KR100472364B1 - Touch Panel and Fabricated Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof in which the transparent conductive layer is prevented from cracking by minimizing the gap between the glass sheet and the insulating sheet of the touch panel.

The touch panel according to the present invention includes an upper substrate and a lower substrate each having grooves formed at edges thereof; An upper electrode embedded in a groove of the upper substrate; A lower electrode embedded in a groove of the lower substrate; An upper transparent conductive layer formed on the upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; And a lower transparent conductive layer formed on the lower substrate to allow the lower electrode to be energized.

According to the present invention, the grooves are formed in the edges of the glass sheet and the insulating sheet formed on the upper and lower plates of the touch panel, and the gap between the upper and lower plates is reduced by filling the electrode layers in the grooves to press the insulating sheet adjacent to the electrode layer. It is possible to prevent the crack of the transparent electrode layer appearing in the case.

Description

Touch panel and its manufacturing method {Touch Panel and Fabricated Method Thereof}

The present invention relates to a touch panel, and more particularly, to a touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same so as to prevent cracks in the transparent conductive layer by minimizing the gap between the glass sheet and the insulating sheet of the touch panel.

A touch panel, which is an integrated display device, is a representative ATM of a bank. The touch panel generates a voltage or current signal corresponding to a position where a stylus pen or a finger is pressed to input a user-specified command or graphic information. Recently, a resistive touch panel of an analog input method is used mainly because it is integrated with a liquid crystal panel among flat panel displays. A typical liquid crystal panel displays an image by controlling the light transmittance of liquid crystal cells injected between two glass substrates. Each of the liquid crystal cells adjusts the amount of light transmitted in response to the video signal, that is, the pixel signal.

1 is a structural diagram of a touch panel according to the prior art. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a state of looking down the touch panel of FIG. 1.

1 and 2, the touch panel 20 is placed on the flat panel display 10. The touch panel 20 includes the glass sheet 12 and the insulating sheet 14, the transparent conductive layers 16a and 16b formed on the glass sheet 12 and the insulating sheet 14, the glass sheet 12 and The spacers 26 are spread out between the insulating sheets 14. The first electrode layer 18a is formed on the surface of the glass sheet 12, and the second electrode layer 18b is formed on the bottom surface of the insulating sheet 14. The second electrode layer 18b is shorted with the first electrode layer 18a when the insulating sheet 14 is pressed by a stylus pen or finger, thereby generating a signal having a current amount or voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position. In this case, the first and second electrode layers 18a and 18b include indium tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as "ITO") and indium zinc oxide (Indium-Zinc-Oxide); Ag on the transparent conductive layers 16a and 16b formed of one of " IZO ") and indium-tin-zinc-oxide (hereinafter referred to as " ITZO "). It is formed by printing. The insulating sheet 12 of the touch panel 20 includes an X-axis electrode 12 formed at a horizontal edge and a center of the X-axis electrode 12 so as to provide an amount of current or voltage to an external touch controller (not shown). And a signal line 24 for supplying a signal having a.

3 is a view showing in detail the cross section of the touch panel according to the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 3, the touch panel 20 includes a non-touch area A in which the transparent conductive layer 16 and the electrode layers 18a and 18b are formed at the edges of the panel, and the two electrode layers 18a and 18b are stylus pens or fingers. The touch area B generates a signal having a current amount or a voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position when it is pressed by the short circuit, and an edge portion of the touch area B, that is, an invalid touch area C. It consists of.

The invalid touch area C is a poor reliability area, which causes a problem in which a touch function is degraded. This ineffective touch region C is known to be about 1.5 to 3 mm from the electrode layers 18a and 18b.

The outer portions of the ineffective touch region C include the electrode layers 18a and 18b and the insulating layers 22, and only the dot spacers 26 are formed between the glass sheet 12 and the insulating sheet 14 on the inner side thereof. Because there is. That is, since the height of one side surface changes rapidly, when the insulating sheet 14 is pressed with a stylus pen or a finger or the like, there is a high possibility that a crack occurs in the transparent electrode layer 16b on the insulating sheet 14. For this reason, the potential distribution of the transparent electrode layers on the glass sheet 12 and the insulating sheet 14 is distorted, which leads to a problem in that accurate position information cannot be found.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same, which prevent the cracks in the proximal region of electrodes by forming electrodes on the touch panel to be embedded in the glass sheet and the insulating sheet.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same, wherein the sheet having the thickness of the electrode layer constituting the touch panel is additionally attached to the glass sheet and the insulating sheet so that the electrode layer is embedded to prevent cracking of the electrode proximal region. There is.

In order to achieve the above object, the touch panel according to the present invention includes an upper substrate and a lower substrate each having a groove formed at the edge; An upper electrode embedded in a groove of the upper substrate; A lower electrode embedded in a groove of the lower substrate; An upper transparent conductive layer formed on the upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; And a lower transparent conductive layer formed on the lower substrate to allow the lower electrode to be energized. The touch panel further includes a plurality of dot spacers formed between the upper transparent conductive layer and the lower transparent conductive layer. The upper transparent conductive layer is formed on the front surface of the upper substrate or the region except the groove on the upper substrate, and the lower transparent conductive layer is formed on the front surface of the lower substrate or the region except the groove on the lower substrate. The touch panel according to the present invention comprises: a first upper substrate; A second upper substrate formed in an area except an edge of the first upper substrate; An upper electrode formed at an edge of the first upper substrate; A first lower substrate; A second lower substrate formed in an area except an edge of the first lower substrate; A lower electrode formed at an edge of the first lower substrate; An upper transparent conductive layer formed on the second upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; And a lower transparent conductive layer formed on the second lower substrate to allow the lower electrode to be energized. The touch panel includes an adhesive layer for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate; An insulating layer for electrically insulating the upper electrode and the lower electrode is further provided. Method of manufacturing a touch panel according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming a groove on the edge of the upper substrate; Embedding an upper electrode in a groove of the upper substrate; Depositing a transparent conductive material in an area of the upper substrate except for the groove to form an upper transparent conductive layer in contact with the upper electrode; Forming a groove in an edge of the lower substrate; Burying a lower electrode in a groove of the lower substrate; Forming a lower transparent conductive layer in contact with the lower electrode by depositing the transparent conductive material on an area of the lower substrate except for the groove. Each of the grooves of the upper substrate and the lower substrate is formed by any one of laser and chemical etching. Method of manufacturing a touch panel according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming a groove on the edge of the upper substrate; Embedding an upper electrode in a groove of the upper substrate; Forming a groove in an edge of the lower substrate; Burying a lower electrode in a groove of the lower substrate; Depositing a transparent conductive material on the entire surface of the upper substrate to form an upper transparent conductive layer; And depositing a transparent conductive material on the entire surface of the lower substrate to form a lower transparent conductive layer. A method of manufacturing the touch panel includes forming a spacer between the upper and lower substrates, the upper electrode and the upper substrate. Forming an insulating layer for electrical insulation between the lower electrodes; The method may further include forming an adhesive layer for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate. Method of manufacturing a touch panel according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming a second upper substrate in the region excluding the edge of the first upper substrate; Forming an upper electrode on an edge of the first upper substrate; Forming an upper transparent conductive layer on the second upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; Forming a second lower substrate in an area except an edge of the first lower substrate; Forming a lower electrode on an edge of the first lower substrate; And forming a lower transparent conductive layer on the second lower substrate to allow the lower electrode to be energized. The second upper substrate and the second lower substrate, and the upper electrode and the lower electrode are formed in the same layer and the same thickness. The method of manufacturing the touch panel includes forming a plurality of dot spacers between the upper transparent conductive layer and the lower transparent conductive layer; Forming an insulating layer for electrical insulation between the upper electrode and the lower electrode; The method may further include forming an adhesive layer for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate.

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Other objects and advantages of the present invention in addition to the above object will be apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9C.

4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch panel 30b is placed on the flat panel display panel 30a. The touch panel 30b includes a glass sheet 32 and an insulating sheet 34 having grooves having a predetermined depth and a predetermined width in the edge region, and a transparent conductive layer formed on the glass sheet 32 and the insulating sheet 34. 36a and 36b and spacers 46 spread between the glass sheet 32 and the insulating sheet 34. First and second electrode layers 38a and 38b are formed to be inserted into grooves formed in the edge regions of the glass sheet 32 and the insulating sheet 34. The second electrode layer 38b is shorted with the first electrode layer 38a when the insulating sheet 34 is pressed by a stylus pen or finger, thereby generating a signal having a current amount or voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position. The first and second electrode layers 38a and 38b are formed by printing silver Ag on the transparent conductive layers 36a and 36b formed of one of ITO, IZO and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials. On the glass sheet 32 on which the electrode layers 38a and 38b are not formed, the dot spacers 46 are formed by heat-softening a projection pattern formed by the photolithography method from the photosensitive resin composition. The dot spacer 46 serves to maintain a constant distance between the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate. In addition, the touch panel 30b includes an insulating layer 32 which prevents the first electrode layer 38a and the second electrode layer 38b from contacting each other, the transparent electrode layers 36a and 36b, and the first and second electrode layers 38a, An adhesive layer 44 for bonding the glass sheet 32 and the insulating sheet 34 on which 38b) is formed to each other is provided.

5A to 5D are diagrams illustrating a manufacturing process of a touch panel according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A to 5D are diagrams for describing a process of forming a transparent electrode layer and an electrode layer on a glass sheet.

As a lower plate of the touch panel 30b, a glass sheet 32 made of a PET film is provided as shown in FIG. 5A. In the edge region of the glass sheet 32, grooves 48 having a predetermined depth and a width for embedding the electrode layer 28a are formed as shown in FIG. 5B. To this end, the PET film is etched by using laser and chemical etching so that the edge regions of the glass sheet 32 are embedded so that the electrode layers 38a and 38b are embedded. Like the lower plate, grooves are formed in the edge region of the insulating sheet 34 constituting the upper plate of the touch panel 30b.

Next, a transparent conductive layer 36a formed of one of ITO, IZO, and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials, is formed in a region excluding the groove formed at the edge of the glass sheet 32, as shown in FIG. 5C. When the transparent conductive layer 36a is formed, the lower layer of the touch panel is formed by forming the electrode layer 38a by printing silver Ag having a predetermined thickness so as to be embedded in the groove 48 formed at the edge of the glass sheet 32. In this manner, the transparent electrode layer 36b and the electrode layer 38b are formed on the insulating sheet 34 constituting the upper plate of the touch panel 30b.

The touch panel 30b is completed by bonding the upper plate and the lower plate manufactured by the above process. In this case, the electrode layer 38a for recognizing the XY coordinate according to the pressure point position of the insulating sheet 34 in the touch panel 30b. , 38b is embedded in the edge regions of the glass sheet 32 and the insulating sheet 34 to reduce the thickness of the touch panel 30b.

6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the touch panel 50b is placed on the flat panel display panel 50a. The touch panel 50b is formed of a glass sheet 52 and an insulating sheet 54 having grooves of a constant depth and a constant width in the edge region and embedded in grooves formed on the glass sheet 52 and the insulating sheet 54. Between the first and second electrode layers 58a and 58b, the transparent conductive layers 56a and 56b formed on the glass sheet 52 and the insulating sheet 54, and the glass sheet 52 and the insulating sheet 54. It has the spacer 66 spread out. The second electrode layer 58b is shorted with the first electrode layer 58a when the insulating sheet 54 is pressed by a stylus pen or finger, thereby generating a signal having a current amount or voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position. In this case, the first and second electrode layers 58a and 58b are formed by printing silver Ag on the transparent conductive layers 56a and 56b formed of one of ITO, IZO, and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials. On the glass sheet 52 on which the first and second electrode layers 58a and 58b are not formed, the dot spacers 66 are formed by heat-softening a projection pattern formed by the photolithography method from the photosensitive resin composition. The dot spacer 66 serves to maintain a constant distance between the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate. In addition, the touch panel 50b includes an adhesive layer 64 for bonding the glass sheet and the insulating sheet to each other and an insulating layer 62 for insulation between the electrode layers.

7A to 7D are diagrams illustrating a manufacturing process of a touch panel according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and illustrate a process of forming an electrode layer and a transparent electrode layer on a glass sheet.

As a lower plate of the touch panel 50b, a glass sheet 52 made of a PET film is provided as shown in FIG. 7A. In the edge region of the glass sheet 52, grooves 68 having a constant depth and a width for embedding the electrode layer 58a are formed. To this end, the PET film is etched so that the electrode layers 58a and 58b are embedded in the glass sheet 52 and the insulating sheet 54 using laser and chemical etching. When the grooves 68 having a predetermined width are formed, as shown in FIG. 7B, silver Ag having a predetermined thickness is printed to be embedded in the grooves 68, thereby forming the electrode layer 58a. When the electrode layer 58a is formed in the groove 68 at the edge of the glass sheet 52, a transparent conductive layer 56a formed of one of ITO, IZO, and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials, is deposited on the entire surface of the glass sheet 52. do. In this manner, a groove, an electrode layer 58b embedded in the groove, and a transparent electrode layer 56b are formed on the insulating sheet 54 constituting the upper plate of the touch panel 50b.

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The upper panel and the lower panel manufactured as described above are bonded to each other to complete the touch panel 50b. In this case, the electrode layers 58a and 58b are configured to recognize the XY coordinates according to the pressure point positions of the insulating sheet 54 in the touch panel 50b. The thickness of the touch panel 50b is reduced by filling the edge regions of the glass sheet 52 and the insulating sheet 54.

8 is a diagram schematically illustrating a touch panel according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the touch panel 70b is placed on the flat panel 70a. The touch panel 70b includes a first glass sheet 72a and a first insulating sheet 72b that form an external appearance of the touch panel, and an electrode layer 76a, on the first glass sheet 72a and the first insulating sheet 72b. 76b) A second glass sheet 74a and a second insulating sheet 74b deposited only in a region except the forming region and a groove formed by the second glass sheet 74a and the second insulating sheet 74b are embedded. On the first and second electrode layers 76a and 76b, on the first glass sheet 72a and the first insulating sheet 72b, the second glass sheet 74a and the second insulating sheet 74b and the first and second electrodes are formed. The transparent conductive layers 78a and 78b formed to cover the two electrode layers 76a and 76b, and the first and second glass sheets 72a and 74a and the first and second insulating sheets 72b and 74b. It has a spacer 82. The second electrode layer 76b is shorted with the first electrode layer 76a when the first insulating sheet 72b is pressed by a stylus pen or finger, thereby generating a signal having a current amount or voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position. The first and second electrode layers 76a and 76b are formed by printing silver Ag on the transparent conductive layers 78a and 78b formed of one of ITO, IZO, and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials. On the first and second glass sheets 72a and 74a where the first and second electrode layers 76a and 76b are not formed, a projection of a projection shape formed by photolithography from the photosensitive resin composition is subjected to heat softening treatment to form a dot spacer. (82) is formed. The dot spacer 82 serves to maintain a constant distance between the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate. In addition, the touch panel 70b includes an adhesive layer 80 for bonding the glass sheet and the insulating sheet to each other.

9A to 9C are diagrams illustrating a manufacturing process of a touch panel according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a process of forming an electrode layer and a transparent electrode layer on a glass sheet.

As a lower plate of the touch panel 70b, a second glass sheet 74a of the same material is formed on the first glass sheet 72a made of a PET film as shown in FIG. 9A. The second glass sheet 74a is formed only in a region other than the region in which the electrode layer 76a is formed at the edge of the touch panel 70b. When the second glass sheet 74a is formed, the electrode layer 76a is embedded in the groove formed by the step between the second glass sheet 74a and the first glass sheet 72a as shown in FIG. 9B. The electrode layer 76a is made of silver (Ag).

When the electrode layer 76a is formed, a transparent conductive layer 78a formed of one of ITO, IZO, and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials, is deposited on the entire surface of the second glass sheet 74a. In this manner, the electrode layer 76b and the transparent electrode layer 78b are formed on the insulating sheets 72b and 74b formed of the upper plate of the touch panel 70b.

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The touch panel 70b is completed by bonding the upper plate and the lower plate manufactured as described above. In this case, the electrode layers 76a, which allow the touch panel 70b to recognize the XY coordinates according to the pressure point positions of the insulating sheets 72b and 74b, The thickness of the touch panel 70b is reduced by embedding 76b in the edge regions of the glass sheets 72a and 74a and the insulating sheets 72b and 74b.

As described above, the touch panel according to the present invention forms grooves in the edge regions of the glass sheet and the insulating sheet formed on the upper / lower plates of the touch panel to fill the grooves in the grooves to reduce the gap between the upper and lower plates. The crack of the transparent electrode layer which appears when the insulating sheet of the adjacent part is pressed can be prevented. In addition, by forming an additional PET film on the glass sheet and the insulating sheet so that the electrode layer is embedded, the gap between the upper and lower plates is reduced without etching the glass sheet and the insulating sheet, thereby preventing cracks in the transparent electrode layer in the vicinity of the electrode layer. You can prevent it.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

1 is a structural diagram of a touch panel according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a state where the touch panel of FIG. 1 is viewed from above. FIG.

3 is a view showing in detail the cross section of the touch panel according to the prior art.

4 is a schematic view of a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

5A to 5D are views illustrating a manufacturing process of the touch panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a schematic view of a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

7A to 7D are views illustrating a manufacturing process of a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a schematic view of a touch panel according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

9A to 9C are views illustrating a manufacturing process of a touch panel according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10,30a, 50a, 70a: Flat panel 12,32,52,72a: Glass sheet

14,34,54,72b: Insulation sheet 16,36,56,68: Transparent conductive layer

18,38,58,76: electrode layer 20,30b, 50b, 70b: touch panel

26,46,66,82: Dot spacer

Claims (14)

Upper and lower substrates each having grooves formed at edges thereof; An upper electrode embedded in a groove of the upper substrate; A lower electrode embedded in a groove of the lower substrate; An upper transparent conductive layer formed on the upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; And a lower transparent conductive layer formed on the lower substrate to allow the lower electrode to be energized. The method of claim 1, And a plurality of dot spacers formed between the upper transparent conductive layer and the lower transparent conductive layer. The method of claim 1, The upper transparent conductive layer is formed on the front surface of the upper substrate or an area excluding the groove from the upper substrate, The lower transparent conductive layer is formed on a front surface of the lower substrate or a region except the groove on the lower substrate. A first upper substrate; A second upper substrate formed in an area except an edge of the first upper substrate; An upper electrode formed at an edge of the first upper substrate; A first lower substrate; A second lower substrate formed in an area except an edge of the first lower substrate; A lower electrode formed at an edge of the first lower substrate; An upper transparent conductive layer formed on the second upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; And a lower transparent conductive layer formed on the second lower substrate to allow the lower electrode to be energized. The method of claim 4, wherein And a plurality of dot spacers formed between the upper transparent conductive layer and the lower transparent conductive layer. The method according to claim 1 or 4, An adhesive layer for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate; And a further insulating layer for electrically insulating the upper electrode and the lower electrode. Forming a groove in an edge of the upper substrate; Embedding an upper electrode in a groove of the upper substrate; Depositing a transparent conductive material in an area of the upper substrate except for the groove to form an upper transparent conductive layer in contact with the upper electrode; Forming a groove in an edge of the lower substrate; Burying a lower electrode in a groove of the lower substrate; And depositing the transparent conductive material in a region other than the groove in the lower substrate to form a lower transparent conductive layer in contact with the lower electrode. The method of claim 7, wherein And each of the grooves of the upper substrate and the lower substrate is formed by any one of laser and chemical etching. Forming a groove in an edge of the upper substrate; Embedding an upper electrode in a groove of the upper substrate; Forming a groove in an edge of the lower substrate; Burying a lower electrode in a groove of the lower substrate; Depositing a transparent conductive material on the entire surface of the upper substrate to form an upper transparent conductive layer; And depositing a transparent conductive material on the entire surface of the lower substrate to form a lower transparent conductive layer. The method of claim 9, And each of the grooves of the upper substrate and the lower substrate is formed by any one of laser and chemical etching. The method according to claim 7 or 9, Forming a spacer between the upper and lower substrates; Forming an insulating layer for electrical insulation between the upper electrode and the lower electrode; And forming an adhesive layer for adhering the upper substrate and the lower substrate to each other. Forming a second upper substrate in an area except an edge of the first upper substrate; Forming an upper electrode on an edge of the first upper substrate; Forming an upper transparent conductive layer on the second upper substrate to allow the upper electrode to be energized; Forming a second lower substrate in an area except an edge of the first lower substrate; Forming a lower electrode on an edge of the first lower substrate; And forming a lower transparent conductive layer on the second lower substrate to enable the lower electrode to be energized. The method of claim 12, And the second upper substrate and the second lower substrate, and the upper electrode and the lower electrode are formed in the same layer and the same thickness. The method of claim 12, Forming a plurality of dot spacers between the upper transparent conductive layer and the lower transparent conductive layer; Forming an insulating layer for electrical insulation between the upper electrode and the lower electrode; And forming an adhesive layer for adhering the upper substrate and the lower substrate to each other.