KR101503369B1 - A method for improving waterproofing property of touch screen panel and the apparatus by using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel, wherein an ITO film area formed on only one side of a flexible PCB part of a shape of a conventional touch screen panel, The cover glass of the touch screen panel and the ITO film are laminated while eliminating the interference of the flexible PCB chip so that the moisture penetrates from the edge of the touch screen panel, And it is designed to enlarge the area of the flexible PCB part to the entire area except the ITO film area as much as possible and attach the waterproof tape to the back side of the expanded flexible PCB part area so that moisture penetrates into the speaker hole of the device Short in the flexible PCB section Or to prevent the characteristic rise to failure of the touch screen panel, collectively, to a method and apparatus for improving the water resistance of the touch screen panel, which can improve the water resistance of the touch screen panel.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel and a touch screen panel is widely used for mobile devices and industrial PDA products at present, The touch screen panel portion has only the waterproof performance of the life of the waterproofing. In case of exposure to the water for a long time, moisture penetrates into the touch screen panel portion, causing frequent device breakdown. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel to meet such a need.

A touch screen panel is an input device of an operating system (OS) that allows a user to easily input data by simply touching the screen with a hand or an object. The touch screen panel is classified into a resistive type, Capacitive, Infrared, and Acoustic are distinguished. Currently, soy sauce is widely used as a capacitive type. It is a principle that senses a part where a current amount is changed by using a capacitance in a human body.

The electrostatic capacitive type touch screen panel is manufactured by depositing indium / tin oxide on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film or a glass substrate having high strength and high transparency and electrical properties with high elasticity by sputtering, (Optical Clean Adhesive), which is an adhesive film developed for a touch screen panel, a Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPCB), which is a wiring substrate inside a touch screen panel, and an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) .

Since the capacitive type touch screen panel technology is applied to the device, it is easy to use and intuitive because it has good portability and simple operation. Therefore, it is possible to use ATM, PDA / PMP, , Smart phones that have been attracting attention in recent years, and PDAs for industrial use. As the technology is developed, the size of the touch screen panel is getting larger on one side of the device.

Thus, a device having a touch screen panel has a considerable portion of the device surface area occupied by the touch screen panel, so that it is directly influenced by the external environment. Especially, among the external environment factors affecting the touch screen panel, water is conductive and liquid, which easily penetrates into the touch screen panel of the device, causing a touch error or causing a short circuit in the flexible PCB, This is one of the main causes of failure of a device.

However, most of the touch screen panels currently have only a waterproof performance that is waterproof enough to provide a stable waterproof effect when exposed to rain and snow for a long time, such as industrial PDAs used in delivery, delivery, gas stations, department stores, In recent years, users of smart devices equipped with touch screen panels have been actively enjoying various leisure activities because they have active lifestyle. As a result, they are often exposed to moisture, It is difficult to satisfy users with performance.

Technically, the flexible PCB portion connected to one side of the ITO film among the shapes of the conventional touch screen panel is fixed to the ITO film by ACF bonding (Anisotropic Conductive Film Bonding). The surrounding of the bonding portion is separately waterproofed There is a problem in that the flexible PCB portion and the ITO film are separated from each other due to weakness of the ACF bonding portion between the flexible PCB portion and the ITO film to cause failure of the touch screen panel.

When a speaker hole exists in a device having a touch screen panel, the flexible PCB portion of the conventional touch screen panel is positioned adjacent to the speaker hole of the device. Therefore, when exposed to a humid environment, There is a problem that the moisture easily penetrates to cause a short in the flexible PCB portion or cause a property failure of the touch screen panel.

For this reason, manufacturers of touch screen panels use water-repellent coating and sensing technology to improve the waterproof performance of touch screen panels. However, this is also a function of waterproofing and is applied to new touch screen panel waterproofing technology The manufacturing cost is high. Therefore, there is not enough technology to improve the waterproof performance while maintaining the structure of the conventional touch screen panel. In addition, users purchase separately a waterproof pack, a waterproof skin, a waterproof pouch and a waterproof case to protect their devices from the water, but it is an additional cost, and the waterproof article is coated on the surface of the product, There is a problem that performance can not be used as it is.

For the above reasons, there is a problem that the conventional waterproof performance of the touch screen panel is effectively improved without the burden of the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing process, and the users who enjoy various leisure activities in an active lifestyle, There is a need for a technique capable of improving the waterproof performance of a new touch screen panel that can satisfy users of industrial PDA used in an external sales desk or the like.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ITO film region formed only on one portion of a flexible PCB portion of a conventional touch screen panel, The cover glass of the touch screen panel and the ITO film are properly lapped while eliminating the interference of the flexible PCB chip so that the moisture penetrates from the edge of the touch screen panel in the conventional touch screen panel And it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel which can prevent a trouble of the touch screen panel.

In addition, in the case of a device having a speaker hole, in order to prevent moisture from penetrating into the speaker hole and causing a short circuit in the flexible PCB portion or causing a property defect of the touch screen panel, It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel that minimizes a space in which moisture can penetrate by designing the entire area to the maximum extent.

Further, the present invention can maximally expand the flexible PCB area to the entire area except the ITO film area to prevent moisture from penetrating into the speaker hole of the device. In addition, by attaching the waterproof tape to the back surface of the flexible PCB part, And more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel capable of enhancing the waterproof effect of the touch screen panel by blocking moisture penetration of the touch screen panel.

An apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible PCB unit; ITO film; A cover glass designed to a predetermined size; And an OCA for joining the cover glass on the ITO film, wherein the ITO film is designed to surround the flexible PCB of the touch screen panel. Also, the apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel may include at least one or more ITO films designed to surround the flexible PCB unit, the at least one OCA cut to fit the enlarged ITO film size, And the flexible PCB part is extended to the entire area excluding the ITO film area so as to block the moisture coming in through the speaker hole of the touch screen panel cover glass to a maximum extent and to attach a waterproof tape to the back surface of the flexible PCB part , The moisture entering through the rim of the touch screen panel and the speaker hole is blocked as much as possible.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel, the method comprising the steps of: Designing and providing a film; Designing and providing a cover glass having a predetermined size; And laminating the cover glass with the OCA on the ITO film. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel, comprising: expanding a flexible printed circuit board to an entire region except an ITO film region in order to block moisture entering through a speaker hole of a touch screen panel cover glass; A waterproof tape is attached to the back surface of the flexible PCB to block the moisture entering through the rim of the touch screen and the speaker hole to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel.

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel, wherein an ITO film region formed on only one portion of a flexible PCB portion of a conventional touch screen panel is divided into an ITO film, The cover glass of the touch screen panel and the ITO film are laminated while eliminating the interference of the flexible PCB chip, so that the moisture from the edge of the touch screen panel in the conventional touch screen panel By preventing the touch screen panel from penetrating and causing the flexible PCB area to be enlarged to the entire area except the ITO film area and attaching the waterproof tape to the back side of the expanded flexible PCB area, Poorly penetrated by moisture alone Prevented from causing a short circuit in the PCB unit, or causing poor characteristics of the touch screen panel, comprehensively has the effect of improving the water resistance of the touch screen panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an exemplary view for explaining a structure of a touch screen panel according to a conventional technique which is susceptible to moisture; Fig.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a touch screen panel, and more particularly,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method and an apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

 The structure of the capacitive touch screen panel (hereinafter referred to as a touch screen panel) is divided into a touch screen panel structure using a film and a touch screen panel structure using a glass. The touch screen panel using the film includes two ITO (2-layer type) using an oxide film and a 1-layer type using an ITO film. The two-layer type touch screen panel includes a face-up type in which the ITO surface faces the cover glass in the ITO film and a face-down type in which the ITO surface faces the cover glass in the opposite direction Layer type touch screen panel has a structure in which a single ITO film is formed by depositing ITO on both sides of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film by a sputtering method, compared to a two-layer type touch screen panel It is a touch screen panel that has less PET film and OCA (Optical Clean Adhesive) and has increased light transmittance as the light becomes thinner. In addition, the flexible PCB, which is an electronic circuit of the touch screen panel, is a flexible circuit board coated with a copper film, which is a three-layer product in which a copper film and a polyamide (PI) film are bonded using an adhesive, There is a layer 2 FCCL product that is easy to form fine patterns by direct diecasting or high temperature bonding of the film and has excellent flexibility.

The method and apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel of the present invention can be applied to a capacitive touch screen panel using films of all the structures described above. The present invention is not important in the application of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will be described based on the structure of a one-layer type touch screen panel which is generally used for convenience of explanation.

In addition, the method and apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel can be applied to a capacitive touch screen panel using flexible PCBs having all the structures described above. In the present invention, a flexible PCB And the improvement of the external shape of the ITO film. Therefore, the flexible PCB in the following description refers to both the three-layer flexible PCB product and the layer two FCCL flexible PCB product without distinguishing them.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view for explaining the structure of a touch screen panel according to the prior art which is vulnerable to moisture.

Basically, the touch screen panel is composed of a PET film 110 having the highest strength among the films of the touch screen panel and excellent in transparency and electrical properties, and having high elasticity, and an ITO (indium tin oxide: indium An indium tin oxide (ITO) film 100 for recognizing a portion of a finger to be touched by depositing the tin oxide / tin oxide 120 by a sputtering method, an OCA 200 as an adhesive film developed for a touch screen panel, A Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPCB) unit 300 as an internal wiring board and an ACF bonding unit 320 for attaching the flexible PCB 310 to the PET film 110; And a cover glass (400).

As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional touch screen panel, which is vulnerable to moisture, has a structure in which a flexible PCB 310 is coupled to an upper portion of an ITO film 100 by an ACF bonding 320, and a cover glass 400 are coupled through the OCA 200. Here, when the conventional touch screen panel is exposed to moisture for a long time, a portion where moisture penetration occurs most frequently and a main cause of a failure of the touch screen panel is the flexible PCB portion 300 and the ITO film 100 Because the ITO film 100 and the OCA 200 are formed on one side of the flexible PCB 300 so that it is impossible for the moisture to penetrate the flexible PCB 300. On the other hand, The ITO film 100 and the OCA 200 are not formed on the side opposite to the side where the ITO film 100 and the OCA 200 are formed so that the speaker hole 410 of the cover glass 400, The portion of the ACF bonding 320 between the flexible PCB portion 300 and the ITO film 100 is weakened by moisture and the flexible PCB portion 300 and the ITO film 100 are separated from each other, It causes trouble.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining a method and an apparatus for improving waterproof performance of a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the present invention is applied to an ITO film 100 formed on only one side of the flexible PCB unit 300, from the flexible PCB unit 300 to the ITO film 100 and the OCA 200 are formed on the flexible PCB unit 300 and attached to the cover glass 400 using the OCA 200 as shown below the flexible PCB unit 300. As a result, By smudging both the bottom and the side, it is possible to effectively reinforce the moisture-resistant structure of the conventional touch screen panel and to improve the waterproof performance.

At this time, since the chip portion 330 of the flexible PCB 310 must be bonded to the PET film 110 by the ACF bonding 320, the region of the ITO film 100 to be added in the present invention is the flexible PCB portion 300 ). In addition, in the touch screen panel, the cover glass 400 primarily blocks external moisture. If the speaker hole 410 is formed in the touch screen panel, So that the cover glass 400 can not substantially perform the primary waterproofing performance. Thus, in the present invention, the area of the conventional flexible PCB unit 300 is designed to be maximized (the entire area except the area of the ITO film 100) and the waterproof tape 500 is also applied to the back surface, Moisture can be completely blocked and the ACF bonding part 320 of the flexible PCB part 300 due to the moisture penetrating from the speaker hole 410 can be weakened to prevent the defective characteristics of the touch screen panel have.

In addition, the method and apparatus for improving the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel of the present invention do not research or develop a new waterproof technology or add new waterproof parts in order to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel, The ITO film region formed only on one side of the flexible PCB portion as a component of the conventional touch screen panel is disposed on the opposite side to the side where the ITO film 100 and the OCA 200 are formed from the flexible PCB portion 300 And the method of enlarging the area of the flexible PCB part to the entire area excluding the ITO film area to maximize the design and attaching the waterproof tape to the back side of the expanded flexible PCB part area is applied. Changing the roller hardness of the film mounter used in the ITO film lamination, The present invention can be applied through a relatively simple change of the manufacturing process of the touch screen panel such as the application of the touch screen panel and the improvement of the setting method of the film fusing device. Therefore, a new technology is developed to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel, The manufacturing process can be greatly simplified in comparison with the method of adding the parts, so that the production efficiency can be improved and the manufacturing cost of the touch screen panel can be drastically reduced.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, I will understand the point. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

100: ITO film 110: PET film
120: ITO 200: OCA
300: Flexible PCB 310: Flexible PCB
320: ACF bonding 330: Flexible PCB chip
400: cover glass 410: speaker hole
500: Waterproof tape

Claims (7)

A flexible PCB portion of the touch screen panel;
ITO film;
A cover glass designed to a predetermined size; And
And OCA for joining the cover glass on the ITO film,
Wherein the ITO film is designed to surround the flexible PCB of the touch screen panel to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel. The method according to claim 1,
At least one or more ITO films designed to surround the flexible PCB part are joined to a cover glass of the touch screen panel using at least one OCA cut to fit the size of the ITO film to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel . The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the flexible PCB portion expands the area surrounding the speaker hole to block moisture entering through the speaker hole of the touch screen panel cover glass to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a waterproof tape is attached to the back surface of the flexible PCB to maximize the moisture penetration through the rim of the touch screen panel and the speaker hole to improve the waterproof performance of the touch screen panel. A method for improving the waterproof performance of a touch screen panel,
Providing a flexible PCB portion of the touch screen panel;
Designing and providing an ITO film to surround the periphery of the flexible PCB of the touch screen panel;
Designing and providing a cover glass having a predetermined size; And
And laminating the cover glass with the OCA on the ITO film that is designed and manufactured. The method of claim 5,
The step of providing the flexible PCB of the touch screen panel comprises:
Wherein a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) portion is enlarged and applied to an area surrounding the speaker hole in order to block moisture coming in through the speaker hole of the touch screen panel cover glass. The method of claim 5,
The step of providing the flexible PCB of the touch screen panel comprises:
The waterproof performance of the touch screen panel is improved by attaching a waterproof tape to the back surface of the flexible PCB unit to block the moisture entering through the rim of the touch screen and the speaker hole. Way.

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