CN210295066U - Single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with double bridge connection areas - Google Patents

Abstract

A single-layer projective capacitive touch sensor with double bridge connection areas comprises a plurality of induction arrays, each induction array is provided with a shared induction electrode and a plurality of driving electrodes, the driving electrodes are divided into two groups and are respectively connected to electric contacts arranged in the two bridge connection areas at the edge part through electrode connection lines, each bridge connection area is covered with an insulating film, through holes are arranged at corresponding positions of the electric contacts on the insulating film, the driving electrode signal wires are used for electrically connecting the driving electrode electric contacts on the same axis of each induction array on the touch sensor through the through holes to form a signal channel in series, the signal wires electrically connected with the shared induction electrodes penetrate through one bridge connection area and are arranged in an insulated and crossed mode with the driving electrode signal wires of the signal channel, and electrode extension parts of the shared induction electrodes extend to be arranged in the other bridge connection area and are arranged with the driving electrode signal wires of the signal channel The number wires are arranged in an insulated and crossed manner.

Description

Single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with double bridge connection areas

Technical Field

The present invention relates to projected capacitive touch sensors, and more particularly to a single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge regions for an independent matrix sensing cell architecture.

Background

Projected capacitive touch sensors have a multi-touch (Multitouch) function, and thus have been widely used in various electronic products; the projected capacitive touch sensor with an Independent matrix sensing unit (Independent-matrix sensor) structure is composed of a plurality of sensing arrays arranged on a single-layer conductive film, each sensing array is provided with a shared sensing electrode and a plurality of driving electrodes, the sensing electrodes and the driving electrodes are respectively connected to electric contacts through electrode connecting wires (connecting wires), the electric contacts are arranged at the edge of a touch pad and are respectively lapped on a signal flat cable (FPC or FFC), and accordingly, touch signals acquired by the touch sensor are transmitted to a sensing signal processing unit. As shown in fig. 7, since the driving electrodes and the sensing electrodes of the independent matrix sensing unit structure are all disposed on a single conductive layer, and each electrode is directly connected to the electrical contacts 10 'disposed at the peripheral portion by the electrode Connecting Wires (CW), the electrical contacts 10' are numerous, which not only results in a very large width of the flat signal cable that is connected to the flat signal cable, but also easily causes poor contact of a small number of electrical contacts, which results in the failure of the touch panel to operate normally.

As shown in fig. 8 and 9, in order to reduce the edge area of the touch panel, an independent matrix sensing unit structure having a bridge area structure is proposed, in which a plurality of electrical contacts 10 ' of the sensing electrodes and the driving electrodes in each sensing array are distributed on one side edge of the touch panel, and then the electrical contacts 10 ' are covered on the electrical contacts 10 ' by an insulating film 20 ', and through holes 30 ' are formed in the insulating film at positions corresponding to the electrical contacts, and then the driving electrode electrical contacts 10 ' in the same axial position of each sensing array are electrically connected with each other through the through holes 30 ' of the insulating film by signal wires TX of the driving electrodes to form a signal Channel (Channel) in series, thereby reducing the number of electrical contacts overlapped with the signal flat cable and reducing the number of signal wire wirings in the frame portion of the touch panel, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing the width of the touch pad frame. However, in the aforementioned bridge region structure, the signal wires RX of the sensing electrodes and the signal wires TX of the driving electrodes are distributed on the same side plane and arranged in parallel, so that if the aforementioned wiring structure technology is applied to a touch panel with a large area or high sensing precision, the number of the sensing arrays arranged on the touch panel will be doubled, and the problem that the size of the frame cannot be effectively reduced will still be encountered, and as a result, the frame will not only form a bulky and unsightly appearance, but also the effective touch operation area will be squeezed, resulting in a reduction in touch sensing sensitivity.

In view of the above-mentioned disadvantage of the independent matrix sensing unit architecture with the bridge regions, an independent matrix sensing unit architecture with dual bridge regions has been further proposed to overcome the problem of large-area touch panel applications, the general structure is similar to the structure of the independent matrix sensing unit with the bridging area, the main difference is that the bridging area structures are respectively arranged at the two opposite side edge parts of the touch pad, the driving electrodes with various numbers on the touch sensing layer are divided into two driving electrode groups, the driving electrode groups are respectively connected to the electric contacts on the two bridging area structures through electrode connecting lines, then an insulating film with a through hole is covered, and the driving electrode electric contacts on the same axial line position are connected in series through a signal lead of the driving electrode to form a signal channel, so that the wiring number of the driving electrode signal leads is averagely dispersed to two sides, and the purpose of reducing the width of a frame is achieved; however, according to the arrangement of the foregoing structure, the signal conductive line RX of the common sensing electrode of each sensing array passes through one of the two bridging regions, so that the signal conductive line RX passing through the bridging region is disposed in an insulated and crossed manner with the signal conductive line TX of each driving electrode for forming a signal channel in series, thereby forming a capacitance node structure, and the routing of the driving electrode signal conductive line TX passing through the node will couple with the passing signal conductive line RX to increase the corresponding node capacitance; however, since the other bridging region does not pass through the common sensing electrode signal line RX, a capacitance node structure is not formed, and certainly, the capacitance value of the node is not increased on the driving electrode signal lines TX; as a result, the capacitance of the nodes on the driving electrode signal lines TX passing through the two bridging regions are different (see the node capacitance distribution diagram shown in fig. 10), and the difference between the charging and discharging characteristics is too large, which may cause the touch function to be degraded and increase the difficulty in designing the sensing signal processing unit.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model provides an improved single-layer projective capacitive touch sensor with double bridge connection areas, the touch sensor has an independent matrix sensing unit framework, the touch sensor comprises a plurality of sensing arrays, each sensing array has a shared sensing electrode and a plurality of driving electrodes, the driving electrodes with various quantity are divided into two groups and are respectively connected with two electric contacts arranged in the bridge connection areas at the edge part through electrode connecting lines, each bridge connection area is respectively covered with an insulating film, through holes are arranged on the insulating film and corresponding positions of the electric contacts, the driving electrode signal leads are used for electrically connecting the driving electrode electric contacts on the same axial position of each sensing array on the touch sensor through the through holes so as to form a signal channel in series connection, and the signal leads electrically connected with the shared sensing electrodes pass through one of the two bridge connection areas, the shared sensing electrodes are also provided with electrode extension parts which are extended in the other bridging area and are arranged in an insulated and crossed manner with the driving electrode signal leads which are connected in series to form a signal channel, so that the purpose of reducing the width of a frame of the touch sensor is achieved, and the effect of balancing the node capacitance values of the driving electrode signal leads passing through the two bridging areas is achieved.

Other features and functions of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which is intended to be included in the present invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a stack assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the separation of components according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a component assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of an inductive array according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a portion a in fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a distribution diagram of node capacitance values of the first upper signal conductor and the first lower signal conductor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a conventional touch sensor structure.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of another known touch sensor structure.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a separation of components of the conventional touch sensor structure shown in fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a distribution diagram of node capacitance values of the driving electrode signal wires in two bridging regions of the conventional touch sensor.

Symbolic illustration in the drawings:

1a base layer; 1a, a frame; 11 a look-ahead region; 12 a shielded area; 2, touching a sensing layer; 2a sensing array; 2b a ground column; 21 a first upper sensing electrode; 211 electrode connecting lines; 212 a first upper electrical contact; 24 a first lower sensing electrode; 241 electrode connecting wire; 242 a first lower electrical contact; 27 a second sensing electrode; 271 electrode connecting lines; 272 a second electrical contact; 273 an electrode extension; 28 an upper bridge region; 29 a lower bridge region; 3 bridging the insulating layer; 31 an upper bridging insulating film; 32 through holes; 35 a lower bridging insulating film; 36 through holes; 4 a signal conductor layer; 41 a first upper signal conductor; 42 a first lower signal conductor; 43 a second signal conductor; 44 a ground signal conductor; 48 signal output ports; 10' electrical contacts; 20' an insulating film; 30' through the hole; a signal conductor of the TX drive electrode; RX sense the signal conductor of the electrode.

Detailed Description

The preferred embodiment of the present invention as described in the attached drawings is a single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge regions, wherein, in order to provide clearer description and easier understanding of the technical features of the present invention, the parts in the drawings are not drawn according to their relative sizes, and some sizes have been exaggerated compared with other relevant sizes; irrelevant details are not fully drawn for the sake of brevity.

Fig. 1 to 3 show that the present embodiment mainly includes a transparent substrate layer 1, a transparent touch sensing layer 2, a bridging insulation layer 3 and a signal wire layer 4; wherein, the transparent substrate layer 1 is a transparent thin layer with high light transmittance, and can be selected from various high light transmittance sheets with excellent mechanical strength, such as glass plate or polymethyl methacrylate, and also can be selected from transparent flexible films, such as polyethylene terephthalate or polycarbonate films, but the kind of the material of the substrate layer 1 is not limited by the foregoing implementation range; a frame 1a formed by coating opaque or low-transmittance insulating materials is arranged at the peripheral edge region of the surface of the substrate layer 1, and a perspective region 11 formed at the central part and a shielding region 12 formed at the peripheral edge part are defined on the substrate layer 1 by the arrangement of the opaque frame 1 a; the insulating material may be ink or photoresist (photoresist), but the range of the material that can be used is not limited thereto.

The transparent touch sensing layer 2 is made of a high-transmittance conductive material, and the transparent conductive material is a transparent film selected from indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, polyethylene dioxythiophene, and the like, but is not limited thereto; the transparent touch sensing layer is slightly in an Independent matrix sensing unit (Independent-matrix sensor) structure, and has a plurality of sensing arrays 2a and a grounding array 2b arranged in parallel along a first direction (i.e., a Y-axis direction) and spaced from each other, and the sensing arrays 2a are formed in the range of the prospective area 11; in the implementation aspect of the large-area touch sensor, the independent matrix Sensing unit structure includes a plurality of Sensing arrays 2a, and each Sensing array 2a is composed of a Common Sensing Electrode (Common Sensing Electrode) and a plurality of Driving electrodes (Driving electrodes), so that the Driving electrodes with various numbers are divided into an upper Driving Electrode group and a lower Driving Electrode group in the present embodiment, so as to evenly distribute the number of signal wires to two side edges, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing the required wiring space and the width of the frame; referring to fig. 4 in detail, each of the sensing arrays 2a includes a plurality of first upper sensing electrodes 21 (i.e., an upper driving electrode group), a plurality of first lower sensing electrodes 24 (i.e., a lower driving electrode group), and a second sensing electrode 27 (i.e., a sensing electrode), wherein the first upper sensing electrodes 21 and the first lower sensing electrodes 24 are in a short comb shape, and have a plurality of driving conductors extending along a second direction (i.e., an X-axis direction) on a side thereof, and the second sensing electrodes 27 are in a long comb shape, and have a plurality of sensing conductors extending along the second direction (i.e., the X-axis direction) on a side thereof, such that the first upper sensing electrodes 21, the first lower sensing electrodes 24, and the second sensing electrodes 27 are in a complementary shape and are correspondingly disposed; in addition, the respective first upper sensing electrodes 21 are electrically connected to the first upper electrical contacts 212 provided in the upper bridging region 28 through an electrode Connection wire 211, and the respective first lower sensing electrodes 24 are electrically connected to the first lower electrical contacts 242 provided in the lower bridging region 29 through an electrode Connection wire 241; a first end (i.e. upper end) of the second sensing electrode 27 passes through the upper bridging portion 28 via an electrode connecting wire 271 and is electrically connected to the second electrical contact 272, and a second end (i.e. lower end) of the second sensing electrode 27 is provided with an electrode extending portion 273, the electrode extending portion 273 is formed in the lower bridging portion 29, and the extending length of the electrode extending portion 273 at least exceeds the position of the first lower electrical contact (242) disposed at the lowest position among the first lower electrical contacts (242), or passes through the lower bridging portion 29; the upper bridging section 28, the lower bridging section 29 and the second electrical contact 272 are formed within the shielding section 12; the first end of the ground row 2b is formed in the upper bridge region 28, and the second end thereof is formed in the lower bridge region 29.

The bridging insulating layer 3 includes an upper bridging insulating film 31 and a lower bridging insulating film 35, wherein the upper bridging insulating film 31 is formed to cover the upper bridging region 28, and the upper bridging insulating film 31 is formed with a plurality of through holes 32 at positions corresponding to the first upper electrical contacts 212 and the first ends of the ground rows 2b, respectively; the lower bridge insulating film 35 is formed so as to cover the lower bridge region 29, and the lower bridge insulating film 35 is provided with a plurality of through holes 36 at positions corresponding to the first lower electrical contacts 242, respectively.

The signal conducting wire layer 4 is disposed in the range of the shielding region 12, and includes a plurality of first upper signal conducting wires 41 (i.e., upper driving signal conducting wires), a plurality of first lower signal conducting wires 42, a plurality of second signal conducting wires 43 (i.e., lower driving signal conducting wires), a ground signal conducting wire 44 and a signal output port 48, wherein each first upper signal conducting wire 41 is electrically connected to a first upper electrical contact 212 through the through hole 32 of the upper bridging insulating film 31, and the first upper electrical contacts 212 of the respective sense arrays 2a on the same axis in the second direction are electrically connected to form a signal channel in series, the end of the first upper signal conducting wire 41 is electrically connected to the signal output port 48, and the signal output port 48 is disposed at the outer edge portion of the shielding region 12; the respective first lower signal wires 42 are electrically connected to the first lower electrical contacts 242 through the through holes 36 of the lower bridging insulating film 35, and the first lower electrical contacts 242 of the respective sensing arrays 2a on the same axis in the second direction are electrically connected to form a signal channel in series, and the ends of the first lower signal wires 42 are electrically connected to the signal output port 48; the respective second signal wires 43 are electrically connected to the respective second electrical contacts 272, and the ends of the second signal wires 43 are electrically connected to the signal output port 48; the ground signal wires 44 are electrically connected to the first ends of the ground rows 2b through the through holes 32 of the upper bridging insulating film 31, so that each ground row 2b forms a signal path, and the ends of the ground signal wires 44 are electrically connected to the signal output ports 48; the signal conducting line layer 4 is made of a conductive material with low resistivity, such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum, molybdenum, nickel, or a conductive film of an alloy of the foregoing materials, which is etched, or is formed by printing a conductive silver paste or a conductive ink, but the embodiment is not limited to the foregoing implementation scope.

According to the touch sensor structure described above, the first upper signal wire 41 (i.e., the upper driving signal wire) is used to transmit the signal of the first upper sensing electrode 21 (i.e., the upper driving electrode), the first lower signal wire 42 (i.e., the lower driving signal wire) is used to transmit the signal of the first lower sensing electrode 24 (i.e., the lower driving electrode), and the second signal wire 43 (i.e., the sensing signal wire) is used to transmit the signal of the second sensing electrode 27 (i.e., the sensing electrode), which are transmitted to the signal output port 48, and the signal output port 48 is connected by an FFC or an FPC connector to transmit the touch sensing signal to a signal processing circuit for operation. Since the present embodiment divides the driving electrodes with a large number on the touch sensing layer into two groups of upper driving electrodes and lower driving electrodes, and the upper and lower bridging regions 28, 29 are connected with each other for signal connection, the number of signal connection wires is evenly distributed to two side edges, and the upper and lower bridging insulating films 31, 35 with through holes are provided, so that the first upper signal wire 41 and the first lower signal wire 42 can connect a plurality of electric contacts (the first upper electric contact 212 and the first lower electric contact 242) of the associated driving electrodes in series to form a signal channel, thereby greatly reducing the number of signal wires on the signal wire layer 4, and reducing the width of the shielding region 12, so as to facilitate the design and application of the narrow-side touch panel.

In addition, as shown in fig. 5, in the upper bridging region 28 of the present embodiment, a capacitance node structure is formed at the intersection of the electrode connecting line 271 of the first end of the second sensing electrode 27 and the first upper signal wire 41, so that the first upper signal wire 41 is coupled to the electrode connecting line 271 of the second sensing electrode 27 through the node, and the corresponding node capacitance value is increased, and in the same manner, in the lower bridging region 29, a capacitance node structure is also formed at the intersection of the electrode extending portion 273 of the second end of the second sensing electrode 27 and the first lower signal wire 42, so that the first lower signal wire 42 is coupled to the electrode extending portion 273 of the second sensing electrode 27 through the node, and the corresponding node capacitance value is increased, so that the first upper and lower signal wires 41, 42 passing through the upper and lower bridging regions 28, 29 will have about the same node capacitance value (see the increased node capacitance distribution diagram shown in fig. 6), the purpose of balancing the node capacitance value changes of the upper driving electrode group and the lower driving electrode group is achieved, and accordingly various unfavorable characteristics caused by overlarge difference of the node capacitance values of the upper driving electrode group and the lower driving electrode group are avoided.

The utility model discloses a request scope is included in the utility model discloses all revises and the deformation within the scope. The present invention is not limited to the above-described forms, and it is apparent that many more modifications and variations of technical equivalence are possible with reference to the above description; therefore, any modification or variation of the present invention made under the same spirit should be included in the scope of the intended protection of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor having dual bridge regions, comprising:

a substrate layer (1), wherein the central area is a transparent perspective area (11), and the peripheral area is provided with a frame (1a) to form a shielding area (12);

a touch sensing layer (2) having a plurality of sensing arrays (2a) and a ground row (2b) formed in parallel along a first direction and spaced apart from each other, the plurality of sensing arrays (2a) being formed within the range of the prospective region (11), wherein each of the sensing arrays (2a) includes a plurality of first upper sensing electrodes (21), a plurality of first lower sensing electrodes (24), and a second sensing electrode (27), each of the first upper sensing electrodes (21) is electrically connected to a first upper electrical contact (212) disposed in the upper bridging region (28) through an electrode connection line (211), and each of the first lower sensing electrodes (24) is electrically connected to a first lower electrical contact (242) disposed in the lower bridging region (29) through an electrode connection line (241), said upper bridging region (28) and said lower bridging region (29) being formed within the confines of said shielded region (12); a first end of the second sensing electrode (27) passes through the upper bridging region (28) through an electrode connecting wire (271) and is electrically connected to a second electrical contact (272), a second end of the second sensing electrode (27) is provided with an electrode extending portion (273), the electrode extending portion (273) is formed in the lower bridging region (29), a first end of the grounding row (2b) is formed in the upper bridging region (28) and a second end thereof is formed in the lower bridging region (29);

a bridge insulating layer (3) including an upper bridge insulating film (31) and a lower bridge insulating film (35), wherein the upper bridge insulating film (31) is provided on the upper bridge region (28), and a plurality of through holes (32) are provided in the upper bridge insulating film (31) at positions corresponding to first ends of the plurality of first upper electrical contacts (212) and the plurality of ground rows (2b), respectively, the lower bridge insulating film (35) is provided on the lower bridge region (29), and a plurality of through holes (36) are provided in the lower bridge insulating film (35) at positions corresponding to the plurality of first lower electrical contacts (242), respectively; and

a signal wire layer (4) disposed within the shielding region (12) and including a plurality of first upper signal wires (41), a plurality of first lower signal wires (42), a plurality of second signal wires (43), a ground signal wire (44) and a signal output port (48), wherein the first upper signal wires (41) are electrically connected to the first upper electrical contacts (212) through the through holes (32) of the upper bridging insulating film (31), the first upper electrical contacts (212) of the respective sensing arrays (2a) on the same axis in the second direction are electrically connected to form a signal channel in series, the ends of the first upper signal wires (41) are electrically connected to the signal output port (48), and the signal output port (48) is disposed at the outer edge of the shielding region (12), the first lower signal conducting line (42) is electrically connected with the first lower electric contact (242) through a through hole (36) on the lower bridging insulation film (35), and electrically connects the first lower electric contacts (242) of the induction arrays (2a) on the same axis in the second direction to form a signal channel in series, the end of the first lower signal conducting line (42) is electrically connected with the signal output port (48), the second signal conducting line (43) is electrically connected with the second electric contact (272), and the end of the second signal conducting line (43) is electrically connected with the signal output port (48), the grounding signal conducting line (44) is electrically connected with the first end of the grounding row (2b) through a through hole (32) on the upper bridging insulation film (31), and the grounding rows (2b) are connected in series to form a signal channel, the tail end of the grounding signal lead (44) is electrically connected with the signal output port (48);

the capacitive touch screen is characterized in that electrode connecting wires (271) of a plurality of second sensing electrodes (27) in the upper bridging area (28) and a plurality of first upper signal conducting wires (41) are arranged in an insulating and crossing manner, electrode extending parts (273) of a plurality of second sensing electrodes (27) in the lower bridging area (29) and a plurality of first lower signal conducting wires (42) are arranged in an insulating and crossing manner, and capacitance nodes are formed at the positions where the insulating and crossing are arranged.

2. The single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge regions according to claim 1, wherein the conductive material of the touch sensing layer (2) is selected from indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, or polyethylenedioxythiophene.

3. The single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge areas as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first upper sensing electrode (21) and the first lower sensing electrode (24) are driving electrodes, and the second sensing electrode (27) is a shared sensing electrode.

4. The single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge areas as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal conductor layer (4) is formed by etching a conductive film of gold, silver, copper, aluminum, molybdenum, nickel or an alloy of the foregoing materials.

5. The single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge areas of claim 1, wherein the signal conductor layer (4) is formed by printing of conductive silver paste or conductive ink.

6. The single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridge areas as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame (1a) is a thin film layer formed of opaque or low-transmittance insulating material selected from ink or photoresist.

7. The single-layer projected capacitive touch sensor having a dual bridging region as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrode extension (273) is formed within the lower bridging region (29) and extends at least over a position of a lowermost first lower electrical contact (242) among the plurality of first lower electrical contacts (242).

8. The single layer projected capacitive touch sensor with dual bridging regions of claim 1, wherein the electrode extension (273) traverses the lower bridging region (29).

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