JPS6217870Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Technical field This invention is a touch sensor panel used for handwritten character and graphic input devices, etc. Specifically, it is a touch sensor panel that uses two resistive sheets or one resistive sheet and one conductive sheet in microscopic shapes. The present invention relates to a touch sensor panel that detects the coordinates of a touch input position at an arbitrary point on panels that are arranged facing each other with a certain gap between them, using electrical signals of X-Y coordinates.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY Touch sensor panels display handwritten characters and figures entered on the panel with a finger or pen on a display device such as a cathode ray tube.The touch sensor panel uses an optical scanning method or surface waves to detect the input position. There are several methods, but the most common and widely used method is one that uses conductive sheets or resistive sheets to detect voltage and current. This voltage/current type touch sensor panel has two input sheets, such as resistance sheets or conductive sheets, arranged facing each other with a certain gap between them. A material having a conductive film such as a resistive layer or a conductive layer deposited thereon is used. Input to this touch sensor panel is performed by pressing a point on the input sheet on the front side with a finger or a pen, and bringing the pressed point of the conductive film into contact with the conductive film on the input sheet on the back side. The voltage and current signals from the input sheet are decomposed into two orthogonal components of the X and Y coordinates and detected in an analog manner.

One of the important aspects of the touch sensor panel is that the two input sheets are placed opposite each other with a small gap so that only the input points are lightly electrically contacted by a light touch input. To achieve this, insulating oil or compressed air was sealed between the two sheets, but enclosing such fluids was extremely difficult to manufacture, and both sheets were in contact at two points at the same time. Contact errors such as these tend to occur frequently and are unreliable. To improve this, a method has been proposed in which a plurality of minute insulating spacers are scattered at regular intervals between two input sheets to maintain a constant gap between the two sheets. A specific example of this will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference numerals 1 and 2 are two input sheets, for example, a resistance sheet, and 3 is a plurality of insulating spacers arranged at appropriate intervals between the two input sheets. . Each resistance sheet 1, 2 has a resistance film 4, 5 formed on the inner surface of an insulating and flexible sheet 1', 2'.
It has a thickness of about 200 μm. The insulating spacers 3 are dot-shaped objects made of a hard insulating material such as epoxy resin, and for example, a plurality of insulating spacers 3 are formed at regular intervals on the inner surface of the back side resistance sheet 2 by a screen printing method, etc. Front side resistance sheet 1
will be posted. This insulating spacer 3 has a diameter of 0.3 to 0.5 mm, although it varies slightly depending on its material and manufacturing method.
The height limit is 40 to 50 μm, and by arranging them at an interval of about 5 mm, both resistor sheets 1 and 2 have a height of about 40 to 50 μm.
They are facing each other with a gap between them.

Such dot-shaped insulating spacers 3 have the advantage of being easy to manufacture and inexpensive, and are arranged at intervals of about 5 mm, and have the effect of preventing mistakes in simultaneous contact of both resistive sheets 1 and 2 at two points, but on the other hand, they are made of hard material. Therefore, it has the following drawbacks.

(a) When the finger or pen comes to the part of the hard insulating spacer 3 during the input operation of pressing and scanning the surface-side resistance sheet 1, the finger or pen will touch the hard insulating spacer 3.
It gets pushed back, and the feeling of that happens to my hand, making it uncomfortable to write.

(b) The resistance film 4 of both resistance sheets 1 and 2 when the insulating spacer 3 and its vicinity are pressed with a finger or a pen.
5 does not come into contact with each other due to the insulating spacer 3, and therefore the touch input position coordinates at this pressing point cannot be detected, which may cause problems in displaying fine characters and figures.

Disclosure of the invention This invention was made in view of the above problems.
To provide a touch sensor panel which has good tactility during input operation and also enables detection of input position coordinates at a part with a dot-shaped insulating spacer.

This device is characterized by using an elastic material for the multiple dot-shaped insulating spacers interposed between the two input sheets, and by forming a conductive film on the peripheral surface of the elastic insulating spacers except for the tip portions. When the elastic insulating spacers are compressed and deformed by the pressure applied during input operation, the conductive film is compressed and deformed by the conductive film (resistive film in the case of resistive sheets) on the inner surface of both the upper and lower input sheets.
The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific configuration examples.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, 6 and 7 are two input sheets, for example, resistance sheets, and 8 is interposed between both resistance sheets 6 and 7 at a predetermined interval. This is a plurality of dot-shaped elastic insulating spacers. Resistance films 9 and 10 with uniform resistance distribution are formed on the opposing inner surfaces of both resistance sheets 6 and 7. Elastic insulation spacer 8
Elastic insulating spacers 8 having the same size are fixedly arranged on the inner surface of the back side resistance sheet 7 at regular intervals, and a conductive film 11 is formed to a constant height on the circumferential surface of each elastic insulating spacer 8 except for the tip. Ru. The conductive film 11 is formed in a state where it is electrically connected to the resistive film 10 of the back side resistive sheet 7 . This conductive film 11 may be made of the same material as the resistive film 10, and is preferably formed all at once using a jig after the elastic insulating spacer 8 is formed on the resistive sheet 7. After forming the elastic insulating spacer 8 on the resistance sheet 7 and forming the conductive film 11 on its circumferential surface, the other resistance sheet 6 is placed on the resistance sheet 7, and both sheets 6, 7
One touch sensor panel is obtained by insulating and sealing the periphery of the touch sensor panel. Incidentally, the dimensions and arrangement pitch of the elastic insulating spacers 8 may be the same as those described in FIG. 1. The elastic insulating spacer 8 is made of silicone rubber or sponge-like material, and its elasticity is set to such an extent that it is compressed and deformed by the pressing force at the time of touch input, and the upper end portion of the conductive coating 11 is It is formed in a size that makes contact with the resistive film 9 of the resistive sheet 6.

When a finger or pen is pressed and scanned on the touch sensor panel configured as described above, when the finger or pen comes on top of the elastic insulating spacer 8, the elastic insulating spacer 8 is compressed and deformed by the pressing force at that time, giving a comfortable writing sensation to the hand. The performance has improved, and you can experience smoother input operations. Furthermore, when a finger or a pen presses a portion of one elastic insulating spacer 8, as shown in FIG. 10 is electrically connected by the conductive coating 11, the input position coordinates of the pressing point at this time are also detected in the same way as the others. In other words, it is possible to easily detect input positions that were hitherto considered blind spots, which is advantageous for displaying fine characters and figures.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the two input sheets may be one of which is a resistive sheet and the other a conductive sheet exclusively used for applying current and voltage. Further, the elastic insulating spacer can also be fixedly arranged on the inner surface of the front side input sheet, and furthermore, as shown in FIG.
After forming an elastic insulating spacer 14 integrally and projectingly on the insulating sheet 13', the insulating spacer 1
It is also possible to form a desired conductive film 15 on the elastic insulating spacer 14 and at the same time form a conductive film 16 as an extension of the conductive film 15 on a part of the circumferential surface of the elastic insulating spacer 14.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a touch sensor panel that provides a good feel to the hand during touch input operations and provides a comfortable writing experience. Furthermore, even if a touch is input to the dot-shaped spacer portion, a detection signal for that position is output, so position detection over the entire panel can be realized, and quality can be significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are schematic perspective views and enlarged sectional views taken along line A-A of a conventional touch sensor panel, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are partial plan views showing a touch sensor panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged sectional view of the touch sensor panel shown in FIG. 3 during input operation, and FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. be. 6, 7... Input sheet (resistance sheet), 8...
Elastic insulating spacer, 9, 10... Conductive film (resistance film), 11... Conductive film, 12, 13... Input sheet, 14... Elastic insulating spacer, 15... Conductive film, 16... Conductive film.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a device in which two input sheets having conductive films on their inner surfaces are arranged facing each other with a predetermined gap between them via a plurality of dot-shaped insulating spacers, the insulating spacers are formed of an elastic material, and one end of the elastic insulating spacers is formed of an elastic material. 1. A touch sensor panel characterized in that a conductive coating is formed on the circumferential surface of the elastic insulating spacer, excluding the upper and lower input sheets, to electrically connect the conductive films of the upper and lower input sheets when the elastic insulating spacer is compressed and deformed.