CN117666232A

CN117666232A - Electrophoretic display panel and driving method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN117666232A
Application number: CN202311702949.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蒲洋; 谢俊烽
Original assignee: HKC Co Ltd
Current assignee: HKC Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-12-11
Filing date: 2023-12-11
Publication date: 2024-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2043-12-11
Also published as: CN117666232B

Abstract

The application relates to an electrophoretic display panel and a driving method thereof, wherein the electrophoretic display panel comprises a first substrate, a second substrate and an electrophoretic layer between the first substrate and the second substrate, the electrophoretic layer comprises a plurality of electrophoretic particles positioned in each sub-pixel, a driving backboard of the first substrate is provided with a plurality of first driving electrodes which are distributed at intervals corresponding to each sub-pixel, and a vertical electric field is formed between the driving backboard and a first common electrode of the second substrate; the flat layer is provided with a groove corresponding to the first driving electrode; the pixel defining layer includes a pixel opening accommodating a plurality of electrophoretic particles, the pixel opening exposing the light treatment layer, a horizontal electric field being formed between a second driving electrode and a second common electrode of two wall portions opposite to the pixel opening; when the electrophoretic particles move to a critical position under the drive of a horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles enter corresponding grooves under the drive of a vertical electric field and are matched with the light treatment layer to form a plurality of different gray scales. The application can realize different gray scale display of the electrophoretic particles through simple driving signals.

Description

Electrophoretic display panel and driving method thereof

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of display technologies, and in particular, to an electrophoretic display panel and a driving method thereof.

Background

With the development of optoelectronic display technology and semiconductor manufacturing technology, the display of thin film transistors (Thin Film Transistor, TFT) has become more mature, and the electronic paper display of TFT and electrophoretic particles is popular in the market because of more energy saving and eye protection. Currently, a general electrophoretic particle display device requires a very complex driving waveform to obtain a required gray level, and the number of gray levels that can be realized is limited, which limits the application of the electrophoretic particle display mode to a great extent.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an electrophoretic display panel and a driving method thereof, which can realize different gray scale display of electrophoretic particles by simple driving signals.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application proposes an electrophoretic display panel, including a first substrate and a second substrate disposed opposite to each other, and an electrophoretic layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, where the first substrate includes a plurality of subpixels disposed in an array, the electrophoretic layer includes a plurality of electrophoretic particles disposed in each subpixel, the first substrate includes a driving back plate, a flat layer, a light processing layer, and a pixel defining layer, the driving back plate is provided with a plurality of first driving electrodes disposed at intervals corresponding to each subpixel, the second substrate is formed with a first common electrode corresponding to each subpixel one to one, and a plurality of vertical electric fields having different voltages are respectively formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes and the first common electrode; the flat layer covers the driving backboard, and a plurality of grooves are correspondingly arranged on the plurality of first driving electrodes corresponding to each sub-pixel; the light treatment layer is positioned on one side of the flat layer, which is away from the driving backboard, the pixel limiting layer comprises a plurality of pixel openings for containing a plurality of electrophoretic particles of each sub-pixel, the pixel openings expose the light treatment layer, two opposite wall parts of the pixel openings are respectively provided with a second driving electrode and a second common electrode, and a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrode and the second common electrode; when the electrophoretic particles move to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes under the driving of the horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles enter the corresponding grooves under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles and the light treatment layer are matched to form a plurality of different gray scales.

In one possible implementation manner, the driving backboard is provided with a plurality of parallel and spaced-apart resistor wires corresponding to each sub-pixel, the plurality of first driving electrodes are spaced-apart along the length direction of the resistor wires and are electrically connected with the resistor wires, and the voltage signals of the plurality of first driving electrodes change along the impedance of the resistor wires along the length direction of the resistor wires.

In one possible implementation manner, the driving backboard is further provided with a gray scale signal wire corresponding to each sub-pixel, one end of the plurality of resistance wires corresponds to a movement starting end of the electrophoretic particles, and the other end of the plurality of resistance wires is electrically connected with the gray scale signal wire.

In a possible embodiment, the voltages of the plurality of first driving electrodes are gradually increased in a direction away from the movement start end of the electrophoretic particles.

In one possible embodiment, the resistances of the plurality of resistive wires are different, and the position of the first driving electrode on each of the plurality of resistive wires is the same.

In one possible embodiment, the resistances of the plurality of resistive wires are the same, and the positions of the plurality of first driving electrodes on each of the plurality of resistive wires are different.

In one possible embodiment, the driving back plate is further provided with a thin film transistor, a data line, a scan line, and a common signal line, the data line and the scan line are intersected with each other to define a sub-pixel, a gate electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the scan line, a source electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the data line, a drain electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the second driving electrode, and the common signal line is electrically connected to the second common electrode.

In one possible embodiment, the color of the electrophoretic particles is white or chromatic, and the light treatment layer is a light absorbing layer; alternatively, the electrophoretic particles are black in color, and the light treatment layer is a reflective layer.

In one possible embodiment, the second substrate further includes a light shielding layer, and an orthographic projection of the light shielding layer on the first substrate covers the second driving electrode and the second common electrode.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a driving method of an electrophoretic display panel, including: applying different voltage signals to the plurality of first driving electrodes of each sub-pixel of the first substrate respectively, and simultaneously applying a common voltage signal to the first common electrode of the second substrate, so that vertical electric fields with different voltages are formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes and the first common electrode of each sub-pixel respectively; applying a voltage signal to the second driving electrode and the second common electrode of each sub-pixel of the first substrate so that a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrode and the second common electrode of each sub-pixel; when the electrophoretic particles are controlled to move to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes under the driving of the horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles enter the corresponding grooves under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles and the light treatment layer are matched to form a plurality of different gray scales.

According to the electrophoretic display panel and the driving method thereof, the electrophoretic display panel comprises a first substrate, a second substrate and an electrophoretic layer, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are oppositely arranged, the electrophoretic layer is positioned between the first substrate and the second substrate, the first substrate comprises a plurality of sub-pixels distributed in an array, the electrophoretic layer comprises a plurality of electrophoretic particles positioned in each sub-pixel, and a plurality of vertical electric fields with different voltages are formed between the electrophoretic particles and a first common electrode of each sub-pixel on the first substrate side by applying voltages with different magnitudes to a plurality of first driving electrodes of each sub-pixel on the first substrate side, and a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrodes of the first substrate side and the second common electrode; when the electrophoretic particles move to the critical position under the drive of the horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles enter the corresponding grooves under the drive of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles and the light treatment layer are matched to form a plurality of different gray scales, the limit of the existing drive mode on the gray scale number can be broken through, and different gray scale display of the electrophoretic particles can be realized through a simple drive signal.

Drawings

Features, advantages, and technical effects of exemplary embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like parts are designated with like reference numerals. The drawings are not drawn to scale, but are merely for illustrating relative positional relationships, and the layer thicknesses of certain portions are exaggerated in order to facilitate understanding, and the layer thicknesses in the drawings do not represent the actual layer thickness relationships.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an electrophoretic display panel in a first state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 shows a schematic view of the structure of the electrophoretic display panel shown in fig. 1 in a second state;

fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a first substrate of the electrophoretic display panel shown in fig. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the first substrate of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of the alternative first substrate shown in FIG. 3;

fig. 6 is a block flow diagram illustrating a driving method of an electrophoretic display panel according to an embodiment of the present application.

Reference numerals illustrate:

1. a first substrate; p, sub-pixels; 10. a drive back plate; 101. a first driving electrode; 102. a resistance wire; 103. gray-scale signal wiring; 11. a flat layer; 111. a groove; 12. a light treatment layer; 13. a pixel defining layer; 131. a pixel opening; 141. a second driving electrode; 142. a second common electrode;

2. a second substrate; 21. a first common electrode; 22. a light shielding layer;

3. an electrophoretic layer; 31. and (3) electrophoresis particles.

Detailed Description

Features and exemplary embodiments of various aspects of the present application are described in detail below. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present application may be practiced without some of these specific details. The following description of the embodiments is merely intended to provide a better understanding of the present application by showing an example of the present application. In the drawings and the following description, at least some well-known structures and techniques are not shown in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present application; also, the size of the region structures may be exaggerated for clarity. Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, an embodiment of the present application provides an electrophoretic display panel, that is, an electronic paper, which includes a first substrate 1 and a second substrate 2 disposed opposite to each other, and an electrophoretic layer 3 disposed between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2, wherein the first substrate 1 includes a plurality of sub-pixels P distributed in an array, and the electrophoretic layer 3 includes a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 disposed in each sub-pixel P.

The first substrate 1 includes a driving back plate 10, a planarization layer 11, a light treatment layer 12, and a pixel defining layer 13, the driving back plate 10 is provided with a plurality of first driving electrodes 101 distributed at intervals corresponding to each sub-pixel P, the second substrate 2 is formed with first common electrodes 21 corresponding to the sub-pixels P one by one, and a plurality of vertical electric fields having different voltages are formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 and the first common electrodes 21.

The flat layer 11 covers the driving back plate 10, and a plurality of grooves 111 are correspondingly provided for the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 corresponding to each sub-pixel P; the light treatment layer 12 is positioned on one side of the flat layer 11 away from the driving back plate 10, the pixel defining layer 13 comprises a plurality of pixel openings 131 for accommodating a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 of each sub-pixel P, the pixel openings 131 expose the light treatment layer 12, two opposite walls of the pixel openings 131 are respectively formed with a second driving electrode 141 and a second common electrode 142, and a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrode 141 and the second common electrode 142;

when the electrophoretic particles 31 are driven by the horizontal electric field to move to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes 101, they enter the corresponding grooves 111 under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles 31 and the light treatment layer 12 cooperate to form a plurality of different gray scales.

In the display technology, gray scale refers to: the brightness change between the brightest and darkest is divided into a plurality of parts so as to facilitate the screen brightness control corresponding to the signal input. Each digital image is composed of a number of dots, also known as pixels, each of which typically may appear in a number of different colors, consisting of three sub-pixels, red, green, and blue (RGB), each of which may appear at a different brightness level from the light source behind it. While gray scale represents the hierarchical level of different brightness from darkest to brightest. The more intermediate levels, the finer the picture effect that can be presented. Taking an 8-byte display panel as an example, it can represent the power of 2 to the 8, which is equal to 256 brightness levels, which is called 256 gray levels. The color change at each point on the display screen is actually brought about by the gray scale change of the three RGB sub-pixels that make up that point.

In the embodiment of the present application, one pixel includes a plurality of sub-pixels P, and the electrophoretic layer 3 between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 includes a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 located in each sub-pixel P, and the plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 are formed by an inkjet printing or the like. Specifically, the first substrate 1 includes a driving back plate 10, a flat layer 11, a light processing layer 12, and a pixel defining layer 13, the driving back plate 10 is provided with a plurality of first driving electrodes 101 distributed at intervals corresponding to each sub-pixel P, the flat layer 11 covers the driving back plate 10, and the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 corresponding to each sub-pixel P are provided with a plurality of grooves 111 correspondingly; the light treatment layer 12 is located at a side of the planarization layer 11 facing away from the driving backplate 10, and the pixel defining layer 13 includes a plurality of pixel openings 131 accommodating a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 of each sub-pixel P, the pixel openings 131 exposing the light treatment layer 12. The pixel openings 131 may form a storage space for accommodating the electrophoretic particles 31, and a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 of the electrophoretic layer 3 may be formed in each pixel opening 131 by inkjet printing or the like.

Further, two walls opposite to the pixel opening 131 are respectively formed with a second driving electrode 141 and a second common electrode 142, and a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrode 141 and the second common electrode 142; the second substrate 2 is formed with first common electrodes 21 corresponding to the sub-pixels P one by one, and vertical electric fields having different voltages are respectively formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 and the first common electrodes 21; the electrophoretic particles 31 move along the horizontal direction under the drive of the horizontal electric field, when reaching the critical position corresponding to a certain first driving electrode 101, the voltage of the vertical electric field is large enough to drive the electrophoretic particles 31 into the corresponding grooves 111, and the electrophoretic particles 31 cannot move forward continuously, so that the electrophoretic particles 31 and the light treatment layer 12 form a plurality of different gray scales in a matching way, and different gray scales can be obtained only by changing the voltage of the gray scale signals, and the regulation and the control are easy.

In addition, in one example, when the color of the electrophoretic particles 31 is white or colored, the light treatment layer 12 is a light absorption layer, and the light absorption layer may be a black organic material or a low-reflectivity metal, such as black metal Cr, etc., where the display effect of the electronic paper display screen is a black background, white or colored image.

In another example, the color of the electrophoretic particles 31 is black, the light treatment layer 12 is a reflective layer, and the reflective layer may be, for example, titanium dioxide TiO2, to increase the light reflection coefficient, where the display effect of the electronic paper display screen is a white background, black image.

The electrophoretic display panel provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a first substrate 1 and a second substrate 2 which are oppositely arranged, and an electrophoretic layer 3 positioned between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2, wherein the first substrate 1 comprises a plurality of sub-pixels P distributed in an array, the electrophoretic layer 3 comprises a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 positioned in each sub-pixel P, and a plurality of vertical electric fields with different voltages are formed between the electrophoretic particles and a first common electrode 21 on the second substrate 2 side by applying voltages with different magnitudes to a plurality of first driving electrodes 101 of each sub-pixel P on the first substrate 1 side, and a horizontal electric field is formed between a second driving electrode 141 and a second common electrode 142 on the first substrate 1 side; when the electrophoretic particles 31 are moved to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes 101 under the driving of the horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles 31 enter the corresponding grooves 111 under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles 31 and the light treatment layer 12 cooperate to form a plurality of different gray scales, thereby breaking through the limitation of the existing driving mode on the gray scale number, and different gray scale displays of the electrophoretic particles 31 can be realized through simple driving signals.

In some embodiments, the driving back panel 10 is provided with a plurality of parallel and spaced-apart resistive lines 102 corresponding to each sub-pixel P, the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 are spaced-apart along the length direction of the resistive lines 102 and electrically connected to the resistive lines 102, and the voltage signals of the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 vary with the impedance of the resistive lines 102 along the length direction thereof.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the plurality of resistor wires 102 are parallel and spaced apart, and the resistor wires 102 may be made of, for example, but not limited to, a semiconductor such as silicon with a certain doping amount, a nickel-chromium-tungsten alloy, or the like. The material of the first driving electrode 101 may be metals such as indium tin oxide ITO, aluminum Al, copper Cu, etc., and the number of the first driving electrodes 101 is the required gray scale number. The material of the first common electrode 21 may be transparent indium tin oxide ITO.

The resistance wires 102 have a certain resistance value, and a plurality of first driving electrodes 101 are distributed on each resistance wire 102 at intervals along the length direction, and voltage signals of the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 change along with the impedance of the resistance wires 102 along the length direction, so that a plurality of different gray scales can be obtained by controlling the voltages of the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 on the plurality of resistance wires 102.

Further, the driving back plate 10 is further provided with a grayscale signal line 103 corresponding to each sub-pixel P, one end of the plurality of resistance lines 102 corresponds to the movement start end of the electrophoretic particles 31, and the other end of the plurality of resistance lines 102 is electrically connected to the grayscale signal line 103.

As shown in fig. 3, the plurality of resistor wires 102 extend in the horizontal direction, one gray-scale signal trace 103 extends in the vertical direction and is electrically connected to the plurality of resistor wires 102, and by providing a gray-scale voltage signal to the one gray-scale signal trace 103, a plurality of different gray scales can be obtained through the plurality of resistor wires 102, which is easy to regulate and control.

Further, the voltages of the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 gradually increase in a direction away from the movement start end of the electrophoretic particles 31. In this way, the electrophoretic particles 31 move from the start end of the movement of the pixel opening 131 toward the other end along the length direction of the resistor line 102 under the driving of the horizontal electric field, when the vertical electric field formed between a certain first driving electrode 101 and the first common electrode 21 reaches the voltage value for driving the electrophoretic particles 31 to move along the vertical direction under the same gray scale voltage signal, the corresponding position of the first driving electrode 101 is the critical position, and at this time, the electrophoretic particles 31 enter the groove 111 under the driving of the vertical electric field and do not move forward any more, so as to form a fixed gray scale. In the plurality of first driving electrodes 101, the closer to the grayscale signal trace 103, the larger the voltage value thereof, the more likely the electrophoretic particles 31 enter the corresponding grooves 111.

In one example, the impedance of the plurality of resistive wires 102 is different, and the position of the first driving electrode 101 on each resistive wire 102 is the same. As shown in fig. 4, the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 of the plurality of resistor wires 102 are aligned along the horizontal direction, and because the impedance of the plurality of resistor wires 102 is different, the voltages of the first driving electrodes 101 aligned are different, so that the same gray scale signal voltage and the critical positions of the first driving electrodes 101 on the different resistor wires 102 for driving the electrophoretic particles 31 to move along the vertical direction are different, the limitation of the existing driving mode on the gray scale number can be broken through, and richer gray scales are formed.

In another example, the impedance of the plurality of resistive lines 102 is the same, and the positions of the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 on each resistive line 102 are different. As shown in fig. 5, the first driving electrodes 101 of the plurality of resistor wires 102 are arranged in a staggered manner along the horizontal direction, and the impedance of the plurality of resistor wires 102 is the same, so that the same gray scale signal voltage and the critical positions of the first driving electrodes 101 on different resistor wires 102 for driving the electrophoretic particles 31 to move along the vertical direction are different, thereby breaking through the limitation of the existing driving mode on the gray scale number and forming richer gray scales.

In some embodiments, the driving backplate 10 is further provided with a thin film transistor, a data line, a scan line, and a common signal line, the data line and the scan line are intersected with each other to define the sub-pixel P, a gate electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the scan line, a source electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the data line, a drain electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the second driving electrode 141, and the common signal line is electrically connected to the second common electrode 142. In this way, a voltage signal is supplied through the drain electrode of the thin film transistor and the common signal line to form a horizontal electric field that drives the electrophoretic particles 31 to move in the horizontal direction.

Further, the second substrate 2 further includes a light shielding layer 22, and an orthographic projection of the light shielding layer 22 on the first substrate 1 covers the second driving electrode 141 and the second common electrode 142. The light shielding layer 22 may be a black matrix material to prevent the second driving electrode 141 and the second common electrode 142 from being seen from the light emitting side, improving the aesthetic appearance of the electrophoretic display panel.

As shown in fig. 6, the embodiment of the present application further provides a driving method of the electrophoretic display panel as described above, which includes the following steps S1 to S3.

Step S1: different voltage signals are respectively applied to the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 of each sub-pixel P of the first substrate 1, and simultaneously a common voltage signal is applied to the first common electrode 21 of the second substrate 2, so that vertical electric fields having different voltages are respectively formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 of each sub-pixel P and the first common electrode 21.

As described above, in one example, the driving backplate 10 is provided with a plurality of parallel and spaced apart resistive lines 102 and one gray scale signal trace 103 corresponding to each sub-pixel P, a plurality of first driving electrodes 101 are spaced apart along the length direction of the resistive lines 102 and electrically connected to the resistive lines 102, one ends of the plurality of resistive lines 102 correspond to the movement start ends of the electrophoretic particles 31, and the other ends of the plurality of resistive lines 102 are electrically connected to the gray scale signal trace 103. The voltages of the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 gradually increase in a direction away from the movement start end of the electrophoretic particles 31, and by providing a gray scale voltage signal to one gray scale signal trace 103, vertical electric fields having different voltages can be respectively formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes 101 and the first common electrode 21 through the plurality of resistive lines 102.

Step S2: a voltage signal is applied to the second driving electrode 141 and the second common electrode 142 of each sub-pixel P of the first substrate 1 so that a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrode 141 and the second common electrode 142 of each sub-pixel P.

As described above, the driving backplate 10 is further provided with a thin film transistor, a data line, a scan line, and a common signal line, the data line and the scan line are intersected with each other to define the sub-pixel P, the gate electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the scan line, the source electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the data line, the drain electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the second driving electrode 141, and the common signal line is electrically connected to the second common electrode 142. In this way, a voltage signal is supplied through the drain electrode of the thin film transistor and the common signal line to form a horizontal electric field that drives the electrophoretic particles 31 to move in the horizontal direction.

Step S3: when the electrophoretic particles 31 are controlled to move to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes 101 under the driving of the horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles 31 enter the corresponding grooves 111 under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles 31 and the light treatment layer 12 cooperate to form a plurality of different gray scales.

The driving method of the electrophoretic display panel provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a first substrate 1 and a second substrate 2 which are oppositely arranged, and an electrophoretic layer 3 positioned between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2, wherein the first substrate 1 comprises a plurality of sub-pixels P distributed in an array, the electrophoretic layer 3 comprises a plurality of electrophoretic particles 31 positioned in each sub-pixel P, and a plurality of vertical electric fields with different voltages are formed between the electrophoretic particles and a first common electrode 21 on the second substrate 2 side by applying voltages with different magnitudes to a plurality of first driving electrodes 101 of each sub-pixel P on the first substrate 1 side, and a horizontal electric field is formed between a second driving electrode 141 on the first substrate 1 side and a second common electrode 142; when the electrophoretic particles 31 are moved to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes 101 under the driving of the horizontal electric field, the electrophoretic particles 31 enter the corresponding grooves 111 under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles 31 and the light treatment layer 12 cooperate to form a plurality of different gray scales, thereby breaking through the limitation of the existing driving mode on the gray scale number, and different gray scale displays of the electrophoretic particles 31 can be realized through simple driving signals.

It should be readily understood that the terms "on … …", "above … …" and "above … …" in this application should be interpreted in the broadest sense such that "on … …" means not only "directly on something" but also includes the meaning of "on something" with intermediate features or layers therebetween, and "above … …" or "above … …" includes the meaning of "not only" on something "or" above "but also" above "or" above "without intermediate features or layers therebetween (i.e., directly on something).

The term "substrate" as used herein refers to a material upon which subsequent layers of material are added. The substrate itself may be patterned. The material added atop the substrate may be patterned or may remain unpatterned. In addition, the substrate may comprise a wide range of materials, such as silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, and the like. Alternatively, the substrate may be made of a non-conductive material (e.g., glass, plastic, or sapphire wafer, etc.).

The term "layer" as used herein may refer to a portion of material that includes regions having a certain thickness. The layer may extend over the entire underlying or overlying structure, or may have a range that is less than the range of the underlying or overlying structure. Further, the layer may be a region of a continuous structure, either homogenous or non-homogenous, having a thickness less than the thickness of the continuous structure. For example, the layer may be located between the top and bottom surfaces of the continuous structure or between any pair of lateral planes at the top and bottom surfaces. The layers may extend laterally, vertically and/or along a tapered surface. The drive array layer may be a layer, may include one or more layers therein, and/or may have one or more layers located thereon, and/or thereunder. The layer may comprise a plurality of layers. For example, the interconnect layer may include one or more conductors and contact layers (within which contacts, interconnect lines, and/or vias are formed) and one or more dielectric layers.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some or all of the technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. An electrophoretic display panel comprising a first substrate and a second substrate which are oppositely arranged, and an electrophoretic layer positioned between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the first substrate comprises a plurality of sub-pixels distributed in an array, the electrophoretic layer comprises a plurality of electrophoretic particles positioned in each sub-pixel,

the first substrate comprises a driving backboard, a flat layer, a light treatment layer and a pixel limiting layer, wherein the driving backboard is provided with a plurality of first driving electrodes which are distributed at intervals corresponding to each sub-pixel, the second substrate is provided with first common electrodes which are in one-to-one correspondence with the sub-pixels, and a plurality of vertical electric fields with different voltages are respectively formed between the plurality of first driving electrodes and the first common electrodes;

the flat layer covers the driving backboard, and a plurality of grooves are correspondingly arranged on the plurality of first driving electrodes corresponding to each sub-pixel; the light treatment layer is positioned on one side of the flat layer, which is away from the driving backboard, the pixel limiting layer comprises a plurality of pixel openings for containing a plurality of electrophoretic particles of each sub-pixel, the pixel openings expose the light treatment layer, two opposite walls of the pixel openings are respectively provided with a second driving electrode and a second common electrode, and a horizontal electric field is formed between the second driving electrode and the second common electrode;

when the electrophoretic particles are driven by the horizontal electric field to move to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes, the electrophoretic particles enter the corresponding grooves under the driving of the vertical electric field, so that the electrophoretic particles and the light treatment layer are matched to form a plurality of different gray scales.

2. The electrophoretic display panel according to claim 1, wherein the driving back plate is provided with a plurality of parallel and spaced apart resistive wires corresponding to each of the sub-pixels, a plurality of the first driving electrodes are spaced apart along a length direction of the resistive wires and electrically connected to the resistive wires, and voltage signals of the plurality of the first driving electrodes vary with a magnitude of impedance of the resistive wires along a length direction thereof.

3. The electrophoretic display panel according to claim 2, wherein the driving back plate is further provided with a gray scale signal trace corresponding to each of the sub-pixels, one end of the plurality of resistive lines corresponds to a movement start end of the electrophoretic particles, and the other end of the plurality of resistive lines is electrically connected to the gray scale signal trace.

4. An electrophoretic display panel according to claim 3, wherein the voltages of the plurality of first driving electrodes are gradually increased in a direction away from the movement start end of the electrophoretic particles.

5. An electrophoretic display panel according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the resistances of a plurality of the resistive lines are different, and the first driving electrode is located at the same position on each of the resistive lines.

6. An electrophoretic display panel according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the resistances of the plurality of resistive lines are the same, and the positions of the plurality of first driving electrodes on each of the resistive lines are different.

7. The electrophoretic display panel according to claim 1, wherein the driving back plate is further provided with a thin film transistor, a data line, a scan line, and a common signal line, the data line and the scan line intersecting each other to define the sub-pixel, a gate electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the scan line, a source electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the data line, a drain electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the second driving electrode, and the common signal line is electrically connected to the second common electrode.

8. The electrophoretic display panel according to claim 1, wherein the color of the electrophoretic particles is white or chromatic, and the light treatment layer is a light absorbing layer; alternatively, the color of the electrophoretic particles is black, and the light treatment layer is a reflective layer.

9. The electrophoretic display panel of claim 1, wherein the second substrate further comprises a light shielding layer, an orthographic projection of the light shielding layer on the first substrate covering the second driving electrode and the second common electrode.

10. A driving method of an electrophoretic display panel applied to the electrophoretic display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising:

applying different voltage signals to a plurality of first driving electrodes of each sub-pixel of a first substrate respectively, and simultaneously applying a common voltage signal to a first common electrode of a second substrate so as to form vertical electric fields with different voltages between the plurality of first driving electrodes and the first common electrode of each sub-pixel respectively;

applying a voltage signal to a second driving electrode and a second common electrode of each sub-pixel of a first substrate to form a horizontal electric field between the second driving electrode and the second common electrode of each sub-pixel;

and controlling the electrophoretic particles to enter the corresponding grooves under the driving of the vertical electric field when the electrophoretic particles are driven by the horizontal electric field to move to the critical positions corresponding to the first driving electrodes, so that the electrophoretic particles and the light treatment layer are matched to form a plurality of different gray scales.