KR101059382B1 - Capacitive touch panel and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a capacitive touch panel and a method for manufacturing the capacitive touch panel, the capacitive touch panel according to the present invention comprising: a transparent substrate; and a first pad electrode and a second pad electrode alternately arranged two-dimensionally on an upper side of the substrate; And a first connection line electrically connecting the first pad electrodes arranged in a first direction, and an insulating layer disposed above the first connection line. And a second connection line electrically connecting second pad electrodes arranged in a second direction, the conductive material having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode on the insulating layer. .

Capacitive, Touch Panel, Low Resistance Metal

Description

Capacitive touch panel and manufacture method

The present invention relates to a capacitive touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to generate an input signal according to a position where a user contacts by a capacitor effect, which is disposed in front of the image output means. The connection line connecting the pad electrodes is made of a low resistance conductive material having a lower resistance value than the pad electrode, so that the entire signal transmission line has a uniform resistance value. As a result, the capacitance value of the capacitance is improved and the touch panel is improved. The present invention relates to a capacitive touch panel having improved operational stability and a method of manufacturing the same.

In electronic devices such as mobile phones, car navigation systems, computers, ticket machines, bank terminals, and the like, a tablet-type input device is recently disposed on the surface of a liquid crystal device and the like, while referring to an indication image displayed in the image display area of the liquid crystal device, the indicated image is displayed. In some cases, input of information corresponding to the instruction image is performed by touching a finger or the like with the displayed position.

The input device (touch panel) has a resistive film type and a capacitive type film. However, the resistive film input device has a two-layer structure of a film and glass, and has a structure in which the upper film is pressed to contact the lower glass. It has many exposures to shocks and has a weak drawback over time.

On the other hand, the capacitive input device has a strong durability because a transparent conductive film is formed on one substrate.

In such a capacitive input device, in-phase and coin-operated alternating current is applied to both ends of a transparent conductive film, and a weak current flowing when a finger is formed in contact with or near a finger detects an input position. There is a type of surface capacitive touch sense to detect.

In addition, there is also a projected capacitive touch sense type that detects an input position by extending the electrode pattern in a direction crossing each other to detect a change in capacitance between electrodes when a finger or the like touches it. Publication No. 2007-122326)

However, in the capacitive input device, the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode having a large area are alternately disposed, and the first pad electrodes are connected through a first connection line that is relatively narrower than the first pad electrode. After electrically connecting with respect to the first direction, the second pad electrodes are electrically connected with respect to the second direction through a second connection line that is relatively narrower than the second pad electrode. Since the second and second connection lines have a smaller cross-sectional area than the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode, the resistance value increases as the electric signal passes through the first connection line or the second connection line. There is a problem that the input signal for the touch is not recognized smoothly, such as a voltage drop is generated so that the input signal is not transmitted to the controller or the signal transmission of both sides is imbalanced.

In addition, the signal line formed on the outer side of the transparent substrate is usually formed by screen printing using silver paste. At this time, the width of the overall circuit should be 2.5mm or more because the width is usually 250㎛ minimum 80㎛ or more for smooth signal transmission.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, since the second connection line having a smaller cross-sectional area than the second pad electrode is made of a low resistance conductive material having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode. When formed of a pad electrode and a uniform material, it has a lower resistance value, and as a result, the overall resistance is lowered, thereby providing a capacitive touch panel capable of improving capacitance value and obtaining operational stability of the touch panel. Is in.

In addition, since the electric signal is stably transmitted while the capacitance value of the capacitance is improved, the sensitivity of the contact is improved, as well as providing a capacitive touch panel in which reliability of signal transmission is improved.

In addition, since the second connection line made of the non-transparent low resistance metal has a narrow width of 5 to 10 μm, it is not visually observed from the outside, and the signal line made of the same material as the second connection line also has a narrow width. In addition, the present invention provides a capacitive touch panel which can minimize the space between signal lines, thereby minimizing the edge space other than the input area.

It is still another object of the present invention to form a second connection line having a lower cross-sectional area than the second pad electrode made of a low resistance metal having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode, and at the same time as the second connection line. The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel by forming a signal line at a peripheral edge of the input region, thereby improving sensitivity to contact and improving reliability of signal transmission and without adding a separate process.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transparent substrate; and a first pad electrode and a second pad electrode alternately arranged two-dimensionally on top of the substrate; and the first pad electrodes arranged in a first direction. A first connection line connecting the first connection line and an insulating layer disposed on the first connection line; And a second connection line electrically connecting second pad electrodes arranged in a second direction, the conductive material having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode on the insulating layer. Is achieved by.

Here, the second connection line is preferably made of a low resistance metal.

In addition, the second connection line is preferably made of a width of 5 ~ 10㎛.

The capacitive touch panel of the present invention may further include a signal line formed of a low resistance metal and formed at an edge of the substrate to transmit an input signal generated from the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode to a control circuit. Do.

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel. A method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel, comprising: depositing a transparent conductive film on an upper side of a transparent substrate, etching the transparent conductive film, and first and second pad electrodes arranged in two dimensions so as to cross each other; A first step of forming a first connection line electrically connecting the first pad electrodes; and depositing an insulating film on an upper surface of the transparent substrate including the resultant of the first step, and etching the insulating film to form the first connection line. Forming an insulating layer on the connection line; And depositing a low resistance conductive layer on the upper surface of the substrate including the resultant of the second step, and etching the low resistance conductive layer to electrically connect the second pad electrodes arranged in the second direction from the upper side of the insulating layer. A third step of forming a second connection line; is achieved by the method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel comprising a.

Here, in the third step, it is also possible to simultaneously form a signal line formed at the edge of the substrate with the second connection line so as to transmit an input signal generated from the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode to the control circuit. .

According to the present invention, since the second connection line having a smaller cross-sectional area than the second pad electrode is made of a low resistance conductive material having a lower resistance value than that of the second pad electrode, the resistance is lower than that of the conventional pad electrode. It has a value, thereby lowering the overall resistance is provided with a capacitive touch panel that can improve the capacitance value of the capacitance and obtain the operational stability of the touch panel.

In addition, since the electric signal is stably transmitted while the capacitance value is increased, the capacitive touch panel is improved, as well as the sensitivity to the contact is improved, and the reliability of the signal transmission is provided.

In addition, since the second connection line made of the non-transparent low resistance conductive material has a narrow width of 5 to 10 μm, it is not visually observed from the outside, and the signal line made of the same material as the second connection line also has a narrow width. In addition, since the distance between the signal lines can be minimized, a capacitive touch panel is provided that can minimize the border space other than the input area.

According to the present invention, a second connection line having a smaller cross-sectional area than the second pad electrode is formed of a low resistance metal having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode, and a signal line composed of a low resistance metal simultaneously with the second connection line. By forming the peripheral edges of the input region, a method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel is provided, in which a sensitivity to contact is improved and a reliability of signal transmission is improved while a separate process is not added.

Prior to the description, in the various embodiments, components having the same configuration will be representatively described in the first embodiment using the same reference numerals, and in other embodiments, different configurations from the first embodiment will be described. do.

Hereinafter, a capacitive touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of the capacitive touch panel of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion “A” of FIG. 1.

The capacitive touch panel of the present invention as shown in the figure is disposed on the front of the image output means to generate a signal according to the position of the user contact by the capacitor effect, the transparent substrate 110 and In addition, a plurality of first pad electrodes 121 and second pad electrodes 122 arranged on the transparent substrate 110 in two dimensions, and a width smaller than that of the first pad electrodes 121 are formed in a first direction (Fig. A first connection line 123 electrically connecting the first pad electrodes 121 arranged on the X-axis), and an insulating layer 131 formed on the first connection line 123. And a second low-resistance conductive material electrically connecting the second pad electrodes 122 arranged in a second direction (indicated by the Y-axis in the drawing) intersecting the first direction on the insulating layer 131. The first pad electrode 121 and the second pad before the connection line 141 and the edge region of the substrate. Are respectively connected to 122 is configured to include a signal line 142 that transmits a signal toward the controller (not shown).

The first pad electrode 121, the second pad electrode 122, and the first connection line 123 are formed on the same layer, and are indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), and nano silver. It is made of a transparent conductive material such as film, CNT, conductive polymer film.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the first pad electrode 121 and the second pad electrode 122 are formed in a rhombus, and are two-dimensionally arranged to be alternately arranged in diagonal directions. The first pad electrodes 121 are connected to the first connection line 123. The first direction electrically connected by) is a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangular transparent substrate 110, and the second pad electrodes 122 are electrically connected by the second connection line 141. The direction is a direction parallel to the long side of the rectangular transparent substrate 110.

The insulating layer 131 may be SiO 2, SiN x, Al 2 O 3, an organic insulating layer, a photoresist (PR), or spin-on-glass (SOG) electrically insulating the first and second connection lines 123 and 141. It is made of an insulating material such as, interposed between the first connection line 123 and the second connection line 141, is formed in a wider width than the first connection line 123 and the second connection line 141 It serves as an insulating layer between the first connection line 123 and the second connection line 141.

The second connection line 141 may include a non-transparent low resistance metal material or pad electrode such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum, aluminum alloy, silver alloy, Mo / Al-alloy / Mo, Al / Ag-alloy / Mo, and the like. It is made of transparent low resistance materials such as ITO, IZO, Nano silver, CNT, etc., and is made of fine width so that it is not visible from the outside when it is made of non-transparent low resistance metal material. In this case, the resistance value may be higher than that of the second pad electrode 122. When the thickness is 10 μm or more, the resistance is more noticeable as the width becomes thicker. In addition, when formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, it is also possible to form a wider than this.

Here, since the resistance value increases when the width of the second connection line 141 is narrow as described above, and is visually observed when the width of the second connection line 141 is wider, the resistance value is lower than that of the second pad electrode 122 and is easily visible. It would be desirable to be designed to such an extent.

One end of the signal line 142 is connected to the first pad electrode 121 or the second pad electrode 122, and the other end of the signal line 142 is formed with a connection terminal 142a connected to the controller side. It is disposed on the outer edge area of the input area, and is made of a low resistance metal material such as the second connection line 141. Therefore, not only the signal line 142 can be designed with a fine width, but also the spacing between the signal lines 142 can be narrowed, thereby minimizing an area other than the input area.

The operation of the first embodiment of the capacitive touch panel described above will now be described.

3 is a plan view of the capacitive touch panel of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion “B” of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 3.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, a first pad electrode 121 and a second pad electrode 122 having a rhombus shape are alternately arranged in an oblique direction on a top surface of the transparent substrate 110, and a plurality of pad electrodes are arranged. The first pad electrodes 121 arranged in the first direction are electrically connected by the first connection line 123 formed in the interspace.

The insulating layer 131 is disposed above the first connection line 123, and the second pad electrodes 122 arranged in a second direction among the plurality of second pad electrodes 122 are disposed in the insulating layer ( Both ends of the upper portion of the 131 are electrically connected to each other by a second connection line 141 connected to a pair of adjacent second pad electrodes 122.

The first pad electrode 121, the second pad electrode 122, and the first connection line 123 are made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO and formed on the same layer, and the insulating layer 131 is formed of a silicon oxide layer. It is formed of an insulating material such as (SiO2) and formed on the upper side of the first connection line 123, and the second connection line 141 is made of a low resistance metal having a lower resistance than the second pad electrode 122. It is formed on the insulating layer 131.

In addition, a connection terminal 142a is formed at a distal end, and a plurality of first pad electrodes 121 connected in the first direction and a plurality of second pad electrodes 122 connected in the second direction are electrically connected to each other. The signal line 142 is made of a low resistance metal such as the second connection line 141 and is formed on the edge around the input region of the transparent substrate 110.

When the user touches any point within the input area of the transparent substrate 110, a capacitive effect is generated between the first pad electrode 121 and the second pad electrode 122 corresponding to the contact point, thereby The generated electrical signal is passed through the plurality of first pad electrodes 121 connected to the first connection line 123 in the first direction and the signal line 142 connected to the distal end of the first pad electrode 121. And a plurality of second pad electrodes 122 and the second pad electrode connected to the connection terminal 142a formed at the distal end of the signal line 142 and connected to the second connection line 141 in the second direction. The signal is transmitted to the connection terminal 142a formed at the distal end of the signal line 142 via the signal line 142 connected to the distal end of the 122.

In addition, a controller (not shown) connected to the connection terminal and receiving an electrical signal through the signal line 142 may contact the position of the first pad electrode 121 and the second pad electrode 122 where contact occurs. The location information is input to recognize that contact has occurred at an intersection point of the first pad electrode 121 and the second pad electrode 122.

In this case, the signal transmitted to the signal line 142 through the second pad electrode 122 is transferred to the second pad electrode 122 adjacent to the second pad electrode 122 having a rhombus shape. Pass through the second connection line 141 having a smaller cross-sectional area than 122, and since the second connection line 141 is made of a low resistance metal having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode 122, the signal transmission is performed. The entire line has a uniform resistance value, and as a result, the overall resistance is lowered, and the capacitance value of the capacitance is improved, thereby obtaining operational stability of the touch panel.

In addition, since the second connection line 141 made of the non-transparent low resistance metal has a narrow width of 5 to 10 μm, the second connection line 141 is not visually observed from the outside and is made of the same material as the second connection line 141. The line 142 may also be formed to have a narrow width, and the distance between the signal lines 142 may be minimized, thereby minimizing an edge area other than the input area.

On the other hand, when the present invention is applied to the rectangular panel, the signal is transmitted from the long side by forming a second connection line 141, which is a low resistance metal in the long side direction in which the signal path is formed relatively longer than the short side In the process, the signal delay may be prevented from the short side, thereby improving signal transmission stability and recognition rate.

Next, a method of manufacturing the capacitive touch panel of the present invention will be described.

6 is a cross-sectional view for each process of a method of manufacturing the capacitive touch panel of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a manufacturing process of the method of manufacturing the capacitive touch panel of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the method of manufacturing the capacitive touch panel of the present invention first includes indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), and nanoparticles on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 110 as shown in FIG. A transparent conductive film 120, such as a silver film, a CNT, a conductive polymer film, or the like is deposited, and the transparent conductive film 120 is patterned as shown in FIGS. 6 (b) and 7 (a) to each other in an oblique direction. At the same time, the first pad electrode 121 and the second pad electrode 122 having a rhombus shape are alternately arranged, and both ends thereof are connected to a pair of adjacent first pad electrodes 121 in the first direction. A first connection line 123 is formed to electrically connect the arranged first pad electrodes 121. (Step 1)

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6C, SiO 2, SiN x, and Al 2 O 3 are formed over the entire upper region of the transparent substrate 110 on which the first pad electrode 121, the second pad electrode 122, and the first connection line 123 are formed. And an insulating layer 130 such as an organic insulating layer, a photoresist (PR), and a spin-on-glass (SOG) layer, are deposited and patterned to form the first connection line as shown in FIGS. 6D and 7B. The insulating layer 131 having a width wider than the first connection line 123 is formed on the upper side of the 123, respectively. (Step 2)

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6D, gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and aluminum alloys having lower resistance than the second pad electrode 122 in the entire upper region of the transparent substrate 110 on which the insulating layer 131 is formed. And depositing a low resistance conductive film 140 such as silver alloy, Mo / Al-alloy / Mo, Al / Ag-alloy / Mo, and the like, as shown in FIGS. 6E and 7C. By patterning the conductive layer 140, a second connection line 141 connecting the second pad electrodes 122 on the upper side of the insulating layer 131 is formed to have a width of 5 μm to 10 μm, and at one end thereof, the first connection line is formed. Signal lines 142 connected to the pad electrodes 121 or the second pad electrodes 122 and the other end of which the connection terminal 142a to which the controller is connected are formed on the outer edge of the input area of the transparent substrate 110. Form. (Step 3)

According to the method of manufacturing the capacitive touch panel as described above, the first pad electrode 121, the second pad electrode 122, and the first connection are formed on the transparent substrate 110 by using the transparent conductive film 120. The line 123 is formed at the same time, an insulating layer 131 is formed on the upper side of the first connection line 123 using an insulating material, and then the second connection line 141 and the signal line are made of a low resistance metal. Since the process consists of a three-step process of forming the (142) at the same time, it is possible to improve the stability and sensitivity of the signal transmission without adding a separate process compared to the conventional.

In addition, since the signal line 142 is formed of a conductive low resistance metal, it is possible to design the width and spacing of the signal line 142 narrower than in the related art, thereby minimizing an edge area other than the input area. Will be provided.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be embodied in various forms of embodiments within the scope of the appended claims. Without departing from the gist of the invention claimed in the claims, it is intended that any person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains falls within the scope of the claims described herein to various extents that can be modified.

1 is a perspective view of a capacitive touch panel of the present invention;

2 is an enlarged view of a portion “A” of FIG. 1;

3 is a plan view of the capacitive touch panel of the present invention;

4 is an enlarged view of a portion “B” of FIG. 3;

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 3;

6 is a cross-sectional view of each process of the method of manufacturing the capacitive touch panel of the present invention;

7 is a plan view illustrating a manufacturing process of the capacitive touch panel manufacturing method of the present invention.

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

110: transparent substrate, 120: transparent conductive film, 121: first pad electrode, 122: second pad electrode,

123: first connection line, 130: insulating film, 131: insulating layer, 140: low resistance conductive film,

141: second connection line, 142: signal line, 142a: connection terminal

Claims (6)

Transparent substrates; A first pad electrode and a second pad electrode alternately arranged two-dimensionally on an upper side of the substrate; A first connection line electrically connecting the first pad electrodes arranged in a first direction; An insulating layer disposed above the first connection line; And, And a second connection line electrically connecting second pad electrodes arranged in a second direction, the conductive material having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode on the insulating layer. The method of claim 1, The second connection line is a capacitive touch panel, characterized in that made of a low resistance metal. 3. The method of claim 2, The second connection line is capacitive touch panel, characterized in that the width of 5 ~ 10㎛. The method of claim 3, And a signal line formed of the same low resistance metal as the second connection line and formed on an edge portion of the substrate to transmit an input signal generated from the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode to a control circuit. Capacitive touch panel. In the method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel, Depositing a transparent conductive film on an upper side of the transparent substrate, etching the transparent conductive film, and electrically connecting the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode which are two-dimensionally arranged so as to cross each other, and the first pad electrodes arranged in the first direction. A first step of forming a connection line; Depositing an insulating film on an upper surface of the transparent substrate including the resultant of the first step, and etching the insulating film to form an insulating layer on an upper side of the first connection line; Depositing a conductive film on the upper surface of the substrate including the resultant of the second step with a conductive material having a lower resistance value than the second pad electrode, and etching the conductive film to be arranged in a second direction above the insulating layer. And a third step of forming a second connection line electrically connecting the two pad electrodes to each other. The method of claim 5, In the third step, a signal line is formed at the edge of the substrate together with the second connection line to etch the low resistance conductive layer to transmit an input signal generated from the first pad electrode and the second pad electrode to a control circuit. Capacitive touch panel manufacturing method characterized in that.

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