TWM514046U - Wiring structure of touch panel and touch panel with reduced border width - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch panel with a reduced border width is provided. The border width, determined by the wire width of and the wire spacing, is reduced with a double wiring layer design in which the adjacent wires are formed in separate layers. The resistance of the wiring is decreased by patterning the upper wiring layer according to the present application.

Description

Trace structure of touch panel and touch panel with narrowed frame

The present invention relates to a touch panel, and more particularly to a touch panel having a narrow bezel design.

Generally, the touch panel is mainly composed of a substrate, a plurality of electrode patterns, a plurality of metal traces, and a decorative layer, wherein the metal traces are electrically connected to the electrode patterns for data or signal transmission. The decorative layer covers the metal traces around the electrode pattern to form a frame area to reduce the external visibility of the metal traces to the human eye, and the aesthetics of the touch panel is increased by the color design of the decorative layer.

The plurality of metal traces of the touch panel are usually arranged side by side at a distance equal to the line width (also referred to as "line distance"), and are extended in the frame area of the touch panel; therefore, the line width of the metal trace That is, the width of the border area of the touch panel is determined. When the width of the trace is wider (that is, the spacing between the traces is correspondingly larger), a larger decorative layer shielding area is needed to shield the trace, and the width of the border area of the touch panel is also It is bigger.

In recent years, with the user's demand for large screens, the industry has invested in the design of narrow-frame touch panels. Industrial design for each brand manufacturer The design trend of frame width has been reduced from the existing 1.2mm to 1.0mm, 0.8mm, or even as low as 0.6mm. The narrow frame and large screen panel products have become important for major panel manufacturers to show their design and technical strength. One of the projects.

The narrow frame design of the touch panel generally increases the size of the touch area of the touch panel by reducing the shielding area of the decorative layer, and the width of the decorative layer depends on the line width and the line spacing of the metal trace (eg As shown in the first figure, for example, in the case where the line width and the line spacing are both d, the width of the border area of the touch panel is 12d); therefore, various manufacturers currently adopt the narrow frame touch panel design. The method of narrowing the line width d and the line spacing d to be smaller than the original value is to achieve an effect of narrowing the entire border area of the touch panel.

The second figure illustrates the routing design of a conventional narrow-frame touch panel. The touch panel 10 includes a substrate 110, a sensing electrode layer 120, and a plurality of wires 130 electrically insulated from each other. The touch panel 10 defines a touch area 12 and a line area 14 corresponding to the touch area 12, and also has a line area 16 in the line area 14. In a practical design, the line area 14 can be, for example, designed to correspond to at least one side of the touch area 12, or corresponding to the four sides surrounding the touch area 12 to form a border area referred to in the present creation. . In general, the touch area 12 is also referred to as a viewable area of the touch panel 10, and the line area (frame area) 14 is an opaque decorative layer shaded area. In the trace design shown in the second figure, the wires 130 are formed to have two or more widths, and the width is adjusted in accordance with the trace layout of the integral wires 130.

As shown in the second figure, the conventional narrow bezel technical solution is designed to reduce the line width of the wires 130 in the vicinity of the line portion 16 where the wires are relatively densely distributed, so that the layout of the wires 130 is occupied by the space near the line region 16 ( Or width) It can be reduced because the width of the wire 130 becomes smaller, and the wire 130 has a larger width in a relatively distributed area to avoid an increase in wire resistance due to a smaller wire width in the vicinity of the line region 16. The touch panel border area is narrowed while maintaining the transmission effect of the signal in the wire 130.

However, the existing method of narrowing the width of the touch panel by reducing the line width and the line spacing still has difficulty in the manufacturing process, and the manufacturing equipment and the materials used must be upgraded accordingly, which will result in a substantial increase in manufacturing costs.

Therefore, there is still a need to develop a touch panel narrow bezel technical solution that is compatible with existing processes, is cost-effective, and still maintains basic electrical functional requirements.

In view of the related problems of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to propose a trace layout design of the touch panel to achieve compatibility with existing processes, cost-effective, and still maintain good signal and electrical conditions. The control panel is narrowed and the visible area is enlarged.

Based on the foregoing objectives, the present invention proposes a configuration of the upper and lower traces of the double conductive layer, in which the conductive structures in the conductive layer are interlaced up and down, and the line spacing between the channels is reduced, thereby achieving the effect of narrowing the border by the configuration. .

Based on the foregoing objective, the first concept of the present invention is to provide a wiring structure of a capacitive touch panel, which is formed on a substrate of the touch panel, and the trace structure includes a first trace layer and an insulation. The pattern layer and a second trace layer. According to the concept of the present invention, the first trace layer is patterned to include a plurality of first trace portions, and the plurality of first trace portions are arranged at equal intervals from each other. The insulating pattern layer covers the first trace layer. The The second trace layer is on the insulating pattern layer and is patterned to include a plurality of second trace portions, and the plurality of second trace portions are arranged at equal intervals from each other. According to the foregoing concept, each of the plurality of first trace portions and each of the plurality of second trace portions are offset from each other without substantially overlapping.

Based on the foregoing concept, the routing structure is formed on a substrate in a frame area of the touch panel.

Based on the foregoing concept, the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and wherein the first trace portions overlap with the second trace portions at positions of the openings.

Based on the foregoing concept, the first wiring layer is made of a transparent electrode material.

Based on the foregoing concept, the second wiring layer is made of a metal electrode material.

A second concept of the present invention is to provide a lower-line resistive trace structure of a touch panel, which is formed on a substrate of the touch panel, and the trace structure includes a first trace layer and an insulation pattern. The layer and a second trace layer. The first trace layer is patterned to include a plurality of first trace portions, and the plurality of first trace portions are arranged at equal intervals with each other; the insulating pattern layer covers the first trace layer The second trace layer is patterned to include a plurality of second trace portions and a plurality of trace connection portions, each of the trace connection portions being connected to the second traces in a first direction section. Based on the foregoing concept, each of the plurality of first trace portions and each of the plurality of second trace portions are offset from each other without overlapping, and wherein a line width of each of the trace connection portions is smaller than each Wait for the line width of the second trace part.

Based on the foregoing concept, the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and wherein the first trace portions overlap with the second trace portions at positions of the openings.

Based on the foregoing concept, the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and wherein the wire connecting portions are overlapped with the first wire portions at positions of the openings.

Based on the foregoing concept, the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and the trace connection portions are formed as a plurality of discontinuous plurality of single structures and at the positions of the openings and the first traces Partial overlap.

Based on the foregoing concept, the first wiring layer is made of a transparent electrode material.

Based on the foregoing concept, the second wiring layer is made of a metal electrode material.

A third concept of the present invention is to propose a capacitive touch panel having a narrowed frame, which is characterized by comprising a routing structure as previously conceived.

A fourth concept of the present invention is a touch panel having a narrowed frame, comprising: a substrate defining a visible area and a border area around the visible area; a first conductive circuit layer forming On a surface of the substrate, patterned to include a plurality of first trace portions in the bezel region and a plurality of sensing units in the view region, the sensing units being in a first direction Connected to each other; an insulating pattern layer formed on the first conductive wiring layer and patterned to have a plurality of openings in the frame region and a plurality of insulating structures in the visible region; a second conductive circuit layer formed on the insulating pattern layer and patterned to be in the border The area includes a plurality of second trace portions and includes a plurality of connection structures in the visible area, the positions of the connection structures are corresponding to the positions of the insulation structures, and the sensing units are in a second direction Connected to each other; wherein the first trace portions overlap with the second trace portions at positions of the openings, and except for the positions of the openings, each of the plurality of first trace portions and Each of the plurality of second trace portions is offset from each other without substantially overlapping.

The features, embodiments, and advantages of the foregoing concepts and other concepts of the present invention are further understood by the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings.

10‧‧‧Touch panel

12‧‧‧ touch area

14‧‧‧Line area

16‧‧‧Set line area

110‧‧‧Substrate

120‧‧‧Sensing electrode layer

130‧‧‧Wire

310‧‧‧Substrate area

312‧‧‧visible area

314‧‧‧Border area

322‧‧‧Sensor unit

324‧‧‧The first part of the line

327‧‧‧Drop section

330‧‧‧Insulation pattern layer

332‧‧‧Insulation structure

334‧‧‧ openings

335‧‧‧Slong opening

337‧‧‧ openings

342‧‧‧ Connection structure

344‧‧‧Second line section

345‧‧‧Wiring connection

346‧‧‧Connected lines

347‧‧‧Wiring section

348‧‧‧Single structure

350‧‧‧flat or protective layer

The first figure illustrates the relationship between the line width and the line spacing of the touch panel and the width of the touch panel frame. The second figure is a schematic diagram illustrating the capacitive touch panel according to the prior art. The sensing layer and the routing structure are configured; the third to third D diagrams schematically illustrate the sensing layer and the routing structure configuration of the capacitive touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the trace structure along the line AA and the line BB in the third D diagram; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the layout of the touch panel trace according to a specific embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a layout of a touch panel trace according to another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 7 is a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present creation. FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate a layout of a trace in a lower left corner region of a touch panel frame according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate A layout of the traces in the lower left corner of the touch panel frame of another embodiment is created.

To facilitate an understanding of the technical features, the contents and advantages of the present invention, and the technical advantages thereof, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following description and the accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of illustration and description, and are not necessarily the true proportion and precise arrangement of the present invention; therefore, the proportions of the drawings should not be The relationship is configured to interpret and limit the scope of the creation of the creation in actual practice. The scope of this creation is defined by the scope of the patent application.

Specific embodiments of the present work will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings. It is to be understood that the elements indicated in these figures are for clarity and not for actual size and proportion. In addition, in order to facilitate the understanding of the drawings, the depiction and description of the conventional elements are omitted in the partial drawings.

Please refer to the third to third D drawings, which schematically illustrate the sensing layer and the trace structure configuration of the capacitive touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The sensing layer and the routing structure of the present invention are formed on a substrate (hereinafter referred to as "substrate region"), and the substrate (not shown) may be a protective lens (Cover Lens) or a general glass substrate, a tempered glass substrate, or the like. .

As shown in FIG. 3A, the substrate region 310 can define a visible region 312 and a bezel region 314. Forming a first conductive circuit layer on the substrate, which is patterned A plurality of sensing units 322 are included in the visible area 312 and a plurality of first routing portions 324 are included in the border area 314. In the visible area 312, the sensing units 322 are formed to be connected to each other in a first direction (for example, the Y direction) and to be separated from each other in a second direction (for example, the X direction), thereby forming a sensing unit. The electrical connection in the first direction; the first trace portion 324 is formed as a discontinuous structure that is misaligned with each other and does not overlap.

FIG. 3B is an insulating pattern layer 330 formed by patterning to have a plurality of openings 334 in the frame region 314 and a plurality of insulating structures 332 in the visible region 312. The insulating pattern layer 330 is located On the first conductive circuit layer (described further below). As shown in FIG. B, in the viewing zone 312, the position of the insulating structure 332 corresponds to the connecting portion of the sensing unit 322 in the first direction for subsequent use as a bridging structure. In the bezel area 314, the opening 334 extends through the insulating pattern layer 330 such that the first trace portion (not shown) below the insulating pattern layer 330 can be partially exposed through the opening 334, thereby interacting with subsequent layers (eg, The second conductive circuit layer) is in contact connection.

The third C is a second conductive circuit layer patterned to include a plurality of connection structures 342 in the visible region 312, a plurality of second trace portions 344 in the bezel region 314, and a connection. A wiring line 346 between the visible area 312 and the bezel area 314. The second conductive circuit layer is placed on the insulating pattern layer (described further below). As shown in FIG. 3C, the position of the connection structure 342 corresponds to the position of the insulation structure 332 to form a bridge structure with the insulation structure 332 such that the sensing units 322 are in a second direction (eg, the X direction). connection. In the bezel area 314, the first trace portion 324 is The second trace portions 344 are overlapped and connected at the position of the opening 334; except for the positions of the openings 334, each of the plurality of first trace portions 324 and each of the plurality of second trace portions 344 are misaligned with each other without overlapping. That is, each of the second trace portions 344 is located at an interval corresponding to the interval between the two first trace portions 324.

FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the touch panel sensing layer and the trace structure according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment includes the sensing unit 322 and the first trace portion 324. A conductive circuit layer, an insulating pattern layer 330 shown in FIG. B, and a second conductive line including a connection structure 342, a second wiring portion 344, and a wiring line 346 are shown stacked in the third C-picture. In addition to the foregoing layer structure, a flat layer (Overcoat, OC) or a protective layer may be further formed on the structure shown in FIG. 3D according to actual application requirements (as shown by the symbol 40 in the fourth A and fourth B drawings). ,). As shown in FIG. 3D, the signals detected by the sensing unit 322 as the user touches the visible area 312 are transmitted to the corresponding routing portions 324, 344 by the wiring line 346, and are routed by the routing portion 324. , 344 continues to pass.

Since the spacing of the traces at the corners is likely to have a poor influence on the antistatic performance of the overall line due to the tip discharge, in the present creation, the corners of the traces are designed according to the lead angle, for example, in the third D diagram. The trace portion 344 is shown connected to the wiring line 346 at C to reduce the probability of tip discharge generation and to reduce the generation of unnecessary parasitic capacitance.

The fourth A diagram and the fourth B diagram are respectively schematic cross-sectional views of the trace structure shown along the line A-A (opening of the insulating pattern layer) and the line B-B (non-opening) in the third D diagram. As shown in the figure, the trace structure of this creation is formed in touch. In the frame area of the substrate 300 of the control panel. At the position of the opening 334, the first trace portion 324 is in overlapping contact with the second trace portion 344; however, except for the position of the opening, each of the first trace portions 324 and each of the second trace portions 344 are connected to each other Misplaced without overlapping. Taking the fourth B picture as an example, the adjacent line is located on the different layer planes of the touch panel, and the position of the lower layer is corresponding to the upper line spacing position (reverse However, it is possible to arrange 4 channels under the width of the border of 4d without changing the line width (d) and the line spacing (d) (the width of the border required for the conventional 4 channel configuration) It is 8d), so the total width of the border area of the touch panel can be reduced, and the effect of narrowing the border can be achieved.

In the present invention, the first conductive circuit layer (or "lower conductive circuit layer") includes a sensing unit and a first wiring structure, and the material is a transparent electrode material (Transparent Conductive Oxide) which is conventionally used as a sensing layer. , TCO), and can be completed in the same process as the sensing unit pattern in the visible area to reduce the process. The type of the transparent electrode material includes, for example, but not limited to, indium tin oxide (ITO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), zinc gallium oxide (GZO), etc.; in an alternative embodiment, other materials such as nano silver and zinc oxide are used. Conductive materials such as (ZnO) and graphene are also feasible. The second conductive circuit layer (or "upper conductive circuit layer") includes a connection structure as a bridge connection in the visible region, a second trace portion in the frame region, and a connection line connected between the visible region and the frame region The material is generally an opaque metal material such as, but not limited to, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, copper, and the like.

In general, the lower conductive layer uses a transparent conductive oxide material to maintain high light transmittance in the visible area of the touch panel; Has a high sheet resistance (typically between 1 and 100 ohms). The upper conductive circuit layer is made of an opaque conductive metal material because it is a peripheral line and is located in the frame area, and its sheet resistance is low (about less than 1 ohm). Due to the different materials of the upper and lower conductive circuit layers, the sheet resistance is different, so that the two-layer trace structure changes in line resistance when the contact is in contact at the opening, and the overall resistance is also different from that in the conventional touch panel. The resistance of metal traces. For example, if the conductive layer of the following layer uses a transparent conductive material having a sheet resistance of 100 ohms, and the upper conductive wiring layer uses a metal material having a sheet resistance of 1 ohm, the line resistance of the trace structure is higher than that of the conventional method. The line resistance of the wiring structure (completely laid on a metal line) is about 50 times higher. In this creation, in order to reduce the difference in line resistance performance, the electrical performance of the touch panel (especially for large-size applications) is to design a special pattern for the second conductive layer in the process, as shown in the following fifth to the following The seven figures are shown.

Please refer to the fifth figure, which is a schematic diagram of a layout of a touch panel trace according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first trace layer made of a transparent electrode material is patterned to include a plurality of sensing units 322 and a plurality of first trace portions 324, the plurality of first trace portions 324 are arranged at equal intervals with each other. The insulating pattern layer 330 is overlaid on the first wiring layer, and as in the previous embodiment, the insulating pattern layer 330 has a plurality of openings in the frame region. However, in this embodiment, the second trace layer made of the metal electrode material is patterned to include a plurality of second trace portions 344 and a plurality of trace connection portions 345, each of the trace connection portions The line width of 345 is smaller than the line width of each of the second wire portions 344, and the second wire portions 344 are connected in a first direction.

In the specific embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the thin-line trace connection portion 345 and the first trace portion 324 are separated from each other by the insulating pattern layer 330, thereby forming a parallel connection of upper and lower layers, thereby reducing The overall line resistance of the trace structure.

In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 5 , the insulating pattern layer 330 can also be formed with a plurality of elongated openings 335 such that the trace connecting portion 345 can be directly in contact with the lower first wiring portion 324 through the elongated opening 335, thereby Reduce the overall line resistance of the trace structure, as shown in Figure 6.

Moreover, in another embodiment, the second wiring layer is formed to have a plurality of discrete single-body structures 348 between the second routing portions 344, the locations of which are spaced apart from the narrow opening of the insulating pattern layer 330. Accordingly, the unitary structure 348 is thus in direct contact with the underlying first trace portion 324 to reduce the overall line resistance of the trace structure, as shown in FIG.

The upper and lower misplacement of the routing structure proposed by the present invention can be further used for various narrow frame requirements. For example, FIG. 8A illustrates a schematic diagram of a trace structure configuration of a touch panel having a narrow bezel design in both the X direction and the Y direction; and FIG. 8B is a partial enlarged view, schematically illustrating the eighth A diagram. The D area. As shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, when the frame narrowing design is to be implemented on the adjacent side of the touch panel, the upper and lower misalignment patterns of the creation of the present invention can be used to pass through the insulating pattern layer. The opening 337 is connected to a lower portion, a wiring portion 327 made of a transparent electrode material, and a wiring portion 347 made of a metal electrode material disposed on the upper layer for peripheral wiring layout.

Alternatively, please refer to the ninth A and ninth B (enlarged view of the E area), which illustrates a touch panel that exhibits a narrow bezel design on one side. Schematic diagram of line structure configuration. In this example, the wiring structure of the present invention is connected to the lower layer, the wiring portion 327 made of a transparent electrode material, and the metal electrode material disposed on the upper layer through the opening 337 of the insulating pattern layer. The routing portion 347 is formed to perform peripheral wiring layout; as shown in the figure, the border region of the touch panel that does not need to be narrowed is directly wired with a metal electrode material, and the border region to be narrowed is This creation is placed in a misplaced manner.

Although the foregoing specific embodiment uses a transparent conductive layer as the first conductive layer of the lower layer and a metal layer as the second conductive layer of the upper layer, those skilled in the art will understand that the foregoing specific embodiments are merely illustrative. In practical applications, it is also feasible to use a metal layer as the lower conductive layer and a transparent conductive layer as the upper conductive layer.

In summary, the present proposal proposes a completely different solution from the conventional method of narrowing the line width and the line spacing to narrow the touch panel frame, and the design of the upper and lower layers of the interlaced wiring structure can be used. When the number of traces (number of channels), line width (channel width), and line pitch (channel pitch) are changed, the frame of the frame area is reduced to achieve a narrowing of the touch panel frame. On the other hand, through the structural design of the upper trace, this creation can further reduce the line resistance of the overall trace structure, so as to avoid the material selection of the trace structure affecting the overall electrical performance of the touch panel. Therefore, this creation is a novel, progressive and industrially practical and competitive creation, which has great development value.

It is important to note that all of the features disclosed in this specification may be combined with other methods or structures, and each feature disclosed in this specification may be selectively identical, equal or similar. Instead, all features disclosed in the present specification are only one example of equal or similar features, except for the particularly salient features.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and refinements can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

300‧‧‧Substrate

324‧‧‧The first part of the line

330‧‧‧Insulation pattern layer

344‧‧‧Second line section

350‧‧‧flat or protective layer

Claims (13)

A trace structure of a touch panel is formed on a substrate of the touch panel, and the trace structure comprises: a first trace layer, which is patterned to include a plurality of first trace portions, The plurality of first trace portions are arranged at substantially equal intervals with each other; an insulating pattern layer covering the first trace layer; and a second trace layer disposed on the insulating pattern layer And patterned to include a plurality of second trace portions, wherein the plurality of second trace portions are arranged at substantially equal intervals from each other, wherein each of the plurality of first trace portions and each of the plurality of trace portions The second trace portions are offset from each other without substantially overlapping. The routing structure as described in claim 1 is formed on a substrate in a frame area of the touch panel. The wiring structure of claim 1, wherein the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and wherein the first routing portions and the second routing portions are attached to the openings Overlap overlap at the location. The routing structure of claim 1, wherein the first wiring layer is made of a transparent electrode material. The wiring structure according to claim 1, wherein the second wiring layer is made of a metal electrode material. A reduced-resistance trace structure of a touch panel is formed on a substrate of the touch panel, and the trace structure comprises: a first trace layer patterned to include a plurality of first trace portions, the plurality of first trace portions being substantially equidistantly arranged with each other; an insulating pattern layer overlying the layer a first trace layer; and a second trace layer patterned to include a plurality of second trace portions and a plurality of trace connection portions, each of the trace connection portions being in a first direction Connecting the second trace portions, wherein each of the plurality of first trace portions and each of the plurality of second trace portions are offset from each other without substantially overlapping, and wherein each of the traces is connected The portion of the line width is less than the line width of each of the second trace portions. The routing structure of claim 6, wherein the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and wherein the first routing portions and the second routing portions are attached to the openings Overlap overlap at the location. The wiring structure of claim 6, wherein the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and wherein the wire connecting portions are at positions of the openings and the first wires Partial overlap. The wiring structure of claim 6, wherein the insulating pattern layer is formed to have a plurality of openings, and the routing connecting portions are formed as a plurality of discontinuous plurality of single structures and each of the plurality of The position of the opening overlaps with the first trace portions. The routing structure of claim 6, wherein the first wiring layer is made of a transparent electrode material. The wiring structure according to claim 6, wherein the second wiring layer is made of a metal electrode material. A touch panel having a narrowed frame, comprising the wiring structure according to any one of the preceding claims. A touch panel having a narrowed frame, comprising: a substrate defining a visible area and a border area around the visible area; a first conductive circuit layer formed on a surface of the substrate And patterning to include a plurality of first trace portions in the frame region and including a plurality of sensing units in the visible region, wherein the sensing units are connected to each other in a first direction; an insulating pattern layer Formed on the first conductive circuit layer, and patterned to have a plurality of openings in the frame region and a plurality of insulating structures in the visible region; and a second conductive circuit layer Forming on the insulating pattern layer, and patterning to include a plurality of second trace portions in the bezel region and including a plurality of connection structures in the view region, positions of the connection structures and the insulation structures Correspondingly, and causing the sensing units to be connected to each other in a second direction; wherein the first routing portions overlap with the second routing portions at positions of the openings, and Open Outside the home, among the plurality of first wiring portion and a plurality of second portions of each of the wiring lines offset to each other without substantial overlap.