KR100994103B1 - Touch Panel For Window And Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to form a thin electrode of the upper substrate constituting the touch panel to reduce the overall thickness of the touch panel to improve the optical characteristics, excellent operating load and writing feeling A slip type window touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same.

Touch panel, ITO film, icon sheet, UV adhesive

Description

Window Touch Panel and Manufacturing Method Thereof {Touch Panel For Window And Method Thereof}

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to form a thin electrode of the upper substrate constituting the touch panel to reduce the overall thickness of the touch panel to improve the optical characteristics, excellent operating load and writing feeling A slip type window touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same.

In particular, the present invention can be applied to various electronic products such as mobile phones and PDAs of a touch screen input method.

The touch panel is actively applied to all display devices due to its convenience as an input means for inputting predetermined information corresponding to the display by pressing a display displayed on the panel.

In general, the touch panel extracts coordinates of a portion pressed on the touch panel by capacitive type, resistive film type, surface ultrasonic type, infrared type, and inputs information.

Here, the resistive film is formed by coating a resistive material on a glass or transparent plastic substrate and covering the film coated with the resistive material thereon, and insulating spacers are installed at regular intervals so that the two surfaces do not touch each other. The two surfaces are connected to each other when they are in contact with each other. It is a method of recognizing the pressed position from the degree of change of the voltage.

1A is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a conventional resistive touch panel.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a conventional window touch panel has a structure (FFFP type) in which three films and one sheet are laminated with an optical adhesive.

More specifically, the upper substrate 110, the PC substrate 121, and the ITO film 123 to which the icon sheet (H / C PET Film) 113 and the ITO film 111 are bonded by the optical adhesive 112 are optically attached. It consists of a lower substrate 120 bonded by an adhesive 122, the upper substrate and the lower substrate is bonded by a double-sided tape 130 to form a window touch panel.

In addition, the insulating spacer 140 is formed at a predetermined interval between the upper substrate 110 and the lower substrate 120.

However, the conventional window touch panel, including three films and one sheet (four films and sheets in total), has a thicker overall panel, which does not meet the trend of developing small electronic products such as mobile phones requiring slippage. There was a problem.

In order to solve the above problems, as shown in FIG. 1B, a method of directly forming the ITO electrode 124 by sputtering on the plastic substrate 121 to reduce the thickness of the lower substrate (hereinafter referred to as “FFP type”) has been developed. .

However, the conventional FFP type can slip the lower substrate to reduce the thickness of the entire panel, but the upper substrate still has a considerable thickness like the conventional FFFP type, so there is a limit to reducing the panel thickness.

In addition, conventionally, a double-sided tape (OCA tape), which is an optical adhesive, was mainly used for laminating the substrate and the film, but the double-sided tape has a defect in foreign materials, unstable handling, poor workability, and high cost. There is a problem that unit prices rise.

In addition, since bubbles are generated during lamination due to the printing step, there is a problem in that the efficiency of the process is lowered because the bubble removing process should be added.

In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to form a thin electrode of the upper substrate constituting the touch panel to reduce the overall thickness of the touch panel to improve the optical characteristics, excellent operating load and writing feeling The present invention provides a slip-type window touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same.

In addition, the present invention provides a slip-type window touch panel and a method for manufacturing the same, which can increase yield by improving adhesion between the upper substrate and the lower substrate, and reduce product cost and shorten the process.

In order to achieve the above object, the window touch panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a window touch panel formed by combining an upper substrate and a lower substrate, wherein the upper substrate has an icon sheet transferred onto an upper surface of the first electrode. Characterized in that formed.

Here, the upper substrate may include a hard coating layer on which an icon sheet is printed on the first electrode and the first electrode, and an adhesive layer on which the first electrode layer and the hard coating layer are laminated. Here, the adhesive layer may be composed of a thermocompression adhesive or a UV adhesive.

Meanwhile, in the window touch panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded to each other, wherein the upper substrate has a first electrode on the first substrate on which an icon sheet is printed on the rear surface. It is characterized by being formed by the sputtering method.

Here, the first substrate is characterized in that formed of one selected from glass, plastic, acrylic.

The first electrode may be formed of a transparent conductive electrode.

Meanwhile, in the method of manufacturing a window touch panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a window touch panel in which an upper substrate and a lower substrate are bonded to each other, the manufacturing method of the upper substrate is to print an icon sheet on a release film. And transferring the release film on which the icon sheet is printed on an upper surface of the first electrode.

The transferring of the release film on the upper surface of the first electrode may include forming a hard coating layer by hard coating a release film, printing an icon sheet on the hard coated release film, and releasing the icon sheet. Forming an adhesive layer on the film, and the step of applying the heat and pressure to the release film and the first electrode on which the adhesive layer is formed, characterized in that it comprises a step of peeling the release film.

Forming the adhesive layer is characterized in that using a thermocompression adhesive or a UV adhesive.

Meanwhile, in the method of manufacturing a window touch panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a window touch panel in which an upper substrate and a lower substrate are bonded to each other, the method of manufacturing the upper substrate is an icon sheet on the back surface of the first substrate. And printing a first electrode on the first substrate on which the icon sheet is printed by a sputtering method.

Here, after the icon sheet is printed on the back surface of the first substrate, a hard coating process may be further included to suppress outgasing.

The window touch panel according to the present invention reduces the overall thickness of the panel to produce an excellent effect capable of implementing a touch panel having a slip structure.

In addition, by using the UV adhesive can improve the adhesion, operating load and haze (Haze), the excellent effect of improving the yield and lowering the product cost occurs.

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

In general, the touch panel has an insulating spacer formed at regular intervals between the upper substrate and the lower substrate, and when the touch panel is pressed by a hand or a pen, the first electrode of the upper substrate and the second electrode of the lower substrate are shorted and depend on the pressed position. Generate a signal with a current or voltage level.

X-axis electrodes are formed on the lower substrate, and Y-axis electrodes are formed on the upper substrate. The X-axis electrodes and the Y-axis electrodes are connected to signal lines mounted on the flexible circuit board.

A touch screen display device may be manufactured by combining a liquid crystal display panel (not shown) and a backlight unit (not shown) under the touch panel configured as described above.

The driving method of the touch panel as described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art having ordinary knowledge of the present invention, and a detailed description of the driving method will be omitted since it is a part that deviates from the core of the present invention.

<First Embodiment>

2 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2, in the window touch panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the upper substrate 20 and the lower substrate 30 are bonded to each other, and the upper substrate 20 may have an icon sheet. It is transferred to and formed on the upper surface of the first electrode 240. Here, the first electrode 240 may be made of an ITO film as a transparent conductive electrode.

The lower substrate 30 is formed on the second substrate 310 including the second electrode 320 formed by the sputtering method. Here, the second electrode 320 may be formed of a transparent metal oxide coating such as ITO and IZO, which are transparent conductive electrodes.

In addition, the second substrate 310 of the lower substrate 30 may be made of a transparent metal oxide coating such as ITO or IZO, plastic, or reinforced glass.

The manufacturing method of the touch panel comprised as mentioned above is as follows.

3 is a process diagram schematically illustrating a method of manufacturing a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, first, a hard coating (H / C) is applied to the release film 250 to form a hard coating layer 210. Here, the hard coating (H / C) layer may be used an acrylic hard coating (H / C) liquid, it may be composed of a single layer of 2-5um thickness.

Subsequently, an icon sheet is printed on the hard coating layer 210 to form an icon print layer 220. Here, the icon printing layer 220 may be printed by the silk screen method.

In addition, the adhesive layer 230 may be formed on the release film on which the icon printing layer 220 is printed using a thermocompression adhesive or a UV adhesive.

The release film on which the icon sheet is printed is transferred onto the first electrode 240. Here, in the method of transferring the release film on the upper surface of the first electrode 240, after forming the adhesive layer on the release film 250, after bonding the first electrode 240, pressurizing heat and pressure to release the release film 250. Exfoliation to transfer the icon sheet onto the first electrode 240.

As a result, the thickness of the upper substrate 20 can be greatly reduced by transferring the icon sheet onto the first electrode and peeling off the release film 250.

Here, the UV adhesive used in the adhesive layer 230 can improve the operating load increase problem when using the UV resin by ensuring the fluidity at room temperature by adjusting the Tg (oligomer) to 0 ℃ or less.

Table 1 is a table comparing the characteristics of the touch panel when using a UV adhesive according to the invention and a conventional optical adhesive (OCA).

Test Items OCA UV Transmittance 77% 78% Haze 1.50% 0.80% Adhesive strength 1.5Kgf 3Kgf Operating load 10 to 20 g (center) 15 to 20 g (center)

As can be seen from Table 1, the transmittance was similar when using the UV adhesive and the double-sided tape (OCA), but the haze, the adhesive strength and the operating load were improved when the UV adhesive was used. Can be.

 When the upper substrate is completed as described above, the lower substrate is laminated to complete the touch panel. At this time, the upper substrate 20 and the lower substrate 30 is laminated using an adhesive means 40 such as double-sided tape or UV adhesive.

Here, since the manufacturing method of the lower substrate is the same as the conventional FFP type mentioned in the prior art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

&Lt; Embodiment 2 >

4 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a window touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the window touch panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded to each other, and the upper substrate 20 has an icon sheet 270 printed on the rear surface thereof. The first electrode 290 is formed on the first substrate 260 by sputtering.

Here, the first substrate 260 may be formed in the form of a film using a material such as glass, plastic, acrylic, preferably formed of a hard coated plastic film (H / C PET Film), The first electrode may be formed of indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent conductive electrode.

As described above, the manufacturing method of the touch panel is as follows.

5 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method of manufacturing a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, an icon sheet is printed on the back surface of the first substrate 260 to form an icon sheet printing layer 270. Here, the icon sheet may be printed on the back surface of the first substrate 260 by a silk screen method.

The hard coat layer 280 is formed by performing a hard coating treatment on the icon sheet printing layer 270 to suppress outgasing. Here, the hard coating layer 280 may be formed of a single layer having a thickness of 2 ~ 5um using an acrylic hard coating solution.

Subsequently, a first electrode 290 is formed on the hard coat layer 280 by a sputtering method to complete the upper substrate 20.

Here, the thickness of the entire panel can be reduced by forming the electrode of the upper substrate 20 by the sputtering method.

When the upper substrate 20 is completed as described above, the lower substrate 30 is laminated to complete the touch panel. Since the specific lamination method is the same as that of the first embodiment, it will be omitted.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch panel of a conventional FFFP.

1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional FFP type touch panel.

2 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a process diagram schematically illustrating a method of manufacturing a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a window touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a method of manufacturing a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

20: upper substrate 210: hard coating layer

220: icon printing layer 230: adhesive layer

240: first electrode 250: release film

260: first substrate 270: icon printing layer

280: hard coating layer 290: first electrode

30 lower substrate 310 second substrate

320: second electrode 40: bonding means

50: Insulation spacer

Claims (10)

In the window touch panel formed by bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate, The upper substrate is A first substrate; A window touch panel, comprising: an icon sheet formed on a release film and then transferred to an upper surface of the first substrate. In the window touch panel formed by bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate, The upper substrate is A first substrate; An icon sheet printed on the back surface of the first substrate; And a first electrode formed on the icon sheet by a sputtering method. The method of claim 1, The upper substrate is And a hard coating layer between the first substrate and the icon sheet. 3. The method of claim 2, The first substrate is Window touch panel, characterized in that the selected one of glass, plastic, acrylic. 3. The method of claim 2, The upper substrate is And a hard coating layer between the icon sheet and the first electrode. In the window touch panel manufacturing method in which the upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded to each other, The manufacturing method of the upper substrate Forming an icon sheet on the release film; Transferring the icon sheet on the release film on the upper surface of the first electrode, characterized in that it comprises a window touch panel manufacturing method. The method of claim 6, Transferring the icon sheet on the release film on the upper surface of the first substrate Hard coating the release film to form a hard coating layer; Printing an icon sheet on the hard coated release film; Forming an adhesive layer on a release film on which the icon sheet is printed; Bonding the release film and the first substrate on which the adhesive layer is formed by applying heat and pressure; Method of manufacturing a window touch panel comprising the step of peeling the release film. The method of claim 7, wherein Forming the adhesive layer is Method of manufacturing a window touch panel, characterized in that using a thermocompression adhesive or a UV adhesive. In the window touch panel manufacturing method in which the upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded to each other, The manufacturing method of the upper substrate Printing an icon sheet on the back side of the first substrate; Forming a first electrode on the first substrate on which the icon sheet is printed by a sputtering method. The method of claim 9, The method of manufacturing a window touch panel further comprising the step of hard coating to suppress outgasing after printing the icon sheet on the back surface of the first substrate.

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