CN105573533B

CN105573533B - Touch panel

Info

Publication number: CN105573533B
Application number: CN201410527454.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许毅中; 苏富榆; 李文娟; 张炳辉
Original assignee: TPK Touch Solutions Xiamen Inc
Current assignee: TPK Touch Solutions Xiamen Inc
Priority date: 2014-10-09
Filing date: 2014-10-09
Publication date: 2021-03-16
Anticipated expiration: 2034-10-09
Also published as: TW201614447A; TWI534681B; CN105573533A; TWM502203U

Abstract

The invention discloses a touch panel which comprises a substrate and a shielding structure. The substrate has a visible region and a non-visible region. The shielding structure is arranged in the non-visible area on the substrate. The shielding structure comprises a first shielding layer, a second shielding layer and a first overprint shielding layer. The first shielding layer is arranged on the substrate. The second shielding layer is arranged on the first shielding layer away from the visible area. The area of the second shielding layer is smaller than that of the first shielding layer. The first reprint shielding layer and the second shielding layer are arranged on the first shielding layer in a coplanar manner. The surface of the first reprint shielding layer far away from the substrate and the surface of the second shielding layer far away from the substrate are positioned on the same plane. The touch panel of the invention has the advantages that the first overprint shielding layer is arranged at the position of the first shielding layer where the second shielding layer is not arranged, so that the overall thickness and the light shading property of the shielding structure are approximately the same, the appearance presents regular and consistent colors, and the problem of obvious chromatic aberration caused by the conventional shielding structure is solved.

Description

Touch panel

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to touch panels, and particularly to a touch panel with a shielding structure.

Background

With the advancement of technology, various information devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, ultra-light and thin phones, and satellite navigation, are continuously emerging. In addition to the keyboard or mouse input or operation, the touch control technique is a very intuitive and popular way to control the information device. The touch display device has a humanized and intuitive input operation interface, so that users at any age can directly select or control the information device by fingers or a touch pen, and the touch display device is more and more popular in the market.

The touch display device is provided with a visible area and a non-visible area outside the visible area, the non-visible area is commonly called a frame, and the non-visible area is provided with an ink layer which can shield some electronic components inside the touch display device, so that the touch display device is more attractive. Although the frame of the touch display device is mostly made of black ink at present, white is popular with people due to its simple and clean texture, and therefore, some manufacturers design the frame of the touch display panel to be white.

When the frame uses a light-colored ink (such as white) as the main color, because the light-shielding property of the light-colored ink is poor, the inks of the multi-layer stack are usually printed to improve the light-shielding property, but the inks of the multi-layer stack are displaced due to printing tolerance, so that the appearance of the frame is color-different and is not beautiful visually.

Disclosure of Invention

The touch panel according to the present invention includes a substrate and a shielding structure. The substrate is provided with a visible area and a non-visible area adjacent to the visible area. The shielding structure is arranged in the non-visible area on the substrate. The shielding structure comprises a first shielding layer, a second shielding layer and a first overprint shielding layer. The first shielding layer is arranged on the substrate. The second shielding layer is arranged on the first shielding layer away from the visible area. The area of the second shielding layer is smaller than that of the first shielding layer. The first reprint shielding layer and the second shielding layer are arranged on the first shielding layer in a coplanar manner. The surface of the first reprint shielding layer far away from the substrate and the surface of the second shielding layer far away from the substrate are positioned on the same plane.

In one embodiment, the first overprint masking layer may be located on the first masking layer where the second masking layer is not located.

In one embodiment, the materials of the first shielding layer, the second shielding layer, and the first overprint shielding layer may be the same.

In one embodiment, the shielding structure may be white in color.

In one embodiment, the shielding structure may further include a third shielding layer and a second overprint shielding layer. The third shielding layer is arranged on the second shielding layer away from the visible area. The area of the third shielding layer is smaller than that of the second shielding layer. The surface of the second reprint shielding layer far away from the substrate and the surface of the third shielding layer far away from the substrate can be positioned on the same plane.

In one embodiment, the second screen layer covers the first screen layer and the second screen layer without a third screen layer.

In one embodiment, the first and second offset shielding layers may be a single structure integrally formed.

In an embodiment, the touch panel may further include a conductive layer disposed on the visible area of the substrate.

In an embodiment, the conductive layer may be further extended and disposed on the non-visible region and penetrate through the shielding structure.

In view of the above, the touch panel of the present invention uses the first overprint shielding layer disposed on the first shielding layer without the second shielding layer, so that the overall thickness and light-shielding performance of the shielding structure are substantially the same, and the appearance presents regular and consistent colors, thereby avoiding the problem of color difference caused by the conventional shielding structure.

Drawings

Fig. 1A is a top view of a touch panel according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1A.

Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of a gravure printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another aspect of line A-A of FIG. 1A.

Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to another embodiment.

Fig. 4B is a cross-sectional view of another aspect of a touch panel according to yet another embodiment.

Detailed Description

A touch panel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements are denoted by like reference numerals.

Fig. 1A is a top view of a touch panel according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and fig. 1B is a cross-sectional view of a line a-a shown in fig. 1A. Referring to fig. 1A and 1B, the touch panel 1 can be applied to a touch device or a touch display device, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a notebook computer, or a wearable device. In the present embodiment, the touch panel 1 includes a substrate 11 and a shielding structure 12. In addition, since the present embodiment is mainly used to explain the design of the shielding structure 12, the present embodiment is not drawn and described with respect to other related components of the touch panel 1, such as the conductive layer, the conductive line layer, and the like.

The substrate 11 has a visible region 111 and a non-visible region 112, wherein the non-visible region 112 is adjacent to the visible region 111, for example, surrounds the visible region 111, or is located on at least one side of the visible region 111, and the embodiment is described by taking the non-visible region 112 as an example surrounding the visible region 111, which is not limited by the invention. The substrate 11 may be a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, a sapphire substrate, or a polarizer, and the glass substrate is used as an example for illustration. The visible area 111 is an area where the touch panel 1 and a display panel are cooperatively applied to display a picture. The non-visible area 112 is an area where the shielding structure 12 is disposed to shield wires, a circuit board, or other electronic components of the touch panel 1, so as to have an aesthetic function.

The shielding structure 12 is disposed in the non-visible region 112 on the substrate 11. In the present embodiment, the shielding structure 12 includes a first shielding layer 121, a second shielding layer 122 and a first overprint shielding layer 123. The first shielding layer 121 is disposed on the substrate 11, and the second shielding layer 122 is disposed on the other side of the first shielding layer 121 opposite to the substrate 11, that is, the first shielding layer 121 is disposed between the substrate 11 and the second shielding layer 122. The area of the second shielding layer 122 is relatively smaller than the area of the first shielding layer 121 due to the manufacturing tolerance, and in order to avoid the manufacturing process from affecting the appearance of the visible area 111, the second shielding layer 122 is disposed on the first shielding layer 121 away from the visible area 111. In this way, the portion of the first shielding layer 121 close to the visible area 111 forms a step due to the yielding factor of the second shielding layer 122.

The first additional printing shielding layer 123 and the second shielding layer 122 are disposed on the first shielding layer 121 in a coplanar manner, and a surface of the first additional printing shielding layer 123 far from the substrate 11 and a surface of the second shielding layer 122 far from the substrate 11 are substantially located on the same plane. In other words, the thicknesses of the first and second screen layers 123 and 122 are the same. In this way, by disposing the first additional printing shielding layer 123 having the same thickness as the second shielding layer 122 on the first shielding layer 121, the first additional printing shielding layer 123 can eliminate the step difference. Thus, the overall thickness and shading performance of the shielding structure 12 are substantially the same, and the appearance presents regular and consistent colors, so as not to cause the problem of obvious chromatic aberration generated by the conventional shielding structure.

Specifically, the first overprint masking layer 123 may be provided by a gravure (gravure) technique. Referring to fig. 1B and 2, fig. 2 is a schematic side view of a gravure printing apparatus for illustrating a process flow of gravure printing. The gravure printing apparatus 2 may include a transfer module 21 and a supply module 22. The transfer module 21 may be a drum, and the supply module 22 supplies the masking material M to the transfer module 21. In the present embodiment, the supply module 22 is a roller (engraving cylinder) having an intaglio pattern, wherein the intaglio pattern is formed on the surface of the roller by etching or electroplating according to the thickness or range of the first additional printing shielding layer 123 to be printed. In other embodiments, the supply module 22 may be a plate (gravure plate) having an intaglio pattern. In addition, the gravure printing apparatus 2 of the present embodiment further includes a carrying table 23 for carrying the substrate 11 on which the first shielding layer 121 and the second shielding layer 122 are formed to perform the printing process.

When gravure printing is performed, the shielding material M is uniformly coated in the intaglio pattern of the supply module 22, so that the groove 221 of the intaglio pattern is filled with the shielding material M, and then the excess shielding material M outside the intaglio pattern is scraped off, and at this time, only the groove 221 of the intaglio pattern is filled with the shielding material M. Then, the transfer module 21 and the supply module 22 are contacted by relative movement, in this embodiment, the masking material M is adhered to the transfer module 21 from the groove 221 by the relative movement of clockwise rotation of the transfer module 21 and counterclockwise rotation of the supply module 22. Furthermore, the transfer module 21 and the substrate 11 are contacted by relative movement, in which the transfer module 21 continues to rotate clockwise, and the substrate 11 is translated toward the transfer module 21 by the translation transportation of the carrying platform 23 to transfer the shielding material M to the position to be set on the substrate 11. In this way, in the present embodiment, the shielding material M is printed on the first shielding layer 121 by the gravure printing technique to form the first overprint shielding layer 123 shown in fig. 1B.

In addition, in order to precisely dispose the first printing-compensating mask layer 123 on the first mask layer 121 where the second mask layer 122 is not disposed, the gravure printing apparatus 2 may be configured with a CCD (Charge-coupled Device) alignment system (not shown) to achieve precise alignment. In addition, the thickness of the first offset shielding layer 123 can be changed by adjusting the depth of the groove 221, for example, the deeper groove 221 forms a thicker first offset shielding layer 123.

In addition, the material of the shielding structure 12 may be a light color ink or a light resistance, such as white, and the materials of the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122 and the first offset shielding layer 123 may be the same or similar.

Referring to fig. 1B, in the present embodiment, the first reprint shielding layer 123 may be located on the first shielding layer 121 where the second shielding layer 122 is not disposed. In this embodiment, the total area of the first additional printing shielding layer 123 and the second shielding layer 122 is substantially equal to the area of the first shielding layer 121, so that the light shielding performance of the whole shielding structure 12 is more consistent.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another aspect of line A-A of FIG. 1A. Referring to fig. 3, the difference between the embodiment of fig. 1B and the embodiment of the present invention is that the shielding structure 12 further includes a third shielding layer 124 and a second offset shielding layer 125. The third shielding layer 124 is also due to the process factor, the area of the third shielding layer 124 is relatively smaller than that of the second shielding layer 122, and the third shielding layer 124 is designed to be disposed on the second shielding layer 122 away from the visible area 111. At this time, the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122 and the third shielding layer 124 form a step-shaped step difference adjacent to the visible light area 111. Here, the surface of the second reprint shielding layer 125 far from the substrate 11 and the surface of the third shielding layer 124 far from the substrate 11 are located on the same plane, that is, the thicknesses of the second reprint shielding layer 125 and the third shielding layer 124 are the same. By disposing the second overprint shielding layer 125 having the same thickness as the third shielding layer 124 on the second shielding layer 122, the overall thickness and light-shielding performance of the shielding structure 12 are substantially the same, and the appearance presents regular and consistent colors, thereby avoiding the problem of significant color difference in the conventional shielding structure.

Similarly, the second printing mask layer 125 may cover the first printing mask layer 123 and the second mask layer 122 without the third mask layer 124, so as to make the overall light-shielding performance of the mask structure 12 more consistent.

In practice, the second additional printing shielding layer 125 can also be formed by a gravure printing technique, and the manufacturing method thereof can be referred to above, and will not be described herein. In addition, the first and second offset shielding

layers

123 and 125 may be a single structure integrally formed. In the process, the shielding structure 12 is formed on the substrate 11 by sequentially forming a first shielding layer 121, a second shielding layer 122, a third shielding layer 124, a first offset shielding layer 123, and a second offset shielding layer 125. Since the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122 and the third shielding layer 124 have a step difference adjacent to the visible region 111, the shielding material is disposed at the step difference by the gravure printing technique to form the first and second

overprint shielding layers

123 and 125, so as to eliminate the step difference and make the light-shielding performance of the whole shielding structure 12 uniform. Herein, the first and second offset shielding

layers

123 and 125 may be formed by two printing processes, or may be integrally formed by one printing process.

Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to another embodiment. Referring to fig. 4A, the shielding structure 12 of the touch panel 1a is substantially the same as that shown in fig. 1B. In the present embodiment, the touch panel 1a further includes a carrier substrate S and a conductive layer 13. The carrier substrate S is disposed opposite to the substrate 11 and located on the same side of the substrate 11 where the shielding structure 12 is disposed, that is, the shielding structure 12 is located between the substrate 11 and the carrier substrate S. The conductive layer 13 is disposed on the side of the carrier substrate S facing the substrate 11. The conductive layer 13 can be in the form of metal nano-wire, transparent conductive film or metal mesh. The metal nanowire may be, for example, a Silver Nanowire (SNW) or a Carbon Nanotube (CNT), and the transparent conductive film may be, for example, Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO), fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO), or graphene. In addition, a protection layer (not shown) may be disposed on the conductive layer 13, which is made of an insulating material and can prevent the transparent conductive film or metal of the conductive layer 13 from being oxidized. In addition, the touch panel 1a may further include a conductive layer T disposed on the other side of the shielding structure 12 opposite to the substrate 11 and electrically connected to the conductive layer 13, so as to transmit the sensing signal of the conductive layer 13 to a circuit board (not shown) for subsequent processing.

In addition, in some embodiments, the shielding structure 12 of the touch panel 1a may also include a third shielding layer 124 and a second overprint shielding layer 125, which are described with reference to the corresponding paragraphs of fig. 3.

Fig. 4B is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to another embodiment. Referring to fig. 4B, in the present embodiment, the conductive layer 13a of the touch panel 1B is disposed on the visible area 111 of the substrate 11, which is different from the embodiment shown in fig. 4A disposed on the carrier substrate S. Here, the substrate 11 is a strengthened plate, and the touch panel 1b adopts a One Glass Solution (OGS) technique, which can eliminate the above-mentioned carrier substrate S, thereby reducing the cost and the thickness of the touch panel 1 b.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the conductive layer 13a is further extended and disposed on the non-visible region 112 and penetrates through the shielding structure 12. Further, when the shielding structure 12 is manufactured, a first shielding layer 121 and a second shielding layer 122 are formed on the substrate 11, then the conductive layer 13a is formed on the visible area 111 of the substrate 11, and the conductive layer 13a is further extended and disposed on the first shielding layer 121 and the second shielding layer 122, then a first overprint shielding layer 123 is formed, and finally the conductive layer T is formed on the shielding structure 12 (for example, on the second shielding layer 122), wherein the conductive layer T is electrically connected to the conductive layer 13 a. In this way, in the embodiment, the first overprint shielding layer 123 is disposed on the first shielding layer 121 where the second shielding layer 122 is not disposed, so that the overall thickness and light shielding performance of the shielding structure 12 are substantially the same, the appearance presents regular and uniform colors, and the problem of color difference due to the conventional shielding structure is avoided, and the conductive layer 13a is disposed on the substrate 11 instead of another carrier substrate, so that the thickness of the touch panel 1b can be reduced.

In addition, in some embodiments, the shielding structure 12 of the touch panel 1b may also include a third shielding layer 124 and a second overprint shielding layer 125, which are described with reference to the corresponding paragraphs of fig. 3.

In addition, in some embodiments, the conductive layer 13a may not be disposed through the shielding structure 12, but extend from the substrate 11 and be disposed above the shielding structure 12, that is, the process sequence of the conductive layer 13a is after the shielding structure 12 is formed.

In summary, the touch panel of the present invention is configured such that the first overprint shielding layer is disposed on the first shielding layer without the second shielding layer, so that the overall thickness and light-shielding performance of the shielding structure are substantially the same, and the appearance of the shielding structure is uniform and consistent, thereby avoiding the problem of color difference caused by the conventional shielding structure.

The foregoing is by way of example only, and not limiting. It is intended that all equivalent modifications or variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention shall be included in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A touch panel, comprising:

the substrate is provided with a visible area and a non-visible area adjacent to the visible area;

a shielding structure disposed in the non-visible region on the substrate, the shielding structure comprising:

the first shielding layer is arranged on the substrate;

the second shielding layer is arranged on the first shielding layer away from the visible area, and the area of the second shielding layer is smaller than that of the first shielding layer; and

the first reprint shielding layer is arranged in the non-visible area and is positioned on the first shielding layer where the second shielding layer is not arranged, and the surface of the first reprint shielding layer far away from the substrate and the surface of the second shielding layer far away from the substrate are positioned on the same plane; and

the conducting layer is arranged in the visible area of the substrate and extends to the non-visible area, is formed on the surface of the substrate in the visible area, and is formed on the surface of the first shielding layer without the second shielding layer in the non-visible area so as to be formed between the first shielding layer and the first overprint shielding layer and penetrate through the shielding structure;

the first shielding layer, the second shielding layer and the first reprint shielding layer are made of the same material.

2. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the shielding structure is white in color.

3. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the shielding structure further comprises a third shielding layer and a second overprint shielding layer, the third shielding layer is disposed on the second shielding layer away from the visible area, the area of the third shielding layer is smaller than that of the second shielding layer, and a surface of the second overprint shielding layer away from the substrate and a surface of the third shielding layer away from the substrate are located on a same plane.

4. The touch panel of claim 3, wherein the second overprint masking layer covers the first overprint masking layer and the second masking layer where the third masking layer is not disposed.

5. The touch panel of claim 3, wherein the first overprint masking layer and the second overprint masking layer are integrally formed as a single structure.