1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device with a structure that is capable of firmly fixing a printed circuit board.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device typically includes a flat panel display that controls light transmission in response to a video signal to display a picture. The LCD device is widely utilized because of its advantageous characteristics such as lightness, thinness, low power consumption, etc. Recently, the LCD has been designed to have a large-screen and high precision so as to be optimum for office automation equipment, a notebook computer and the like.
An example of such an LCD device is an active matrix type LCD device that is provided with a thin film transistor (TFT) made of amorphous silicon or crystalline silicon as a switching device. The active matrix type LCD device includes an LCD panel, a driving circuit for the LCD panel, a backlight unit and a printed circuit board (PCB), which are assembled together as a liquid crystal module.
The LCD panel includes signal input pads, and the PCB includes output pads. The driving circuit for the LCD panel includes a data driver integrated circuit (IC) and a gate driver IC, which are mounted on a tape carrier package (TCP). The TCP has its own output pads electrically connected to the signal input pads of the LCD panel and has its own input pads electrically connected to the output pads of the PCB.
FIG. 1 is a perspective plan view schematically illustrating an LCD module according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the LCD module includes an LCD panel 2 for displaying a picture, a PCB 20, a TCP 22 stuck to both of the PCB 20 and the LCD panel 2, a guide panel 4 for supporting the edge of the LCD panel 2 and having the PCB 20 fixed thereto, and a backlight unit 10 for illuminating light to the LCD panel 2.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of fixing the PCB 20 to the guide panel 4 according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide panel 4 includes a plurality of protrusions 15 (only one is shown) formed for fixing the PCB 20 on a side surface of the guide panel 4. The PCB includes a plurality of holes 18 (only one is shown) corresponding to the respective protrusions 15. The PCB 20 is fixed to the guide panel such that the TCP 22 is bent to make the PCB 20 face a side surface of the guide panel 4, and then, the protrusion 15 of the guide panel 4 is inserted into the hole 18 formed in the PCB 20. According to this structure of the related art, the LCD panel 2 of FIG. 1 can move in an arrow mark direction in FIG. 2, thereby taking off the protrusion 15 from the hole 18 to separate the PCB 20 from the guide panel 4.
However, the related art structure brings about a problem in that moving friction between the PCB 20 and the other peripheral devices can cause damage to the PCB 20. To solve the problem, as shown in FIG. 3, a silicon pad 25, over which an adhesive is spread, may be used to fix the PCB 20 to the guide panel 4. However, the adhesive on the silicon pad 25 hardens with time passing by, thereby reducing the adhesive strength of the silicon pad 25. Moreover, the addition of the silicon pad 25 increases the manufacturing costs and also complicates the processes.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds