CN103984435A - Touch panel capable of reducing frame area - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a touch panel capable of reducing the frame area, which comprises a transparent substrate, the surface of which has a sensing area and a frame area around the sensing area, and a first conductive layer is sequentially arranged on the transparent substrate , an insulating layer and a second conductive layer, the first conductive layer forms a plurality of transparent electrode series in the sensing area of the transparent substrate, and forms a plurality of first conductive lines in the frame area, and the second conductive layer is in the frame area A plurality of second conductive lines are formed so that the transparent electrodes are connected in series to the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines, and at the same time, the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines are separated by an insulating layer. The present invention forms conductive wires of different layers on the frame area of the panel, which can reduce the area occupied by the frame area.

Description

Touch panel with reduced bezel area

technical field

The invention relates to a touch panel, in particular to a touch panel with a reduced frame area.

Background technique

In recent years, touch panels (Touch Panel) have been widely used in a variety of electronic products, such as: global positioning system (GPS), personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone (cellular phone) and handheld Computer (Hand-held PC), etc., to replace traditional input devices (such as: keyboard and mouse, etc.). This significant design change not only improves the human-machine interface affinity of these electronic devices, but also frees up more space for installing larger display panels by omitting traditional input devices, making it easier for users to browse data .

Existing touch panels include resistive, capacitive, acoustic and optical types. Under the principles of various large projects, many different types of production methods have been derived. For example, resistive type has 8 wires, 7 wires, 6 wires, 5 wires, 4 wires, digital resistors, etc.; capacitive type has surface Capacitors, digital capacitors (multi-touch capacitive), etc.; optical types include infrared shielding, suppression of total reflection, etc. A general current touch panel is shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3, including a transparent substrate 10, taking the aa' line as an example, a first transparent conductive layer 12, a first transparent conductive layer 12, a first An insulating layer 14, a second conductive layer 16 and a second insulating layer 18, wherein the first transparent conductive layer 12 forms a plurality of transparent conductive electrode series 20 in the sensing area of the transparent substrate 10, and the second conductive layer 16 is A plurality of conductive lines 22 are formed in the frame area of the transparent substrate 10 , and the conductive lines 22 are connected to a plurality of pads 23 . Since these conductive lines 22 are all formed by the second conductive layer 16 of the same layer, there must be a distance g between the conductive lines 22 during the etching process, otherwise it is easy to cause an open circuit or a short circuit; The transparent conductive wires 22 that are too close will also cause mutual signal influence. Since the requirements of many products today are to have a smaller border area, with the existing technology, the spacing between lines takes up a lot of space.

Contents of the invention

To make up for the shortcomings of the prior art, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a touch panel that can reduce the area occupied by the frame area.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a touch panel capable of reducing the frame area, which includes a transparent substrate, the surface of which has a sensing area and a frame area around the sensing area; the transparent substrate is provided with a first A conductive layer, which forms a plurality of first conductive lines in the frame area; a first insulating layer is provided on the transparent substrate and the first conductive layer to cover the first conductive layer; a second conductive layer is provided on the first insulating layer to A plurality of second conductive lines are formed in the frame area; the first conductive layer forms a plurality of electrode series in the sensing area to connect the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines; and a plurality of pads, It is located in the frame area and connects the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines.

Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the present invention is that: the present invention implements wires with different layers of conductive layers, which can reduce the area occupied by the frame area.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a layout of transparent electrode series and conductive lines of a touch panel in the prior art.

Fig. 2 is a structural cross-sectional view of Fig. 1 along the line a-a'.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a layout of pads and conductive wires of a touch panel in the prior art.

FIG. 4 is a schematic layout diagram of a touch panel according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a structural cross-sectional view of Fig. 4 along b-b' line.

Fig. 6 is a structural cross-sectional view of Fig. 4 along line c-c'.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic diagram of the layout of the first conductive line and the second conductive line in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 8 is a schematic layout diagram of a touch panel according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of Fig. 8 along the line d-d'.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged schematic diagram of the layout of the first conductive line and the second conductive line in FIG. 8 .

FIG. 11 is a schematic layout diagram of a touch panel according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of Fig. 11 along the e-e' line.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged schematic diagram of the layout of the first conductive line and the second conductive line in FIG. 11 .

Explanation of reference signs:

10 transparent substrate

12 The first transparent conductive layer

14 The first insulating layer

16 Second conductive layer

18 second insulating layer

20 transparent conductive electrode series

22 conductive thread

23 Pads

24 transparent substrate

26 The first conductive layer

28 transparent electrode series

30 first conductive thread

32 Pads

34 The first insulating layer

36 Second conductive layer

38 Second conductive wire

40 second insulating layer

Detailed ways

The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in combination with preferred embodiments.

The present invention mainly proposes a "narrow border (Narrow Border)" design in response to the mainstream of the current market, which generally refers to the width from the borders on the left and right sides of the screen to the visible area. Taking mobile phones as an example, the sides of the rectangular screen of the mobile phone are longer, and the two sides The narrower black (white) side is provided for opaque metal connection lines, and because the two sides are longer, it may be driven by one side or two sides, and the present invention mainly separates the edge wiring of the X-axis with an insulating layer , use the design of different layers to reduce the distance between traces to achieve the effect of narrow borders.

Embodiment one

Please refer to Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7, wherein Figure 5 is a structural cross-sectional view of Figure 4 along the bb' line, Figure 6 is a structural cross-sectional view of Figure 4 along the cc' line, and Figure 7 is a structural cross-sectional view of Figure 4 The enlarged schematic diagram of the layout of the first conductive line and the second conductive line. Embodiment 1 of the present invention includes a transparent substrate 24, such as a glass substrate or a transparent resin substrate, and its surface has a sensing region and a frame region around the sensing region, which are respectively inside and outside the virtual frame in FIG. 4 area. A first conductive layer 26 is disposed on the transparent substrate 24 and its material can be ITO or metal. Here, the transparent conductive layer made of ITO is taken as an example. The first conductive layer 26 forms a plurality of transparent electrode series 28 in the sensing area, and forms a plurality of first conductive lines 30 in the frame area. In addition, a plurality of pads 32 for external telecommunication transmission are provided in the frame area, and the material can be any conductive material, so that part of the transparent electrode series 28 , part of the pads 32 and the first conductive line 30 are connected to each other. Here, the material of the pad 32 is metal as an example, which is indicated by hatching. A first insulating layer 34 is disposed on the transparent substrate 24 and the first conductive layer 26 to cover the first conductive layer 26 in the frame area, wherein the first insulating layer 34 can be made of organic or inorganic materials. A second conductive layer 36 is disposed on the first insulating layer 34 , forming a plurality of second conductive lines 38 in the frame area to connect the remaining transparent electrode series 28 and the remaining pads 32 . The material of the second conductive layer 36 can be indium tin oxide or metal, and metal is taken as an example here, which is also indicated by hatching. There is an area surrounded by a dotted frame on the frame area, and the corresponding first insulating layer 34 needs to be provided with a hole, so that the pad 32 can be connected to the first conductive line 30 through the hole. In addition, since both the second conductive layer 36 and the contact pad 32 are made of metal, they can be integrally formed in the same manufacturing process to be connected to each other. In the horizontal and vertical directions of the surface of the parallel transparent substrate 24, the first conductive lines 30 and the second conductive lines 38 are alternately arranged in pairs, so the vertical line segments of the first conductive lines 30 and the second conductive lines 38 are on the parallel transparent substrate. The distance between each other in the horizontal direction of the surface of the transparent substrate 24 can be shortened, and the distance between the horizontal line segments of the first conductive line 30 and the second conductive line 38 in the vertical direction parallel to the surface of the transparent substrate 24 can also be shortened. . In the present invention, two parallel conductive wires are respectively referred to different layers, thereby reducing the waste of space caused by the distance between the conductive wires, so as to achieve the effect of reducing the frame area of the touch panel. Finally, a second insulating layer 40 is disposed on the first insulating layer 34 and the second conductive layer 36, and its material can be organic material or inorganic material.

If the material of the first conductive layer 26 is ITO, its resistance will be greater than that of the second conductive layer 36 made of metal, such as silver. Therefore, in terms of design, if the same conduction speed is desired, the width of the second conductive line 38 made of metal must be smaller than that of the first conductive line 30 made of ITO.

For example, in order to reduce the frame area of the touch panel, the line width of each second conductive line 38 can be set as the distance between two adjacent first conductive lines 30, and the line width of each first conductive line 30 is The distance between two adjacent second conductive lines 38 can reduce the horizontal distance between the first conductive line and the second conductive line, thereby reducing the area occupied by the frame area. In the present invention, the first conductive wires 30 and the second conductive wires 38 that alternate between two phases belong to the first conductive layer 26 and the second conductive layer 36 respectively. Since they belong to different layers, the single layer is the first The distance between the conductive lines 30 remains the same, so it does not affect the manufacturing process; and the first insulating layer 34 separates the two layers between the first conductive layer 26 and the second conductive layer 36, so there is no electrical difference. Too close to cause mutual influence between signals.

It is proved by mathematical formula, assuming that the line width of the original design conductive line is W, the distance between lines is G, and N conductive lines, then the routing space B of the border area is as shown in formula (1):

B=(W+G)×N (1)

And the second conductive wire 38 of the present invention is interspersed with the spacing between the first conductive wires 30, so that the line width of the first conductive wire 30 and the second conductive wire 38 of the present invention are both W, and the total number of the two is N, And the distance between the first conductive lines 30 is G, and the distance between the second conductive lines 38 is also G. Therefore, on the whole, the routing space B' of the new frame area is shown in formula (2):

B'＝(W+(G-W)/2)×N=((W+G)/2)×N=((W+G)×N)/2=B/2 (2)

It can be known from formula (2), that the wiring space in the frame area of the touch panel can be reduced by half.

The manufacturing process of the touch panel of the present invention also includes two types, one is to sequentially form the first conductive layer 26, the first insulating layer 34, the second conductive layer 36 and the transparent electrode series with the X-axis or the Y-axis. The process of the second insulating layer 40, the other is to sequentially form the second conductive layer 36, the conductive layer of the transparent electrode series with the X-axis or the Y-axis, the first insulating layer 34, and the transparent electrode with the Y-axis or the X-axis. The manufacturing process of the first conductive layer 26 and the second insulating layer 40 of the electrode series.

Embodiment two

As shown in FIGS. 8 , 9 , and 10 , the difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is only that the second conductive wire 38 and the first conductive wire 30 in the second embodiment are overlapped up and down.

Embodiment three

As shown in FIGS. 11 , 12 , and 13 , the difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment is only that the second conductive lines 38 and the first conductive lines 30 in the third embodiment are alternately overlapped.

Embodiments 2 and 3 can also reduce the distance between traces to achieve the effect of narrow borders.

In the above-mentioned three embodiments, the wiring is arranged on one of the left and right sides of the frame area, so as to complete the design of single-sided wiring. If it is desired to design the double-sided driving on the upper and lower sides at the same time, the technology of the present invention can also be used to place the wiring used in the double-sided driving in the space without wiring on the left and right sides of the frame area.

To sum up, in the present invention, the conductive wires of the touch panel are implemented as two different conductive layers, which are interpenetrated with each other, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing the frame area.

The above content is a further detailed description of the present invention in conjunction with specific preferred embodiments, and it cannot be assumed that the specific implementation of the present invention is limited to these descriptions. For those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs, several equivalent substitutions or obvious modifications can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, and those with the same performance or use should be deemed to belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. A touch panel capable of reducing the frame area, characterized in that it comprises: A transparent substrate, the surface of which has a sensing area and a frame area around the sensing area; a first conductive layer disposed on the transparent substrate to form a plurality of first conductive lines in the frame area; a first insulating layer disposed on the transparent substrate and the first conductive layer to cover the first conductive layer; A second conductive layer is arranged on the first insulating layer to form a plurality of second conductive lines in the frame area, and the first conductive layer forms a plurality of electrode series in the sensing area to connect the first conductive lines. a conductive thread and the second conductive threads; and A plurality of pads are located in the frame area and connected to the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines. 2 . The touch panel with a reduced frame area as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a second insulating layer disposed on the first insulating layer and the second conductive layer. 3 . 3. The touch panel capable of reducing the frame area as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: in the direction parallel to the surface of the transparent substrate, the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines are interlaced in pairs Alternate side by side. 4 . The touch panel with a reduced frame area as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first conductive lines overlap or alternately overlap with the second conductive lines. 5 . The touch panel with a reduced frame area as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first conductive layer is a transparent conductive layer, and the electrode series are transparent electrode series. 6 . The touch panel with a reduced frame area as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first conductive layer is made of indium tin oxide. 7 . The touch panel with a reduced frame area as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second conductive layer is made of metal or indium tin oxide. 8 . The touch panel with a reduced frame area as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the transparent substrate is a glass substrate or a transparent resin substrate. 9. The touch panel capable of reducing the frame area according to claim 1, wherein the material of the first conductive layer is indium tin oxide, and the material of the second conductive layer is metal, and the material of the metal is The width of the second conductive lines is smaller than that of the first conductive lines made of ITO.