JPH044280Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electrode configuration in an input panel.

Conventionally, this type of device forms a transparent conductive film, typically In ₂ O ₃ , on a flexible substrate, typically a polyester film, and forms this transparent conductive film into a bar shape, as shown in Figure 1. A lower substrate 1 and an upper substrate 3 are provided by providing an X electrode 2 and a Y electrode 4.
A spacer 5 is formed on the top by silk printing a silicon adhesive, and the lower substrate 1 and upper substrate 3 are
The structure is such that the electrode 2 and the Y electrode 4 are sealed by a seal portion 6 so that they face each other and intersect with each other.

The on-resistance of this type of device is
It is determined by the resistance of the electrode 4, and in order to reduce the on-resistance, it is necessary to reduce the sheet resistance of the transparent conductive coating that constitutes the X/Y electrodes 2 and 4, which increases cost. Furthermore, it is necessary to pattern the polyester film with a transparent conductive coating that constitutes the lower substrate 1 and the upper substrate 3, which is difficult to handle and has poor workability compared to glass or the like, and is disadvantageous in terms of cost. Furthermore, the adhesion of the transparent conductive film to the polyester film is inferior to the adhesion of the transparent conductive film to the glass substrate, resulting in insufficient durability and reliability.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks, the present applicant uses a glass substrate as the lower substrate, and on this glass substrate, a detection element group consisting of a pair of comb-like electrodes, an electrode terminal group, and a lead-out electrode group are formed, and the detection electrode We created an improved input panel with a two-dimensional structure. A detailed explanation will be given below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is an example of the lower board of the improved input panel, where 1 is the lower board, 7 is the detection element, 8 is the electrode terminal,
9 is an extraction electrode.

This lower substrate 1 is made by forming a transparent conductive film, typically In ₂ O ₃ or SnO ₂ , on a transparent insulating substrate, typically a glass substrate, and subjecting it to an etching process.
A group of detection elements 7 and a group of electrode terminals 8 each consisting of a pair of comb-shaped electrodes, each detection element 7 and each electrode terminal 8
It forms a group of extraction electrodes 9 connecting the
Each of the lead-out electrodes 9 is formed with a different electrode width depending on the length of each lead-out electrode 9 so that the resistances at both ends of each lead-out electrode 9 are equal.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a spacer for an improved input panel, in which a spacer 5 is formed by removing a portion of a transparent insulating thin film, typically a polyester film, that corresponds to the switch section 11 of the input panel.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the sealing part of the improved input panel, and the sealing part 6 is made of a double-sided adhesive material made of a polyester base coated with an acrylic adhesive and formed into a frame shape.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an improved input panel, in which a spacer 5 shown in FIG. 3 is placed on the lower substrate 1 shown in FIG.
are arranged, and the upper substrate 3 is sealed by the sealing part 6 shown in FIG.
It has a structure in which the substrate 1 is bonded to the lower substrate 1, and FIG.

The upper substrate 3 is a transparent flexible substrate typified by a polyester film, and the lower surface is coated with a transparent conductive film typified by In ₂ O ₃ to form a switch electrode 10 .

To operate this, by applying finger pressure on the upper substrate 3 of the desired switch section 11, the upper substrate 3 is deflected, the switch electrode 10 comes into contact with the comb-shaped detection element 7, and a pair of switch electrodes 10 are connected to each other. The detection element 7 becomes short-circuited, and by detecting this short-circuited state, it operates as an input panel.

Because of this structure, the upper substrate 3 only needs to be cut to its outer shape, and the etching process is performed only on the lower substrate 1, reducing the number of steps. This eliminates the problem and achieves lower costs and improved workability in input panel production. Next, the transparent conductive coating on the glass substrate has better adhesion than the transparent conductive coating on the plastic film, and even if the switch electrode 10 on the upper substrate 3 should disappear, it will still function as the detection element 7. If a portion of the switch electrode 10 remains, it can function as an input panel, resulting in improved durability and reliability compared to conventional devices of this type. Next, in the improved input panel, the on-resistance depends on the detection element 7, the extraction electrode 9, and the electrode terminal 8 formed on the lower substrate 1, and does not depend on the resistance of the switch electrode 10. A high sheet resistance is achieved, and a high transmittance and low cost are achieved. In fact, the sheet resistance of the transparent conductive film coated on the lower substrate 1 is significantly lower than that of the transparent conductive film coated on the plastic film, and a low on-resistance is achieved. In addition, by making the electrode width of the extraction electrode 9 different depending on the length of the electrode, uniformity of the on-resistance was achieved.

Therefore, the improved input panel is made of a transparent material, can be installed on the display panel, and can be used as an input device in which a display appears at the bottom of the switch section by pressing the switch section of the input panel. For example, application to direct input games such as Othello and Go can be easily achieved, and display items can be input by pressing a switch section on the display panel. For example, application to keyboards and the like can be easily achieved.

However, this improved input panel still had the problem that the comb-shaped detection element group formed on the lower substrate and the extraction electrode group were easily distinguishable, detracting from its appearance as an input panel. The present invention was devised to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the improved input panel previously produced by the applicant, and will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the lower substrate of the present invention, in which the lower substrate 1, typically a glass substrate, is coated with a transparent conductive film, typically In ₂ O ₃ , and etched to a certain level. The transparent conductive film on the lower substrate 1 is divided into a group of a pair of comb-shaped detection elements 7, a group of electrode terminals 8, a group of extraction electrodes 9, and a group of dummy electrodes 12. They are separated and formed with a certain gap between them. At this time, it goes without saying that even if the unnecessary transparent conductive film outside the input panel disappears, there is no problem with the operation or function of the input panel.

Now, using this lower substrate 1, an input panel is manufactured as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Because of this structure, the entire surface of the lower substrate 1 is covered with a transparent conductive film, making it difficult to identify the patterns of the detection element 7, extraction electrode 9, and dummy electrode 12, resulting in an excellent appearance. In addition, the above-mentioned advantages of the improved input panel, such as low cost, high workability, high reliability, and
It also achieves high durability, low on-resistance, and uniform on-resistance.

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the transparent conductive film consisting of the detection element, extraction electrode, and dummy electrode is entirely covered on the lower substrate, it is difficult to identify the electrode patterns. As a result, an input panel with excellent appearance has been achieved, and a detection electrode consisting of a pair of comb-shaped detection element groups, an electrode terminal group, and an extraction electrode group is configured on the lower substrate, and the electrode width of the extraction electrode can be adjusted. Since the detection electrode configuration is made to vary according to the length of the electrode, it is possible to use the input panel as an input panel without patterning the switch electrode on the upper substrate and to increase the sheet resistance, reducing costs. This structure has advantages such as high durability, high reliability, and uniform on-resistance, and by making the electrode width of the extraction electrode different depending on the length of the electrode, uniform on-resistance can be achieved. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional input panel, FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of the lower board of the device on which the present invention is based, and FIG. 3 is an example of a spacer of the device on which the present invention is based. FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example of the sealing part of the device on which the present invention is based, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an example of the device on which the present invention is based, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a front view showing an example of the lower substrate of the device of the present invention. 1... lower substrate, 2... X electrode, 3... upper substrate,
4...Y electrode, 5...Spacer, 6...Seal part, 7...Detection element, 8...Electrode terminal, 9...Extracting electrode, 10...Switch electrode, 11...Switch part, 12... dummy electrode.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A detection element group in which detection elements each consisting of a pair of comb-shaped electrodes are arranged in a matrix, an electrode terminal group, and a drawer connecting the detection element group and the electrode terminal group. An electrode group and a dummy electrode group not involved in the detection function are formed on a lower substrate formed on a transparent insulating substrate, a spacer arranged on the lower substrate to separate the detection elements, and a spacer arranged on the lower substrate to separate the detection elements. an input panel comprising a transparent flexible substrate placed on the lower substrate with a gap therebetween, and a detection element group, an extraction electrode group, and a dummy electrode group on the lower substrate are transparent. A conductive film is formed on the entire surface of the lower substrate, and a transparent conductive film is formed on the entire surface of the lower substrate side of the transparent flexible substrate to function as a switch together with the detection element group. An input panel characterized in that the line width of the extraction electrode group is made to vary according to the length of each extraction electrode in order to make on-resistance uniform.