JP5348255B2 - Touch panel sensor and touch panel sensor with flexible printed wiring board - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch panel sensor that generates less deflection when connected to a flexible printed wiring board.

  Today, touch panels are widely used as input means. In many cases, a touch panel is used together with a display device as an input means for various devices in which a display device such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display is incorporated (for example, a ticket vending machine, an ATM device, a mobile phone, a game machine). Yes. In such a device, the touch panel is placed on the display surface of the display device, which allows the touch panel to make a very direct input to the display device.

  Various types of touch panels have been put into practical use. Among them, what is called a capacitance method is for touch panel sensors having a layer structure of first transparent electrode / interelectrode insulating layer / second transparent electrode, and for supplying power to the transparent electrodes and outputting detection signals. What has a flexible printed wiring board (henceforth FPC may be connected) connected to the external connection terminal of a touch panel sensor is used (for example, patent documents 1-5). Then, a weak current is passed through the touch panel surface of the touch panel to form an electric field, and the change in capacitance value when a finger or other conductor is lightly touched is converted into a voltage drop or the like and detected. The obtained contact position is output as a signal.

As a touch panel sensor used for a capacitive method, generally, a transparent electrode and an external connection terminal are formed on a pair of opposing substrates (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). As another aspect, there is known one in which a transparent electrode and an external connection terminal are respectively formed on both surfaces of a single transparent substrate (hereinafter referred to as a double-sided type touch panel sensor) (for example, Patent Document 5).
The double-sided touch panel sensor has a small number of members, and can improve productivity by reducing the thickness of the touch panel and making it possible to manufacture by a roll-to-roll process. Moreover, since it is not necessary to bond two substrates together, it is possible to avoid problems such as a positional shift between the two transparent electrodes.
However, as a method of connecting the double-sided type touch panel sensor with the FPC, after connecting the external connection terminal formed on one surface and the connection terminal of the FPC by thermocompression bonding through an anisotropic conductive adhesive, Although the method of connecting the external connection terminal formed on the other surface and the connection terminal of the FPC is used, it is adjacent when the external connection terminal formed on one surface is connected to the connection terminal of the FPC by thermocompression bonding. However, there is a problem that the transparent substrate around the external connection terminal formed on the other surface is deformed by heat and causes deflection.
As a result of the deflection, it becomes difficult to connect the external connection terminal formed on the other surface and the connection terminal of the FPC with high positional accuracy, or when a cover or a display device is bonded to the touch panel sensor. There was a problem that air bubbles and foreign matters were easily mixed.

JP 2009-64343 A JP-A-9-146680 Japanese Patent No. 2587975 JP 2011-124332 A JP 2011-76514 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel sensor that is less likely to bend when connected to a flexible printed wiring board.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a transparent film substrate, a front electrode formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate, and a surface on which the front electrode of the transparent film substrate is formed. A front-side external connection terminal formed on and connected to the front-side electrode, a back-side electrode formed on the other surface of the transparent film base, and a surface on which the back-side electrode of the transparent film base is formed A front-side external connection terminal that is formed so as not to overlap with the front-side connection terminal in plan view and connected to the back-side electrode, and the transparent film base material is adjacent at least in plan view. The front external connection terminal or the back side that has a cutting portion between the connection terminal and the back side external connection terminal, and the distance from the end of the cut portion to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film base is adjacent to the cut portion To provide a touch panel sensor, characterized in that the inner end of the cutting portion adjacent the external connection terminal is a part connecting terminal is a distance more than the distance to the outer peripheral edge of the transparent film substrate.

  According to the present invention, even if the external connection terminal formed on one surface of the transparent film base material is connected to the connection terminal of the FPC by having the cutting portion, the other adjacent in plan view. The transparent film substrate around the external connection terminal formed on the surface of the substrate can be less likely to bend.

  In the present invention, the distance between the cutting portion and the cutting portion adjacent external connection terminal is determined by the terminal width of the cutting portion adjacent external connection terminal and the cutting portion adjacent external connection terminal and the cutting portion adjacent external connection terminal. It is preferable that the width between terminals with the external connection terminal formed on the same adjacent surface is wider than any narrow one. This is because the connection stability with the FPC can be improved.

  The present invention includes the touch panel sensor described above, a flexible printed circuit board having an insulating flexible substrate and a connection terminal formed on the surface of the flexible substrate, and the front external connection terminal and the back external device. An anisotropic conductive adhesive comprising a connection terminal and an anisotropic conductive adhesive that exhibits adhesiveness and conductivity in the thickness direction by thermocompression bonding, and connects the front external connection terminal and the back external connection terminal to the connection terminal. A touch panel sensor with a flexible printed wiring board, comprising: an agent layer.

  According to the present invention, since the above-described touch panel sensor is used, it is possible to reduce the deflection.

  The present invention has an effect that it is possible to provide a touch panel sensor that generates less deflection when connected to a flexible printed wiring board.

It is a schematic plan view which shows an example of the touch panel sensor of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of an external connection terminal indicated by B in FIG. It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cutting part in this invention. It is process drawing which shows an example of the manufacturing method of the touch panel sensor of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows an example of the touchscreen sensor with FPC of this invention. It is a side view which shows the connection part of the touchscreen sensor in FIG. 18, and FPC.

The present invention relates to a touch panel sensor and an FPC-equipped touch panel sensor using the same.
Hereinafter, the touch panel sensor and the touch panel sensor with FPC of the present invention will be described.

A. Touch Panel Sensor First, the touch panel sensor will be described.
The touch panel sensor of the present invention is formed on the surface on which the transparent film substrate, the front electrode formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate, and the front electrode of the transparent film substrate are formed, The front-side external connection terminal connected to the front-side electrode, the back-side electrode formed on the other surface of the transparent film substrate, and the front-side connection on the surface of the transparent film substrate on which the back-side electrode is formed A backside external connection terminal formed so as not to overlap with the terminal in plan view and connected to the backside electrode, and the transparent film base material is adjacent at least in plan view with the front side external connection terminal and the back side A cut portion is provided between the external connection terminals, and the distance from the end of the cut portion to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film base is the front side external connection terminal or the back side external connection adjacent to the cut portion. Is characterized in that the inner end of a is cut portion adjacent external connection terminal pin is a distance more than the distance to the outer peripheral edge of the transparent film substrate.

Such a touch panel sensor of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of the touch panel sensor of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view around the external connection terminal indicated by B in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. It is. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the touch panel sensor 10 of the present invention includes a transparent film substrate 1 and an electrode material layer 2 </ b> X formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate 1. A front external connection terminal 3a formed on the surface of the transparent film substrate 1 on which the front electrode 2a is formed and connected to the front electrode 2a by a lead wire 5; and the other of the transparent film substrate 1 So as not to overlap the front-side connection terminal portion 3a in plan view on the back-side electrode 2b made of the electrode material layer 2X formed on the surface of the transparent film substrate 1 and on the surface of the transparent film substrate 1 on which the back-side electrode 2b is formed. A back side external connection terminal 3b formed and connected to the back side electrode 2b by a lead wire 5, and the transparent film base 1 is adjacent to the front side external connection terminal 3a and It has the cutting part 4 between the back side external connection terminals 3b, and the distance from the termination | terminus of the said cutting part 4 to the outer peripheral end of the said transparent film base material 1 is the said front side external connection terminal 3a adjacent to the said cutting part 4, or The distance is equal to or greater than the distance from the inner end of the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal 3c, which is the back side external connection terminal 3b, to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate 1.
Further, in this example, the cutting parts 4 are formed on both sides of the front side external connection terminal part 13a in which a plurality of front side external connection terminals 3a are arranged and the back side external connection terminal part 13b in which a plurality of back side external connection terminals 3b are arranged. Is. Moreover, the front side electrode 2a and the back side electrode 2b are formed in the active area 12 that can be visually recognized by the touch panel user, and the routing wiring and the external connection terminal are formed in the inactive area outside the active area 12. Yes. Furthermore, the front-side external connection terminal 3a, the back-side external connection terminal 3b, and the routing wiring 5 are formed by laminating the metal material layer 3X on the same electrode material layer 2X as the electrode material layer 2X constituting the front-side electrode 2a and the back-side electrode 2b. It will be.

According to the present invention, by having the cutting portion, for example, when the external connection terminal formed on one surface is connected to the connection terminal of the FPC by thermocompression bonding, the transparent film base around the external connection terminal is provided. Even when the material is deformed due to thermal expansion or contraction, the deformation is prevented from propagating to the transparent film substrate around the external connection terminal formed on the other adjacent surface, and the other external connection Deformation of the transparent film substrate around the terminal can be suppressed.
In addition, the heat around the external connection terminal generated by thermocompression can be prevented from propagating to the transparent film substrate around the external connection terminal formed on the other adjacent surface, and formed on the other adjacent surface It can suppress that the transparent film base material around the made external connection terminal thermally deforms.
Thus, even if it is a case where the external connection terminal formed on one surface of a transparent film base material is connected with the connection terminal of FPC by having the said cutting | disconnection part, the other surface adjacent on planar view The transparent film substrate around the external connection terminals formed on the transparent film base material can be less likely to bend.
As a result, it is possible to connect the external connection terminal formed on the other surface and the connection terminal of the FPC with high positional accuracy. Also, when bonding the cover or the display device to the touch panel sensor, Can be reduced.

The touch panel sensor of the present invention has at least a transparent film substrate, a front side electrode, a front side external connection terminal, a back side electrode, and a back side external connection terminal.
Hereinafter, each component of the touch panel sensor of the present invention will be described in detail.

1. Transparent film base material The transparent film base material in this invention contains the said cutting part.

(1) Cutting part The cutting part in this invention is formed between the said front side external connection terminal and back side external connection terminal which adjoin at least planar view of the said transparent film base material.
In addition, the distance from the terminal to the outer peripheral edge of the transparent film base is the outer edge of the transparent film base from the inner edge of the adjacent external connection terminal of the cut portion adjacent to the front external connection terminal or the rear external connection terminal. Is more than the distance.

Here, the end of the cut part and the inner end of the external connection terminal are the part of the cut part farthest from the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate, and the outer periphery of the transparent film substrate among the external connection terminals. It is the point farthest from the edge.
In addition, the distance from the inner end of the cutting portion adjacent external connection terminal to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate specifically refers to the distance indicated by a1 or a2 in FIGS. The distance from the end of the film to the outer peripheral edge of the transparent film substrate refers to the distance indicated by b in FIGS. Further, the inner end of the cut portion connection external connection terminal means the end of the main part of the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal. For example, in the case of a shape whose width changes at the connection portion with the lead wiring, it has already been described. As shown in FIG. 6, it refers to a portion having a constant width. Further, when the width of the external connection terminal is the same as that of the lead wiring, it can be determined from the presence or absence of exposure and the width and length of the connection terminal of the FPC to be connected.
5 to 6 indicate the same members as those in FIG. 3, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

  Further, in the present invention, the front side external connection terminal and the back side external connection terminal that are adjacent in plan view have other configurations such as other external connection terminals and routing wiring between the external connection terminals in plan view. That is, it is not formed.

As such a cutting part, it is a cut part provided in the transparent film substrate, and when the external connection terminal formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate is connected to the FPC by thermocompression bonding. There is no particular limitation as long as it can suppress the occurrence of deflection around the external connection terminal formed on the other surface, and it may be a notch or a notch.
In the present invention, it is particularly preferable to use a notch. This is because when the cut portion is a notch portion, thermal deformation and heat propagation around the front external connection terminal can be effectively suppressed more stably.
In addition, as the notch width when the cut part is a notch part, when the external connection terminal formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate is connected to the FPC by thermocompression bonding, It is not particularly limited as long as it can suppress the occurrence of deflection around the external connection terminal formed on the edge of the cut portion, for example, even when the transparent film substrate is thermally expanded by thermocompression bonding. The width may be such that the parts do not contact each other. When the external connection terminal of the touch panel sensor and the connection terminal of the FPC are connected by thermocompression bonding, even if the transparent film base material of the part expands, the deformation is around the external connection terminal formed on the other surface. This is because it is possible to effectively prevent propagation and to suppress the occurrence of deflection.
A specific notch width is preferably 0.2 mm or more, and more preferably 1.0 mm or more. This is because a sufficient radius of curvature at the tip of the notch can be secured, and cracks that occur when the notch is formed by punching can be reduced.
In addition, it is preferable that it is 5.0 mm or less from a viewpoint of suppressing the fall of the positional accuracy of the connection of thermocompression bonding by the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient of a transparent film base material and FPC.

When the cut portion is a notch, the shape in plan view is formed on the other surface when the external connection terminal formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate is connected to the FPC by thermocompression bonding. Although it is not particularly limited as long as it can suppress the occurrence of deflection around the external connection terminal, it has a rod shape as illustrated in FIG. 3, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 10, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG.
In the present invention, the width of the portion deeper than the inner end of the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal is preferably wider than the width of the portion adjacent to the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal. This is because it is possible to effectively suppress the propagation of heat around the cutting portion around the adjacent external connection terminal. Moreover, it is because it can be made excellent in intensity | strength by narrowing the width | variety in the site | part adjacent to the cutting part adjacent external connection terminal of a cutting part.
In addition, about the agreement in FIGS. 7-13, since it shows the member same as FIG. 3, description here is abbreviate | omitted. Further, as the shape where the width of the portion deeper than the inner end of the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal is wider than the portion adjacent to the cut portion adjacent connection terminal, specifically, FIG. 8, FIG. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 can be mentioned. Moreover, the width | variety shown by e in a figure shows the width | variety in the site | part adjacent to the cutting part adjacent external connection terminal of a cutting part, and the width | variety shown by f is a width | variety of the location deeper than the inner end of a cutting part adjacent external connection terminal Is shown.

As a planar view shape near the terminal end of the cut portion, when the external connection terminal formed on one surface of the transparent film base material is connected to the FPC by thermocompression bonding, the external connection formed on the other surface Although it will not specifically limit if generation | occurrence | production of the deflection | deviation in the periphery of a terminal can be suppressed, It is preferable that it is a shape which does not contain an acute angle part, and it is preferable that it is elliptical shape or circular shape especially. This is because the occurrence of cracks and the like can be reduced from the end of the cut portion.
As specific examples of the shape not including the acute angle portion, the already described FIGS. 3, 8, 11, 12, and 13 can be cited. The elliptical shape or the circular shape has already been described. 3, FIG. 8, FIG. 11 and FIG. 13 can be cited.

The distance from the end of the cut portion to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the cut portion depth) is the cut portion adjacent external portion that is the adjacent front side external connection terminal or back side external connection terminal. The distance is equal to or greater than the distance from the inner end of the connection terminal to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the depth of the external connection terminal).
In the present invention, the depth is preferably deeper than the external connection terminal depth.
In the present invention, when the cut portion is adjacent to two cut portion adjacent external connection terminals having different external connection terminal depths, the depth is equal to or greater than the depth of the shallow external connection terminal, that is, The distance from the inner end of the transparent film base material to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film base material is shorter than the distance from the inner end of the connection part adjacent external connection terminal to the outer peripheral edge of the transparent film base material. It is preferable that the depth of the external connection terminal is shallower than that of the shallow external connection terminal. In particular, the depth of the external connection terminal is deeper than that of the deep external connection terminal, that is, the internal connection terminal. The distance from the end to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate is preferably a distance greater than or equal to the distance from the inner end of the connection portion adjacent external connection terminal to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate, in particular, the external connection terminal. depth It is preferably a deeper depth deeper depth. This is because deformation and heat propagation can be effectively suppressed, and the deflection can be reduced.
Note that the depth greater than or equal to the depth of the shallow external connection terminal means that b and a1 in FIG. 5 described above satisfy b ≧ a1, and the external connection terminal depth is as follows. The depth greater than the depth of the deep one means that b and a2 in FIG. 5 satisfy b ≧ a2.

In addition, the depth of the cut portion in the present invention is preferably shorter than the length that does not overlap other members in plan view. More specifically, it may be shorter than the length that does not overlap with the external connection terminal, the wiring such as the lead-out wiring connected to the external connection terminal, the protective layer formed to cover the wiring, the front side electrode, or the back side electrode. preferable. This is because it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems such as the influence of signals transmitted through the wiring, the peeling of the protective layer, and the deterioration of reliability.
Note that the length that does not overlap the routing wiring in plan view specifically means that b and d in FIG. 5 already described are b <d.

Specifically, the length of the cut portion depth in the present invention is preferably 1.0 mm or more. This is because the length of the external connection terminal can be made sufficiently long, and the connection reliability between the touch panel sensor of the present invention and the FPC can be made excellent. Among them, in the present invention, it is preferably 2.0 mm or more. This is because sufficient connection reliability can be ensured.
On the other hand, it is preferable that it is 10 mm or less from a viewpoint of size reduction of a touch panel sensor, and it is preferable that it is 5 mm or less especially.

The distance between the cut portion and the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal is formed on the other surface when the external connection terminal formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate is connected to the FPC by thermocompression bonding. There is no particular limitation as long as it can suppress the occurrence of deflection around the external connection terminal, but the terminal width of the external connection terminal adjacent to the cut portion, and the external connection terminal adjacent to the cut portion and the cut The inter-terminal width with the external connection terminal formed on the same surface adjacent to the part-adjacent external connection terminal is preferably wider than any narrower one. Even when a positional shift occurs between the connection terminal of the FPC and the external connection terminal of the touch panel sensor of the present invention, the FPC connection terminal can be prevented from overlapping the cut portion. For this reason, when the touch panel sensor of the present invention is connected to the FPC, it is possible to suppress peeling of the FPC from a portion overlapping with the cut portion in plan view, and it is possible to achieve excellent connection stability with the FPC. It is.
Moreover, about the upper limit of the said space | interval in this invention, although it is preferable from a viewpoint that heat transfer becomes small and a deflection | deviation is less, so that a space | interval with a cutting part is wide, FPC connected to the touchscreen sensor of this invention. The size is appropriately set according to the size of the touch panel and the subsequent manufacturing process of the touch panel.
The distance between the cut portion and the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal, the terminal width of the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal, and the same surface adjacent to the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal and the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal Specifically, the inter-terminal widths with the external connection terminals formed in are indicated by h, m, and n in FIG. Moreover, about the code | symbol in FIG. 14, since it shows the member same as FIG. 3, description here is abbreviate | omitted.

  The distance between the cutting part and the external connection terminal adjacent to the cutting part in the present invention varies depending on the width of the external connection terminal adjacent to the cutting part and the like. It is preferable that When the distance is within the above-described range, and more specifically, not less than the above-described lower limit, it is possible to reduce the influence due to the shift of the processing position of the cut portion in the punching process, and to facilitate the processing. Because it can. Moreover, it is because it is easy to connect an external connection terminal and FPC with a sufficient positional accuracy by being below the said upper limit.

In the present invention, the cutting portion is formed at least between the front-side external connection terminal and the back-side external connection terminal that are adjacent to each other in plan view, but is formed at other locations as necessary. For example, it may be formed adjacent to all front side external connection terminals and back side external connection terminals.
In the present invention, in particular, when an external connection terminal portion composed of a plurality of external connection terminals arranged on the same surface of the transparent film substrate is formed, it is formed in units of external connection terminal portions. Preferably, it is formed on both sides of all the external connection terminal portions including the front side external connection terminal and the back side external connection terminal adjacent in the plan view, and particularly, formed on both sides of all the external connection terminal portions. It is preferred that Connection with the FPC is normally performed in units of external connection terminal portions. For this reason, it is because generation | occurrence | production of the bending to the transparent film base material of an external connection terminal part periphery can be suppressed effectively by forming a cutting part in the unit of an external connection terminal part. In addition, by forming on both sides of the external connection terminal part, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of deflection to the transparent film substrate adjacent to the external connection terminal part, and the occurrence of misalignment when bonded to a cover, a display device, etc. This is because it can be suppressed.
FIG. 15 shows an example in which a cut portion is formed in units of external connection terminal portions, and FIG. 15A includes the front side external connection terminals and the back side external connection terminals that are adjacent in the plan view. FIG. 15B shows an example formed on both sides of all external connection terminal portions (13a and 13b), and FIG. 15B shows an example formed on both sides of all external connection terminal portions (13a and 13b). It is shown. Moreover, about the code | symbol in FIG. 15, since it shows the member same as FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, description here is abbreviate | omitted. Further, in FIG. 15, for the sake of easy explanation, description of the routing wiring, the electrode, and the like is omitted.

The number formed adjacent to the external connection terminal of the cut portion in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is 1 or more, and may be 2 or more as illustrated in FIG.
Moreover, about the code | symbol in FIG. 16, since it shows the same member as FIG. 3, description here is abbreviate | omitted.

The method for forming the cut portion in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a method capable of forming a cut portion having a desired shape with high positional accuracy.For example, after forming the electrode, the external connection terminal, and the like, Examples thereof include a method of forming by punching or the like, and a method of patterning using a photolithography method before and after forming the electrode, the external connection terminal, and the like.
In the present invention, the method of forming by punching is particularly preferable. This is because formation is easy.

(2) Transparent film base material The transparent film base material in this invention has the said cutting part.
The material constituting such a transparent film substrate is not particularly limited as long as it is made of a resin having transparency. Specifically, a polyethylene-based resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Mention may be made of polyester resins such as polyethersulfone.
Further, the thickness of the transparent film substrate used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it can stably support the above electrodes, external connection terminals and the like, but is usually 50 μm to 300 μm. Can be within the range.

The transparent film substrate in the present invention may be composed of a single layer or may be composed of a plurality of layers.
In addition, as a layer laminated | stacked when it consists of multiple layers, a low refractive index layer, a high refractive index layer, etc. can be mentioned besides the layer which consists of said resin which has transparency.

2. External Connection Terminal The external connection terminal in the present invention includes at least a front side external connection terminal and a back side external connection terminal.
Here, the front-side external connection terminal is formed on the surface of the transparent film substrate on which the front-side electrode is formed, and is connected to the front-side electrode, and the back-side external connection terminal is the above-mentioned transparent film substrate. It is formed on the surface on which the back side electrode is formed so as not to overlap the front side connection terminal in plan view, and is connected to the back side electrode.
Moreover, the external connection terminal in this invention may be formed directly on the surface of the said transparent film base material, and may be formed through another layer. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 already described, it may be formed on a layer made of an electrode material constituting the electrode.

The external connection terminal in the present invention has a front side external connection terminal and a back side external connection terminal formed so as not to overlap in plan view.
Further, in the present invention, the front side external connection terminal part composed of the front side external connection terminal and the back side external connection terminal part composed of the back side external connection terminal are usually formed so as not to overlap in plan view. This is because the touch panel sensor and the FPC can be easily and efficiently connected in units of external connection terminal portions.
Note that the number of external connection terminals included in the external connection terminal portion is appropriately set according to the heat tool used for connection with the FPC. Moreover, an external connection terminal part consists of a several external connection terminal normally arrange | positioned in parallel with respect to the outer periphery end on the same surface of a transparent film base material. In addition, the interval between the external connection terminals between the adjacent external connection terminal portions is generally wider than the interval between the external connection terminals in the external connection terminal portion.

  In the present invention, the interval between the adjacent front-side external connection terminals and the back-side external connection terminals is not particularly limited as long as the cut portion can be formed. it can.

  The material constituting the external connection terminal in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as desired conductivity can be obtained. For example, aluminum, silver, copper, or an alloy thereof can be used. .

About the terminal width of the said external connection terminal, thickness, and planar view shape, and the space | interval between the external connection terminals in an external connection terminal part can be made to be the same as that of a general touch panel sensor.
Specifically, it can be the same as that described in JP2011-210176A.

3. Electrode The electrode in this invention contains a front side electrode and a back side electrode at least.
Here, the front side electrode is formed on one surface of the transparent film base material, and the back side electrode is formed on the other surface of the transparent film base material. Moreover, an electrode is normally formed in the active area of a transparent film base material.

The material constituting such an electrode is not particularly limited as long as it has desired conductivity, and is a non-transparent material having no transparency even if it is a transparent material having transparency. However, a transparent material is preferable.
As the transparent material in the present invention, those generally used for touch panels can be used. For example, indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide, indium oxide, antimony-added tin oxide, fluorine-added tin oxide, Aluminum-added zinc oxide, potassium-added zinc oxide, silicon-added zinc oxide, metal oxides such as zinc oxide-tin oxide, indium oxide-tin oxide, zinc oxide-indium oxide-magnesium oxide, and metal oxides thereof Examples include materials in which two or more kinds of materials are combined.
Moreover, as a non-transparent material, the thing as described in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2010-238052 etc. can be used, for example. Specifically, metals such as aluminum, molybdenum, silver, chromium, copper, and alloys thereof can be used.

  About the formation pattern, thickness, etc. of the said electrode, it can be made the same as that of a general touch panel sensor. Specifically, the patterns described in JP2011-210176A and 2010-238052A can be used.

4). Touch Panel Sensor The touch panel sensor of the present invention includes a transparent film base material, front side electrodes and back side electrodes, and front side external connection terminals and back side external connection terminals, but may have other configurations as necessary. good.
As such another configuration, for example, a lead wiring for connecting the electrode and the external connection terminal, and a protective layer formed so as to cover the electrode and the lead wiring can be cited.

  The routing wiring can be the same as that used for a general touch panel sensor. Specifically, a material made of the same material as the external connection terminal can be used. Further, the line width of such a routing wiring can be set to about 0.03 mm to 0.2 mm.

The protective layer is not particularly limited as long as it has insulating properties. However, when the protective layer is formed so as to cover the electrode, it is preferable to have transparency.
Examples of the protective layer having insulation and transparency include those made of an inorganic material such as acrylic resin or SiO ₂ .

The manufacturing method of the touch panel sensor of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a method capable of forming each of the above structures with high accuracy.
Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 17A, a transparent film substrate 1 is prepared, and an electrode material layer 2X made of ITO or the like and a metal made of molybdenum or the like on both surfaces of the transparent film substrate 1 by sputtering. A laminate 20 in which the material layer 3X is laminated is prepared, a resist 21 is formed in a pattern on the metal material layers 3X on both sides, and then the metal material layer 3X is patterned by etching with phosphorous acetic acid or the like, Then, the electrode material 2X is etched using iron chloride or the like using the resist 21 as a mask (FIG. 17B).
Thereafter, the resist 21 is peeled off (FIG. 17C), the patterned laminate is coated with the resist 21, the resist in the active area is removed by exposure and development, and the metallic material in the active area is removed with phosphorous acetic acid or the like. By etching the layer 3X, patterned transparent electrodes (2a and 2b) are formed (FIG. 17 (d)), and then the remaining resist 21 is peeled off to thereby form the electrode material layer 2X and the metal material layer 3X. The lead wiring 5 and the external connection terminals (3a and 3b) formed by laminating are formed (FIG. 17E).
Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 17F, a method of obtaining a touch panel sensor by forming a cut portion 4 by punching between the front side external connection terminal 3a and the back side external connection terminal 3b can be used.

  Applications of the touch panel sensor of the present invention include, for example, a display device with a touch panel, specifically, a liquid crystal display device with a touch panel, an organic electroluminescent display device with a touch panel, and the like. It is preferably used for a display device with a touch panel that is required to be stably connected to an FPC, or to be bonded with a cover, a display device, or the like with high positional accuracy.

B. Next, the touch panel sensor with FPC of the present invention will be described.
The touch panel sensor with FPC of the present invention has the above-mentioned touch panel sensor, a flexible printed wiring board having an insulating flexible substrate and a connection terminal formed on the surface of the flexible substrate, and adhesiveness and thickness direction by thermocompression bonding. And an anisotropic conductive adhesive layer for connecting the front side external connection terminal and the back side external connection terminal to the connection terminal. is there.

Such a touch panel sensor with FPC will be described with reference to the drawings. 18 is a schematic plan view of the touch panel sensor with FPC of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is a side view showing a connection portion between the touch panel sensor and the FPC in FIG. As illustrated in FIGS. 18 to 19, the touch panel sensor with FPC 40 of the present invention includes the touch panel sensor 10, the flexible substrate 31 having an insulating property, and the front side formed on one surface of the flexible substrate 31. A flexible printed wiring board 30 having a connection terminal 32a and a back-side connection terminal 32b formed on the other surface of the flexible substrate 31, and the front-side external connection terminal 3a and the back-side connection terminal 32b, and The back side external connection terminal 3 b and the front side connection terminal 32 a are connected using an anisotropic conductive adhesive layer 33.
In this example, the front-side connection terminal 32 a is formed on the front-side connection portion 31 a of the flexible substrate 31, and the back-side connection terminal 31 b is formed on the back-side connection portion 31 b of the flexible substrate 31.

  According to the present invention, since the above-described touch panel sensor is used, it is possible to reduce the deflection.

The touch panel sensor with FPC of the present invention has at least the above-mentioned touch panel sensor, FPC, and anisotropic conductive adhesive layer.
Hereinafter, each structure of the touch panel sensor with FPC of this invention is demonstrated in detail.
In addition, about the above-mentioned touch panel sensor, since it can be made to be the same as that of the content described in the term of the said "A. touch panel sensor", description here is abbreviate | omitted.

1. FPC
The FPC used in the present invention has an insulating flexible substrate and a connection terminal formed on the surface of the flexible substrate.
As such an FPC, one generally used for connection with a touch panel sensor having electrodes and external connection terminals formed on both sides can be used. For example, it is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-210176. Can be.

Specifically, examples of the connection terminal include one having a front side connection terminal formed on one surface of the flexible substrate and a back side connection terminal formed on the other surface.
Although it will not specifically limit as a flexible substrate in this invention if it has desired insulation, For example, a flexible polyimide film etc. about 25 micrometers thick can be mentioned.
Further, the connection terminal is not particularly limited as long as it has desired conductivity. For example, the connection terminal can be the same as the external connection terminal in the touch panel sensor.

The FPC in the present invention has the flexible substrate and the connection terminal, but may have other configurations as necessary.
Examples of such other configurations include a wiring connected to the connection terminal and a protective layer formed so as to cover the wiring.
The wiring can be the same as the routing wiring. Moreover, as a protective layer, if it has insulation, it will not specifically limit, For example, what consists of a polyimide resin can be mentioned.

2. Anisotropic conductive adhesive layer The anisotropic conductive adhesive layer in the present invention is composed of an anisotropic conductive adhesive that exhibits adhesiveness and conductivity in the thickness direction by thermocompression bonding. The connection terminal is connected to the connection terminal.

  As the anisotropic conductive adhesive for forming such an anisotropic conductive adhesive layer, those generally used for touch panels can be used, for example, conductive particles in an adhesive insulating resin. In this case, a paste or a film can be used.

The conductive particles in the present invention are not particularly limited as long as they have a desired conductivity, but the metal particles such as gold, silver and nickel, ceramics, plastics or metal particles are used as the core. Examples thereof include metal coated particles having a metal film such as nickel or gold formed on the surface.
Moreover, as said insulating resin, an epoxy resin etc. can be mentioned, for example.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above-described embodiment is an exemplification, and the present invention has substantially the same configuration as the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention, and any device that exhibits the same function and effect is the present invention. It is included in the technical scope of the invention.

[Example 1]
A polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film was used as the transparent film substrate. After depositing ITO (transparent conductive film layer) and molybdenum (metal conductive film layer) on both sides of the PET film, applying a positive photosensitive resin and patterning it by photolithography, the metal conductive film layer is first phosphoric acid, nitric acid Then, patterning was carried out using an aqueous phosphoric acid acetate solution containing acetic acid and water in a ratio of 5: 5: 5: 1 as an etching solution. Thereafter, the transparent conductive film layer is patterned using ferric chloride as an etchant, the positive photosensitive resin is peeled off with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution, and the positive photosensitive resin is applied again, and then the positive photosensitive resin in the active area Is removed with a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution, the metal conductive film layer in the active area is etched with the above phosphoric acid-acetic acid solution, and then the positive photosensitive resin is peeled off with the potassium hydroxide aqueous solution, thereby patterning on both sides of the PET film. A touch panel sensor having an electrode formed thereon was obtained. One external connection terminal was formed on each of the front and back surfaces, and the distance from the inner end of the connection terminal to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate was 2000 μm.
After that, between the front and back external connection terminals, a cut portion (cut portion) having the same distance (cut portion depth) from the terminal end to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate is the same distance from the inner end of the external connection terminal. And the touch panel sensor which has a cutting part was obtained.

[Example 2]
A touch panel sensor was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the depth of the cut portion was 2500 μm, that is, a cut portion having an end 500 μm inside from the inner end of the external connection terminal was formed.

[Comparative Example 1]
A touch panel sensor was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the cut part was not formed.

[Comparative Example 2]
A touch panel sensor was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the depth of the cut portion was 1500 μm, that is, a cut portion having a terminal end on the outside of the external connection terminal by 500 μm was formed.

[Evaluation]
FPC is thermocompression-bonded at a temperature of 130 ° C. via an ACF (anisotropic conductive film which is a film-like anisotropic conductive adhesive) to the external connection terminals on the surface of the touch panel sensor produced in the examples and comparative examples. After that, the FPC is connected to the external connection terminal on the back surface by thermocompression bonding via the ACF at a temperature of 130 ° C., whether there is a positional shift between the external connection terminal of the touch panel sensor and the connection terminal of the FPC, and the touch panel sensor The presence or absence of deflection of the transparent film substrate around the connection terminals on the back surface was confirmed.
As a result, it was confirmed that the touch panel sensor of the example had neither misalignment nor deflection. On the other hand, in the touch panel sensor of the comparative example, the film is bent near the front side external connection terminal in the vicinity of the external connection terminal on the back surface, and a partial deviation occurs between the external connection terminal on the back surface and the connection terminal of the FPC. It was.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transparent film base material 2 ... Electrode 3 ... External connection terminal 3c ... Cutting part adjacent external connection terminal 4 ... Cutting part 5 ... Lead-out wiring 10 ... Touch panel sensor 12 ... Active area 13 ... External connection terminal part 20 ... Laminate body 21 ... Resist 30 ... FPC
31 ... Flexible substrate 32 ... Connection terminal 40 ... Touch panel sensor with FPC

Claims (5)

A transparent film substrate;
A front electrode formed on one surface of the transparent film substrate;
A front-side external connection terminal formed on the surface of the transparent film substrate on which the front-side electrode is formed and connected to the front-side electrode;
A back electrode formed on the other surface of the transparent film substrate;
On the surface of the transparent film substrate on which the back side electrode is formed, the front side connection terminal is formed so as not to overlap in plan view, and the back side external connection terminal connected to the back side electrode;
Have
The transparent film substrate has a cutting portion between the front-side external connection terminal and the back-side external connection terminal adjacent at least in plan view,
The touch panel sensor , wherein the cut portion is formed in units of external connection terminal portions including a plurality of the external connection terminals arranged on the same surface of the transparent film substrate . The distance from the end of the cut portion to the outer peripheral end of the transparent film substrate is the transparent from the inner end of the cut portion adjacent external connection terminal that is the front side external connection terminal or the back side external connection terminal adjacent to the cut portion. The touch panel sensor according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel sensor has a distance greater than or equal to the distance to the outer peripheral edge of the film base material. The distance between the cutting part and the cutting part adjacent external connection terminal is the same as the terminal width of the cutting part adjacent external connection terminal and the cutting part adjacent external connection terminal and the cutting part adjacent external connection terminal. 3. The touch panel sensor according to claim 1, wherein a width between terminals with the external connection terminal formed on the touch panel is wider than any narrower one. The touch panel sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cutting portion is formed on both sides of the external connection terminal portion. The touch panel sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
A flexible printed wiring board having an insulating flexible substrate and a connection terminal formed on the surface of the flexible substrate;
An anisotropic conductive adhesive layer comprising an anisotropic conductive adhesive exhibiting adhesiveness and conductivity in the thickness direction by thermocompression bonding, and connecting the front side external connection terminal and the back side external connection terminal and the connection terminal;
A touch panel sensor with a flexible printed wiring board, comprising:

Images