JP2017078889A - Touch panel structural material and touch panel structural body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch panel structural material with superior electrostatic sensitivity.SOLUTION: A number of conductive metal lines are formed in parallel at a pitch of 1.0-3.0 mm on one surface of a transparent film. Each of the conductive metal lines has a width of 1-10 μm, and 2 to 6 adjacent lines constitute a set of conductor lines, which constitutes a number of sets of conductor lines. Each set of conductor lines has a mesh-like pattern (trunk lines) of the conductive metal lines arranged to ensure electrical contact among the conductive metal lines of the set, where the trunk lines are configured by electrode substrates A, B to which branching lines (branch lines) comprising the conductive metal lines are electrically connected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a structural material for a touch panel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a structural material that can be advantageously used in a capacitive touch panel and has excellent electrostatic sensitivity. The present invention also relates to a capacitive touch panel structure.

The touch panel has a relatively simple structure and is inexpensive, allows finger input, and is expanding its market due to its convenience. Various types of touch panels, such as a resistive film type, a capacitive type, and an optical type, have been proposed. Of these, the resistive film type and the capacitive type dominate.
In particular, the capacitance type market is growing rapidly, especially in mobile phones, because multi-input is relatively easy. However, most capacitive touch panels on the market today have a small display surface, and large screens are becoming increasingly popular. One of the reasons is that the structural material suitable for the capacitance type is not sufficient to cope with a large screen.

The present inventor aims to provide a touch panel structural material that is excellent in transparency and electrical conductivity and suitable for a large screen, particularly a touch panel structural material suitable for a capacitance type and excellent in electrostatic sensitivity. As a result of research, the present invention has been achieved.

In view of the fact that it has recently become relatively possible to obtain an electrode substrate formed by arranging a large number of fine lines of conductive metal on the surface of a transparent film, the present inventor As a result of studying various forms of fine lines and the shape of fine lines, and the arrangement of many fine lines, we have researched them. As a result, a lot of certain fine lines are arranged in parallel at regular intervals. That are arranged as a large number of conductive lines as a set can be advantageously used as a structural material for capacitive touch panels, particularly as a structural material for large screens. Proposed as 1.

In the structural material according to the present invention, a large number of fine conductive metal wires are formed on the surface of a transparent film in parallel at regular intervals, and several metal wires form a set to form one conductive line. Therefore, it is excellent in transparency as a whole, and even if a part of the conductive metal wire is broken or broken, one conductive line (trunk line) is formed by multiple metal wires.
In addition, since a plurality of lines have a pattern formed by meshing with metal lines, the conductive lines (trunk lines) are disconnected and the electrical connection is not cut.
In addition, since a branch line (branch line) is connected to the conductive line (trunk line) formed on the surface of the transparent film, a very small amount of capacitance can be captured with high sensitivity, stable sensitivity and few errors, Therefore, it is useful as a structural material for a capacitive touch panel.

JP, 2013-054708, A (patent No. 5734799) The touch panel structure material of the above-mentioned patent documents 1 has the function excellent especially as the material of the touch panel for large screens. The present inventor conducted research for the purpose of improving the accuracy of the structural material, in particular, further improving the sensitivity of capacitance. In other words, the sensitivity of a capacitive touch panel is better when the touch surface captures a small amount of capacitance of a finger touching the touch panel. However, the sensitivity varies depending on conditions such as the state of contact of the finger of the touching person, temperature, and humidity. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a structural material that can capture a small amount of capacitance with high sensitivity in a stable state without being affected by variations in these conditions. With respect to the structural material described in Patent Document 1, the inventor further connected a branch line made of a conductive metal line to a conductive line formed in parallel with the structural material, thereby statically connecting the structural material. We found that the electrosensitivity can be greatly improved. In other words, by connecting a branch line (branch line) to the conductive line (main line) in the structural material, even a small amount of electrostatic capacity can be sufficiently captured, and as a result, a small amount of static electricity is always stably obtained. It was found that the capacitance was captured with high sensitivity and no error. The present invention has been achieved by such investigation facts, and according to the present invention, the following structural materials [I] to [XI] and the capacitive touch panel structure [XII] to [XIII] are provided. Is done.

[I] (1) On one side of the transparent film (A), (a-1) many conductive metal wires are 1.0
(A-2) Each conductive metal wire has a width of 1 to 10
(a-3) Each conductive metal line is a set of two conductive lines, forming a plurality of conductive lines, and (a-4) each set of conductive lines. The pattern in which each conductive metal wire is meshed with conductive metal wires so that the conductive metal wires are electrically connected to each other (hereinafter, the metal wire forming the conductive metal wire pattern is referred to as a “trunk”).
Of the electrode substrate [A] and the transparent film (B) to which the branch line (branch line) made of a conductive metal wire is electrically connected. On one side (b
-1) A large number of conductive metal wires are formed in parallel at intervals of 1.0 to 3 mm, and (b-
2) Each conductive metal line has a width of 1 to 10 μm, and (b-3) each conductive metal line has a pair of adjacent conductive lines to form a plurality of conductive lines, (B-4)
Each set of conductive lines is a pattern formed by a mesh of conductive metal lines so that the conductive metal lines are electrically connected to each other (hereinafter, the metal lines forming the pattern of conductive metal lines are And (b-5) an electrode substrate [B] to which a branch line (branch line) made of a conductive metal line is electrically connected.
(2) The electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] are formed with respective conductive metal wires, and the parallel directions of the respective conductive metal wires intersect at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °. Thus, they are bonded through an insulating transparent adhesive, or are formed on the front and back surfaces of the same transparent film as the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B], and each conductive metal wire Are arranged so that their parallel directions intersect at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °, and (3) the conductive lines in each set of the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] are each set. A structural material for a touch panel, characterized in that the terminal is electrically connected to the terminal.

[II] The structural material according to [I], wherein the conductive metal wires in the conductive line are formed in parallel at equal intervals.
[III] The structural material according to [I], wherein the conductive metal wire has a width of 2 to 8 μm.
[IV] The structural material according to [I], wherein the conductive metal wire has a thickness of 0.1 to 5 μm.
[V] Three to five adjacent conductive metal lines form a set of conductive lines. The structural material according to [I].
[VI] The conductive metal wires are Cu, Ni, AL (aluminum), Ag, Cr, these 2
The structural material according to [I], wherein the structural material is formed of an alloy composed of two or more species, or a structure in which two or more types of metals are laminated.
[VII] The structural material according to [I], wherein the insulating transparent adhesive layer has a thickness of 25 to 300 μm.
[VIII] The structural material according to [I], wherein the transparent film is a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 20 to 300 μm.
[IX] The structural material according to [I], wherein the meshed conductive metal wire (netted wire) is formed in a direction perpendicular to the parallel conductive metal wires.
[X] The structural material according to [I], which has an aperture ratio of 80% or more.
[XI] In the branch line (branch line), one terminal is connected to the main line and the other terminal is not connected to the main line, or both terminals are connected to the main line in each conductive line.
[I] Structural material.
[XII] A capacitive touch panel structure made of the structural material according to [I].
[XIII] The touch panel structure made of the structural material described in [I] has a structure in which the surface is protected with a glass plate having a thickness of 0.4 to 4 mm or a transparent resin sheet having a thickness of 0.5 to 2 mm. Capacitive touch panel structure.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a plan view of a conductive line (trunk line) in an electrode substrate constituting the structural material for a touch panel of the present invention. Fig. 6 schematically shows an example of the shape of a branch line (branch line) connected to the conductive line (main line) shown in Fig. 1.

Hereinafter, the structural material for a touch panel of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a plan view of a conductive line (trunk line) in an electrode substrate constituting the structural material for a touch panel of the present invention. In FIG. 1, [A] is an electrode substrate.
[A] and [B] show the electrode substrate [B]. As described later, the electrode substrates [A] and [B] have conductive metal wires of almost the same pattern arranged on one side of the transparent film. However, the two substrates do not have to have the same pattern. The electrode substrate [A] and
[B] may be formed on one side and the back side of the same film.

The electrode substrates [A] and [B] in the present invention are formed by forming a large number of conductive metal wires in parallel on one side or both sides of a transparent film. The transparent film may be a resin film having excellent transparency, and examples thereof include a polyester film, a polycarbonate film, a polyolefin film, and a polycycloolefin film, but a polyester film is preferable. is there. Specifically, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film or a polyethylene-2.6-naphthalate (PEN) film is preferable, and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film is particularly preferable. These transparent films are preferably biaxially stretched, and the thickness is suitably 20 to 300 μm, particularly preferably 80 to 250 μm.

First, the electrode substrate [A] will be described. A large number of conductive metal wires are formed in parallel on one surface of the transparent film (A). That is, in FIG.
A number of conductive metal lines are formed in parallel in the horizontal direction in the drawing. A number of conductive metal wires are adjacent to 2 to 6, preferably 3 to 5, and are combined into one set.
Two conductive lines are formed. In FIG. 1, three conductive metal wires are combined to form one conductive line. The set of conductive lines is X-1, X-2, X-3,
X-4... Xn.

Each set of conductive lines (trunk lines) forms a meshed pattern of conductive metal wires so that the conductive metal wires are electrically connected to each other in each set. That is, in FIG. 1, the conductive metal wires that are meshed are indicated by dotted lines for the sake of explanation. Hereinafter, the conductive metal wire indicated by the dotted line may be abbreviated as “reticulated wire”. The reticulated lines are formed in a perpendicular direction so as to form a ladder shape with respect to many parallel metal lines in FIG. However, although it is preferable that the meshed line is perpendicular to the parallel and straight metal line, it is not always necessary. It may be reticulated at a certain angle, and it is necessary that the reticulated lines are electrically connected to each other (conductive lines). It is important that one conductive line is connected to the other, and one set is not electrically connected to the other set. That is, there is no reticulated line between sets. In the present invention, the conductive line may be referred to as a “trunk line” including a meshed line.

The meshed wires in each set function to maintain the electrical connection of each set of conductive lines if the conductive metal wires are partially or locally damaged or broken. The One to five reticulated wires per set with respect to 10 mm in the length direction of the conductive metal wire
It is desirable that the number is preferably 2 to 5.
The conductive metal wire desirably has a width of 1 to 10 [mu] m, preferably 2 to 8 [mu] m, and has a thickness of 0.1 to 5 [mu] m, preferably 0.1 to 4 [mu] m.
In addition, the width and thickness of the reticulated line are selected from the same range as that of the conductive metal line.
For the conductive metal wire and the meshed wire, a conductive metal material is used, specifically, Cu,
Examples thereof include Ni, AL (aluminum), Ag, Cr, an alloy composed of two or more of these metals, or a structure formed by laminating multiple layers of these metals. Of these,
Cu and Ag are preferable, and Cu is particularly advantageous in terms of workability and cost.

The electrode substrate [A] is composed of 2 to 6 conductive metal wires as one set and one conductive line (X-1, X-2, X-3, X-4,... Xn ) Is formed. The number of conductive metal wires in each group should be the same. In FIG. 1, three conductive metal wires are 1
It is a pair. The distance between the conductive metal wires in each set (the distance between the center line and the center line) is 1.0 to 3 mm, preferably 1.0 to 2.0 mm, and they are arranged linearly in parallel. The distance between the conductive metal lines is preferably equal within the above range.
The number of conductive metal wires in each group is desirably the same, and the distance between the conductive metal wires in each group is desirably the same value. However, it is desirable that the distance between the pair is 1.5 to 10 mm, preferably 2 to 8 mm, and the distance between the pair is equal.

Conductive metal wire and reticulated wire are processed with photoresist on one side of transparent film,
It can be formed by photoedging. The conductive metal wire formed on the surface of the transparent film has the following:
The same value (equal spacing) is advantageous in terms of machining and use and control.
Although the electrode substrate [A] has been described with reference to FIG. 1, the electrode substrate [B] is also illustrated in FIG.
As shown in the above, the material of the conductive metal wire, the width and thickness of the wire, the number and interval of the conductive metal wire in one set, and the form and number of the meshed wire are the contents described in the electrode substrate [A]. Selected from the range.

In FIG. 1, the electrode substrate [B] has a number of conductive metal lines formed in parallel and linearly in the vertical direction, each set of conductive lines is composed of three conductive metal lines, and each set is Y- 1,
It is shown as Y-2, Y-3, Y-4, and Yn, but this is to understand the state when the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] are bonded as will be described later. It is.
The electrode substrate [B] may be formed by disposing conductive metal wires and meshed wires on the transparent film surface independently of the electrode substrate [A].
The structural material for a touch panel of the present invention includes the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] described above.
Are bonded so that the surfaces on which the respective conductive metal lines are formed face each other and the parallel directions of the respective conductive metal lines intersect at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °. Both substrates are bonded to each other through an insulating transparent adhesive layer so that both conductive metal wires are not in direct electrical contact.

Referring to FIG. 1, when the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] are bonded together in a state where they are folded inward and centered around the alternate long and short dash line indicated by ZZ ′, the conductivity of both substrates The parallel arrangement of the metal lines becomes orthogonal. The parallel directions may intersect at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °.
The touch panel structural material of the present invention has a three-layer structure in which the electrode substrates [A] and [B] are bonded together with an adhesive layer as described above. The terminals of the conductive lines in each set on both boards are electrically connected to the terminals, but the connection lines from the terminals to the terminals are not shown in FIG. Each set is electrically connected to the controller via a terminal.

As the transparent adhesive, an adhesive that is insulative and can adhere a transparent film can be used. Examples include vinyl acetate resin adhesives, ethylene / vinyl acetate resin adhesives, acrylic resin adhesives, synthetic rubber adhesives, and silicone resin adhesives. Of these, acrylic resin adhesives are preferred and generally OCA (Optical Clear
Adhesives are advantageously used.
The structural material described above has a structure in which the electrode substrates [A] and [B] are respectively formed on a transparent film and the two transparent films are bonded to each other. It does not have to be a structure. That is, the electrode substrate [A] may be formed on one side of one transparent film, and the electrode substrate [B] may be formed on the back side. In this case, the electrode substrates [A] and [B] may be formed by intersecting parallel conductive metal wires at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °.

The structural material according to the present invention has a pattern in which a net is formed by the conductive metal wire shown in FIG. 1 described above as a trunk line, and has a branch line made of a conductive metal line with respect to the trunk line. It has characteristics. This branch line may be abbreviated as a branch line.
The form of this branch line (branch line) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the main line, for example, a part of the conductive line X-1 shown in FIG. 1, and in the case of FIG. 2, the conductive line includes three parallel conductive lines. Formed from a conductive metal wire,
And what has a reticulated line (dotted line) is shown as an example.
The branch line may be formed of a conductive metal line and may be electrically connected to the main line. One end of the branch line is connected to the main line, and the other end is not connected to the main line. ,
Alternatively, both ends of the branch line may be connected to the main line in each conductive line.

In FIG. 2, for the sake of explanation, the trunk line is indicated by a bold line, and the branch line is indicated by a thin line. Therefore, the branch line does not mean that the metal line is thinner than the main line.
In 2-i, 2-ro, 2-ha, and 2-ni in FIG. 2, one terminal of the branch line (branch line) is connected to the main line, and the other terminal is not connected to the main line. The form is shown.
Among these, 2-i and 2-ni are forms in which one terminal of the branch line is connected to the reticulated line,
In 2-b and 2-c, one end of the branch line is connected to a parallel conductive metal line that is not a reticulated line.
On the other hand, 2-e, 2-he, 2-to and 2-h indicate the state where both ends of the branch line are connected to the trunk line of the conductive line.
The form of the branch line 2-1 to 2-2 in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and may be another form. Moreover, these forms may be uniform or a combination of various forms. Further, the branch line may be a single line or a double line.

The branch line is formed of a conductive metal line, and may be made of the same metal as the above-described trunk line, and the width and thickness are selected from the same range as that of the trunk line. The branch line is preferably formed by using the same metal material as that of the trunk line.
The selection of the shape and number of branch lines depends on the width and number of parallel conductive metal lines in the conductive line, and is also affected by the transparency of the electrode substrate.
That is, the structural material of the present invention includes conductive and metallic wires so that the aperture ratio is 80% or more, preferably 80 to 95%, particularly preferably 85 to 93%, including trunk lines and branch lines. The total area on the surface should be determined. Here, the aperture ratio is occupied by conductive metal lines (including trunk lines and branch lines) when the actual area of the region where the conductive metal lines are formed in the plan view of the surface of the structural material is 100. The ratio of the area excluding the total area.

The structural material for a touch panel of the present invention is suitable as a member of a capacitive touch panel. In particular, the conductive metal wires formed on the electrode substrates [A] and [B] have excellent conductivity,
Even if it is fine, even if part of it is broken or broken, it is reticulated so that its function is maintained as a set of conductive lines, and because it has excellent electrostatic sensitivity due to the formation of branch lines, large images It is advantageous as a touch panel material.

Claims (13)

(1) On one side of the transparent film (A), (a-1) many conductive metal wires are 1.0 to 3
(a-2) Each conductive metal wire has a width of 1 to 10 μm.
(A-3) 2 to 6 adjacent conductive metal lines form a set of conductive lines to form a number of conductive lines, and (a-4) each set of conductive lines In each set, a pattern in which the conductive metal lines are reticulated so that the conductive metal lines are electrically connected to each other (hereinafter, the metal lines forming the pattern of the conductive metal lines are referred to as “trunk lines”). And (a-5) on one side of the electrode substrate [A] and the transparent film (B) to which a branch line (branch line) made of a conductive metal line is electrically connected to this trunk line ( b-1) A large number of conductive metal wires are formed in parallel at intervals of 1.0 to 3 mm, (b-2) each conductive metal wire has a width of 1 to 10 μm, and (b-3) Each conductive metal line is a set of two to six adjacent conductive lines, forming a number of conductive lines, (b-4) The conductive lines of a set are patterns formed by meshing conductive metal lines so that the conductive metal lines are electrically connected to each other (hereinafter, the metal lines forming the pattern of conductive metal lines are referred to as “trunk lines”). And (b-5) an electrode substrate [B] in which a branch line (branch line) made of a conductive metal line is electrically connected to the trunk line.
(2) The electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] are formed with respective conductive metal wires, and the parallel directions of the respective conductive metal wires intersect at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °. In this way, they are bonded through an insulating transparent adhesive, or are formed on the front and back surfaces of the same transparent film as the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B], and each conductive metal wire Are arranged so that their parallel directions intersect at an angle of 90 ° ± 20 °, and (3) the conductive lines in each set of the electrode substrate [A] and the electrode substrate [B] are each set. A structural material for a touch panel, characterized in that the terminal is electrically connected to the terminal.
The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the conductive metal lines in the conductive line are formed in parallel at equal intervals.
The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the conductive metal wire has a width of 2 to 8 μm.
The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the conductive metal wire has a thickness of 0.1 to 5 μm.
2. The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the conductive metal wires are adjacent to each other to form a set of conductive lines.
The conductive metal wires are Cu, Ni, AL (aluminum), Ag, Cr, and 2 of these metals.
2. The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the structural material is formed of an alloy composed of at least a seed or a structure in which a multilayer of two or more kinds of metals is laminated.
The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the insulating transparent adhesive layer has a thickness of 25 to 300 μm.
The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the transparent film is a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 20 to 300 μm.
2. The structural material according to claim 1, wherein the meshed conductive metal wires (meshing wires) are formed in a direction perpendicular to the parallel conductive metal wires.
The structural material according to claim 1, which has an aperture ratio of 80% or more.
The branching line (branch line) of the terminal according to claim 1, wherein one terminal is connected to the main line and the other terminal is not connected to the main line, or both terminals are connected to the main line in each conductive line. Structural material.
A capacitive touch panel structure made of the structural material according to claim 1.
A touch panel structure made of the structural material according to claim 1 has a thickness of 0.4.
A capacitive touch panel structure having a structure in which the surface is protected with a glass plate of ˜4 mm or a transparent resin sheet having a thickness of 0.5 to 2 mm.

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