KR100935501B1 - Touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A touch panel for simplifying a manufacturing process without arranging the signal line on an upper substrate is provided to reduce costs and increase the quality of the production by detecting a touch location by electrical connection of the conductive pad. CONSTITUTION: A touch cell(65) includes a first conductive pad(60), a second conductive pad, a first switching device of a three-terminal type and a second switching device. A conductor electrically connects the first conducting pad and the second conducting pad. The touch position detector is connected to the location detection signal transceiver. The touch location detection unit acquires the coordinate value of the touch cell from the location detection signal.

Description

Touch panel {Touch panel}

The present invention relates to a touch panel installed on an upper surface of a display device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a touch panel that can recognize a multi-touch, has a fast response speed, no malfunction due to noise or an external environment, and a low manufacturing cost. The present invention relates to a touch panel having a new structure that can be easily manufactured and can simplify the manufacturing process by not placing a signal line on the upper substrate since it is not necessary to apply a voltage for detecting a touch signal to the upper substrate where a touch input is generated. .

In general, the touch panel is attached to a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED), and a finger or a pen. It is one of the input devices to generate a signal corresponding to the position when the object of contact. Touch panels are used in a wide range of fields, such as small portable terminals, industrial terminals, and digital information devices (DIDs).

Conventional touch panels have been disclosed in various types such as resistive, optical.

1 and 2 are views showing a resistive touch panel among the touch panels listed above, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a resistive touch panel, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a resistive touch panel. 1 and 2, a first substrate 4 and a second substrate 2 are disposed to face each other on an upper surface of the display device 1, and an upper surface and a second substrate 2 of the first substrate 4 are disposed. ) Is coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO) to form conductive layers 6 and 8, respectively, and the upper conductive layer 6 facing in the longitudinal direction (direction parallel to the y axis of the drawing). A pair of first electrodes 10 are positioned at both ends of the pair, and a pair of second electrodes 12 are positioned at both ends of the lower conductive layer 8 facing in the horizontal direction (direction parallel to the x axis of the drawing). do.

The second substrate 2 that accepts touch input is generally made of polyethylene terephthalate film, and a high hardness film is attached to the surface to prevent surface damage, or an embossed uneven film is attached to minimize the surface reflection. The first substrate 4 facing the display device is made of a conventional glass substrate or plastic substrate.

On the surface of the lower conductive layer 8, the upper and lower conductive layers 6 and 8 are separated at regular intervals, and a plurality of dot spacers 14 having a predetermined elasticity are positioned, and a pair of first and second substrates ( 2 and 4 are integrally bonded by the adhesive tape 16.

The pair of first electrodes 10 are each electrically supplied with a separate voltage having a specific potential difference through a driving circuit inside the control device 18 including the ADC 13 and the CPU 15 and having a constant resistance value. A uniform current flows in the horizontal direction throughout the layer 6, and a pair of second electrodes 12 also allow a uniform current in the vertical direction to flow through the lower conductive layer 8 in the same manner as above.

As shown in FIG. 1, when an object such as a pen 17 contacts the second substrate 2 and a predetermined pressure is applied, bending occurs on the second substrate 2 while the upper conductive layer 6 is formed. In contact with the lower conductive layer 8, it is energized, and at this time, a voltage formed differently in each position in the conductive layers 6 and 8 is detected. The detected voltage is converted into a digital signal through the AD converter 13, and the converted signal is transferred to the CPU 15 to obtain the coordinate value of the point where the touch is made. Such a resistive touch panel is the most widely used touch panel because of its simple manufacturing process and low cost.

However, such a resistive touch panel has a problem in that it cannot recognize a multi-touch in which a plurality of points are simultaneously touched on the panel. For example, in the case of writing with the back of a hand on the blackboard in the copyboard, or when a multi-touch occurs, such as writing in a multi-party at the same time on the copyboard, a problem occurs that the multi-touch is not recognized or the touch panel malfunctions. .

In addition, since the position is determined by the difference between the resistance values according to the width and length of the conductive layer, the linearity, which is the change amount of the resistance value according to the change of the position, should be kept constant. This makes it difficult to secure the linearity of the resistance value because the uniformity of ITO is not constant, which makes it practically impossible to apply to large size display devices.

On the other hand, the resistance value of the conductive layers 6 and 8 having a wider range is required by various circuit configurations of the touch panel. In order to control the resistance value of the conductive layer, the heat treatment of the conductive layers 6 and 8 is common. Adding process

However, the heat treatment process increases the number of processes of the touch panel, not only prolongs the process time, but also requires expensive equipment for this purpose, and causes scattering to deteriorate the yield and quality of the touch panel.

In addition, as a touch is sensed as an analog signal, a relatively expensive AD converter 13 is required, and a time delay is inevitably generated in the process of converting an analog signal into a digital signal. In particular, the biggest problem of the resistance method is that the touch point is calculated by changing the resistance value, so that the zero point adjustment is necessary against the resistance points, and if the zero point is misaligned, the detection position becomes poor, and in most cases, the minute point A detection position error has occurred.

In addition, in the resistive touch panel, since ITO is applied to both the first substrate 4 and the second substrate 2 continuously, there is a problem in that the transmittance is remarkably lowered. The display quality of 1) is lowered.

In addition, when the number of times of use of the touch increases, a crack occurs in the upper conductive layer 6, and a difference occurs in the resistance value for each position of the upper conductive layer 60, thereby causing a position detection error.

The optical touch panel is a method of detecting a touch position based on an image detected by a camera or a signal received from an infrared sensor by installing a camera or an infrared sensor at a corner of the display device 1. This type of touch panel has a relatively high response speed and can be freely adjusted in size, and thus is mainly applied to large display devices.

However, the above-described optical touch input device is too expensive, and since the position detection coordinate values are sensitively reacted according to the fixed state of the camera, it is difficult to fix and install the camera. In addition, as in the resistive touch panel, there is a problem that zero adjustment is required, and thus, it is difficult to accurately read the detection position.

The infrared touch panel is provided with a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit that transmit infrared light to the left and right of the display device, and detects a position where the infrared ray is cut off by an object. There is a problem of malfunction due to foreign matter in the location.

The present invention is proposed to solve the problems of the conventional touch panel as described above, by forming a touch cell using a pair of conductive pads and a signal line and a switching element on the lower substrate of the two opposing substrates, When detecting the touch position in the unit touch cell by energizing, it is possible to detect the position of the multi-touch by using the switching element, so that even when the touch is made at the multi-point simultaneously, each signal can be detected and processed without loss. The detection cost is greatly improved by detecting the touch using digital signal, and it is not malfunctioned by noise or external environmental factors, and it is possible to use the manufacturing process of the display device which has been proven mass production and product reliability. Its purpose is to provide a touch panel that is inexpensive as well as easy to mass-produce.

In addition, in the present invention, a transparent conductive contact member is provided on the upper substrate, and when a touch position is detected by energizing a pair of conductive pads provided on the lower substrate, a signal does not need to be applied to the upper substrate, and a specific resistance value is obtained. And since it is not necessary to form a conductive layer to maintain the linearity of the resistance value on the upper substrate, the purpose is to provide a touch panel that is cost-saving and quality is improved and easy to manufacture a large substrate.

In addition, the present invention is to form a connecting member for energizing a pair of conductive pads and to install the conductive pad and the connecting member only in a partial region of the touch cell to improve the transmittance of the touch panel to improve the display quality of the display device There is another purpose.

In addition, the present invention has a further object to ensure that the pair of conductive pads are arranged in the form of interdigital teeth to secure the conduction of the conductive pad.

In addition, the present invention provides a touch panel capable of wiring the signal lines so as to have the same rules as the wiring of the lateral signal line and the longitudinal signal line of the display device, thereby ultimately improving the light transmittance of the display device and preventing the moiré phenomenon. There is another purpose.

In addition, the present invention has another object to prevent the moiré phenomenon by installing a diffuser sheet (diffuser sheet) between the display device and the touch panel.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to prevent the moiré phenomenon by wiring the signal line of the touch panel to be diagonal with the signal line of the display device.

In addition, the present invention has a further object to prevent the loss of the signal by storing the detected touch signal in the memory means to recognize the call stored in the memory when the touch signal is missing because a large amount of signal processing.

In addition, the present invention has another object to provide a touch panel that is energized even if the bending of the substrate is gentle using a spacer for the energization, when the glass is used for the upper substrate.

In addition, according to the present invention, when glass is used for the upper substrate, the signal system of the first conductive pad 60 and the signal system of the second conductive pad 62 are separately installed on the upper substrate 24 and the lower substrate 22. Another purpose is to provide a touch panel having a high transmittance.

The touch panel of the present invention for achieving the above object, is installed on the upper surface of the display device 20, in the touch panel for detecting a contact of the human body or an object to generate a signal corresponding to the location, as a light transmissive material A lower substrate 22 and an upper substrate 24 formed to face each other so as to be spaced apart from each other by a spacer 48; A plurality of first signal lines 32, second signal lines 34, scan signal lines 36, and off signal lines 38 disposed on the lower substrate 22; It is formed on the lower substrate 22 and is divided into a plurality of active regions in which a touch is made, and is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 and the first conductive pad 60 by a predetermined interval in each divided region. An input terminal and an output terminal connected to each of the second conductive pads 62 disposed on the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, and connected to the scan signal line 36. The first switching element 50 of the three-terminal type connected to the gate terminal, and the input terminal is connected to the off signal line 38, the output terminal is connected to the gate terminal of the first switching element 50 A touch cell 65 having a three-terminal second switching element 52 having a gate terminal connected to one signal line 32; A conductor formed on the upper substrate 24 and contacting the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 to conduct two conductive pads when a pressure type touch input is generated on the upper substrate 24; Position for receiving the position detection signal from the second signal line 34 when the position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 32 and the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized. Detection signal transmitting and receiving unit 70; And a touch position detection unit 80 connected to the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 and acquiring a coordinate value of the touch cell 65 touched from the received position detection signal.

The touch panel of the present invention for achieving the above object, is installed on the upper surface of the display device 20, in the touch panel for detecting a contact of the human body or an object to generate a signal corresponding to the location, as a light transmissive material A lower substrate 22 and an upper substrate 24 formed to face each other so as to be spaced apart from each other by a spacer 48; A plurality of first signal lines 32, second signal lines 34, scan signal lines 36, off signal lines 38 and switching signal lines 39 disposed on the lower substrate 22; It is formed on the lower substrate 22 and is divided into a plurality of active regions in which a touch is made, and is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 and the first conductive pad 60 by a predetermined interval in each divided region. An input terminal and an output terminal connected to each of the second conductive pads 62 disposed on the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, and connected to the scan signal line 36. The first switching element 50 of the three-terminal type having a gate terminal connected thereto, the input terminal is connected to the off signal line 38, the output terminal is connected to the gate terminal of the first switching device 50 and the switching A touch cell 65 having a three-terminal second switching element 52 having a gate terminal connected to the signal line 39; A conductor formed on the upper substrate 24 and contacting the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 to conduct two conductive pads when a pressure type touch input is generated on the upper substrate 24; Position for receiving the position detection signal from the second signal line 34 when the position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 32 and the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized. Detection signal transmitting and receiving unit 70; And a touch position detection unit 80 connected to the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 and acquiring a coordinate value of the touch cell 65 touched from the received position detection signal.

According to a preferred embodiment, the upper substrate 24 is made of a film material.

According to a preferred embodiment, the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 are bonded by an adhesive tape 16.

According to a preferred embodiment, the position detection signal transmitting and receiving unit 70 sequentially applies a scan pulse to each of the first signal line (32).

According to a preferred embodiment, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are connected to any one of the adjacent signal lines 32, 34, 36, 38, and 39 in each touch cell 65. It is formed overlapping.

According to a preferred embodiment, the conductor is a contact member 64 formed by applying a transparent conductor to the lower surface of the upper substrate 24.

According to a more preferred embodiment, the contact member 64 is formed by partitioning at least one or more touch cells 65 so as to be electrically insulated from neighboring other contact members 64.

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According to a more preferred embodiment, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 60 in each touch cell 65 are arranged side by side in the same diagonal direction, the contact member 64 is the first The first conductive pads 60 and the second conductive pads 62 are disposed in an oblique direction to intersect.

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According to a preferred embodiment, each of the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 in each touch cell 65 is formed in a concave-convex shape where the concave portion 67 and the convex portion 68 are continuous. The first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are arranged such that the concave portion 67 and the convex portion 68 engage with each other.

According to a preferred embodiment, the display device 20 is a display device in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix form, and the touch cell 65 is disposed at the same resolution as the unit pixel of the display device 20 or reduced in an integer ratio. The signal lines 32, 34, 36, 38, and 39 may be wired to have a pitch that is the same as or wider than the signal line of the display device 20, and at least one signal line 32, 34, 36, 38, or 39. Is disposed on the same vertical line as the signal line of the display device 20.

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According to a preferred embodiment, the diffusion sheet 90 is further provided between the display device 20 and the lower substrate 22.

According to a preferred embodiment, the signal lines 32, 34, 36, 38, and 39 are arranged in an oblique direction having a predetermined angle with respect to the signal line of the display device 20.

According to a preferred embodiment, the position detection signal transmission and reception unit 70 uses a digital detection method that determines the touch position by checking the high and low levels of the position detection signal received from the second signal line 34.

According to a preferred embodiment, the position detection signal transmission and reception unit 70 further includes a memory means 75 having addresses corresponding to the coordinate values of the touch cell 65, and when the position detection signal is received, the touch cell. The coordinate value 65 is stored in the corresponding address of the memory means 75.

According to a preferred embodiment, one end of the conductor is fixed to the lower surface of the upper substrate 24 and the other end is disposed spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62, the other end Is a spacer 48c for electricity delivery in which a conductive layer 63 is formed.

According to a more preferred embodiment, the conductor is a contact member 64 formed by applying a transparent conductor on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24, one end is fixed to the upper substrate 24 and the other end is The conductive spacer 48c is spaced apart from the lower substrate 22, and the conductive spacer 48c is formed in plural for each touch cell 65 and electrically connected to the contact member 64 at the other end. The conductive layer 63 is provided.

The touch panel of the present invention for achieving the above object, is installed on the upper surface of the display device 20, in the touch panel for detecting a contact of the human body or an object to generate a signal corresponding to the location, as a light transmissive material A lower substrate 22 and an upper substrate 24 formed to face each other so as to be spaced apart from each other by a spacer 48; A plurality of first signal lines 32, second signal lines 34, and off signal lines 38 disposed on the lower substrate 22 or the upper substrate 24; A plurality of scan signal lines 36 disposed on a substrate facing the substrate on which the signal lines 32, 34, 38 are formed; A first conductive pad 60 formed on the lower substrate 22 or the upper substrate 24 in each of the divided regions, and the first conductive pad ( An input terminal and an output terminal are formed on a second conductive pad 62 formed on a substrate facing the substrate on which the substrate 60 is formed and connected to the scan signal line 36, and on the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, respectively. A first terminal switching device 50 having a three-terminal type and a gate terminal connected to the first conductive pad 60 and an input terminal connected to the off signal line 38 are connected to the first switching device 50. A touch cell (65) having a three-terminal second switching element (52) having an output terminal connected to a gate terminal of the gate terminal and a gate terminal connected to the first signal line (32); The position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 32, and a pressure type touch input is generated on the upper substrate 24 so that the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are in contact with each other. A position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 for receiving a position detection signal from the second signal line 34; And a touch position detection unit 80 connected to the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 and acquiring a coordinate value of the touch cell 65 touched from the received position detection signal.

According to a preferred embodiment, any one of the conductive pads of the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 is spaced apart from the other conductive pads of the opposing substrate, and has a conductive layer 63 on the outside. One conductive spacer 48c is provided.

According to a preferred embodiment, one of the conductive pads of the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 is spaced apart from the other conductive pads of the opposing substrate, and the conductive layer 63 is formed outside. The ball spacer 48a is installed.

According to a preferred embodiment, the signal lines 32, 34, 36, 38 are arranged in an oblique direction having a predetermined angle with respect to the signal line of the display device 20.

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According to the touch panel of the present invention, a three-terminal switching element connected to the signal lines in each partitioned area by wiring signal lines on the lower substrate of the touch panel provided on the upper surface of the display device and partitioning the active area where the touch is made. A touch cell consisting of a pair of conductive pads is formed, and a state change of the switching element occurs by energizing a pair of conductive pads with a contact member of the upper substrate by contact with a body or an object, and using the coordinate signal of the touch cell By configuring to obtain a multi-touch can be recognized at the same time a touch occurs at a plurality of points, since it is not necessary to form a conductive layer having a specific range of resistance value, it is possible to manufacture a large substrate as well as improve the yield, The digital signal is applied and processed by the position detection signal, so the response speed is very fast. It can prevent malfunctions, can be used under sunlight, and can be used to manufacture display devices such as LCD or AMOLED, which has been proven to be mass-produced. There is.

In addition, according to the present invention, in wiring the signal lines, the transmittance can be improved by wiring with the same wiring rules as the lateral signal lines and the longitudinal signal lines of the display device, and the signal lines of the touch panel are the same as the wires of the display device. Since it is positioned on the line, there is an effect that can prevent the moiré phenomenon that the afterimage of the wave pattern occurs.

Further, according to the present invention, by providing a diffusion sheet between the display device and the touch panel, the moiré phenomenon can be prevented by diffusion of the diffusion sheet even if the wiring of the display device and the wiring of the touch panel are not located vertically on the same line. It has an effect.

In addition, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the moire phenomenon can be removed by wiring the signal lines of the touch panel to have a predetermined angle with respect to the signal lines of the display device.

Further, according to the present invention, when the position detection signal is temporarily stored in the memory means, and the amount of signal processing in the touch position detection unit is not recognized, the position detection signal received in real time may be called and processed by calling the signal stored in the memory means. Therefore, there is an effect that can prevent the loss of the signal.

In addition, according to the present invention, the pair of conductive pads are disposed in the form of toothed engagement with each other, thereby extending the area where the conductive pads can be bonded to each other, and has the effect of more stably detecting the touch position.

In addition, according to the present invention, by forming a connection member formed on the upper substrate to correspond to the area of the touch cell, it is possible to minimize the application area of the ITO in the upper substrate, thereby improving the transmittance of the touch panel There is.

In addition, according to the present invention, the conductive pad or the contact member is formed in a localized region in the touch cell, thereby improving the transmittance of the touch panel.

In addition, according to the present invention, by providing a conductive spacer spaced apart from the conductive pad, the touch can be detected even when the second substrate is smooth, which allows the thickness of the glass substrate to be selected to be thicker. As well as ensuring the stable operation of the effect is to expect a longer life.

In addition, according to the present invention, the first conductive pad and the second conductive pad are disposed on mutually opposing substrates, and the conductive lines are configured to energize the two conductive pads with a plurality of conductive spacers, thereby providing the signal lines and the conductive pads disposed on the opposing substrates. By overlapping with each other, the transmittance of the touch panel is further improved.

Furthermore, the control ICs used in the present invention do not drive a load, unlike a gate IC or a source IC of a display device such as an LCD or an AD converter used in a conventional touch panel, and thus only transmit and receive a signal, thereby driving the IC itself. It requires only minimal power consumption. In particular, the receiving control IC has little current consumption when receiving a signal with high impedance (Hi-impedance). A portable terminal such as a cellular phone is an important factor to improve portability and requires minimization of current consumption. When the touch panel of the present invention is applied to a portable terminal, the use of a battery can be extended more than other touch panels. Has

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

First, the present invention relates to a touch panel installed in addition to an upper surface of a display device such as LCD, PDP, OLED, etc., and relates to a touch panel that detects contact of a human body or an object and generates a position signal corresponding to a touch point. will be. Although the touch panel of the present invention is provided separately from the display device and installed on the upper surface of the display device, signal lines, control ICs, TFTs, etc., which are internal components, include gate lines, data lines, and drive ICs of display devices such as LCDs and AMOLEDs. , The same or similar rules as the TFTs are installed. Of course, these components are similar in appearance but differ in actual function and function.

In the drawings, thicknesses or regions are enlarged in order to clearly express various layers and regions. The same reference numerals are used for similar parts throughout the specification. When a part of a layer, film, region, substrate, etc. is said to be "on top" or "top" of another part, this includes not only the other part "right over" but also another part in the middle. On the contrary, when a part is “just above” another part, there is no other part in the middle.

Now, a touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a touch panel according to the present invention, schematically showing the basic structure of the touch panel of the present invention. As illustrated, the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 are disposed to face each other on the upper surface of the display device 20. Both the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 may be made of transparent glass, plastic, or film. Of course, it may be formed of another material having a light transmittance.

Preferably, a glass substrate or a plastic substrate is used as the lower substrate 22, and a film is used as the upper substrate 24.

 Signal lines are wired on the upper surface of the lower substrate 22, and similarly to conventional display devices, a transmission control IC 71 and a position detection signal for transmitting a position detection signal and a control signal are located at the edge of the lower substrate 22. A reception control IC 72 for receiving a signal may be mounted in the form of a chip on film (COF) or a chip on glass (COG). The signal of the transmitting and receiving control IC 71 and the receiving control IC 72 may be located outside the touch panel and may be transmitted to the lower substrate 22 through a flexible circuit board such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC). .

Since the touch panel of the present invention applies the position detection signal and the control signal through the transmission control IC 71 and receives the position detection signal through the reception control IC 72, the touch panel can be connected to the transmission control IC 71. The credit control IC 72 may be integrated and installed in one chip, and may be mounted in a narrow space of the touch panel, thereby increasing the occupancy rate of the active area where the touch is generated. On the other hand, the outgoing control IC 71 and the credit control IC 72 described in the following figures are displayed separately from each other, but only conceptually.

Next, the structure of the touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the touch cell 65 of the present invention is formed on the lower substrate 22, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a unit touch cell formed on the lower substrate 22. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the touch panel, in which the upper substrate 24 and the spacer are added to the cross-sectional view taken along the line II′-II-II ′ of the unit touch cell.

Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the touch cell 65 is shown at a resolution of 3 × 3. This is exemplified on the assumption that the touch cell 65 has a resolution of 3 × 3 to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, and may be implemented with higher resolution in practice. Embodiments to be described below will also be described by exemplifying a touch cell 65 having a resolution of 3 × 3.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a touch panel includes a lower substrate 22 including a touch cell 65 including a signal line, a switching element, and a pair of conductive pads, an upper substrate 24 facing the lower substrate, and a lower substrate. It consists of a plurality of spacers 48 (Spacers) spaced apart from the 22 and the upper substrate 24 by a predetermined interval.

 The spacer 48 is made of an insulator having a predetermined elasticity, and the ball spacer 48a in contact with the cloud between the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24, or one end of the spacer 48 is patterned and fixed to one of the substrates. The other end is a pattern spacer 48b which is in contact with or bonded to the opposing substrate, and two spacers may be used together.

The lower substrate 22 is formed of glass or plastic and the like, and the upper substrate 24 is formed of glass or plastic or film, but is preferably formed of a film. The lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 are joined by an adhesive tape 16.

The first signal line 32, the scan signal line 36, and the off signal line 38 extending mainly in the horizontal direction are disposed on the upper surface of the lower substrate 22, and the second signal line 34 is disposed in the vertical direction. This is merely a preferred embodiment, where the first signal line 32, the scan signal line 36 and the off signal line 38 may be located in the vertical direction and the second signal line 34 may be located in the horizontal direction.

A three-terminal first switching element 50 is installed between the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, the input terminal is connected to the first signal line 32, and the output terminal is connected to the second signal line 34. Connected. The first conductive pad 60 is connected to the on / off control terminal of the first switching device 50 and is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 by a predetermined distance to the second conductive pad 62 connected to the scan signal line 36. Is located.

The output terminal of the second switching element 52 is connected to the first conductive pad 60, the input terminal of the second switching element 52 is connected to the off signal line 38, and the on / off control terminal is connected to the first signal line ( 32).

A pair of conductive pads including the first signal line 32, the second signal line 34, the scan signal line 36 and the off signal line 38, and the two conductive pads 60 and 62, the first switching element 50, and The second switching element 52 forms a unit touch cell and operates as a minimum unit for detecting a touch position.

The three-terminal switching element is preferably a TFT. The three-terminal switching element can stably block the flow of signals and interference between signals by controlling the opening and closing of the switch by using a signal applied to the gate terminal, which is an on / off control terminal, and has been proven in LCD or AMOLED. It has the advantage of being an element.

Hereinafter, a TFT will be described as an example of a switching element, and the same reference numerals as those of the switching element are used for the TFT.

The second TFT 52 has an input terminal 40 (or a source terminal) connected to the off signal line 38, a gate terminal 42 connected to the first signal line 32, and an output terminal 41 (or drain). Terminal) is connected to the first conductive pad 60 and the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50. In the first TFT 50, an input terminal 40 is connected to the first signal line 32 and an output terminal 41 is connected to the second signal line 34.

On the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 and the second TFT 52 there is a gate insulating film 44 made of silicon nitride (SiNx) or the like, and the gate insulating film 44 overlaps the gate terminal 42 and the source terminal ( An active layer 46 forming a channel between the 40 and the drain terminal 41 is provided. The active layer 46 is formed such that the source terminal 40 and the drain terminal 41 overlap each other. The active layer 46 is made of a material such as silicide or n + hydrogenated amorphous silicon doped with high concentration of n-type impurities, and a plurality of ohmic contacts for the source terminal 40 and the drain terminal 41. An ohmic contact layer 47 is further formed. The active layer 46 is formed of hydrogenated amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon, or the like. The passivation layer 45 is disposed on the source terminal 40 and the drain terminal 41, and the conductive pads 60 and 62 formed of a transparent conductive material such as indium ion oxide (ITO) are disposed on the upper surface of the passivation layer 45. .

In addition, a contact hole 43 is used to connect signal lines located on different layers and to connect the signal lines and the conductive pads 60 and 62, and the contact holes may be formed in various shapes such as polygons or circles. Can be.

The first signal line 32, the second signal line 34, the scan signal line 36, and the off signal line 38 are, for example, aluminum-based metals such as aluminum and aluminum alloys, and silver-based metals such as silver and silver alloys. And copper-based metals such as copper and copper alloys, and molybdenum-based metals such as molybdenum and alloys, and chromium, titanium and tantalum. The first signal line 32, the second signal line 34, the scan signal line 36, and the off signal line 38 are two films of different physical properties, that is, a lower film (not shown) and an upper film (shown thereon). Not). The upper layer may be formed of a low resistivity metal such as aluminum to reduce signal delay or voltage drop of the first signal line 32, the second signal line 34, the scan signal line 36, and the off signal line 38. Al) or an aluminum alloy such as an aluminum alloy. On the other hand, the lower layer is made of a material having excellent contact properties with other materials, in particular ITO (Indium Tion Oxide) and IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide), for example, molybdenum (Mo), molybdenum alloy, chromium (Cr).

In addition, a light blocking layer for blocking light may be provided on the TFTs 50 and 52, and a material used for manufacturing the source terminal 40 or the drain terminal 41 of the TFTs 50 and 52. Alternatively, the material used for manufacturing the gate terminal 42 may be used. This is to prevent the TFTs 50 and 52 from malfunctioning in response to light.

A contact member 64 made of a transparent conductive material is formed on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24. When a body or an object contacts the upper substrate 24 and a predetermined pressure is applied, bending of the upper substrate 24 occurs. The contact member 64 contacts the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 at the same time to energize the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 in the unit touch cell 65. The conductive pads 60 and 62 may be installed to cover the entire area of the touch cell 65. Preferably, the conductive pads 60 and 62 are partitioned in the selected area of the touch cell 65 as shown in FIG. . For example, when the pen tip of the touch pen which is in contact with the outer surface of the upper substrate 24 is about 0.7 mm, and the width of each touch cell is smaller than this, the conductive pads 60 and 62 may be localized to the touch cell 65. Even if only the area is covered, the touch of the finger 22 or the touch pen of the human body can be recognized. In addition, when the conductive pads 60 and 62 are overlapped on the signal lines 32, 34, 36 and 38, the conductive pads 60 and 62 may be partitioned in the opening of the touch cell 65. Since the area of the panel can be minimized, the transmittance of the touch panel can be greatly increased. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the first conductive pad 60 overlaps the scan signal line 36 and the second signal line 34, and the second conductive pad 62 overlaps the second signal line 34. Overlapped signal lines are indicated by dotted lines.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 relating to the overlap between the scan signal line 36 and the second signal line 34 and the conductive pads 60 and 62 is just one example, and the conductive pads 60 and 62 are the first signal line 32. ) And the off signal line 38 may also overlap.

In addition, the conductive pads 60 and 62 may be located outside the signal lines 32, 34, 36, and 38.

 Therefore, in forming the conductive pad, it is desirable to minimize the coating area in the touch cell 65 to greatly increase the transmittance of the touch panel.

In the above configuration, when a human body or an object contacts the upper substrate 24 and bending occurs in the upper substrate 24, the contact member 64 formed on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24 is located on the lower substrate 22 side. The first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 formed on the upper surface are in contact with each other to conduct electricity between the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62. 4, if contact with the upper substrate 24 occurs at the box-shaped portion of the upper right side in FIG. 4, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 60 are contacted by the contact member 64 on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24. The conductive pad 62 is energized. Accordingly, the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 applied to the scan signal line 36 are applied to the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 to turn on the first TFT 50 and transmit the control IC 71. The position detection signal originating from the first signal line 32 is transmitted to the second signal line 34 by the state change from the off state of the first TFT 50 to the on state in the touch cell 65. This is obtained by the receiving control IC 72. Thus, a coordinate value for the point where the touch is generated is obtained. The coordinate values obtained in FIG. 4 are D3 which is the first signal of the third first signal line 32 and S3 which is the second signal of the third second signal line 34. 65).

In such an embodiment, the states of the first TFT 50 and the second TFT 52 when the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are not energized are as follows. The OFF signal OFF1-OFF3 of the OFF signal line 38 applied from the transmission control IC 71 is about -7V in magnitude and is formed of the first signal line 32 originated from the credit control IC 71. Since the first signal D1-D3 is sufficiently larger than the off signals OFF1-OFF3 and is applied to the gate terminal 42 of the second TFT 52, the second TFT 52 is in an energized state. Accordingly, the low level OFF signals OFF1 to OFF3 applied to the input terminal of the second TFT 52 are applied to the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 through the second TFT 52. 1 TFT 50 is in an off state.

When the touch is generated and the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized, the second TFT 52 has a touch different from the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 applied to the first conductive pad 60. In addition to blocking the transfer to the cell, the potential of the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 is maintained at the potential of the scan signals SCN1-SCN3. This is because the TFT typically has an On resistance (RDS (0n)) on the order of about 10 Mohm.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, signal lines 32, 34, 36, and 38 are vertically and horizontally formed on the upper surface of the lower substrate 22, TFTs 50 and 52 are formed, and the TFTs 50 and 52 are connected to each other. The structure of the connected conductive pads 60 and 62 is almost the same as that of the TFT substrate of LCD or AMOLED. Therefore, the touch panel of the present invention can be manufactured using the production process of the TFT substrate, which has been verified for mass production, as it is, thereby facilitating mass production, realizing stable quality, and enabling low-cost manufacturing. In addition, only the TFT manufacturing process is used in the LCD manufacturing process, and since the liquid crystal process such as the rubbing process, the spacer process, the seal process, and the liquid crystal injection process and the color filter are not used, the manufacturing cost is significantly reduced compared to the LCD process. The yield can also be dramatically reduced due to process shortening. This can be applied not only to LCD but also to established processes such as AMOLED.

In the touch panel of the present invention, since the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 applied to the second conductive pad 62 are transmitted to the first conductive pad 60 to detect the touch position, Means for transmitting a signal to the first conductive pad 60 is required, which is made by the contact member 64 on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24.

The contact member 64 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tion Oxide) or Carbon Nano Tube. Since a separate signal does not need to be applied to the contact member 64, it is necessary to form a means for connecting with the control device 18 to receive a signal or an electrode 10 for transmitting a signal to the contact member. none. In addition, since only a pair of conductive pads 60 and 62 of the touch cell 65 are required to be energized, there is no need to have a specific resistance value, and thus the manufacturing is simple, reducing the cost and improving the yield. There is an advantage.

In addition, the contact member 64 is in contact with the individual touch cell 65, it can be formed in various embodiments. 8 to 11 show examples in which the contact member 64 is formed on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24 in the present invention, and shows a planar configuration of the lower substrate 22 for better understanding, and the contact member 64 is dotted. Added.

The contact member 64 may be formed to cover the entire lower substrate 22 as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, although the process of forming the contact member 64 on the upper substrate 24 is simple, it is possible to predict the result that the transmittance decreases. In order to solve the phenomenon in which the transmittance is lowered by the contact member 64 as described above, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, a partition may be formed corresponding to the region where the touch cell 65 is formed.

9 shows that the contact member 64 is formed by partitioning the touch cells 65 in the transverse direction or the longitudinal direction. 10 shows that the contact member 64 is formed by dividing the touch cells 65 in units. The embodiment of FIG. 11 is an embodiment in which the contact member 64 is partitioned so as to cover only a selected area of the unit touch cell 65, and is formed diagonally with respect to the pair of conductive pads 60 and 62. This structure improves the transmittance of the touch panel and enables a touch operation even when the precision of bonding is degraded when the upper substrate 24 and the lower substrate 22 are bonded to each other.

As such, forming the contact member 64 to have a minimum area so as to be in contact with the conductive pads 60 and 62 may greatly improve the transmittance to increase the display quality of the display device 20. However, as the area of the contact member 64 is partitioned and formed, the transmittance is greatly improved, whereas the manufacturing process of the upper substrate 24 may be more complicated and the manufacturing cost may be increased, and the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 may be increased. ) More precision is required in the process of aligning and assembling). That is, in the touch panel of the present invention, the contact member 64 may be selected from the embodiments of FIGS.

12 is a plan view showing another example of the conductive pads in the present invention. Referring to this, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are formed in the shape of a sawtooth in which the concave portion 67 and the convex portion 68 are continuous, and the mutual concave portion 67 and the convex portion, respectively. 68 is arranged to engage in a state spaced apart by a predetermined gap. According to this structure, since the area where the conductive pads 60 and 62 are in contact with the contact member 64 is increased, the conductive pads 60 and 62 can be stably energized. Although not described in the present embodiment, embodiments having various shapes may be included in the technical idea of the present invention to broaden the engagement area of the pair of conductive pads 60 and 62.

The touch panel of the present invention is proportional to the size of the display device 20 and is preferably designed to have the same resolution as that of the unit pixel of the display device 20 capable of the touch cell 65.

For example, if the touch panel of the present invention is applied to a 22-inch LCD, the touch cell 65 will have a resolution of 1366x768 or 1920x1080, as is the resolution of the unit pixel of the LCD. The resolution of 1366x768 means that 1366 touch cells 65 are arranged horizontally and 768 touch cells 65 are arranged vertically.

Of course, the touch cell 65 may be configured with a resolution reduced by an integer ratio compared to the unit pixel of the LCD.

As such, when the resolution of the touch cell 65 is reduced to the same resolution as the unit pixel of the display device 20 or at an integer ratio, the first signal line 32, the second signal line 34, and the scan signal line 36 of the touch panel are reduced. And the off signal line 38 may be positioned on the same vertical line as the gate line and the data line of the LCD. As such, when the signal lines of the touch panel are positioned on the same vertical line as the signal lines of the TFT substrate of the LCD, the transmittance of the touch panel is improved to improve the display quality of the display device 20, and the moiré appears as a wave pattern due to interference between the signal lines. The phenomenon can be prevented.

On the other hand, Figure 13 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the diffusion sheet is installed, the embodiment shown provides another method for preventing the moiré phenomenon. Referring to FIG. 13, a diffusion sheet 90 may be further disposed between the display device 20 and the touch panel. When the diffusion sheet is provided between the display device 20 and the touch panel as described above, the moiré phenomenon can be prevented by the diffusion effect of the diffusion sheet 90 even if the wiring of the display device and the wire of the touch panel are not located vertically on the same line. Can be.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a signal line configuration of a touch panel for removing moiré, and provides another means for removing moiré. FIG. Referring to FIG. 14, when the touch panel of the present invention is coupled to an upper surface of the display device 20, only a pair of wires of a plurality of signal lines wired to the display device under the touch panel are extracted to be connected to the signal lines of the touch panel. The interrelationship of moiré is illustrated. Therefore, in the present embodiment, although the pair of signal lines 96 and 98 of the display device 20 are illustrated, the same effect is applied to the plurality of signal lines of the display device 20.

 The horizontal line added with a dotted line is the horizontal signal line 96 of the display device, and the vertical line added with a dotted line is the longitudinal signal line 98 of the display device. The first signal line 32, the second signal line 34, the scan signal line 36, and the off signal line 38, which are signal lines of the touch panel, have a predetermined angle with respect to the signal lines 96 and 98 of the display device 20. It is arranged in an oblique direction, and is preferably 45 degrees. This prevents the moiré phenomenon by preventing the signal lines of the touch panel from overlapping in the same direction with the gate signal lines and the data signal lines of the display device 20. If the signal lines of the display device 20 are arranged diagonally, the signal lines of the touch panel may be arranged in a straight line.

15 is a block diagram illustrating the system configuration of the present invention, and is composed of a position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 and a touch position detection unit 80. The position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 applies the position detection signals D1-D3 to the first signal line 32, applies the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 to the scan signal line 36, and applies the off signal line 38 to the off signal line 38. In addition to applying the OFF signals (OFF1-OFF3) and receiving the position detection signal from the second signal line 34, the above-described transmitting control IC 71, receiving control IC 72, and timing controller 73 ), The signal processor 74, and the memory means 75 may include the power supply terminal 76. The touch position detecting unit 80 obtains the coordinate value of the touch position by communicating with the position detecting signal transmitting and receiving unit 70 and is composed of components such as a CPU. The touch position detector 80 may be included in one chip in combination with the position detection signal transceiver 70, may be configured in a separate chip, and may be installed separately from the position detection signal transceiver 70.

The scan signal lines 36 may all have the same level of voltage. In this case, the scan signal lines 36 may be connected to each other in the touch panel to form an equipotential. Accordingly, the number of scan signal lines 36 originating from the transmitting control IC 71 and connected to the scan signal lines 36 of the touch panel is greatly reduced, which is the number of output terminals of the transmitting control IC 71. By reducing the size of the outgoing control IC (71) it is possible to reduce the cost. In addition, when the scan signal line 36 of the touch panel forms an equipotential, the scan signal line 36 may be supplied from the outside of the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70.

On the other hand, the off signals OFF1 through OFF3 applied through the off signal line 38 may also be configured with voltages having the same potential having the same level. As such, when the OFF signals OFF1 to OFF3 are configured at the equipotential, the number of the off signal lines 38 connected to the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 as described above is reduced in number, and the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 The off signal line 38 can be applied.

In the present embodiment, description will be given by taking an example in which the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 and the OFF signals OFF1-OFF3 are provided by the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70.

The timing controller 73 of FIG. 15 generates a time division signal of several tens of ms or less, and the signal processor 74 scans each first signal line 32 and scans through the transmission control IC 71 as shown in FIG. The time-divided position detection signal is applied to the signal line 36 and the off signals OFF1 to OFF3 are applied to the off signal line 38.

16 is a waveform diagram illustrating an example of obtaining a touch signal in the embodiment of FIG. 15. Referring to this, a section t1 to t2 is a section for detecting touch operation of the first transverse touch cells, a section t2 to t3 is a section for detecting touch cells in the second transverse direction, and t3 to t4 are three sections. It is a signal section for detecting the first transverse touch cells. The detection period in each section is "T". The first signals D1-D3 are scan signals periodically supplied from the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 and apply a position detection signal to the first TFT 50. The first signal D1-D3 is 5 V in the touch detection section and 12 V in the non-touch detection section, and the OFF signal OFF1-OFF3 is the first signal. Since the voltage applied to the input terminal 40 of the 2TFT 52 is always -7V, the second TFT 52 is always turned on by 5V and 12V which are the first signals D1 -D3.

The scan signals SCN1-SCN3 are applied to the second conductive pads 62 and are transmitted to the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 when the pair of conductive pads 60, 62 are energized by the touch. And a signal for turning on the first TFT 50, which is 12V in the embodiment of the present invention. The scan signals SCN1-SCN3 may be signals that are periodically scanned, such as SCN1 or SCN2, but may always remain high like SCN3.

If it is assumed that a touch operation occurs in the touch cell 65 at the lower right of FIG. 15, this is a signal period of t3 to t4 of FIG. 16, and a process of acquiring a touch signal is as follows. When t3 to t4 are touch detection sections, the first signal D3 is applied to the gate terminal 42 of the second TFT 52 having a magnitude of 5V of t3 to t4. Since the off voltage of -7V is applied to the input terminal 40 of the second TFT 52, the second TFT 52 is turned on and the off voltage of -7V is transmitted to the gate terminal of the first TFT 50. Since the first TFT 50 is turned off due to the off voltage applied to the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50, the first signal D3 may not be output through the second signal line 34. On the other hand, a scan voltage of 12V is applied to the second conductive pad 62. When the pressure is applied to the upper substrate 24 by the touch means and the bending occurs in the second substrate, the contact member 64 below the upper substrate 24 is connected to the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive substrate of the lower substrate. The pad 62 is turned on, 12V, which is a scan voltage of the second conductive pad 62, is transmitted to the gate terminal of the first TFT 50, and OFF3, which is an off voltage, is generated by the RDS (on) of the second TFT 52. Is blocked. Accordingly, the first TFT 50 is turned on by the scan voltage SCN3 and the first signal D3 transmitted to the input terminal of the first TFT 50 is transmitted to the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 through the second signal line 34. Is transmitted to detect the touch position. In one embodiment, the second signal S3 is a digital signal that determines only the high and low magnitudes of the signal. In the present embodiment, since the S3 signal is captured by the D3 signal, the touch coordinates are (D3, S3), and since the touch cells 65 can be distinguished spatially and temporally, multi-touch is possible.

Meanwhile, the operation of the section in which the touch does not occur is as follows. The first signal D1-D3 is 5V in the touch detection section, but is 12V in the touch non-detection section and is applied to the input terminal of the first TFT 50. As described above, in the touch cell 65 in which no touch occurs, the second TFT 52 is in an on state and an off voltage of −7 V is applied to the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 so that the first TFT 50 is applied. ) Is off. When the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 are periodically high like SCN1 or SCN2 or are always high like SCN3, when a touch occurs, the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 are in contact with the first conductive pad 60. Since it is applied to the contact member 64 by the contact with 64, the scan signals SCN1-SCN3 can be applied to all the second conductive pads 62. Accordingly, a voltage of 12V may be applied to the gate terminal of the first TFT 50 with respect to the multi-touch input by the touch means. However, since the voltages applied to the input terminal 40 and the gate terminal 42 of the first TFT 50 are all 12V, the voltage applied to the input terminal 40 is greater than the voltage applied to the gate terminal 42. The first TFT 50 is turned on only when the voltage is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage. However, the first TFT 50 is not turned on because the voltage is the same voltage, and thus the signal is not shipped to the second signal line 34.

There may be a pause for signal stabilization or reset in the interval between these signals.

In the process of processing a large number of signals, when the touch position detector 80 is in a “Busy” state, a case where the position detection signal is not recognized may occur. Touch signals that are not already recognized cannot be reproduced again, which results in loss of the signal and can lead to reduced reliability of the touch panel.

In order to prevent this, the position detection signal transmitting and receiving unit 70 is provided with a memory means 75 having more than the number of bits of the touch cell (65). Preferably, the memory means 75 has an absolute address corresponding to the coordinate value of the touch cell 65, as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the memory means 75 has a capacity of at least 9 bits, and the position detection signal received by the position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 is stored at the address “m9” as coordinate values “D3, S3”. . The signals thus stored may be called and used by the touch position detector 80. For example, after the touch position detection unit 80 scans the transmission signal, the touch position detection unit 80 reads the memory means 75 to check whether there is a missing signal. If the resolution of the touch cell 65 is 1366x768, the memory means 75 needs a capacity of at least 1049088 bits or more and secures a capacity of about 132k bytes.

FIG. 18 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention having the basic structure of FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the gate terminal 42 of the second TFT 52 is connected to the first signal line 32. In FIG. 18, the position detection signal is illustrated in FIG. The gate terminal 42 of the second TFT 52 is connected to the switching signal line 39 provided outside the transmission / reception section 70 or the position detection signal transmission / reception section 70. In this configuration, since the power applied to the gate terminal 42 of the second TFT 52 is not linked to the first signals D1-D3, it can be supplied as a single power supply, so that the gate terminal 42 of the second TFT 52 is provided. ), The voltage applied to the circuit can be kept low. In addition, as will be described later, the first conductive pad 60 and the signal lines connected thereto and the second conductive pad and the scan signal lines connected thereto can be separated, respectively, so that they can be separately installed on the upper substrate 24 and the lower substrate 22. There is an advantage.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lower substrate 22 is composed of a glass substrate. This is because signal lines can be wired and conductive pads can be easily connected to the signal lines using the manufacturing process of the display device 20 as it is. If all signal lines are wired to the lower substrate 22 and the control ICs are mounted, the upper substrate 24 is relatively free from component mounting, and thus the film substrate can be selected as the upper substrate 24. .

When the film is selected as the upper substrate 24, since the film has a flexible nature, a larger number of ball spacers 25a should be disposed between the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24. In addition, a plurality of pattern spacers 25b may be mixed to maintain a stable gap. When the film substrate is used as the upper substrate 24, since the flexibility of the film is excellent, it is possible to ensure stable contact between the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24. However, since the film substrate has a weak surface strength and is used for a long time by a sharp object such as a pen, scratching is inevitable and deterioration of display quality may be caused.

When the glass substrate is selected as the upper substrate 24, the number of spacers 48 may be reduced as compared with the case where the film substrate is selected. However, since the glass substrate is inferior in flexibility, it is difficult to guarantee a stable touch, and when the thickness of the glass substrate is thinner as in the prior art, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and structurally weak.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 19 shows embodiments that ensure a stable contact between the lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 without making the thickness of the glass substrate too thin when the glass substrate is selected.

In addition, the above-described embodiments illustrate that the contact member 64 is formed by applying ITO to the lower surface of the upper substrate 24 as the conductor for conducting the conductive pads, but the embodiment of FIG. 19 illustrates the upper substrate ( 24 shows an embodiment in which conductive pads are energized without applying ITO or the like.

Referring to FIG. 19, instead of forming the transparent conductive layer on the lower surface of the upper substrate 24, it can be seen that a patterned conductive spacer 48c is installed. For convenience, one conductive spacer 48c is illustrated. In practice, a plurality of electric spacers 48c are used. The conductive layer 63 is formed by applying or coating a transparent conductor such as ITO to the end of the conductive spacer 48c. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 19, the conductive spacer 48c is disposed such that an end thereof is spaced apart from the conductive pads, and the first conductive pad 60 and the first conductive pad 60 are formed when the upper substrate 24 is bent. It is arrange | positioned in a suitable position so that 2 conductive pads 62 may be energized. Alignment of the upper substrate 24 will be a very important process for the arrangement of the electrically conductive spacer 48c.

In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 20, when the upper substrate 24 is pressed by the finger 19 or the like, the upper substrate 24 is bent downward, and the conductive spacer 48c contacts the conductive pads. The first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized by the conductive layer 63 formed outside the conductive spacer 48c. At this time, as shown in FIG. 20, the upper substrate 24 is gently curved to conduct electricity of the conductive pads. This makes it possible to ensure stable energization of the conductive pads even when the glass substrate is used as the upper substrate 24, even if the glass is not too thinly polished or etched to give the glass substrate flexibility.

21 is a contact member 64 formed on the upper substrate 24 as another embodiment of FIG. 19, and the first conductive pad 60 and the conductive layer 48 are formed by the conductive spacer 48c and the conductive layer 63. In this embodiment, the second conductive pad 62 is energized. A plurality of conductive spacers 48c are provided on the upper surfaces of the first conductive pads 60 and the second conductive pads 62, and the plurality of conductive spacers 48c are formed of the conductive layer 63 and the contact member 64. Are electrically connected to each other by Therefore, when the upper substrate 24 is pressed by a means such as the hand 19, the electrical contact of the conductive pads 60 and 62 is made by the plurality of conductive spacers 48c. 20 requires a rigorous operation for the alignment of the upper substrate 24 and the lower substrate 22, the embodiment of Figure 21 is relatively easy compared to the embodiment of Figure 20 the two substrates (22, 24) There is an advantage that the sorting operation of.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention, in which a second conductive pad 62 and a scan signal line 36 are positioned on one side of the upper substrate 24, and the first conductive pad 60 is disposed on the opposing substrate. ) And a first TFT 50, a second TFT 52, a first signal line 32, a second signal line 34, and an off signal line 38 are provided to form the touch cell 65. The first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 may be disposed to face each other in the region of the touch cell 65 and may be installed in a partial region of the touch cell 65. The signal lines of the upper substrate 24 and the lower substrate 22 are installed parallel to each other to improve the transmittance of the touch panel. One side of the first conductive pad 60 or the second conductive pad 62 is provided with a plurality of conductive spacers 48c having conductive layers 63 formed thereon, so that two conductive pads 60 and 62 are energized when a touch occurs. Let's do it. In addition, although not shown, a ball spacer 48a coated with a conductor 63 may be installed between the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 to maintain a predetermined space. When the touch is generated, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized.

In FIG. 22, the second conductive pad 62 is installed on the upper substrate 24, but the second conductive pad 62 is installed on the lower substrate 22 and the first conductive pad 60 is also installed on the upper substrate. Can be.

In addition, although not shown, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 22, the signal lines 32, 34, 36, and 38 may be diagonally installed with respect to the signal line of the display device as in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 14 to prevent moiré phenomenon. .

In addition, although not shown, in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 22, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 overlap each other to be installed only in a partial region of the touch cell 65 as shown in FIG. 7. And it has the effect of increasing the transmittance of the touch panel.

In addition, although not shown, in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 22, the scan signal line 36 of the upper substrate 24 overlaps the signal lines 32, 34, 38 of the lower substrate 22 to transmit the touch panel. To increase.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and alterations can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in Esau.

1 is a cross-sectional configuration view showing a conventional resistive touch panel

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a conventional resistive touch panel

3 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a touch panel according to the present invention;

4 is a configuration diagram showing an example in which the touch cell 65 of the present invention is formed on the lower substrate 22.

5 is a view showing an example of the configuration of a unit touch cell formed on the lower substrate 22

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the unit touch cell of FIG. 5 taken along lines II′-II ′.

       The touch illustrated by adding the upper substrate 24 and the spacer

       Profile of panel

7 illustrates the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 in the unit touch cell 65.

       It is a block diagram concerning arrangement.

8 is a configuration diagram showing an example in which the contact member is formed on the upper substrate

9 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example in which a contact member is formed on an upper substrate;

10 is a block diagram showing an example in which the contact member is formed on the upper substrate

11 is partitioned so that the contact member covers only a partial region of the unit touch cell

        Formed Example

12 is a plan view showing another example of the conductive pad

Figure 13 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the diffusion sheet is installed

14 illustrates an embodiment of a signal line configuration of a touch panel for removing moiré.

       Illustrated Configuration

15 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of the present invention.

16 is a waveform diagram illustrating an example of obtaining a touch signal in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

17 is a block diagram conceptually showing one embodiment of a memory means;

18 is yet another embodiment of the present invention with the basic structure shown in FIG.

19 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

20 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the upper substrate is pressed in the embodiment of FIG.

21 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of FIG.

22 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention

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

19: finger 20: display device

22: lower substrate 24: upper substrate

32: first signal line 34: second signal line

36: scan signal line 38: off signal line

39: switching signal line 40: source terminal

41: drain terminal 42: gate terminal

43: contact hole 44: gate insulating film

45: protective film 46: active layer

47: Ohmic contact layer 48; Spacer

48a: Ball spacer 48b: Pattern spacer

48c: electrically conductive spacer 50: first switching element

52: second switching element 60: first conductive pad

62: second conductive pad 63: conductive layer

64 contact member 65 touch cell

67 concave portion 68 convex portion

70: position detection signal transceiver 71: transmission control IC

72: reception control IC 73: timing control unit

74: signal processor 75: memory means

76: power stage 80: touch position detection unit

90: diffusion sheet 96: transverse signal line of display device

98: longitudinal signal line of the display device

Claims (26)

In the touch panel is installed on the upper surface of the display device 20 to detect a contact of a human body or an object to generate a signal corresponding to the corresponding position, A lower substrate 22 and an upper substrate 24 made of a light transmissive material and disposed to be spaced apart from each other by a spacer 48; A plurality of first signal lines 32, second signal lines 34, scan signal lines 36, and off signal lines 38 disposed on the lower substrate 22; It is formed on the lower substrate 22 and is divided into a plurality of active regions in which a touch is made, and is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 and the first conductive pad 60 by a predetermined interval in each divided region. An input terminal and an output terminal connected to each of the second conductive pads 62 disposed on the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, and connected to the scan signal line 36. The first switching element 50 of the three-terminal type connected to the gate terminal, and the input terminal is connected to the off signal line 38, the output terminal is connected to the gate terminal of the first switching element 50 A touch cell 65 having a three-terminal second switching element 52 having a gate terminal connected to one signal line 32; A conductor formed on the upper substrate 24 and contacting the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 to conduct two conductive pads when a pressure type touch input is generated on the upper substrate 24; Position for receiving the position detection signal from the second signal line 34 when the position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 32 and the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized. Detection signal transmitting and receiving unit 70; And And a touch position detecting unit (80) connected to the position detecting signal transmitting and receiving unit (70) and obtaining a coordinate value of the touch cell (65) touched from the received position detecting signal. In the touch panel is installed on the upper surface of the display device 20 to detect a contact of a human body or an object to generate a signal corresponding to the corresponding position, A lower substrate 22 and an upper substrate 24 made of a light transmissive material and disposed to be spaced apart from each other by a spacer 48; A plurality of first signal lines 32, second signal lines 34, scan signal lines 36, off signal lines 38 and switching signal lines 39 disposed on the lower substrate 22; It is formed on the lower substrate 22 and is divided into a plurality of active regions in which a touch is made, and is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 and the first conductive pad 60 by a predetermined interval in each divided region. An input terminal and an output terminal connected to each of the second conductive pads 62 disposed on the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, and connected to the scan signal line 36. The first switching element 50 of the three-terminal type having a gate terminal connected thereto, the input terminal is connected to the off signal line 38, the output terminal is connected to the gate terminal of the first switching device 50 and the switching A touch cell 65 having a three-terminal second switching element 52 having a gate terminal connected to the signal line 39; A conductor formed on the upper substrate 24 and contacting the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 to conduct two conductive pads when a pressure type touch input is generated on the upper substrate 24; Position for receiving the position detection signal from the second signal line 34 when the position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 32 and the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are energized. Detection signal transmitting and receiving unit 70; And And a touch position detecting unit (80) connected to the position detecting signal transmitting and receiving unit (70) and obtaining a coordinate value of the touch cell (65) touched from the received position detecting signal. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The upper substrate 24 is a touch panel, characterized in that made of a film material. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The lower substrate 22 and the upper substrate 24 is bonded by the adhesive tape 16, characterized in that the touch panel. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The position detection signal transmitting and receiving unit (70) is characterized in that to sequentially apply the scan pulse to each of the first signal line (32). The method according to claim 1 or 2, The first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are formed to overlap one of the signal lines 32, 34, 36, 38, and 39 adjacent to each touch cell 65. Touch panel. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The conductor is a touch panel, characterized in that the contact member (64) formed by applying a transparent conductor on the lower surface of the upper substrate (24). The method of claim 7, wherein The touch member 64 is a touch panel, characterized in that formed by partitioning each of the at least one touch cell (65) so as to be electrically insulated from other neighboring contact member (64). The method of claim 8, In each touch cell 65, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 60 are arranged side by side in the same diagonal direction, and the contact member 64 is formed of the first conductive pad 60 and the first conductive pad 60. The touch panel, characterized in that disposed in an oblique direction crossing the second conductive pad (62). The method according to claim 1 or 2, In each touch cell 65, the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are each formed in a concave-convex shape in which the concave portion 67 and the convex portion 68 are continuous. (60) and the second conductive pad (62) is a touch panel, characterized in that the mutual concave portion (67) and the convex portion (68) is arranged to be engaged. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The display device 20 is a display device in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix form, and the touch cell 65 is disposed at the same resolution as the unit pixel of the display device 20 or reduced in an integer ratio, and the signal line 32 , 34, 36, 38, and 39 are wired to have a pitch that is the same as the signal line of the display device 20 or extends at an integer ratio, and at least one of the signal lines 32, 34, 36, 38, and 39 is connected to the display device 20. The touch panel, characterized in that disposed on the same vertical line as the signal line. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And a diffusion sheet (90) between the display device (20) and the lower substrate (22). The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the signal lines (32, 34, 36, 38, 39) are arranged in an oblique direction with a predetermined angle with respect to the signal lines of the display device (20). The method according to claim 1 or 2, The position detection signal transmission / reception unit (70) uses a digital detection method for determining a touch position by checking a high / low level of the position detection signal received from the second signal line (34). The method according to claim 1 or 2, The position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 further includes a memory means 75 having addresses corresponding to the coordinate values of the touch cell 65. When the position detection signal is received, the coordinate value of the corresponding touch cell 65 is received. To a corresponding address of the memory means (75). The method according to claim 1 or 2, One end of the conductor is fixedly installed on a lower surface of the upper substrate 24, and the other end of the conductor is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62, and the other end of the conductive layer 63. The formed touch panel is a spacer 48c. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The conductor is a contact member 64 formed by applying a transparent conductor to the lower surface of the upper substrate 24, one end is fixed to the upper substrate 24, the other end is spaced apart from the lower substrate 22 The conductive spacers 48c are disposed, and the plurality of conductive spacers 48c are formed in a plurality of unit touch cells 65 and have conductive layers 63 electrically connected to the contact member 64 at the other end thereof. Touch panel characterized in that. In the touch panel is installed on the upper surface of the display device 20 to detect a contact of a human body or an object to generate a signal corresponding to the corresponding position, A lower substrate 22 and an upper substrate 24 made of a light transmissive material and disposed to be spaced apart from each other by a spacer 48; A plurality of first signal lines 32, second signal lines 34, and off signal lines 38 disposed on the lower substrate 22 or the upper substrate 24; A plurality of scan signal lines 36 disposed on a substrate facing the substrate on which the signal lines 32, 34, 38 are formed; A first conductive pad 60 formed on the lower substrate 22 or the upper substrate 24 in each of the divided regions, and the first conductive pad ( An input terminal and an output terminal are formed on a second conductive pad 62 formed on a substrate facing the substrate on which the substrate 60 is formed and connected to the scan signal line 36, and on the first signal line 32 and the second signal line 34, respectively. A first terminal switching device 50 having a three-terminal type and a gate terminal connected to the first conductive pad 60 and an input terminal connected to the off signal line 38 are connected to the first switching device 50. A touch cell (65) having a three-terminal second switching element (52) having an output terminal connected to a gate terminal of the gate terminal and a gate terminal connected to the first signal line (32); The position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 32, and a pressure type touch input is generated on the upper substrate 24 so that the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 are in contact with each other. A position detection signal transmission / reception unit 70 for receiving a position detection signal from the second signal line 34; And And a touch position detecting unit (80) connected to the position detecting signal transmitting and receiving unit (70) and obtaining a coordinate value of the touch cell (65) touched from the received position detecting signal. The method of claim 18, One conductive pad of the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 may be spaced apart from other conductive pads of an opposing substrate, and a conductive spacer 48c having a conductive layer 63 disposed outside thereof. ) Is installed, the touch panel. The method of claim 18, One of the conductive pads of the first conductive pad 60 and the second conductive pad 62 may be spaced apart from the other conductive pads of the opposing substrate, and the ball spacer 48a having the conductive layer 63 formed outside may be provided. Touch panel, characterized in that the installation. The method of claim 18, The signal line (32, 34, 36, 38) is a touch panel, characterized in that arranged in an oblique direction having a predetermined angle with respect to the signal line of the display device (20). delete delete delete delete delete

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