JP2015072517A - Conductive mesh, conductive mesh sheet, touch panel device, and image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conductive mesh that can make both moire and glare inconspicuous.SOLUTION: A conductive mesh 10 includes a plurality of conductive connection elements 20 that define a plurality of opening areas 15. The connection elements each have at least one terminal connected with a terminal of another connection element. The connection elements each extend between the middle point of two sides constituting any one of the two types of rhombuses 12 and 13 having the sides of the same length and the internal angle different from each other, in a virtual pattern 11 formed by laying out the rhombuses 12 and 13.

Description

  The present invention relates to a conductive mesh that defines a large number of open regions, and more particularly to a conductive mesh that can make moiré and glare inconspicuous. The present invention also relates to a conductive mesh sheet having the conductive mesh, a touch panel device, and an image display device.

  Conventionally, a conductive mesh having visible light translucency has been widely used in various fields, for example, as an electromagnetic shielding material (electromagnetic shielding sheet) disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 and a touch panel sensor. However, it is known that such a conductive mesh causes problems such as moire and glare. Various studies have been conducted to eliminate such problems.

  As the shape of the conductive mesh, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a periodic lattice in which polygonal unit lattices such as squares and hexagons are arranged at regular intervals vertically and horizontally has been most commonly used. . However, such a periodic grating may interfere with the period of the conductive mesh and the period of the pixels to generate moire (striped pattern), which may hinder image visibility.

  Therefore, in order to eliminate the occurrence of moire, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, a random lattice without an array period in which unit lattices of various ununiform shapes are arrayed aperiodically has been proposed. However, although such a random lattice is free from moiré, it is recognized that the density of the unit lattice is glaring, and this in turn reduces the image visibility.

  Furthermore, in order to eliminate the glare of the random grating, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, a conductive mesh in which the periodicity of the periodic grating is partially broken and left partially is proposed. This is based on a square lattice having a repetition period in two directions of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the conductive mesh in one direction (for example, the X-axis direction) makes the unit cell arrangement non-periodic, and the other (for example, The arrangement period in the (Y-axis direction) remains. However, when actually prototyped and evaluated, it was found that both the moire eliminating effect and the glare prevention effect were halfway.

Japanese Patent No. 4084055 JP-A-11-121974 WO2007 / 114076

  Moire is a phenomenon in which bright and dark streaks become visible, and the regularity (periodicity) of the pattern of the conductive mesh and the regularity of the pattern of other members overlaid on the conductive mesh (for example, a display device) This is caused by interference with the regularity of the pixel arrangement. For this reason, it has been generally considered that making the pattern of the conductive mesh irregular is effective for making the moire invisible.

  On the other hand, the glare is a phenomenon in which the amount of reflection of external light from the conductive mesh becomes non-uniform in the surface, and a brightly observed part locally exists. The occurrence of glare is believed to be due to local non-uniformity of the conductive mesh pattern.

  That is, making the conductive mesh pattern irregular is effective for making the moire invisible, and making the conductive mesh pattern regular is effective for making the glare invisible. For this reason, in the prior art, there is no conductive mesh that can cope with all of moire and glare. The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and a conductive mesh capable of making all of moire and glare inconspicuous, a conductive mesh sheet having the conductive mesh, a touch panel device, and an image display device The purpose is to provide.

A conductive mesh according to the present invention is a conductive mesh comprising a plurality of conductive connecting elements defining a plurality of open areas,
At least one end of each connection element is connected to the end of the other connection element,
Each connecting element extends between the midpoints of two sides constituting one of the rhombuses in a virtual pattern formed by laying two rhombuses having side lengths equal to each other and interior angles different from each other. ing.

In the conductive mesh according to the present invention, if one of the two types of rhombuses is a first rhombus, and the other of the two types of rhombuses is a second rhombus,
Among the plurality of first rhombuses included in the virtual pattern, combinations of sides having the two midpoints where the connection elements extend are the same as each other,
The combination of the sides having the two midpoints where the connecting elements extend between the plurality of second rhombuses included in the virtual pattern may be the same.

  In the conductive mesh according to the present invention, the plurality of connecting elements are between the midpoints of two opposite sides of a second rhombus different from the first rhombus having the largest inner angle, of the two types of rhombus. And a second connection element extending between midpoints of the remaining two sides of the second rhombus.

  In the conductive mesh according to the present invention, the plurality of connection elements may further include a third connection element extending between midpoints of two sides forming an angle formed by the smallest interior angle of the first rhombus. .

  In the conductive mesh according to the present invention, the angle formed by the two connected connecting elements may be 72 ° or more.

The conductive mesh sheet according to the present invention is:
Any of the conductive meshes according to the invention described above;
A transparent base material that supports the conductive mesh.

  The touch panel device according to the present invention includes either the conductive mesh or the conductive mesh sheet according to the present invention described above.

  The image display device according to the present invention includes any one of the above-described conductive mesh and conductive mesh sheet according to the present invention.

  According to the present invention, moire and glare caused by the conductive mesh can be effectively made inconspicuous.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a conductive mesh for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining a modification of the conductive mesh. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a modification of the arrangement pattern of connection elements. FIGS. 5A to 5C are plan views showing examples of arrangement patterns of connection elements in the second rhombus. FIGS. 6A to 6C are plan views showing examples of arrangement patterns of connection elements in the first rhombus. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along the normal direction of a conductive mesh sheet having a conductive mesh. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display device including an electromagnetic wave shielding sheet made of a conductive mesh sheet. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a touch panel device including a touch panel sensor made of a conductive mesh sheet.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings attached to the present specification, for the sake of illustration and ease of understanding, the scale, the vertical / horizontal dimension ratio, and the like are appropriately changed and exaggerated from those of the actual product.

  In the present specification, the terms “plate”, “sheet”, and “film” are not distinguished from each other only based on the difference in names. For example, “sheet” is a concept that includes a member that can be called a plate or a film. Therefore, “conductive mesh sheet” is called a member called “conductive mesh plate” or “conductive mesh film”. It cannot be distinguished only by the difference.

  Furthermore, as used in this specification, the shape and geometric conditions and the degree thereof are specified. For example, terms such as “parallel”, “orthogonal”, “identical”, length and angle values, etc. Without being bound by meaning, it should be interpreted including the extent to which similar functions can be expected.

<< Conductive mesh and conductive mesh sheet >>
The conductive mesh 10 is a mesh-like material that defines a large number of open regions 15. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conductive mesh 10 includes a number of conductive connecting elements 20 that define a number of open areas 15. In the illustrated example, the conductive mesh 10 is configured as a collection of a large number of connection elements 20 in which the respective ends are connected to each other. Then, a single opening region 15 is defined by being surrounded and divided by the connecting element 20. As will be described in detail later, the arrangement of the connection elements 20 is determined based on the virtual pattern 11.

  The conductive mesh 10 has conductivity, exhibits some function related to conductivity, and exhibits visible light transparency through the opening region 15. As an example of such a conductive mesh 10, an electromagnetic shielding material that is grounded and shields electromagnetic waves, an electrode for a touch panel sensor incorporated in a touch panel device, an antenna having visible light permeability, a collector electrode of a solar cell, dew condensation An exothermic electrode for prevention can be mentioned. As shown in FIG. 7, the conductive mesh 10 is often formed on a transparent substrate 35 and forms a conductive mesh sheet 30 together with the transparent substrate 35.

  Although depending on the specific application of the conductive mesh sheet 30, the transparent substrate 35 is appropriately configured so as to have appropriate strength and appropriate transparency. As an example, the thickness of the transparent substrate 35 can be 20 μm to 150 μm, and the light transmittance of the transparent substrate 35 may be 80% or more. As such a transparent substrate 35, for example, a resin film such as biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polypropylene (PP), cyclic polyolefin, acrylic resin, or polycarbonate resin can be used. The biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate film is suitable for application as the transparent substrate 35 in that it has moderate transparency and durability against ultraviolet irradiation treatment, heat treatment, and the like. As another example, the thickness of the transparent substrate 35 can be 500 μm to 10000 μm (1 cm). As such a transparent material, for example, glass such as soda glass and potash glass, transparent ceramics such as PLZT, and a quartz plate can be used.

  It is preferable that the conductive mesh 10 having visible light transparency is difficult to visually recognize the connecting element 20. On the other hand, it is preferable that the surface resistance of the conductive mesh 10 is sufficiently low so that the function due to the conductivity expected of the conductive mesh 10 can be sufficiently exhibited. In the case where the conductive mesh 10 is used as described above, the conductive mesh 10 is expressed as follows from the viewpoint of effectively expressing the expected function and ensuring that the conductive mesh 10 has sufficient transparency. Can be designed to First, the line width of the connecting element 20 can be 50 μm or less, preferably 30 μm or less, more preferably 15 μm or less, and even more preferably 10 μm or less. The lower limit of the line width can be, for example, 1 μm or more, preferably 3 μm or more in order to avoid disconnection. Further, the size of one opening region 15 defined by the conductive mesh 10 formed using an opaque material can be set to 50 to 2000 μm. Here, the size of one opening region 15 is the average of the maximum width and the minimum width of the opening region 15 in plan view.

  Note that the dimensions of the conductive mesh 10 such as the line width of the connection element 20 and the size of the opening region 15 do not need to be specified by examining the entire region of the conductive mesh 10 and calculating the average value. Specifically, in consideration of the size of the opening area 15 per one defined by the connection element 20, the object to be calculated (the line width of the connection element 20, the size of the opening area 15, etc.) In a section with an area that can be expected to reflect the overall trend, it is specified by examining the number considered appropriate in consideration of the degree of variation of the object to be calculated and calculating the average value. That's fine. For example, in the conductive mesh 10 manufactured by the manufacturing method described in the next paragraph with the design value described immediately before as a target, 30 points included in a 30 mm × 30 mm region are measured with an electron microscope and averaged. By calculating, the line width of the connection element 20 and the size of the opening region 15 can be specified.

  The conductive mesh 10 as described above is formed by applying a metal film containing copper, aluminum, silver, or an alloy thereof onto the transparent substrate 35 by, for example, vapor deposition, sputtering, foil transfer, coating, or the like. A method of forming and etching the metal film in a desired pattern, or a conductive ink (for example, conductive metal particles such as acrylic resin and polyester resin dispersed in conductive metal particles such as silver, copper and nickel) The ink can be formed on the transparent substrate 35 by a conventionally known method such as a method of printing a desired pattern on the transparent substrate 35.

  Next, the pattern of the conductive mesh 10 will be described in detail with reference mainly to FIGS. 1 to 3 are plan views showing the conductive mesh 10. As described above, the conductive mesh 10 includes a number of conductive connecting elements 20 that define a number of open areas 15. The connection element 20 is arranged using the virtual pattern 11. Here, the virtual pattern 11 is formed by laying two kinds of rhombuses (first rhombus, second rhombus) 12 and 13 having the same side length and different inner angles. Each connection element 20 is arranged so as to extend between the midpoints of two sides constituting any one of the rhombuses 12 and 13 in the virtual pattern 11.

  First, the virtual pattern 11 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the virtual pattern 11 is formed by filling the first rhombus 12 and the second rhombus 13 on the virtual plane. The length of one side of the first rhombus 12 is the same as the length of one side of the second rhombus 13. In the virtual pattern 11, two rhombuses arranged adjacent to each other have one side overlapping each other, in other words, one side of the two rhombuses arranged adjacent to each other is common. However, the inner angle of the first rhombus 12 is different from the inner angle of the second rhombus 13. Therefore, the first rhombus 12 has an area different from that of the second rhombus 13.

  The illustrated virtual pattern 11 is filled with two kinds of rhombuses 12 and 13 by an arrangement called a so-called Penrose tile. Among these, the interior angles of the first rhombus 12 having the largest interior angle are 36 ° and 144 °. The inner angles of the other second rhombus 13 are 72 ° and 108 °. In this virtual pattern 11, two types of rhombuses 12 and 13 are arranged aperiodically, that is, without regularity.

  According to the conductive mesh 10 produced on the basis of such a virtual pattern 11, moire can be made inconspicuous when it is overlapped with other members including periodically arranged elements. In addition, according to the conductive mesh 10 produced based on the virtual pattern 11, glare can be made inconspicuous.

  Next, the connection elements 20 arranged using the virtual pattern 11 will be described. As described above, each connection element 20 extends between the midpoints of the two sides constituting any of the rhombuses 12 and 13 in the virtual pattern.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plurality of connecting elements 20 include a first connecting element 20 a extending between the midpoints 13 a of the two opposite rhombuses 13 and the second rhombus 13. And a second connecting element 20b extending between the midpoints 13b of the remaining two sides facing each other. That is, the plurality of connecting elements 20 include the first connecting element 20 a extending between the two middle points 13 a farthest among the midpoints of the four sides of the second rhombus 13, and the remaining two rhombuses 13. And a second connecting element 20b extending between the midpoints 13b of the two sides. In the present embodiment, a first connection element 20 a and a second connection element 20 b are provided in each second rhombus 13 included in the virtual pattern 11. That is, combinations of sides having two midpoints where the connection elements 20 extend between the plurality of second rhombuses 13 included in the virtual pattern 11 are the same. The first connecting element 20a extends between the midpoints 13a of the two opposite sides of the second rhombus 13 and the second connecting element 20b is between the midpoints 13b of the remaining two sides of the second rhombus 13. Therefore, the first connecting element 20 a and the second connecting element 20 b intersect within the second rhombus 13.

  Further, in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plurality of connecting elements 20 are midpoints 12 c of two sides that form an angle formed by the smallest inner angle among the inner angles of the first rhombus 12 and the second rhombus 13. A third connecting element 20c extending between the two. In other words, the plurality of connecting elements 20 include a third connecting element 20c extending between the two closest midpoints 12c among the midpoints of the four sides of the first rhombus 12. Specifically, the third connecting element 20c extends between the midpoints 12c of two sides forming one corner of the first rhombus 12 having the smallest inner angle, or the other connecting element having the smallest inner angle. It extends between the midpoints 12c of the two sides forming the corner. In the present embodiment, two third connection elements 20 c are provided in each first rhombus 12 included in the virtual pattern 11. That is, among the plurality of first rhombuses 12 included in the virtual pattern 11, combinations of sides having two midpoints where the connection elements 20 extend are the same as each other.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first connecting element 20 a and the second connecting element 20 b extend linearly between the midpoints 13 a and 13 b of the two opposite sides of the second rhombus 13, respectively. ing. Therefore, the first connection element 20 a and the second connection element 20 b are parallel to the sides of the second rhombus 13 that forms the virtual pattern 11. The first connection element 20 a and the second connection element 20 b intersect at the center of the second rhombus 13. On the other hand, the third connecting element 20c extends linearly between the two closest midpoints 12c of the first rhombus 12. Therefore, the third connection element 20 c is parallel to the relatively short diagonal of the first rhombus 12 that forms the virtual pattern 11.

  However, as shown in FIG. 3, the connecting element 20 does not need to extend linearly between the midpoints of the two sides constituting the rhombuses 12 and 13. In the conductive mesh 10 shown in FIG. 3, the connecting element 20 has a path different from the straight line connecting the two midpoints between the midpoints of the two sides constituting the rhombuses 12 and 13 in the virtual pattern 11. It extends in. That is, at least one connection element 20 included in the conductive mesh 10 may extend in a curved line or a polygonal line between the middle points located at both ends of the connection element 20. By forming the connecting element 20 in a non-linear shape, the regularity or periodicity of the connecting element 20 forming the conductive mesh 10 is further weakened. Thereby, it becomes possible to make the moire that may be generated when the conductive mesh 10 is overlapped with a member including an element having other periodicity more effectively inconspicuous.

  When the connection element 20 is formed in a non-linear shape, the connection element 20 is in contact with another connection element 20 except when the first connection element 20a and the second connection element 20b intersect only once. It is preferable not to intersect. In this case, it is possible to effectively avoid the variation in the size of the opening region 15, thereby effectively preventing the glare from being visually recognized. In addition, when the connection element 20 is formed in a non-linear shape, it is preferable that the connection element 20 intersects an imaginary straight line that extends linearly between both ends of the connection element 20. In this case, the distribution of the connection elements 20 can be prevented from greatly deviating from the distribution of the virtual straight line connecting the midpoints of the two types of rhombuses 12 and 13 that define the virtual pattern 11. As a result, moire can be effectively invisible and glare can be made more inconspicuous.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at least one end of each connection element 20 is connected to the end of another connection element 20. More specifically, each connection element 20 is connected to all other connection elements 20 directly or via one or more other connection elements 20. That is, the connection elements 20 are connected to each other without being disconnected. For this reason, the connection element 20 exhibits a stable conductive function. In the present embodiment, one end of each connection element 20 is connected to the end of another connection element 20.

  Moreover, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the magnitude | size of the angle which the 1st connection element 20a makes with the edge | side of the 2nd rhombus 13 in which the edge part of the said 1st connection element 20a is located is 72 degrees, and 2nd connection The angle between the element 20b and the side of the second rhombus 13 where the end of the second connection element 20b is located is 72 °, and the third connection element 20c is the end of the third connection element 20c. The size of the angle formed with the side of the first rhombus 12 where the part is located is 72 °. In this case, the size of the angle formed by the connecting elements 20 that are connected to each other at the ends of the common sides of two rhombuses 12 and 13 that are arranged adjacent to each other is as follows. It is the sum of the size of the angle formed by one connecting element 20 and the size of the angle formed by the side and the other connecting element 20. Therefore, the size of the angle formed by the connecting element 20 connected to each end is 144 ° or more. As a result of extensive research conducted by the present inventors, it has been found that the angle formed by all two adjacent connecting elements 20 included in the conductive mesh 10 is 144 ° or more. It has been found that it is extremely effective in effectively suppressing the occurrence of defects such as sticking. That is, when the size of the angle formed by the two adjacent connection elements 20 is 144 ° or more, the material forming the conductive mesh 10 is originally at the position where the ends of the two connection elements 20 overlap. It can suppress very effectively that it expands in the area | region which should comprise the opening area | region 15. FIG. For this reason, it has been confirmed that the occurrence of problems such as shading and glaring can be extremely effectively suppressed by making the connecting position of the end portion thick and visually recognized.

  As described above, according to the conductive mesh 10 manufactured based on the virtual pattern 11, for example, for an electromagnetic wave shielding material or a touch panel, when overlapped with other members including periodically arranged elements. When the conductive mesh 10 functioning as a sensor is overlapped with a display panel (image forming apparatus) having a regular pixel arrangement, moire can be made inconspicuous. In addition, according to the conductive mesh 10 produced based on the virtual pattern 11, glare can be made inconspicuous.

  Although details of the reason why both the moire and the glare can be effectively prevented by the conductive mesh 10 are unknown, it is assumed that the following is one of the factors. That is, since the pattern of the conductive mesh 10 is determined based on the above-described virtual pattern 11, the arrangement of the opening regions 15 defined by the conductive mesh 10, in addition to the connection elements forming the conductive mesh 10. The 20 arrays become non-periodic and have no regularity. For this reason, it is thought that generation | occurrence | production of the moire resulting from the electroconductive mesh 10 can be prevented very effectively. On the other hand, since the connecting element 20 extends between the midpoints of the two sides of the rhombuses 12 and 13 that define the virtual pattern 11, the pattern of the conductive mesh 10 is dispersed to some extent and locally. Can be effectively suppressed. As a result, it is considered that the amount of reflection of external light from the conductive mesh 10 becomes uniform to some extent within the surface, and the occurrence of glare can be effectively prevented.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the plurality of connecting elements 20 are opposite to each other of the first connecting element 20a extending between the midpoints 13a of the two opposite sides of the second rhombus 13 and the second rhombus 13. And a second connecting element 20b extending between the midpoints 13b of the remaining two sides. According to such a form, the pattern of the conductive mesh 10 can be uniformly distributed to some extent while making the arrangement of the connection elements 20 irregular. For this reason, the conductive mesh 10 that can effectively prevent both moire and glare can be realized in an effective manner.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the plurality of connection elements 20 further includes the third connection element 20c extending between the midpoints 12c of the two sides that form the corner formed by the smallest interior angle of the first rhombus 12. Contains. In this case, the combination of the first connection element 20a and the second connection element 20b arranged in the second rhombus 13 and the third connection element 20c arranged in the first rhombus 12 allows the conductive mesh 10 to The distribution of the connecting elements 20 becomes more uniform in each region in the plane of the conductive mesh 10. For this reason, in each area | region in the surface of the electroconductive mesh 10, the electroconductive mesh 10 can exhibit the various functions resulting from the electroconductivity effectively uniformly.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the combination of the sides having two midpoints where the connection elements 20 extend between the plurality of first rhombuses 12 included in the virtual pattern 11 are the same, and the virtual Among the plurality of second rhombuses 13 included in the pattern 11, combinations of sides having two midpoints where the connecting elements 20 extend are the same as each other. In this case, the connection elements 20 constituting the conductive mesh 10 can be easily arranged by effectively using the arrangement of the rhombuses 12 and 13 included in the virtual pattern 11. That is, the pattern of the conductive mesh 10 that effectively expresses the function due to the conductive function can be easily designed and created.

  The exact arrangement of Penrose tiles is symmetrical five times. On the other hand, in a strict Penrose tile, one region A including ten rhombuses surrounded by ten sides indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 1 is a region having the same shape as the one region A. A virtual pattern 11 having no five-fold symmetry is formed while maintaining the non-periodic planar filling property of the rhombus by exchanging with another region in which ten rhombuses are arranged in a manner different from the one region A. can do. The conductive mesh 10 may be produced based on such a virtual pattern 11.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the first connecting element 20a is provided between the midpoints 13a of the two sides facing each other for all the second rhombus 13 and the remaining for all the second rhombus 13 The second connecting element 20b is provided between the midpoints 13b of the two sides, and the third connecting element 20c is provided between the two closest midpoints 12c for all the first rhombuses 12. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The connecting element 20 defines a number of open areas 15, extends between the midpoints of the two sides of any of the rhombuses 12, 13 in the virtual pattern 11, and at least each of the connecting elements 20 If the three relations that one end is connected to the end of the other connection element 20 are satisfied, the arrangement pattern of the connection elements 20 can be arbitrarily determined. For example, the first connection element 20a may be provided between the midpoints 13a of two sides facing each other only for some of the second rhombuses 13. Only for some of the second rhombuses 13, the second connection element 20 b may be provided between the midpoints 13 b of the remaining two sides. For only some of the first rhombuses 12, the third connecting element 20c may be provided between the two closest midpoints 12c.

  Further, FIG. 4 shows another example of the arrangement pattern of the connection elements 20. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of connecting elements 20 include a fourth connecting element 20 d extending between the midpoints 13 d of two sides forming an angle formed by a relatively large inner angle of the second rhombus 13, and a second And a fifth connecting element 20e extending between midpoints 13e of two sides that form a corner having a relatively small inner angle of the rhombus 13. In particular, in the illustrated example, two fourth connecting elements 20 d and two fifth connecting elements 20 e are formed in one second rhombus 13. Accordingly, each fourth connecting element 20d extends between the midpoints 13d of the two sides forming one corner of the second rhombus 13 which is a relatively large interior angle, or from a relatively large interior angle. It extends between the midpoints 13d of the two sides forming the other corner. On the other hand, each of the fifth connecting elements 20e extends between the midpoints 13e of two sides forming one corner of the second rhombus 13 or a relatively small inner angle, or from a relatively small inner angle. It extends between the midpoints 13e of the two sides forming the other corner. In this case, one opening region 15 is defined in a region surrounded by the pair of fourth connection elements 20d and the pair of fifth connection elements 20e. In the example shown in FIG. 4, two fourth connection elements 20 d and two fifth connection elements 20 e are provided in each second rhombus 13 included in the virtual pattern 11. That is, combinations of sides having two midpoints where the connection elements 20 extend between the plurality of second rhombuses 13 included in the virtual pattern 11 are the same.

  Further, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of connection elements 20 include a pair of third connection elements 20 c extending between the midpoints 12 c of two sides that form an angle formed by the smallest interior angle of the first rhombus 12. Contains. Among the plurality of first rhombuses 12 included in the virtual pattern 11, combinations of sides having two midpoints where the connecting elements 20 extend are the same as each other. Since the configuration of the third connection element 20c is substantially the same as that of the third connection element 20c shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The conductive mesh 10 produced based on the virtual pattern 11 in this way also functions as, for example, an electromagnetic shielding material or a sensor for a touch panel when superimposed on other members including periodically arranged elements. When the conductive mesh 10 is overlapped with a display panel (image forming apparatus) having a regular pixel arrangement, moire can be made inconspicuous. In addition, according to the conductive mesh 10 produced based on the virtual pattern 11, glare can be made inconspicuous.

  Moreover, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the magnitude | size of the angle which the 4th connection element 20d makes with the edge | side of the 2nd rhombus 13 in which the edge part of the said 4th connection element 20d is located is 36 degrees, and 5th connection The angle between the element 20e and the side of the second rhombus 13 where the end of the fifth connecting element 20e is located is 54 °. The magnitude | size of the angle which the 3rd connection element 20c makes with the edge | side of the 1st rhombus 12 in which the edge part of the said 3rd connection element 20c is located is 72 degrees. In this case, the size of the angle formed by the connecting elements 20 that are connected to each other at the ends of the common sides of two rhombuses 12 and 13 that are arranged adjacent to each other is as follows. It is the sum of the size of the angle formed by one connecting element 20 and the size of the angle formed by the side and the other connecting element 20. Therefore, the size of the angle formed by the connecting elements 20 connected to each end is 72 ° or more. As a result of extensive research conducted by the present inventors, it has been found that the size of the angle formed by all two adjacent connecting elements 20 included in the conductive mesh 10 is 72 ° or more. It was found that the method is effective in effectively suppressing the occurrence of defects such as sticking. That is, when the size of the angle formed by the two adjacent connection elements 20 is 72 ° or more, the material forming the conductive mesh 10 is originally at the position where the ends of the two connection elements 20 overlap. It is possible to effectively suppress the expansion into the region that should form the opening region 15. For this reason, it was confirmed that the occurrence of problems such as shading and glaring can be effectively suppressed by making the connecting position of the end portion thick and visually recognized.

  As described above, the connecting element 20 defines a large number of opening regions 15, extends between the midpoints of the two sides constituting any diamond 12, 13 in the virtual pattern 11, and each If the three relations that at least one end of the connecting element 20 is connected to the end of the other connecting element 20 are satisfied, the arrangement pattern of the connecting elements 20 can be arbitrarily determined. 5A to 5C show typical arrangement pattern examples of the connection elements 20 in the second rhombus 13, and FIGS. 6A to 6C show connection elements 20 in the first rhombus 12. An example of a typical arrangement pattern is shown.

  FIG. 5A shows the second rhombus 13 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the second rhombus 13 shown in FIG. 5A, the first connecting element 20a extending between the midpoints 13a of the two opposite sides and the remaining two sides of the second rhombus 13 opposite to each other. And a second connecting element 20b extending between the middle points 13b. The second rhombus 13 shown in FIG. 5B is provided with the fourth connecting element 20d also shown in FIG. The fourth connecting element 20d extends between the midpoints 13d of two sides that form an angle formed by a relatively large inner angle of the second rhombus 13. The second rhombus shown in FIG. 5 (c) is provided with a fifth connecting element 20e also shown in FIG. The fifth connecting element 20e extends between the midpoints 13e of two sides that form an angle formed by a relatively small inner angle of the second rhombus 13.

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 6A, in the first rhombus 12, the sixth connecting element 20f extending between the midpoints 12f of the two opposite sides of the first rhombus 12 and the first rhombus 12 A seventh connection element 20g extending between the midpoints 12g of the remaining two sides facing each other is provided. In the example shown in FIG. 6B, a pair of eighth connection elements 20 h extending between the midpoints 12 h of two sides that form an angle formed by a relatively large inner angle of the first rhombus 12 is provided. FIG. 6C shows the first rhombus 12 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the first rhombus 12 shown in FIG. 6 (c), a third connecting element 20c extending between the midpoints 12c of two sides forming an angle formed by a relatively small inner angle of the first rhombus 12 is provided. It has been.

  One or more arrangement patterns of the connecting elements 20 in the second rhombus 13 shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C and connections in the first rhombus 12 shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C. By appropriately combining one or more of the arrangement patterns of the elements 20, it is possible to simultaneously satisfy the above three relationships. That is, one or more arrangement patterns of the connecting elements 20 in the second rhombus 13 shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C and the inside of the first rhombus 12 shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C. The arrangement pattern of the connection elements 20 can be determined by combining one or more of the arrangement patterns of the connection elements 20 in FIG.

<< Use of conductive mesh and conductive mesh sheet >>
Next, an example of the use of the conductive mesh 10 and the conductive mesh sheet 30 having the above configuration and characteristics will be described. As described above, the conductive mesh 10 is, for example, an electromagnetic shielding material that is grounded to shield electromagnetic waves, an electrode for a touch panel sensor of a touch panel device, an antenna having visible light permeability, and a solar cell current collector. It can be used as an electrode or a heating electrode for preventing condensation.

<< Electromagnetic wave shielding material >>
As shown in FIG. 8, the conductive mesh 10 is a display unit for television receivers, various measuring devices and instruments, various office devices, various medical devices, computer devices, telephones, electric signs, various game machines, and the like. In an image display device such as a plasma display (PDP) device, a cathode ray tube display (CRT) device, a liquid crystal display device (LCD), or an electroluminescent display (EL) device used for the above-mentioned, it can be incorporated as an electromagnetic wave shielding material.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, the image display device 40 includes an image forming device (display unit) 41 that can form an image, and a stacked body 45 that is disposed on the light output side of the image forming device 41. Yes. Therefore, the light emitting surface of the stacked body 45 forms the display surface (light emitting surface) 40 a of the image display device 40, and the observer observes the image formed by the image forming device 41 through the stacked body 45. Become. A conductive mesh sheet 30 as an electromagnetic wave shielding sheet is incorporated in the laminated body 45. The conductive mesh 10 of the conductive mesh sheet 30 extends and spreads in a region where an image of the image forming apparatus 41 is formed. As described above, the conductive mesh 10 can effectively prevent the generation of moire and glare while effectively shielding electromagnetic waves. In addition, although functional sheets, such as an antireflection sheet and a louver, are appropriately incorporated in the laminated body 45, generation of moire between the conductive mesh 10 and other functional sheets is effectively prevented. become.

  In addition, for electromagnetic shielding applications such as windows for buildings such as houses, schools, hospitals, offices, stores, etc., windows for vehicles such as vehicles, aircraft and ships, windows for various household appliances such as microwave oven windows, etc. It can be used. In this example, the window that supports the conductive mesh 10 as the electromagnetic wave shielding material may form the transparent base material 35 in the conductive mesh sheet 30. In this case, it is possible to effectively prevent the generation of moire between the screens and curtains arranged on the windows and the conductive mesh 10 and to receive discomfort due to glare. Effectively prevented.

<< Touch pancell sensor >>
FIG. 9 discloses a touch panel device 50 including touch panel sensors 51 and 52. The illustrated touch panel device 50 is configured as a projected capacitively coupled touch panel device, and includes a first touch panel sensor 51 and a second touch panel sensor 52 each having an electrode 55 formed on a transparent substrate 35. ing. The touch panel device 50 is arranged on the image forming apparatus. The first and second touch panel sensors 51 and 52 include an active area Aa1 facing an area where pixels of the image forming apparatus are arranged, and an active area. And an inactive area Aa2 around Aa1. The electrode 55 includes a detection electrode 60 that is located in the active area Aa1 and used for position detection, and an extraction electrode 70 that is connected to the detection electrode 60 and located in the inactive area Aa2.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 9, each detection electrode 60 is connected to a large number of conductive meshes 10 arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction and connection conductive wires 61 connecting between two adjacent conductive meshes 10. And have. Each detection electrode 60 extends linearly in the active area Aa <b> 1 by the conductive mesh 10 and the connecting conductor 61. The width of the region where each detection electrode 60 is arranged is thicker in the portion where the conductive mesh 10 is provided. Each detection electrode 60 included in one touch panel sensor 51, 52 intersects with a large number of detection electrodes 60 included in the other touch panel sensor 52, 51. As shown in FIG. 9, the conductive mesh 10 of one touch panel sensor 51, 52 is on the detection electrode 60 between intersections of two adjacent detection electrodes 60 of the other touch panel sensor 52, 51. Has been placed.

  In the touch panel device 50, the conductive mesh 10 of the touch panel sensors 51 and 52 is disposed on a region where the pixels of the image forming apparatus 41 are arranged. The conductive mesh 10 functions as the detection electrode 60 due to its excellent conductivity, and can prevent the occurrence of moire and glare as described above.

  The shape of the electrode 55 shown in FIG. 9 is only an example, and various modifications can be made. Further, the conductive mesh 10 and the conductive mesh sheet 30 are not limited to the projected capacitive coupling type touch panel device, and can be applied to various types of touch panel devices.

<< Other >>
As another application, the conductive mesh 10 functions as an antenna supported by a window. In addition, the conductive mesh 10 functions as a heat generation electrode for preventing condensation supported by the window. In these examples, the window forms the transparent base material 35 of the conductive mesh sheet 30. In these examples, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of moiré between the screens and curtains arranged on the windows and the conductive mesh 10 and the discomfort caused by glare. Receiving is effectively prevented.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conductive mesh 11 Virtual pattern 12 1st rhombus 12c, 12f, 12g, 12h Midpoint 13 2nd rhombus 13a, 13b, 13d, 13e Midpoint 15 Opening area 20 Connection element 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e, 20f 20g, 20g 1st to 8th connecting element 30 Conductive mesh sheet 35 Transparent substrate 40 Image display device 40a Display surface 41 Display unit 45 Laminate 50 Touch panel device 51 First touch panel sensor 52 Second touch panel sensor 55 Electrode 60 Detection electrode 61 Connection lead 70 Extraction electrode

Claims (8)

A conductive mesh comprising a plurality of conductive connecting elements defining a plurality of open areas,
At least one end of each connection element is connected to the end of the other connection element,
Each connecting element extends between the midpoints of two sides constituting one of the rhombuses in a virtual pattern formed by laying two rhombuses having side lengths equal to each other and interior angles different from each other. A conductive mesh. When one of the two types of rhombuses is a first rhombus and the other of the two types of rhombuses is a second rhombus,
Among the plurality of first rhombuses included in the virtual pattern, combinations of sides having the two midpoints where the connection elements extend are the same as each other,
2. The conductive mesh according to claim 1, wherein a combination of sides having the two midpoints where the connection element extends between the plurality of second rhombuses included in the virtual pattern is the same.   The plurality of connecting elements include a first connecting element extending between midpoints of two opposite sides of a second rhombus different from the first rhombus having the largest internal angle among the two types of rhombus, The conductive mesh according to claim 1, further comprising: a second connecting element extending between midpoints of the remaining two sides of the second rhombus.   4. The conductive mesh according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of connection elements further include a third connection element extending between midpoints of two sides forming an angle formed by a smallest interior angle of the first rhombus. .   The conductive mesh according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a size of an angle formed by the two connecting elements connected to each other is 72 ° or more. The conductive mesh according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A conductive mesh sheet comprising: a transparent base material that supports the conductive mesh.   A touch panel device comprising the conductive mesh according to claim 1 or the conductive mesh sheet according to claim 6.   An image display apparatus provided with the electroconductive mesh as described in any one of Claims 1-5, or the electroconductive mesh sheet of Claim 6.

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