JPS63289632A - Touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an input medium arranged under a fine particle layer from being abraised due to the direct contact of a finger by fixing the transparent fine particle layer on the surface of a transparent touch panel for inputting the coordinates of a display image. CONSTITUTION:A low resistance transparent conductive layer 2 is stuck to the surface of a transparent base 1. A transparent dielectric layer 3 to be changed at its capacity due to the contact of a finger is stuck to the surface of the layer 2. Then, a transparent fine particle layer 4 is fixed on the surface of the layer 3. Consequently, display information can be optically penetrated, and even if the layer 4 is touched, finger pressure is impressed only to the surface of the fine particles, the finger is not contacted with the layer 3 to be trough parts among fine particles, and even if the finger touches the layer 3, extremely weak pressure is applied, so that the abrasion of the input medium is extremely reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] A transparent touch panel that is attached to the screen of a display device and used to touch a part of the displayed image with a finger to input the coordinates of the image. By fixing the fine particles 4, the panel structure protects the input medium located under the particles from wear due to direct contact with fingers while causing input changes as a touch panel.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an improvement in a touch panel that is a tool for interactively inputting information into an information processing device such as a computer. The touch panel is attached to the display surface of the display device, and while viewing a plurality of displayed input items, the touch panel transmits data (display items) that the operator desires to input into the information processing device to the computer using the display coordinates. .

In other words, although this device is a coordinate input device, it inputs somewhat rough characters and figures, and is often called a touch panel or finger touch panel. A device that performs more precise input for each unit coordinate is sometimes referred to as a tablet or a coordinate input device.

[Conventional technology]

The operating principle of the finger touch panel includes the one that uses the human body capacitance of the present invention, the one that uses human body resistance, the one that uses hum induced in the human body, and the one that uses a finger to press a matrix of electrodes formed vertically and horizontally. A switch matrix method that determines coordinates by contact; a resistive sheet method that determines coordinates from the resistance value of a resistor sheet that is pressed into contact; a light and sound method that determines specified coordinates by blocking or reflecting a light beam or sound that corresponds to the coordinates; Other methods of determining coordinates from contact finger pressure are also being considered.

To describe a conventional method using human body capacitance as an example of the present invention, as a human body capacitance sensor attached to the display surface of a display device, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional touch panel, and Fig. 4 is a touch panel part of an example of a touch panel driving force type. It has the structure shown in .

That is, a transparent low resistance electrode material such as indium oxide (In
A transparent conductive layer 2 having a thickness of several hundred angstroms and having a uniform abrasiveness is formed of a layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) made of indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO□), or a mixture of each of the above. In the case of a touch panel, four capacitance measuring electrodes T1 to T4 are provided on the conductive layer 2 corresponding to the four sides.
are provided, and the signal lines from the electrodes are connected to the measurement side selection means S, respectively. As a dielectric layer 3 for forming a capacitance on the conductive layer 2, a silicon dioxide film or an alumina film with a thickness of several thousand angstroms is deposited, sputtered, immersed, or CVD.
It is formed by any method such as D.

The finger touch panel P made in this way is attached to the display surface of a display device, and connected to the measurement side selection means S1 the capacitance change measurement means C1, the coordinate calculation means A, the storage means M, and the coordinate data output means O shown in FIG. , the coordinates of the finger position on the touch panel P can be detected.

To be more specific, the capacitance change measuring means C not only receives and processes signals from the touch panel P, but also transmits original signals to be applied to the touch panel necessary for coordinate measurement. That is, an oscillation waveform of a specific frequency that changes depending on the load capacitance is transmitted to the measurement electrodes T1 to T of the touch panel via the measurement side selection means S.
4 is applied as necessary for measurement. When you touch the currently displayed menu or other displayed content with your finger from above the touch panel P, the ground capacitance of the person connected with your finger is applied to the measurement electrodes T1 to T4 via the surface resistance of the touch panel, resulting in a change. The oscillation frequency signal is sent to the measurement side selection means S.
via. The capacitance change measuring means C measures the capacitance changes transmitted to the measurement electrodes T1 to T4 on each side of the touch panel P. The measured signal is input to the coordinate calculation means A, and by referring to the storage means M that stores specific constants and previous calculation results, the coordinate data of each side is calculated from the natural relationship between capacitance and coordinates. and output from the output means O.

In this way, the coordinates of the touched position were measured and output, but the wear life of the input medium surface of the touch panel was a problem.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

This touch substitution Cabanel method is preferable because the electrode structure of the device is simple and easy to manufacture. However, in practice, there are many cases in which the same place is touched with the fingers many times, and as the fingers touch the same place repeatedly, the transparent dielectric layer 3 in frequently used places may wear unevenly, and as a result, the transparent dielectric layer 3 may become exposed. Low resistance conductive layer 2
In addition, adjacent parts of the worn transparent dielectric layer 3 may peel off, resulting in inaccurate input coordinate values. Therefore, the present invention provides transparent dielectric layer 3
The purpose of this is to eliminate uneven wear of the measuring medium and extend the life of the measuring medium.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a touch panel surface with a plurality of parts to which fine particles 4 are attached so as not to hinder visibility, and the parts other than the parts to which the fine particles 4 are attached are valleys between convex parts, and are concave parts that cannot be touched by the skin of a finger. A transparent dielectric layer 3, a transparent low resistance conductive layer 2, etc. are created.

[Function] Input media such as the transparent dielectric layer 3 and the resistive conductive layer 2 located in valleys that cannot be touched by fingers are protected from abrasion due to finger touches, etc., thereby realizing a touch panel with a long life.

〔Example〕

A plurality of embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an example of a cross-sectional view of the touch panel of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a touch panel as another embodiment.

(11 In the example shown in FIG. 1, ITO, which has been described in the conventional method, is uniformly deposited on a transparent glass substrate 1 as a low-resistance conductive layer 2 to a thickness of several hundred angstroms.

The substrate 1 serves as an electrode terminal of the low resistance conductive layer 2.
Measurement electrodes T1 to T4 are formed on the four sides of.

Silicon dioxide (Si
O□) or alumina (Al□03) is deposited to a thickness of several thousand angstroms. When a glass material is sprayed onto the glass material and the fine particles of glass are baked and hardened at a predetermined temperature, particles with a diameter of several hundred angstroms to several microns are firmly attached to the surface of the dielectric layer 3. stick.

In this way, optically, there is no gap where the displayed information can be seen through as in the past, and even if you touch it with your finger, the force is only applied on the surface of the particle, and the dielectric layer 3 in the valley-like part between the particles Since the fingers do not touch the input medium, and even if they do, the force is extremely gentle, so that wear on the input medium is drastically reduced.

(2) In the example shown in FIG. 2, ITO is first uniformly deposited to a thickness of several hundred angstroms as a low resistance conductive layer 2 on a transparent glass substrate 1, and then before a transparent dielectric layer 3 is formed on it. In order to create a rough surface with the fine particles 4, a glass material is applied by spraying and baked and hardened at a predetermined temperature to create a rough surface with the transparent fine particles 4. Thereon, a transparent dielectric layer 3 of about several thousand angstroms thick is formed using silicon dioxide, alumina, or the like as a dielectric N3, covering the fine particles 4 and filling in the spaces between the transparent fine particles 4.

In this method as well, a new touch panel device can be fully operated with a light touch of a fingertip. In other words, the contact force is received only by the surface of the fine particles that touch the finger, and it is possible to prevent the dielectric layer 3 and the low-resistance conductive layer 2, which are hidden by the valley portions, from being worn out.

(3) In addition, a glass material is first sprayed onto a transparent glass substrate 1, and then baked and hardened to form a layer 4 of transparent fine particles consisting of glass lumps on the order of 1 micron in diameter. 2, ITO is deposited to a thickness of several hundred angstroms. Several thousand angstroms of silicon dioxide may be deposited thereon as the dielectric layer 3, and even if manufactured in this order, a touch panel P that works well can be formed. This panel also wears out due to contact with fingers due to transparent fine particles 4
The area of valleys between the particles that do not come into contact and is confined to the external surface, including the adhesion input medium membrane, remains at its original resistance value.

Note that the above embodiment describes an example in which the present invention is applied to a touch panel using a common low-resistance conductive layer 2 as an electrode pad, but it is also possible to divide the electrode pad and arrange it in a predetermined shape such as a matrix arrangement. The present invention can be similarly applied to touch panels in which a desired position is touched and indicated with a conductive pen or the like instead of being directly touched with a pen or finger, and good results can be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the touch panel of the present invention, no matter how many times the user's finger touches the panel, only the tops of the fine particles on the rough surface formed by the solid glass fine particles come into contact. The input medium, dielectric N3 and low resistance conductive layer 2 are free from wear, resulting in a panel with a long lifespan without impairing its functionality as a touch panel. Moreover, the particles forming the rough surface scatter the parallel reflected light from the surface in random directions, so you will not see the strong reflection image from a specific direction from the glossy surface, which is often the case. It is possible to see through and reliably see the true image shown by the display device. This effect is large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a touch panel of the present invention, FIG. 2 is another example of a sectional view of a touch panel of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional touch panel, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a touch panel driving method. be. In FIG. 1, 1 is a transparent substrate, 2 is a low resistance conductive layer, 3 is a dielectric layer, and 4 is transparent fine particles that provide projections. Chiken Akira's Gu So Hand Izo Kill, Cantering Direction Example Figure 4

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a touch panel that is formed by coating a transparent conductive layer 2 and a transparent dielectric layer 3 on a transparent substrate 1 and detects information on a touch position by a touch operation on the transparent conductive layer 2, an operator on the surface of the touch panel A touch panel characterized in that a transparent fine particle layer 4 is fixed to the side on which the operator operates. (2) The touch panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the transparent fine particle layer 4 is made of a fused body of a glass material coated thereon.