
Appl. No.: |
17/721381 |
Filed: |
April 15, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16932821 |
Jul 19, 2020 |
11333936 |
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17721381 |
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International
Class: |
G02F 1/1343 20060101
G02F001/1343; G02F 1/1335 20060101 G02F001/1335; G06F 3/044
20060101 G06F003/044; G02F 1/1333 20060101 G02F001/1333; G06V 40/13
20060101 G06V040/13 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 14, 2019 |
CN |
201910750815.4 |
Claims
1. An electronic device, comprising: a touch sensing element
comprising a plurality of touch sensing electrodes; a fingerprint
sensing element, overlapped with the plurality of touch sensing
electrodes, wherein a portion of the plurality of touch sensing
electrodes is not overlapped with the fingerprint sensing element;
and a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels comprising a
first sub-pixel, a second sub-pixel, and a third sub-pixel
configured to display a red light, a green light, and a blue light
respectively, wherein the fingerprint sensing element overlaps at
least two of the plurality of pixels.
2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the fingerprint
sensing element comprises an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.
3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the fingerprint
sensing element comprises a plurality of bottom electrode
layers.
4. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a
self-light-emitting medium layer, and the self-light-emitting
medium layer is overlapped with the touch sensing element.
5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the
self-light-emitting medium layer comprises an organic
light-emitting diode or an inorganic light-emitting diode.
6. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the electronic device
comprises a foldable electronic device or a flexible electronic
device.
7. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising: a blocking
layer disposed on the fingerprint sensing element.
8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the blocking layer
comprises a black matrix layer.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S.
application Ser. No. 16/932,821, filed on Jul. 19, 2020. The
content of the application is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
1. Field of the Disclosure
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to an electronic
device and more particularly, to an electronic device having a
fingerprint sensing function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
[0003] Generally, fingerprint sensing can be utilized for personal
identification, and therefore, with the development of electronic
devices, the fingerprint sensing function is also integrated in
various electronic devices and widely used. However, it is still an
important issue for the industry to determine the positions of the
fingerprint sensing electrodes on the electronic devices.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0004] The present disclosure provides an electronic device. The
electronic device includes a touch sensing element including a
plurality of touch sensing electrodes, a fingerprint sensing
element overlapped with the plurality of touch sensing electrodes,
and a plurality of pixels. A portion of the plurality of touch
sensing electrodes is not overlapped with the fingerprint sensing
element. The plurality of pixels includes a first sub-pixel, a
second sub-pixel, and a third sub-pixel configured to display a red
light, a green light, and a blue light respectively, wherein the
fingerprint sensing element overlaps at least two of the plurality
of pixels.
[0005] These and other objectives of the present disclosure will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the embodiment that
is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic
device according to a first embodiment of the present
disclosure.
[0007] FIG. 2 to FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating an
electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present
disclosure; in which:
[0008] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the electronic device
and a top view of some elements of the electronic device; and
[0009] FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of fingerprint sensing element
in the electronic device.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic
device according to a third embodiment of the present
disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the graphic
recognition function of an electronic device according to the
present disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 6 is another schematic diagram illustrating the graphic
recognition function of an electronic device according to the
present disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 7 to FIG. 9 are schematic diagrams illustrating an
electronic device according to other embodiments of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] The present disclosure may be understood by reference to the
following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the
drawings as described below. For purposes of illustrative clarity
understood, various drawings of this disclosure show a portion of
the electronic device, and certain elements in various drawings may
not be drawn to scale. In addition, the number and dimension of
each device shown in drawings are only illustrative and are not
intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
[0015] Certain terms are used throughout the description and
following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled
in the art will understand, electronic equipment manufacturers may
refer to a component with the same functions by different names. In
the following description and in the claims, the terms "include",
"comprise" and "have" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus
should be interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to".
[0016] It may be also understood that when an element or layer is
referred to as being "on" or "connected to" another element or
layer, it can be directly on or directly connected to the other
element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be
presented. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being
"directly on" or "directly connected to" another element or layer,
there are no intervening elements or layers presented.
[0017] Although terms such as first, second, third, etc., maybe
used to describe diverse constituent elements, such constituent
elements are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only to
discriminate a constituent element from other constituent elements
in the specification. The claims may not use the same terms, but
instead may use the terms first, second, third, etc. with respect
to the order in which an element is claimed. Accordingly, in the
following description, a first constituent element may be a second
constituent element in a claim.
[0018] The technical features in different embodiments described in
the following can be replaced, recombined, or mixed with one
another to constitute another embodiment without departing from the
spirit of the present disclosure.
[0019] Please refers to FIG. 1, which illustrating an electronic
device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure,
wherein the left side of FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view
of the electronic device 100, and the right side of FIG. 1
illustrates a top view of a portion of touch sensing electrodes 171
and a portion of fingerprint sensing electrodes 191 in the
electronic device 100. Firstly, as shown in the left side of FIG.
1, the electronic device 100 includes a first substrate 110, a
second substrate 130, and touch sensing elements 170 and
fingerprint sensing elements 190 disposed respectively on the first
substrate 110 and the second substrate 130. The first substrate 110
and the second substrate 130 may respectively include, for example,
a rigid substrate or a flexible substrate, wherein the material
thereof may include, for example, glass, quartz, sapphire,
polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate
(PC), Polyether sulfones (PES), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT),
polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyarylate (PAR), other suitable
materials or a combination thereof, but is not limited thereto.
[0020] The electronic device 100 of the present embodiment is
described in detail by using a liquid crystal display device as an
example, and the electronic device of the present disclosure is not
limited thereto. Specifically speaking, the first substrate 110 and
the second substrate 130 are disposed opposite to each other, and
the first substrate 110 and the second substrate 130 are
respectively configured as an array substrate having an array
circuit formed thereon and an opposite substrate. In one
embodiment, the second substrate 130 may include a color filter
disposed thereon to form a color filter substrate, but is not
limited thereto. In some embodiments, the array circuit and the
color filter may be formed on the same substrate. The first
substrate 110 includes an inner side 111 and an outer side 113
opposite to each other, the second substrate 130 also includes an
inner side 131 and an outer side 133 opposite to each other, and
the inner side 111 of the first substrate 110 faces (or close to)
the inner side 131 of the second substrate 130, wherein a medium.
layer 120 is disposed between the inner side 111 of the first
substrate 110 and the inner side 131 of the second substrate 130.
In the present embodiment, the medium layer 120 may include a
liquid crystal layer, but the present disclosure is not limited
thereto. On the other hand, a bottom polarizer 115 and a top
polarizer 135 are respectively disposed on the outer side 113 of
the first substrate 110 and outer side 133 of the second substrate
130, to adjust the polarization of lights that finally emitted from
the electronic device 100. In the present embodiment, the back
light 150 may be a self-light-emitting module, such as an organic
light-emitting diode (OLED) or an inorganic light-emitting diode
(LED). The inorganic light-emitting diode may be, for example, a
micro light-emitting diode (micro-LED), a mini light-emitting diode
(mini-LED) or a quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED/DQLED), but
not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the back light 150 may
also include cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), fluorescence
material, phosphor, quantum dot (QD), other suitable materials or
any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the electronic device
100 may include the medium layer 120 capable of
self-light-emitting, such as an organic light-emitting diode or an
inorganic light-emitting diode, wherein the inorganic
light-emitting diode may be, for example, a micro light-emitting
diode, a mini light-emitting diode or a quantum dot light-emitting
diode, but not limited thereto. It is noted that, while the
electronic device 100 includes the medium layer 120 capable of
self-light-emitting, the back light 150 and/or the bottom polarizer
115 may be omitted.
[0021] In the present embodiment, an array circuit may be disposed
on the first substrate 110, and the touch sensing elements 170 may
be integrated into the array circuit, for example, the touch
sensing elements 170 are disposed at the inner side 111 of the
first substrate 110, and between the first substrate 110 and the
medium layer 120, but the present disclosure is not limited
thereto. In the present embodiment, the touch sensing electrodes
171 of the touch sensing elements 170 may be patterned by using a
patterning process to form a plurality of touch sensing electrodes
171 as shown in the right side of FIG. 1. The touch sensing
electrodes 171 are disposed with an interval to form an array
arrangement, and it can be used to distinguish and to receive touch
sensing signals from different positions. In the present
embodiment, the touch sensing electrodes 171 may respectively
include the same dimension and shape, as shown in the right side of
FIG. 1. However, people skilled in the art should understand the
shape, the dimension and the arrangement of the touch sensing
electrodes 171 as shown FIG. 1 are only for examples, and the
practical shape, dimensions and arrangement of the touch sensing
electrodes 171 may be adjusted according to practical requirements
and are not limited thereto. The fingerprint sensing elements 190
are disposed on the touch sensing elements 170, for example, the
fingerprint sensing elements 190 are disposed on the outer side 133
of the second substrate 130, between the top polarizer 135 and the
second substrate 130. One of the fingerprint sensing elements 190
includes a fingerprint sensing electrode 191, and the plurality of
the fingerprint sensing electrodes 191 of the electronic device 100
at least partially overlap the plurality of touch sensing
electrodes 171 underneath. In other words, at least a portion of
the touch sensing electrodes 171 are not overlapped with the
fingerprint sensing electrodes 191. Specifically, one of the touch
sensing electrodes 171 may be partially overlapped with two or more
fingerprint sensing electrodes 191, and another portion of the same
touch sensing electrode is not overlapped with the fingerprint
sensing electrodes 191. In the present embodiment, the fingerprint
sensing electrodes 191 may be disposed with an interval in a top
view of the electronic device 100, to overlap a portion of the
touch sensing electrodes 171, and another portion of the touch
sensing electrodes 171 is not overlapped with the fingerprint
sensing electrodes 191. In the present embodiment, the overlapped
portion of one touch sensing electrode 171 and the fingerprint
sensing electrodes 191 is about 10% to 70% of the area of the touch
sensing electrode 171 (10% area ratio of the overlapped portion
70%), or about 33% to 55% of the area of the touch sensing
electrode 171 (33% area ratio of the overlapped portion 55%).
However, the area ratio is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1, and
it may include other area ratios according to practical
requirements. Also, the materials of the touch sensing electrodes
171 and the fingerprint sensing electrodes 191 may be optionally
the same as or different from each other. For example, the touch
sensing electrode 171 and the fingerprint sensing electrode 191 may
include conductive materials, such as a conductive material with
good light transmission, like indium tin oxide (ITO), or other
metal materials with better conductivity, but not limited thereto.
If the fingerprint sensing electrodes 191 completely overlap the
touch sensing electrodes 171, the fingerprint sensing electrodes
191 may shield the touch sensing signals of the touch sensing
electrodes 171, thereby affecting the touch sensing function of the
touch sensing element 170.
[0022] The electronic device 100 includes a fingerprint sensing
circuit 193 coupled to the fingerprint sensing elements 191, and
includes a touch sensing circuit 173 coupled to the touch sensing
elements 170. Specifically, the fingerprint sensing circuit 193 is
coupled to the fingerprint sensing electrodes 191, and touch
sensing circuit 173 is coupled to the touch sensing electrodes 171,
to receive signals transmitted from the touch sensing elements 170
or the fingerprint sensing elements 190, respectively. In the
present embodiment, the fingerprint sensing elements 190 may be
ultrasonic fingerprint sensors. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensors
produce ultrasonic waves through vibration and transmit the
ultrasonic waves to a finger for sensing the fingerprint, and then
the sensing signals are transmitted to the fingerprint sensing
circuit 193 to identify the fingerprint. However, in other
embodiments, the fingerprint elements 190 are not limited to the
ultrasonic fingerprint sensors, and they may include other options,
such as optical fingerprint sensors or other suitable fingerprint
sensors. Furthermore, one of the fingerprint sensing elements 190
of the present embodiment may include the same length in two
different directions (such as in the x-direction and in the
y-direction), to show a square, a rhombus or other suitable shapes.
People skilled in the art should understand that some drawings
(such as FIG. 1 and FIG.2) only illustrate a portion or a
cross-section of the fingerprint sensing elements 190, and may not
present the specific shape of the fingerprint sensing element 190
completely. Accordingly, the fingerprint sensing elements 190 such
as the ultrasonic fingerprint sensors may be integrated into the
electronic device 100 (for example, the sensors are disposed on the
outer side 133 of the second substrate 130), to reduce the entire
thickness of the electronic device 100.
[0023] Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, which show schematic
diagrams illustrating an electronic device 300 according to a
second embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the left side
of FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the electronic
device 300, the right side of FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of a
portion of touch sensing electrodes 371 and a portion of
fingerprint sensing electrodes 391 in the electronic device 300,
and FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of a fingerprint sensing
element 390. Firstly, as shown in the left side of FIG. 2, the
electronic device 300 of the second embodiment also includes a
first substrate 310 (having an inner side 311 and an outer side 313
opposite to each other), a bottom polarizer 315, a medium layer
320, a second substrate 330 (having an inner side 331 and an outer
side 333 opposite to each other), a top polarizer 335, a back light
350 and a touch sensing element 370 (including the touch sensing
electrodes 371) and a touch sensing circuit 373, features of the
aforementioned components are substantially the same as those of
the first embodiment and may not be redundantly described
hereinafter. The difference between the first embodiment and the
present embodiment is that one of the touch sensing electrodes 371
is overlapped with only one of fingerprint sensing electrodes 391,
as shown in the right side of FIG. 2. While in the first
embodiment, one of the touch sensing electrodes 171 may
simultaneously correspond to a plurality of fingerprint sensing
electrodes 191.
[0024] It is noted that, people skilled in the art should easily
understand that the overlapping of the fingerprint sensing
electrodes 391 and the touch sensing electrodes 371 is not limited
to the aforementioned embodiments, and it may include other
examples. For example, in one embodiment, the disposing density of
the fingerprint sensing electrodes 391 may be further adjusted, and
a portion of the fingerprint sensing electrodes 391 may cross the
gap between two adjacent touch sensing electrodes 371 to
simultaneously overlap two or more touch sensing electrodes
371.
[0025] Please refer to FIG. 3, the amount of the fingerprint
recognition signals may be positively related to the area of the
fingerprint sensing electrodes 391. Accordingly, when the area of
the fingerprint sensing electrodes 391 is reduced, the amount of
received signals thereof may be reduced thereby. Specifically, as
shown in FIG. 3, in the embodiment having the ultrasonic
fingerprint sensor as the fingerprint sensing element 390, the
fingerprint sensing electrode 391 includes a bottom electrode layer
391a, a piezoelectric film 391b and a top electrode layer 391c
stacked sequentially from bottom to top. It is noted that, the
bottom electrode layer 391a, the piezoelectric film 391b, and the
top electrode layer 391c shown in FIG. 3 are only for schematic
illustration, and the practical area thereof may be adjusted and
according to practical requirements. The bottom electrode layer
391a and the top electrode layer 391c are respectively grounded or
provided with a voltage, and the piezoelectric film 391b may be
deformed by the voltage difference between the bottom electrode
layer 391a and the top electrode layer 391c, thereby leading to
vibration to produce ultrasonic waves. When the area of the
fingerprint sensing electrode 391 is reduced, the area of the
piezoelectric film 391b is reduced correspondingly, which will
affect the range where the ultrasound emits and rebounds. In the
present embodiment, the area of the fingerprint sensing electrodes
391 is properly reduced to maintain the functions of the
fingerprint sensing electrodes 391 and the touch sensing electrodes
371. As an example, the area of the fingerprint sensing electrode
391 is reduced to make the overlapped portion of the fingerprint
sensing electrodes 391 and the touch sensing electrodes 371 be
about 10% to 70% of the area of the touch sensing electrodes 371
(10% area ratio of the overlapped portion 70%), or about 33% to 55%
of the area of the touch sensing electrodes 371 (33% area ratio of
the overlapped portion 55%). Through these arrangements, the
functions of the fingerprint sensing electrodes 391 and the touch
sensing electrodes 371 are maintained at the same time. It is also
noted that, in the present embodiment, the areas of the bottom
electrode layer 391a, the piezoelectric film 391b, and the top
electrode layer 391c are substantially the same, and in other
embodiments, the areas of the bottom electrode layer 191a, the
piezoelectric film 391b, and the top electrode layer 391c may be
different. While the areas of the bottom electrode layer 191a, the
piezoelectric film 391b, and the top electrode layer 391c are
different, the area of the bottom electrode 391a is referred as the
area of the fingerprint sensing electrode 391.
[0026] On the other hand, the fingerprint sensing element 390
further includes a plurality of crossed wires and switching
elements to receive and to process signals generated by the
fingerprint sensing electrode 391, wherein the switching elements
may be thin film transistors such as amorphous silicon thin film
transistors, low temperature polysilicon thin film transistors or
metal oxide thin film transistors, but is not limited thereto. In
some embodiments, the electronic device may include a combination
of different switching elements mentioned above, but is not limited
thereto. In some embodiments, the fingerprint sensing element 390
may include a plurality of fingerprint scan lines 395 extended
along the x-direction and arranged in the y-direction, a plurality
of fingerprint data lines 397 extended along the y-direction and
arranged in the x-direction, and a plurality of switching elements
399. In the present embodiment, the fingerprint sensing element
390, for example, includes at least four switching elements 399,
but not limited thereto. The four switching elements 399 may be
controlled by the same or different fingerprint scan lines 395 and
fingerprint data lines 397 respectively, to respectively perform
various functions such as the signal peak detection function, the
control function, the signal read out function and signal reset
function of the fingerprint sensing element 390. The signal peak
detection function is referred to as the piezoelectric film 391b
vibrates to produce ultrasonic waves, and the ultrasonic waves are
transmitted to the fingers and rebound, the piezoelectric film 391b
converts the rebounded ultrasonic waves into electrical signals,
and the electrical signals are then transmitted from the bottom
electrode layer 391a and recorded in a switching element 399a. The
signal peak detection function is also known as the storage
function. Next, referring to the control function, the magnitude of
the electrical signals which are recorded after the aforementioned
signal peak detection function are determined based on originally
established fingerprint signals through another switching element
399b. Then, referring to the signal read out function, the received
signals are transmitted to the fingerprint sensing circuit 393
through another switching element 399c. Referring to the reset
function, the read-out signals which are no longer needed are then
washed out (reset) by the last switching element 399d. It is noted
that, the corresponding functions of the switching elements 399 are
not limited to above mentioned functions, and the corresponding
functions of the switching elements 399 maybe further adjusted
according to practical designs.
[0027] In the present embodiment, the positions of the switching
elements 399, the fingerprint scan lines 395, and the fingerprint
data lines 397 of the fingerprint sensing element 390 may be
optionally overlapped with the array circuit disposed on the second
substrate 330. Also, a plurality of pixels 340 are further disposed
on the inner side 311 of the first substrate 310 in an array
arrangement. The pixel 340 respectively includes at least three
sub-pixels such as the sub-pixel 341r, the sub-pixel 341g, and the
sub-pixel 341b configured to display red light, greed light and
blue light respectively, and the sub-pixel 341r, the sub-pixel
341g, and the sub-pixel 341b are respectively controlled by
different switching elements (such as the thin film transistors)
including the switching element 349a, the switching element 349b
and the switching element 349c, but not limited thereto. In the
present embodiment, the fingerprint sensing element 390 is
corresponding to the pixel 340, and the three switching elements
including the switching element 399a, the switching element 399b
and the switching element 399c of the four switching elements 399
of the fingerprint sensing element 390 may optionally overlap the
three switching elements including the switching element 349a, the
switching element 349b and the switching element 349c of the three
sub-pixels including the sub-pixel 341r, the sub-pixel 341g, and
the sub-pixel 341b in the z-direction, respectively, and the
fingerprint scan lines 395 and the fingerprint data lines 397 of
the fingerprint sensing element 390 may overlap the scan lines 345
and data lines 347 coupled to the switching element 349a, the
switching element 349b, and the switching element 349c,
respectively, as shown in FIG. 3. The fingerprint sensing
electrodes 391 (such as the bottom electrode layer 391a) may
overlap the pixel 340 in the z-direction, but not limited thereto.
In other words, the fingerprint sensing element 390 may correspond
to the pixels 340 of the electronic device 300 in the present
embodiment, and the switching elements 399, the fingerprint scan
lines 395, and the fingerprint data lines 397 of the fingerprint
sensing element 390 may also correspond to the switching element
349a, the switching element 349b, the switching element 349c or the
wires (such as the data lines 347 and the scan lines 345) of the
pixel 340, thereby reducing the condition that the light emitting
areas of the sub-pixels 341r, the sub-pixel 341g, and the sub-pixel
341b in the pixel 340 is shielded by the fingerprint sensing
element 390, which means the situation that the aperture ratios of
the sub-pixels 341r, the sub-pixel 341g, and the sub-pixel 341b are
lowered. However, since the number of the switching elements 399
(such as four switching elements 399a to 399d) in the fingerprint
sensing element 390 is more than the number of the switching
elements 349 (such as three switching elements 349a to 349c) in the
pixel 340, a blocking layer 398 such as a black matrix layer,
disposed on the fingerprint sensing element 390 has to additionally
shield the switching element 399d of the fingerprint sensing
element 390 which is not overlapped by any switching elements 349.
In this way, the shielding area of the blocking layer 398 may be
greater than the shielding area when the fingerprint sensing
element 390 is not provided. Furthermore, people skilled in the
arts should understand that although the electronic device 300 in
FIG. 3 is exemplified by disposing the switching element 399d at a
corresponding position of the sub-pixel 341r, the practical
position of the switching element 399d is not limited thereto. In
other embodiments, the switching element 399d may also be disposed
at other positions, such as a position corresponding to the
sub-pixel 341g, a position corresponding to the sub-pixel 341b, or
other suitable positions.
[0028] Through the aforementioned arrangements, the switching
elements 399, the fingerprint scan lines 395, and the fingerprint
data lines 397 in the fingerprint sensing element 390 may overlap
the wires (such as the switch elements 349 of the pixel 340, the
scan lines 345 and the data lines 347) of the electronic device 300
as much as possible, while the fingerprint sensing technology (such
as the ultrasonic fingerprint sensing technology) is integrated
into the electronic device 300 of the present embodiment.
Accordingly, the shielding area on the light emitting area of the
sub-pixels 341r, the sub-pixel 341g, and the sub-pixel 341b in the
pixel 340 caused by the fingerprint sensing element 390 may be
reduced. On the other hand, although the fingerprint sensing
electrodes 391 of the present embodiment still overlap a portion of
the touch sensing electrodes 371, the overlapped portion of the
touch sensing electrodes 371 and the fingerprint sensing electrodes
391 is about 10% to 70% of the area of the touch sensing electrodes
371 (10% area ratio of the overlapped portion 70%), or about 33% to
55% (33% area ratio of the overlapped portion 55%) of the area of
the touch sensing electrodes 371. Then, another portion of the
touch sensing electrodes 371 disposed under the fingerprint sensing
electrodes 391 is not overlapped with the fingerprint sensing
electrodes 391, thereby reducing the influence of the fingerprint
sensing electrodes 391 on the touch sensing electrodes 371. Thus,
the electronic device 300 of the present embodiment is capable of
maintaining the functions of both the fingerprint sensing element
390 and the touch sensing element 370, while integrating the
fingerprint sensing element 390 therein.
[0029] Please refer to FIG. 4, which shows an electronic device 500
according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure.
Firstly, as shown in FIG. 4, components of the electronic device
500 in the third embodiment are substantially the same as those in
the aforementioned second embodiment and may not be redundantly
described hereinafter. The difference between the aforementioned
embodiments and the present embodiment is mainly in that the
fingerprint sensing element 590 may correspond to a plurality of
pixels 540, and the pixel aperture ratio is less sacrificed, or to
further reduce the overlapped areas of the touch sensing electrodes
(not shown in the drawings) and the fingerprint sensing electrodes
591.
[0030] Specifically speaking, a pixel 540 of the present embodiment
also includes three sub-pixels 541 to display red light, greed
light and blue light respectively, and to control the switching
elements (such as the thin film transistors) 549, the scan lines
545 and the data lines coupled to the switching elements 549 of the
three sub-pixels 341 respectively, wherein the fingerprint sensing
element 590 may correspond to four pixels 540, as shown in FIG. 4.
Accordingly, four switching elements including a switching element
599a, a switching element 599b, a switching element 599c, and a
switching element 599d in the fingerprint sensing element 590 may
be disposed respectively corresponding to four sub-pixels including
a sub-pixel 549a, a sub-pixel 549a' a sub-pixel 549C, and a
sub-pixel 549C' which are belonged to four different pixels 540.
Then, the positions of the fingerprint scan lines 595 and the
fingerprint data lines 597 may also be optionally overlapped with
the positions of a portion of the scan lines 545 and data lines 547
which are belonged to four different pixels 540. Also, people in
the arts may easily understand that although the fingerprint
sensing element 590 in FIG. 4 is exemplified by disposing the four
switching elements including the switching element 599a, the
switching element 599b, the switching element 599c, and the
switching element 599d at positions corresponding to the switching
element 549a, the switching element 549a', the switching element
549C, and the switching element 549C' of the four sub-pixels at the
outer side (including the sub-pixel 541r, the sub-pixel 541r', the
sub-pixel 541B, and the sub-pixel 541B' in the four different
pixels 540), the practical positions of the switching element 599a,
the switching element 599b, the switching element 599c, and the
switching element 599d are not limited thereto. In other
embodiments, the switching element 599a, the switching element
599b, the switching element 599c, and the switching element 599d of
the fingerprint sensing element 590 may be optionally disposed at
any positions corresponding to the twelve sub-pixels including the
sub-pixel 541r, the sub-pixel 541R, the sub-pixel the sub-pixel
541r', the sub-pixel 541R', the sub-pixel 541g, the sub-pixel 541G,
the sub-pixel 541g', the sub-pixel 541G', the sub-pixel 541b, the
sub-pixel 541B, the sub-pixel 541b', and the sub-pixel 541B' of the
four different pixels 540. For example, the four switching elements
including the switching element 599a, the switching element 599b,
the switching element 599c, and the switching element 599d may be
optionally disposed at the positions corresponding to the switching
element 549a, the switching element 549a', the switching element
549A, and the switching element 549A' of the four red sub-pixels
including the sub-pixel 541r, the sub-pixel 541R, the sub-pixel
541r', and the sub-pixel 541R', or disposed at the positions
corresponding to the switching element 549b, the switching element
549b', the switching element 549B, and the switching element 549B'
of the four green sub-pixels including the sub-pixel 541g, the
sub-pixel 541G, the sub-pixel 541g', and the sub-pixel 541G', or
disposed at the positions corresponding to the switching element
549c, the switching element 549c', the switching element 549C, and
the switching element 549C' of the four blue sub-pixels including
the sub-pixel 541b, the sub-pixel 541B, the sub-pixel 541b', and
the sub-pixel 541B', but not limited thereto.
[0031] Through these arrangements, the wires of the fingerprint
sensing element 590 (such as the fingerprint scan lines 595 and the
fingerprint data lines 597) and the switching elements including
the switching element 599a, the switching element 599b, the
switching element 599c, and the switching element 599d may
correspond to the four pixels 540 of the electronic device 500.
Also, based on process requirements, the switching elements 599
(for example, with a number of 4) may be arbitrarily overlapped
with a portion of the switching elements 549 (for example, with a
number of 12) in the four pixels 540. In this way, a blocking layer
598 disposed above no longer needs to additionally shield any
switching element which is overlapped with the sub-pixels 541,
thereby reducing the loss of the aperture ratio. Furthermore, the
fingerprint sensing element 590 of the present embodiment may
correspond to (or overlap) four pixels 540, but not limited
thereto. In another embodiment, the fingerprint sensing element 590
may correspond to (or overlap) more pixels 540 or less pixels, and
the fingerprint sensing electrode 591 may also optionally overlap
the pixels 540, for example at least two pixels 540, but not
limited thereto.
[0032] Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in order to make the
fingerprint sensing element 590 have similar resolutions in
different directions to mitigate image distortion or misjudgments.
Specifically, the ultrasonic fingerprint sensing electrode of the
fingerprint sensing element 590 may include substantially the same
lengths (or called as "pitch") L1, L2 or respectively correspond to
the same number of pixels 540 in a first direction (such as the
x-direction) and a second direction (such as the y-direction),
wherein the first direction may be perpendicular to the second
direction, but not limited thereto. For example, the fingerprint
sensing element 590 as shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to two pixels
540 in the x-direction and the y-direction respectively, but not
limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 4, the length L1 refers to a
shortest distance between the upper edge of the uppermost
fingerprint scan line 595 corresponding to a fingerprint sensing
element 590 and the upper edge of the lowermost fingerprint scan
line 595 corresponding to the same fingerprint sensing element 590,
and the length L2 refers to a shortest distance between the left
edge of the leftmost fingerprint data line 597 corresponding to a
fingerprint sensing element 590 to the left edge of the rightmost
fingerprint data line 597 corresponding to the same fingerprint
sensing element 590. In some embodiments, the fingerprint sensing
electrode 591 (only the bottom electrode layer 591a thereof is
illustrated in FIG. 4) may include substantially the same lengths
L3, L4 in the first direction (such as the x-direction) and the
second direction (such as the y-direction), but not limited
thereto. Accordingly, the fingerprint sensing element 590 and/or
the fingerprint sensing electrodes 591 may have square, rhombic or
other suitable shapes, such that, the fingerprint sensing element
590 may have similar resolutions in different directions, so as to
mitigate the image distortion or misjudgments. Specifically
speaking, as shown in FIG. 5, while the fingerprint sensing element
590 has a shape like a square or a rhombus, the resolutions in two
different directions (such as the x-direction and the y-direction)
are similar to or the same with each other. Then, an image P1'
created by the fingerprint sensing element 590 based on a pattern
P1 is recognized to be the same as the image of the pattern Pl, and
an image P2' created by the fingerprint sensing element 590 based
on a pattern P2 is recognized to be the same as the image of the
pattern P2. In addition, when the pattern P1 is rotated by a
certain angle, such as 90 degrees (corresponding to the situation
when a finger touches in a different direction) to form a new
pattern like the pattern P2, the image P2' created by the
fingerprint sensing element 590 is still the same as the image P1'
rotated by the certain angle, without causing any problems such as
the interpretation errors.
[0033] Conversely, if a fingerprint sensing element 690 has
different resolutions in different directions (namely, there are
different numbers of fingerprint sensing elements 690 in different
directions, or a fingerprint sensing elements 690 has different
lengths in different directions) , the fingerprint sensing element
690 may not have correct judgments in all directions. For example,
as shown in FIG. 6, an image P3' created under the resolution of
the fingerprint sensing element 690 may be regarded as a
representative image of the original pattern P3. When the original
pattern P3 is rotated by a certain angle such as 90 degrees
(corresponding to the situation when a finger touches in a
different direction) to form a new pattern P4, the image P4'
created by the fingerprint sensing element 690 and based on the new
pattern P4 is different from the rotated representative image P3'.
Accordingly, when the fingerprint sensing element 690 has different
resolutions in different directions, the image to be recognized
will create different images after being rotated by an angle. In
other words, when the fingerprint sensing element 690 has different
resolutions in different directions, the finger touches in
different directions may be recognized as different users, thereby
resulting in misjudgments.
[0034] Furthermore, when integrating the aforementioned embodiments
of the fingerprint sensing technique (such as the ultrasonic
fingerprint sensor) into the electronic device 100 and the
electronic device 300, although the fingerprint sensing element
190, the fingerprint sensing element 390, or the fingerprint
sensing element 590 may be disposed at the outer side 133 of the
second substrate 130 of the electronic device 100, and the outer
side 333 of the second substrate 330 of the electronic device 300,
people skilled in the arts should understand that the fingerprint
sensing element 190, the fingerprint sensing element 390, the
fingerprint sensing element 590 or the like disclosed in the
present disclosure may also be disposed at other positions of the
electronic device 100and the electronic device 300. As an example,
FIG. 7 to FIG. 9 show an electronic device 700 and an electronic
device 900 according to other embodiments of the present
disclosure, wherein the electronic device 700 and the electronic
device 900 also includes the first substrate 310 (having the inner
side 311 and the outer side 313 opposite to each other), the bottom
polarizer 315, the medium layer 320, the second substrate 330
(having the inner side 331 and the outer side 333 opposite to each
other), the top polarizer 335, the back light 350, the touch
sensing element 370 (including the touch sensing electrodes 371),
the touch sensing circuit 373, and the fingerprint sensing element
390, and features of the aforementioned components are
substantially the same as those of the aforementioned second
embodiment and third embodiment and may not be redundantly
described hereinafter. The difference between the aforementioned
embodiments and the present embodiment is mainly in the positions
of the fingerprint sensing elements 390.
[0035] As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the fingerprint sensing
element 390 may be optionally disposed on a third substrate 710,
but not limited thereto.
[0036] Specifically speaking, as shown in FIG. 7, the third
substrate 710 also includes an inner side 711 and an outer side 713
opposite to each other, and the inner side 311 faces the second
substrate 330. The fingerprint sensing element 390 may be
optionally disposed on the inner side 711 of the third substrate
710, over the top polarizer 335. Namely, the fingerprint sensing
element 390 is disposed between the third substrate 710 and the top
polarizer 335. In another embodiment, the fingerprint sensing
element 390 may also be optionally disposed on the outer side 713
of the third substrate 710, such that the third substrate 710 is
disposed between the top polarizer 335 and the fingerprint sensing
element 390, as shown in FIG. 8.
[0037] As shown in FIG. 9, the fingerprint sensing element 390 may
also be optionally disposed on the inner side 331 of the second
substrate 330, between the medium layer 320 and the second
substrate 330. It is noted that, the material of the piezoelectric
film 391b within the fingerprint sensing electrode 391 generally
has a lower melting point, and the temperature of the processes
performed on the first substrate 310 and the second substrate 330
may be relative higher than the melting point of the piezoelectric
film 391b, thereby leading to possible damages to the piezoelectric
film 391b. Accordingly, when the fingerprint sensing element 390 is
disposed on the inner side 331 of the second substrate 330, a
material with a relative higher melting point should be used as the
piezoelectric film 391b of the fingerprint sensing electrode 391 to
reduce the possible damages caused by higher process temperatures
to the piezoelectric film 391b.
[0038] Additionally, the electronic device of the present
disclosure is not limited to the aforementioned display device, and
which may further include a lighting device, an antenna device, a
sensor device or a tiled device, but is not limited thereto. The
electronic device may optionally include a non-rectangular
electronic device, a foldable electronic device or a flexible
electronic device, such as a flexible liquid crystal (LC) display
device or a flexible light emitting diode display device, and the
light emitting diode (LED) display device for example includes an
organic light emitting diode (OLED) or an inorganic light emitting
diode , and the inorganic light emitting diode, for example,
includes a mini light emitting diode (mini LED) , a micro light
emitting diode (micro LED), a quantum-dot light emitting diode
(QLED, QDLED), or a light emitting diode with any other suitable
materials or any combination of above mentioned light emitting
diodes, but is not limited thereto. The antenna device maybe a
liquid crystal antenna, but is not limited thereto. The tiled
device may be a tiled display device or a tiled antenna device, but
is not limited thereto. It is noted that the electronic device may
be any variants, arrangements or combinations of the above, but is
not limited thereto. Also, In the present disclosure, the term "
foldable" or "flexible" means that the electronic device maybe
wound, bent, folded, stretched, flexed, or other similar
deformations. In the present disclosure, the term "non-rectangular"
means that the appearance of the electronic device is
non-rectangular, or the pixel array of the electronic device has a
non-rectangular overall appearance.
[0039] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
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