JP2019101981A - Light transmissive conductive material - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a light transmissive conductive material which does not generate moire if the material is deposited on a liquid crystal display and has an improved resistance to electrostatic breakdown in a sensor part.SOLUTION: The light transmissive conductive material includes a light transmissive conductive layer on a light transmissive supporting body, the light transmissive conductive layer having a sensor part electrically connected to a terminal part and extending in one direction. The sensor part is made of a thin line pattern made of metal with an irregular mesh pattern, and has a width which changes in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sensor part extends. The light transmissive conductive material satisfies the relation of 2 V≤W≤10 V when the average value of the projection length is V in the cells of the mesh pattern in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sensor part extends and the width of the sensor part is W in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the sensor part extends.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a light-transmitting conductive material mainly used for a touch panel, and more particularly to a light-transmitting conductive material suitably used for a light-transmitting electrode of a projected capacitive touch panel.

  In electronic devices such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, an OA device, a medical device, or a car navigation system, a touch panel is widely used as an input unit for these displays.

  The touch panel includes an optical method, an ultrasonic method, a surface capacitance method, a projected capacitance method, a resistive film method, and the like depending on a position detection method. In a resistive film type touch panel, a light transmitting conductive material and a glass with a light transmitting conductive layer are disposed opposite to each other through a spacer as a light transmitting electrode to be a touch sensor, and a current is applied to the light transmitting conductive material. The structure is such that the voltage in the flowable light transmissive conductive layer-attached glass is measured. On the other hand, a capacitive touch panel is characterized in that a light transmitting conductive material having a light transmitting conductive layer on a substrate is basically formed as a light transmitting electrode to be a touch sensor, and there is no movable part. Because of their high durability and high light transmittance, they are applied in various applications. Furthermore, since a projected capacitive touch panel can simultaneously detect multiple points, it is widely used in smartphones, tablet PCs, and the like.

  Conventionally, as a transparent conductive material used for a transparent electrode of a touch panel, what formed the transparent conductive layer which consists of an ITO (indium tin oxide) conductive film on a base material is used. However, since the ITO conductive film has a large refractive index and a large surface reflection of light, there is a problem that the light transmittance of the light transmitting conductive material is lowered. In addition, since the ITO conductive film has low flexibility, there is a problem that when the light transmitting conductive material is bent, the ITO conductive film is cracked to increase the electric resistance value of the light transmitting conductive material.

  As an alternative to a light transmitting conductive material having a light transmitting conductive layer made of an ITO conductive film, a metal fine wire pattern as a light transmitting conductive layer on a light transmitting support, for example, the line width or pitch of the metal fine wire pattern Further, there is known a light transmitting conductive material in which a metal thin wire pattern of a mesh shape is formed by adjusting the pattern shape and the like. By this technology, a light transmitting conductive material having high conductivity and high conductivity can be obtained. It is known that repeating units of various shapes can be used for the mesh shape possessed by the mesh fine metal fine line pattern (hereinafter also described as a metal pattern), for example, in JP 2013-30378 A (patent document 1) Equilateral triangle, isosceles triangle, triangle such as right triangle, square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, quadrangle such as trapezoidal, (positive) hexagon, (positive) octagon, (positive) dodecagonal, (positive) Disclosed are (positive) n-gons such as icosagon, repeating units such as circles, ovals and stars, and combinations of two or more of these.

  As a method of manufacturing the light transmitting conductive material having the above-mentioned mesh-like metal pattern, a thin catalyst layer is formed on a support, a resist pattern is formed thereon, and then a metal layer is formed on the resist opening by plating. The semi-additive method of forming a metal pattern by laminating the metal layer and finally removing the underlying metal protected by the resist layer and the resist layer is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-2007-287994, JP-A-2007-287953, etc. Is disclosed in

  Also, in recent years, a method is known in which a silver salt photographic light-sensitive material using a silver salt diffusion transfer method is used as a conductive material precursor. For example, in JP-A-2003-77350, JP-A-2005-250169, and JP-A-2007-188655, a silver salt photographic photosensitive material having a physical development nucleus layer and a silver halide emulsion layer at least in this order on a support A technique is disclosed in which a material (conductive material precursor) is reacted with a soluble silver salt forming agent and a reducing agent in an alkaline solution to form a metal (silver) pattern. In addition to the ability to reproduce a uniform line width, silver is the most conductive of all metals, so that higher conductivity can be obtained with a narrower line width than the other method. Furthermore, the layer having the metal pattern obtained by this method has the advantage of being more flexible and resistant to bending than the ITO conductive film.

  However, since the light-transmitting conductive material having these metal patterns on the light-transmitting support is disposed so as to overlap on the liquid crystal display, the period of the metal pattern interferes with the period of the elements of the liquid crystal display. There was a problem that occurs. In recent years, liquid crystal displays of various resolutions have been used, which further complicates the above-mentioned problems.

  For this problem, for example, JP-A-2011-216377, JP-A-2013-37683, JP-A-2014-17519, JP-A-2016-62170, JP-A-2016-99919, and JP-A-2013- In the publication 540331 or the like, a long-known random pattern described in, for example, “Introduction to mathematical engineering from a mathematical model Voronoi diagram” (Non-Patent Document 1) or the like is used as a metal pattern, Methods to suppress interference have been proposed.

  On the other hand, as a projected capacitive touch sensor, for example, as described in JP-A-2006-511879 (Patent Document 2), a plurality of column electrodes connected to a terminal portion via a peripheral wiring portion are provided. A light transmitting conductive material is known in which two light transmitting conductive layers provided individually are bonded to each other with the column electrodes substantially orthogonal to each other via an insulating layer. As a shape of the column electrode, a shape called a diamond pattern in which an aperture is provided at a portion intersecting the column electrode of the other light transmitting conductive layer is generally used.

  The column electrode made of the above-described mesh-like metal fine wire pattern has a problem that it is less resistant to electrostatic discharge (ESD) than ITO. As the reason, it can be mentioned that the fine metal wire has a lower electric resistance than ITO and a large amount of current easily flows. In addition, the metal thin line pattern is formed of a mesh-shaped metal thin line, and in particular, the amount (area) of the metal thin line is smaller than that of the other parts in the diaphragm part of the diamond pattern, and the current flowing through the thin line is concentrated. Are prone to over current.

  Furthermore, in the above-described random metal pattern, the portion where the distribution of the metal thin wires becomes rough and the portion where the distribution becomes dense appear randomly, so the amount of metal thin wires per unit area becomes uneven. In particular, when the amount of the metal thin wire decreases at the narrowed portion of the diamond pattern where current concentrates, there is a problem that disconnection (electrostatic breakdown) easily occurs due to ESD.

  Static electricity is known to be a problem, especially when processing and manufacturing light-transmissive conductive materials with rolls, and measures such as using an electric-removing machine and keeping humidity at a certain level or more are generally taken at manufacturing sites. ing. The light transmitting support, which is an insulator, is easily charged, and by unwinding or rolling up the roll, friction and peeling occur and static electricity is generated. As the potential difference increases, discharge tends to occur in the conductive sensor unit. Moreover, in order to protect the surface of a transparent conductive material, bonding a protective film is generally performed. The protective film used for such applications is easily charged, and therefore, when the potential difference becomes large when the protective film is peeled off, the sensor portion easily generates a discharge. When such a discharge occurs, disconnection (electrostatic breakdown) occurs in a portion weak to an overcurrent in the sensor unit, and the yield at the time of manufacturing the touch panel is significantly reduced.

  In order to prevent electrostatic breakdown, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-15123 (Patent Document 3) discloses a light transmitting conductive material provided with a ground wire having a minimum distance smaller than the minimum distance between peripheral wires. It is disclosed. Moreover, the transparent conductive material which has a protective wiring which has an electrical property in which an electrical resistance value falls with the increase in voltage is disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2016-162003 (patent document 4). However, all of them prevent the instantaneous flow of current into the peripheral wiring portion, and a technique related to the electrostatic breakdown resistance of the sensor portion has not been disclosed.

  Further, for the purpose of reducing variations in the resistance and capacitance of each electrode, suppressing the surface resistance of the transparent conductive layer to a low level, and suppressing moiré and improving visibility, Japanese Patent No. 5890063 (Patent Document 5) Discloses a conductive film in which the column electrode is composed of a plurality of polygonal cells whose sizes are uneven due to metal thin wires, and the average size of the cell is 1/30 or more and less than 1/3 of the narrowest width of the column electrode. It is done. However, since the method of determining the average size of the cells defined here is unclear, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 5 is an irregularity represented by, for example, Voronoi figures, Delaunay figures, Penrose tile figures, etc. It was not applicable to the light-transmissive conductive material using a geometrically shaped metal pattern.

JP, 2013-30378, A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-511879 JP, 2016-15123, A JP, 2016-162003, A Patent No. 5890063

Introduction to mathematical engineering from Voronoi diagrams (Kyoritsu Publishing February 2009)

  An object of the present invention is a light-transmitting conductive material consisting of a fine metal wire pattern used for a projected capacitive touch panel, which does not generate moiré even when it is superimposed on a liquid crystal display, and the electrostatic breakdown resistance of the sensor portion An object of the present invention is to provide an improved light transmitting conductive material.

The above problems are solved by the following light transmitting conductive materials.
(1) A light transmitting conductive layer having a sensor part having a shape extending in one direction electrically connected to the terminal part is provided on the light transmitting support, and the sensor part has an irregular mesh shape The width of the sensor unit in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the sensor unit is not constant, and the sensor unit of the cell forming the mesh shape is orthogonal to the extending direction in the narrowest portion of the sensor unit. Assuming that the average value of the projection lengths in the direction is V, and the width of the sensor unit in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor unit is W,
2V ≦ W ≦ 10V
A light transmissive conductive material characterized by satisfying the following relationship:
(2) The light transmitting conductive material according to (1), wherein the irregular network shape is a figure obtained by deforming a Voronoi figure and / or a Voronoi figure.

  The present invention provides a light transmitting conductive material comprising a metal thin wire pattern of irregular mesh shape, which is excellent in visibility (low visibility) without occurrence of moire and excellent in electrostatic breakdown resistance of a sensor part. Can.

It is the schematic which shows the positional relationship of an upper electrode layer and a lower electrode layer. It is the schematic which shows an example of an upper electrode layer. It is the schematic which shows an example of a lower electrode layer. It is the schematic explaining a diamond pattern. It is the schematic explaining the number of cells contained in a corridor part. It is a schematic diagram explaining how to obtain average value V. It is the schematic explaining a Voronoi figure. It is the schematic explaining the modification of a Voronoi figure.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention can be variously modified and modified without departing from the technical scope, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. Yes.

  The projected capacitive touch panel has a configuration in which an upper electrode layer having a plurality of column electrodes and a lower electrode layer having a plurality of column electrodes are stacked via an insulating layer. The light transmitting support may be an insulating layer, and the upper electrode layer may be provided on one side of the light transmitting support, and the lower electrode layer may be provided on the other side. Alternatively, the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer are respectively provided on different light-transmitting supports, and the surface of the upper electrode layer on the light-transmitting support side and the surface of the lower electrode layer on the side having the electrode layer (OCA) may be attached. FIG. 1 shows the positional relationship in the case of bonding the surface of the upper electrode layer 1 on the light-transmitting support side and the surface of the lower electrode layer 2 on the side having the electrode layer with an optical adhesive tape (OCA) not shown. FIG. 10 is a schematic view, and in fact, they are closely attached via OCA according to alignment marks at four corners. The optical adhesive tape (OCA) may be used as an insulating layer, and the electrode layers of the upper electrode layer 1 and the lower electrode layer 2 may be opposed to each other for bonding. In the present invention, the upper electrode layer is an electrode layer on the side closer to the touch surface, and the lower electrode layer is an electrode layer on the side far from the touch surface. It is one form of the invention. The angle at which the upper row electrode and the lower row electrode intersect is most preferably 90 degrees, but may be any angle within the range of 60 degrees to 120 degrees, and further within the range of 45 degrees to 135 degrees. It may be any angle of.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of the upper electrode layer. In FIG. 2, the upper electrode layer 1 has, on the light-transmissive support 3, a sensor portion 21 which is a column electrode having a mesh-like thin metal wire pattern, a dummy portion 22, a peripheral wiring portion 23 and a terminal portion 24. Here, the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 are formed of a mesh-like thin metal wire pattern, but for the sake of convenience, those ranges are indicated by a provisional outline a (a nonexistent line). Further, FIG. 2 shows that a light transmitting support 3 is provided by providing a broken portion along a provisional contour line a (the metal thin line pattern located at the boundary between the sensor portion and the dummy portion has a broken portion). This is also an example in which the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 are formed on top.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of the lower electrode layer. In FIG. 3, the lower electrode layer 2 has, on the light-transmissive support 4, a sensor portion 31 which is a column electrode having a mesh-like thin metal wire pattern, a dummy portion 32, a peripheral wiring portion 33 and a terminal portion 34. Here, the sensor unit 31 and the dummy unit 32 are formed of a mesh-like thin metal wire pattern, but for the sake of convenience, those ranges are indicated by a temporary outline b (a nonexistent line). Further, FIG. 3 shows that the light transmitting support 4 is provided by providing a broken portion along the temporary outline b (by the thin metal wire pattern located at the boundary between the sensor portion and the dummy portion having a broken portion). This is also an example in which the sensor unit 31 and the dummy unit 32 are formed on top.

  The sensor unit 21 of FIG. 2 is electrically connected to the terminal unit 24 through the peripheral wiring unit 23. By electrically connecting the sensor unit 21 to the outside through the terminal unit 24, sensing by the sensor unit 21 is performed. It is possible to capture the change in capacitance. On the other hand, the dummy portion 22 is formed by providing the disconnection portion at a position along the provisional contour line a. As described above, in the present invention, all metal thin line patterns not electrically connected to the terminal portion 24 become the dummy portion 22. In the present invention, the peripheral wiring portion 23 and the terminal portion 24 do not need to have light transmittance particularly in the case where they are disposed, for example, in a frame or the like, and may be a solid pattern (pattern having no light transmittance) When light transmission is required, it may be formed of a mesh-like thin metal wire pattern such as the sensor unit 21 or the dummy unit 22. Hereinafter, the description of the present invention is continued using the upper electrode layer, but the same applies to the lower electrode layer except that the direction (xy in the drawing) changes.

  In FIG. 2, the upper electrode layer has a second sensor portion 21 extending in a first direction (x direction in the drawing) in the plane of the light transmitting conductive layer, and a second sensor layer 21 perpendicular to the first direction with the dummy portion 22 interposed therebetween. A plurality of lines are arranged in a cycle P with respect to the direction (y direction in the drawing). The cycle P of the sensor unit 21 can be set to any length within the range in which the resolution as the touch sensor is maintained. Further, the width of the sensor unit 21 (the length of the sensor unit 21 in the y direction) can also be set arbitrarily within the range maintaining the resolution as a touch sensor, and accordingly the shape and width of the dummy unit 22 are also arbitrary. It can be set.

  The shape of the sensor unit 21 can have a pattern cycle in the first direction (x direction in the drawing). In FIG. 2, the example (example of a diamond pattern) of this invention which provided the aperture | diaphragm | squeeze part by the period Q to the sensor part 21 was shown. FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a diamond pattern. In FIG. 4, the sensor unit 21 extends in a first direction (x direction in the drawing), and the width is not constant but differs depending on the position in the x direction. L2 is the narrowest portion, and L1 and L3 are portions in which the width varies continuously between the narrowest portion and the widest portion. The width of the narrowest portion (the width of the sensor portion in the y direction orthogonal to the x direction in which the sensor portion extends) is W. In the present invention, the portion 41 of W × L2 is called a corridor. Further, the portions L1 and L3 which are other portions in the sensor portion are called diamond portions.

  The size of the corridor can be set arbitrarily according to touch performance, but if W is too small, the resistance of the sensor will be high, and if it is too large, the overlapping part of the lower electrode layer with the sensor will be large Therefore, both cause the decrease in touch performance, which is not preferable. L2 can be appropriately determined according to the size of the width W of the lower electrode layer. The preferred range of W is 1 to 2 mm, and L2 is 1.5 to 3 mm.

  In the present invention, when the length (L2 in FIG. 4) of the narrowest portion of the sensor unit in the direction in which the sensor unit extends is too short, cells forming a mesh shape are not included in the corridor or Since the number of cells included in the corridor decreases and the error of the average value V of the projection length in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor unit of the cell forming the mesh shape described later may increase. It is preferable that the x-direction length of the narrowest part of the part be a length such that the number of cells included in the corridor part is 5 or more. The outline of the sensor unit (provisional outline a in FIG. 2) is a boundary line between the sensor wire and the broken part of the thin metal wire that separates the dummy part, and the width of the sensor is When the outline of the sensor unit in the narrow portion is straight and parallel, as shown in FIG. 4, the range of the narrowest portion of the sensor unit of the present invention is clear. On the other hand, when the outline of the sensor unit is not straight or parallel, the narrowest portion of the sensor unit is 1.1 times the width of the sensor unit at the narrowest position. It is a range including a position with a width up to.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the number of cells included in the corridor. The mesh shape pattern is a Voronoi figure which is an irregular mesh shape described later. In FIG. 5, the points of intersection of the Voronoi sides forming the Voronoi figure in the corridor are highlighted by circles (the actual thin metal wires are not shown). In the present invention, the number of cells included in the corridor is the number of cells in which all the polygons of the cells are included in the range of the corridor, and as shown in FIG. The number of cells to be transmitted is twelve.

  FIG. 6 is a view for explaining how to obtain the average value V of the projection lengths in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the sensor parts of the cells forming the mesh shape included in the corridor part of the present invention extend. FIG. 6 shows how to determine the projected length in one cell, and in the y direction orthogonal to the x direction in which the sensor unit extends, the projected length of the cell is the distance between the two points most distant in the y direction on the cell outline. The y-direction projected length of this cell is the length indicated by v in the figure. A value obtained by averaging the y-direction projected lengths v of all the cells included in the corridor is V.

  In the present invention, when W is in the range of 2 to 10 times of V, moire does not occur even if it is superimposed on the liquid crystal display, and a light transmitting conductive material having improved electrostatic breakdown resistance of the sensor portion can be obtained. . That is, in the present invention, in the narrowest portion of the sensor portion, the average value of the projection lengths in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor portion of the cell forming the mesh shape is V, orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor portion When the width of the sensor unit in the direction is W, the relationship of 2V ≦ W ≦ 10V is satisfied. If W is less than 2 times V, sufficient ESD resistance can not be secured, and if it is more than 10 times, the diamond pattern can not be properly configured to cause deterioration in touch performance or the mesh shape is dense. It is not preferable from the viewpoint that the light transmittance of the light transmitting conductive material becomes too low and the sharpness of the image when used as a touch panel decreases.

  Next, in the present invention, a metal fine wire pattern having an irregular mesh shape which constitutes the sensor portion and the dummy portion will be described. As irregular figures, for example, figures obtained by irregular geometric shapes represented by Voronoi figures, Delaunay figures, Penrose tiles, etc. can be illustrated, but in the present invention, they are provided for generating points. A network shape (hereinafter referred to as a Voronoi figure) composed of the Voronoi sides having the above structure is preferably used. By using the Voronoi figure, it is possible to obtain a light transmitting conductive material capable of constituting a touch panel excellent in visibility. Voronoi figures are well-known figures applied in various fields such as information processing.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a Voronoi figure. In (7-a) of FIG. 7, when a plurality of generating points 711 are arranged on the plane 70, a region 71 (referred to as a Voronoi region) closest to one arbitrary generating point 711 and another generating point When the plane 70 is divided by dividing the area 71 closest to the area 71 by the boundary line 72, the boundary line 72 of each area 71 is called a Voronoi side. The Voronoi edge is part of a vertical bisector of a line connecting an arbitrary generation point and a close generation point. A figure formed by collecting Voronoi edges is called a Voronoi figure.

  The method of arranging the mother points will be described using (7-b) in FIG. In the present invention, a method is preferably used in which the plane 70 is divided by a polygon and the generating points 711 are randomly arranged in the division. As a method of dividing the plane 70, the plane 70 is plane-filled with a plurality of polygons of a single shape or two or more types of shapes (hereinafter referred to as an original polygon), and each of the gravity center of the original polygon and the original polygon. A method of connecting a position of an arbitrary proportion of the distance from the center of gravity to each vertex of the original polygon on a straight line or an extension connecting the vertices to create an enlargement / reduction polygon, and dividing the plane 70 by this enlargement / reduction polygon Is used. After dividing the plane 70 in this manner, one mother point is randomly placed in the enlargement / reduction polygon. In (7-b) of FIG. 7, the plane 70 is flat-filled with the original polygon 73 which is a square, and then the center of gravity 74 of a straight line connecting the center of gravity 74 of the original polygon and each vertex of the original polygon. The reduced polygon 75 is formed by connecting 80% of the positions from the point to each vertex of the original polygon, and finally, one generating point 711 is randomly arranged in the reduced polygon 75.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to flat-fill with an original polygon 73 of a single shape and size as in (7-b) in order to prevent “graininess”. "Grain" is a phenomenon in which high and low density portions of a figure appear specifically in a random figure. The ratio of the position from the center of gravity to each vertex of the original polygon on a straight line or an extension connecting the center of gravity of the original polygon and each vertex of the original polygon is preferably in the range of 10 to 300%. If it exceeds 300%, graininess may appear. If it is less than 10%, high regularity may remain in the Voronoi figure, and moiré may occur when it is superimposed on the liquid crystal display.

  The shape of the original polygon is preferably a square, a rectangle, a quadrangle such as a rhombus, a triangle, or a hexagon, and from the viewpoint of preventing the graininess phenomenon, a quadrangle is preferable, and a more preferable shape is a ratio of the long side to the short side. Is a rectangle in the range of 1: 0.7 to 1: 1. The length of one side of the original polygon is preferably 100 to 2000 μm, more preferably 120 to 800 μm. In the present invention, the Voronoi side is most preferably a straight line, but a curve, a wavy line, a zigzag line or the like can also be used. In addition, it is preferable that the line | wire width of the metal pattern which the sensor part 21 and the dummy part 22 have is 1 to 20 micrometers from a viewpoint which makes electroconductivity and light transmittance compatible, More preferably, it is 2 to 7 micrometers.

  As the irregular network shape in the present invention, it is also preferable to use a shape obtained by enlarging or reducing the Voronoi figure obtained by the above-described method in any direction. FIG. 8 is a schematic view for explaining a modification of the Voronoi figure in the present invention. In FIG. 8, (8-a) illustrates a Voronoi figure before enlargement or reduction. This Voronoi figure in (8-a) is enlarged 4 times in the x direction, and the figure when the y direction is not changed is illustrated in (8-b) of FIG. The Voronoi side 81 in (8-a) is the side 82 of (8-b), and the mother point 811 in (8-a) is the point 812 in (8-b) (the positional relationship between the Voronoi side and the mother point in the Voronoi diagram Not equivalent to Note that although generating points and points are displayed in FIGS. 7 and 8 for the purpose of explanation, generating points and points do not exist in an actual thin metal wire.

  As described above, in the present invention, the arrangement density of the original polygon at the time of creating the Voronoi figure, or the provisional outline a (the boundary portion between the sensor portion and the dummy portion) which is the boundary line between the sensor portion and the dummy portion By appropriately adjusting the arrangement of non-existent lines connecting broken portions provided in the metal thin wire pattern located, it is possible to obtain a light transmitting conductive material satisfying the relationship of 2 V ≦ W ≦ 10 V described above.

  As mentioned in the description of FIG. 2 above, there is no electrical connection between the sensor part and the dummy part. The dummy portion 22 is formed by providing the disconnection portion at a position along the temporary contour line a. Furthermore, in addition to the position along the temporary contour line a, a plurality of disconnection portions may be provided at the position in the dummy portion. It is preferable that the length which the metal fine wire of a disconnection part has disconnected is 3-100 micrometers, More preferably, it is 5-20 micrometers.

  In the present invention, the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 are formed by a mesh-shaped metal pattern. Such metals are preferably made of gold, silver, copper, nickel, aluminum, and composites thereof. In addition, it is preferable from the viewpoint of production efficiency that the peripheral wiring portion 23 and the terminal portion 24 also have a metal pattern formed of a metal having the same composition as the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22. As a method of forming these metal patterns, a method using a silver salt photosensitive material such as a direct development method or a silver salt diffusion transfer method, a method of applying electroless plating or electrolytic plating to a silver image obtained by using the same method, Method of printing conductive ink such as silver paste or copper paste using screen printing method, method of printing conductive ink such as silver ink or copper ink by inkjet method, or conductive layer formed by vapor deposition or sputtering A resist film is formed on it, a method of obtaining it by exposing, developing, etching, removing a resist layer, affixing a metal foil such as copper foil, further forming a resist film thereon, exposing, developing, etching A known method such as a method obtained by removing the resist layer can be used. Among them, it is preferable to use a silver salt diffusion transfer method in which the thickness of the metal pattern to be produced can be made thin, and furthermore, an extremely fine metal pattern can be easily formed.

  If the thickness of the metal pattern produced by the above-described method is too thick, post-processing (for example, bonding with other members) may be difficult, and if too thin, it is difficult to ensure conductivity necessary for a touch panel Become. Therefore, the thickness is preferably 0.01 to 5 μm, more preferably 0.05 to 1 μm.

In the light transmitting conductive material of the present invention, the total light transmittance of the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22 is preferably 80% or more, more preferably 85% or more, and still more preferably 88.5% or more. In addition, the difference in total light transmittance between the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 is preferably 0.5% or less, more preferably 0.1% or less, and particularly preferably the same. . The haze value of the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 is preferably 2 or less. Furthermore, the b ^* value representing the hue of the sensor unit 11 and the dummy unit 12 is preferably 2 or less, and more preferably 1 or less.

  The light transmitting support of the light transmitting conductive material of the present invention may be glass, or polyester resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), acrylic resin, epoxy resin, fluorine resin, silicone resin, Supports having known optical transparency such as polycarbonate resin, diacetate resin, triacetate resin, polyarylate resin, polyvinyl chloride, polysulfone resin, polyether sulfone resin, polyimide resin, polyamide resin, polyolefin resin, cyclic polyolefin resin, etc. It is preferable to use the body. Here, the light transmittance means that the total light transmittance is 60% or more, and the total light transmittance is more preferably 80% or more. The thickness of the light transmissive support is preferably 50 μm to 5 mm. The light transmitting support may be provided with known layers such as a fingerprint antifouling layer, a hard coat layer, an antireflective layer and an antiglare layer.

  In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, when the light-transmitting support side of the upper electrode layer 1 and the side of the lower electrode layer 2 having the electrode layer are bonded with an optical adhesive tape (OCA), As an adhesive of OCA used when it is set as the composition which made it oppose (structure in which OCA is arrange | positioned as an insulating layer), a rubber adhesive, an acrylic adhesive, a silicone adhesive, a urethane adhesive, for example It is preferable to use a resin composition which is light-transmitting after bonding.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples as long as the gist of the present invention is not exceeded.

<Light Transmissive Conductive Material 1>: Example A polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 100 μm and a total light transmittance of 92% was used as a light transmissive support.

  Next, according to the following formulation, a physical development nucleus layer coating solution was prepared, coated on the light transmitting support and dried to provide a physical development nucleus layer.

<Preparation of palladium sulfide sol>
Liquid A: 5 g of palladium chloride
Hydrochloric acid 40 ml
Distilled water 1000 ml
Liquid B sodium sulfide 8.6g
Distilled water 1000 ml
Solution A and solution B were mixed while stirring, and after 30 minutes, passed through a column packed with ion exchange resin to obtain palladium sulfide sol.

<Preparation of Physical Development Core Layer Coating Solution> Amount per 1 m ^{2 of} silver salt photosensitive material The above-mentioned palladium sulfide sol (as solid content) 0.4 mg
2 mass% glyoxal aqueous solution 200 mg
Surfactant (S-1) 4 mg
Denacol (R) EX-830 25 mg
(Nagase Chemtex Co., Ltd. polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether)
10% by mass Epomin (registered trademark) HM-2000 aqueous solution 500 mg
(Nippon Shokuhin Co., Ltd. polyethyleneimine; average molecular weight 30,000)

  Subsequently, an intermediate layer, a silver halide emulsion layer, and a protective layer of the following composition are coated and dried on the above-mentioned physical development nucleus liquid layer in this order from the side closer to the light transmitting support to obtain a silver salt photosensitive material. The The silver halide emulsion was prepared by the general double jet mixing method of a photographic silver halide emulsion. This silver halide emulsion was prepared so that the average grain size was 0.15 μm, with 95 mol% of silver chloride and 5 mol% of silver bromide. The silver halide emulsion thus obtained was subjected to gold-sulfur sensitization using sodium thiosulfate and chloroauric acid according to a conventional method. The silver halide emulsion thus obtained contains 0.5 g of gelatin per 1 g of silver.

<Interlayer composition> Amount per 1 m ^{2 of} silver salt photosensitive material Gelatin 0.5 g
Surfactant (S-1) 5 mg
Dye 1 50 mg

<Silver halide emulsion layer composition> Amount per 1 m ^{2 of} silver salt photosensitive material Gelatin 0.5 g
Silver halide emulsion 3.0 g equivalent of silver 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole 3 mg
Surfactant (S-1) 20 mg

<Protective layer composition> Amount per 1 m ^{2 of} silver salt photosensitive material Gelatin 1 g
Amorphous silica matting agent (average particle size 3.5 μm) 10 mg
Surfactant (S-1) 10 mg

  A transparent original having an image of the pattern of FIG. 2 was brought into close contact with the silver salt photosensitive material thus obtained, and exposure was carried out through a resin filter for cutting light of 400 nm or less with a contact printer using a mercury lamp as a light source. The period P of the sensor unit 21 in the transparent original is 6.0 mm, and the period Q of the diaphragm portion of the diamond pattern is 6.0 mm.

  In the transparent original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2, the pattern possessed by the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 is the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, “a portion of L width in x direction” × “y direction An image pattern in the range of “full width” was created by repeatedly pasting with a period Q in the x direction and a period P in the y direction in FIG. The line width of the Voronoi figure is 5 μm. A broken portion with a width of 20 μm was provided at the boundary between the sensor portion and the dummy portion.

  Then, after immersion in the following diffusion transfer developing solution at 20 ° C. for 60 seconds, the silver halide emulsion layer, the intermediate layer and the protective layer are subsequently removed by washing with warm water at 40 ° C. and dried. As a result, a light transmitting conductive material 1 having a metallic silver image was obtained. The metallic silver image of the light-transmissive conductive layer of the obtained light-transmissive conductive material, including other light-transmissive conductive materials shown below, has the same shape and the same line width as the image pattern of the transmitted original used. there were.

<Diffusion transfer developer composition>
Potassium hydroxide 25 g
Hydroquinone 18g
1-phenyl-3-pyrazolidone 2 g
Potassium sulfite 80g
15 g of N-methylethanolamine
Potassium bromide 1.2 g
The total amount was adjusted to 1000 ml with water and pH = 12.2.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 2>: In the transmission original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2 according to the present invention, the pattern of the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22 does not change the angle of the provisional outline a in FIG. , W and L2 to adjust the image pattern to W = 3.2 V, except that it is created by repeatedly affixing an image pattern with W in 3.2 in the x direction and Q in the y direction in FIG. Similarly to the above, a light transmitting conductive material 2 having a metallic silver image as an upper electrode layer was obtained.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 3>: In the transmission original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2 according to the present invention, the pattern of the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22 does not change the angle of the provisional outline a in FIG. , W and L2 to adjust the image pattern to W = 6.5 V, except that it is created by repeatedly affixing an image pattern in the x direction in the period Q and in the y direction with the period P 1. In the same manner as in the above, a light transmitting conductive material 3 having a metallic silver image as an upper electrode layer was obtained.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 4>: In the transmission original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2 according to the present invention, the pattern of the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22 does not change the angle of the provisional outline a in FIG. , W and L2 to adjust the image pattern to W = 8.8 V in the x direction and the periodic pattern P in the y direction in FIG. Similarly to the above, a light transmitting conductive material 4 having a metallic silver image as an upper electrode layer was obtained.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 5>: Comparative Example In the transparent original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2, the patterns of the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22 do not change the angle of the provisional outline a in FIG. , W and L2 to adjust the image pattern to W = 1.3 V, except for the light transmissive conductive material 1 except that it is created by repeatedly attaching a period Q in the x direction and a period P in the y direction in FIG. In the same manner as in the above, a light transmitting conductive material 5 having a metallic silver image as an upper electrode layer was obtained.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 6>: Comparative Example In the transparent original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2, the pattern of the sensor portion 21 and the dummy portion 22 does not change the angle of the provisional outline a in FIG. , W and L2 to adjust the image pattern to W = 1.8 V, a light transmissive conductive material 1 except that it is created by repeatedly affixing an image pattern with a period Q in the x direction and a period P in the y direction in FIG. Similarly to the above, a light transmitting conductive material 6 having a metallic silver image as an upper electrode layer was obtained.

<Light Transparent Conductive Material 7>: Comparative Example In the transparent original having the image of the pattern of FIG. 2, the pattern of the sensor unit 21 and the dummy unit 22 does not change the angle of the provisional outline a in FIG. , W and L2 are adjusted by repeatedly applying the image pattern having W = 11.3 V by period Q in the x direction and period P in the y direction in FIG. In the same manner as in the above, a light transmitting conductive material 7 having a metallic silver image as an upper electrode layer was obtained.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 8>: Example The pattern of the transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, “a portion of L width in x direction” × “y An image pattern in the range of “full width in direction.” Transposing the transparent original prepared by repeatedly pasting the X direction and the y direction of W = 2.3 V) and repeating the cycle Q in the x direction and the cycle P in the y direction in FIG. A transparent conductive material 8 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 9>: Example The pattern of the transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, “a portion of L width in x direction” × “y An image pattern in the range of “full width in direction.” Transposing the transparent original prepared by repeatedly pasting in the x direction and the cycle Q in the x direction and the cycle P in the y direction in FIG. A transparent conductive material 9 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 10>: Example The pattern of a transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, “a portion of L width in x direction” × “y An image pattern in the range of “full width in the direction”. The x direction and the y direction of W = 6.5 V) are interchanged, and a transparent original created by repeatedly pasting in the x direction and the period Q in the y direction in FIG. A transparent conductive material 10 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 11>: Example The pattern of the transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, “a portion of L width in x direction” × “y An image pattern in the range of “full width in the direction”. The x direction and the y direction of W = 8.8 V) are interchanged, and a transparent original prepared by repeatedly pasting at period Q in x direction and period P in y direction in FIG. A transparent conductive material 11 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 12>: Comparative Example The pattern of the transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. An image pattern in the range of “full width in direction.” Transposing the transparent original prepared by repeatedly pasting in the x direction and the cycle Q in the x direction and the cycle P in the y direction in FIG. A transparent conductive material 12 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 13>: Comparative Example The pattern of the transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. 5, “a portion of L width in x direction” × “y An image pattern in the range of “full width in direction.” Transposing the transparent original prepared by repeatedly pasting the x direction and the y direction of W = 1.8 V) in the x direction and the period Q in the y direction A transparent conductive material 13 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

<Light Transmissible Conductive Material 14>: Comparative Example The pattern of the transparent original is changed from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and the Voronoi figure shown in FIG. 5 (in FIG. An image pattern in the range of “full width in direction.” Transposing the transparent original prepared by repeatedly pasting the X direction and the y direction of W = 11.3 V) with the cycle Q in the x direction and the cycle P in the y direction in FIG. A transparent conductive material 14 having a metallic silver image as a lower electrode layer was obtained in the same manner as the transparent conductive material 1 except that it was used.

  The ESD resistance of the obtained light-transmitting conductive materials 1 to 7 was evaluated according to the following procedure. First, using a tester, the resistance value of each end of ten light sensor portions of each light transmitting conductive material was confirmed. Next, a transparent conductive material is overlaid on the copper plate in a direction in which the metallic silver image side is not in contact with the copper plate, and a 100 μm thick polyethylene terephthalate film is placed on the metallic silver image surface. After seasoning in a 50% atmosphere for 1 day, an electrostatic breakdown test was performed using an electrostatic breakdown tester (DITO ESD Simulator manufactured by EM TEST, hereinafter referred to as DITO). In the electrostatic breakdown test, the tip used DM1 tip. Then attach the ground wire of DITO to the copper plate, contact the tip of the DITO tip on the 100 μm PET film and the center of the extension direction of each sensor, and fix it once for each sensor at a voltage of 8 kV. The radiation was done. After radiation, peel off the PET film, check the resistance of both ends of the 10 sensor parts and compare with the resistance before the electrostatic breakdown test, and all resistance rise of all 10 sensors is less than 5% ○, one sensor unit with a resistance value increase of 5% or more △, and one with two or more sensor units with a resistance value increase of 5% or more is ×. The results are shown in Table 1.

<Fabrication of touch panel>
With the obtained light-transmitting conductive materials 1 to 14 and a 2 mm-thick chemically strengthened glass plate, the metal silver image surface of each light-transmitting conductive material is directed to the glass plate side, and an optical adhesive tape (MHN-FWD 100 NIHON KAIKO CO., LTD. Made so that the alignment marks (+ marks) at the four corners coincide with each other, and the bonding order is glass plate / OCA / light-transmissive conductive material 1-7 / OCA / light-transmissive conductive Paste materials 8 to 14 (the combination of light transmitting conductive materials 1 and 8, 2 and 9, 3 and 10, 4 and 11, 5 and 12, 6 and 13, 7 and 14), Touch panels 1 to 7 were produced.

  The obtained touch panels 1 to 7 were placed on an AOC I2267 FWH 21.5-type wide liquid crystal monitor displaying a full white image, and when moiré or unevenness was visually observed, no moiré or unevenness could be confirmed on all touch panels The Next, a drive IC for a projected capacitive capacitive touch panel was connected to the terminal portion of each touch panel through a flexible printed wiring board, and the operation as a touch panel was confirmed. The touch panels 5 and 7 were compared with other touch panels. The sensor sensitivity was low.

  From the above results, it can be seen that according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a light transmitting conductive material which is excellent in visibility without occurrence of moiré even when stacked on a liquid crystal display, and in which the electrostatic breakdown resistance of the sensor portion is improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 upper electrode layer 2 lower electrode layer 3, 4 light transmissive support 21, 31 sensor portion 22, 32 dummy portion 23, 33 peripheral wiring portion 24, 34 terminal portion 41 corridor portion 51 frame a, b temporary outline

Claims (2)

A light transmitting conductive layer electrically connected to the terminal portion and having a sensor portion having a shape extending in one direction is provided on the light transmitting support, and the sensor portion has a metal thin wire pattern having an irregular mesh shape. And the width of the sensor unit in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor unit is not constant, and the projection in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor unit of the cell forming the mesh shape in the narrowest portion of the sensor unit Assuming that the average value of the length is V, and the width of the sensor portion in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the sensor portion is W,
2V ≦ W ≦ 10V
A light transmissive conductive material characterized by satisfying the following relationship:   The light transmitting conductive material according to claim 1, wherein the irregular network shape is a Voronoi figure and / or a figure obtained by deforming the Voronoi figure.