KR101688417B1 - Touch panel having ground part - Google Patents

Abstract

A plurality of first sensor electrodes formed on the substrate and arranged along a first direction, a second sensor electrode formed on the substrate, the second sensor electrodes being spaced apart from the plurality of first sensor electrodes and arranged along a second direction, And a ground portion electrically connected to at least one of the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode.

Description

TOUCH PANEL HAVING GROUND PART}

The present invention relates to a touch panel having a ground portion. More particularly, the present invention relates to a touch panel capable of preventing an overvoltage from being damaged by an overvoltage by causing an overvoltage to be instantaneously generated in an electrode or a contact portion of the touch panel.

Recently, smart phones, tablet computers, game machines, learning aids, and cameras are widely used due to the development of portable devices. The input methods of these portable devices are evolving from the conventional mouse or keyboard entry method to the touch input method. Since the touch input method can directly select an icon or a program on the screen while viewing the screen, the user can not only intuitively use the device, but also has advantages in downsizing and lightening the device.

A touch panel is used as a means for inputting by touch as described above. The type of the touch panel may be classified according to the input method or the recognition method. For example, the touch panel may be a resistive type, a capacitive type, an electro-magnetic type, A surface acoustic wave type (SAW type), and an infrared type (touch panel). Of these, the currently popular method is a durable capacitive touch panel that is multi-touch capable as well as being fast and responsive.

The capacitance type touch panel has a plurality of sensor electrodes formed on a substrate for touch recognition, and a lead wire is connected to the sensor electrodes to measure capacitance change.

However, during the driving of the touch panel, an over-voltage may instantly be generated in the sensor electrode or the lead wire. This overvoltage damages the sensor electrode or the lead wire, thereby deteriorating the function of the touch panel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a touch panel having a structure capable of eliminating an over-voltage generated instantaneously from a sensor electrode or a lead wire during driving of the touch panel.

To this end, the present invention provides a touch panel having a ground unit.

In one example of the present invention, a substrate; A plurality of first sensor patterns formed on the substrate along a first direction; And a plurality of second sensor patterns spaced apart from the first sensor pattern and formed on the substrate along a second direction intersecting the one direction, wherein the first sensor pattern includes a plurality of first sensor electrodes, And a first bridge connecting the first sensor electrodes adjacent to each other along the first direction, wherein the second sensor pattern includes a plurality of second sensor electrodes and the second sensor electrode adjacent to the second sensor electrode along the second direction, Wherein the first sensor pattern and the second sensor pattern are spaced apart from each other at the first bridge and the second bridge, and between the first bridge and the second bridge, Wherein the first bridge is formed of crystalline ITO, and the second bridge is formed of amorphous ITO.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode may be formed of crystalline ITO.

According to an example of the present invention, the first bridge is disposed between the substrate and the insulating layer.

According to an example of the present invention, an antireflection layer may be formed on the two bridges.

In the touch panel according to the present invention, the ground portion may be disposed to overcome the over-voltage generated in the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode. And the overvoltage generated instantaneously by the lead wire by the grounding portion can be eliminated. In this manner, the ground portion can relieve the overvoltage, so that the stability of the touch panel function can be achieved.

1 is a simplified plan view of a touch panel according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the portion A shown in FIG. 1, and is a partial enlarged view of electrodes, bridges, and ground portions.
3 is a partially enlarged view of an electrode, a bridge, and a ground in a touch panel according to another example of the present invention.
4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line I-I 'in FIG. 2;

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the examples disclosed in the drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the drawings or examples described below. The drawings are merely illustrative of various embodiments of the present invention which are suitable for describing the present invention.

In order to facilitate understanding, each component and its shape may be drawn or exaggerated in the drawing, and the component in the actual product may not be represented and may be omitted. In addition, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, it should be noted that the constituent elements having the same function have the same number as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. Also, the terms "first "," second ", and the like are used to distinguish one element from another element, and the element is not limited thereto.

It will also be understood that where a layer or element is described as being on the " top " of another layer or element, it is to be understood that not only where such layer or element is disposed in direct contact with the other layer or element, To the case where the third layer is disposed interposed between the first and second layers.

1 is a plan view of a touch panel according to an example of the present invention.

1, a touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate 100, a plurality of first sensor electrodes 210 formed on the substrate and arranged along a first direction, A plurality of second sensor electrodes 310 spaced apart from the plurality of first sensor electrodes and arranged along a second direction and a ground unit 600 electrically connected to at least one of the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, .

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of second sensor electrodes 310 are arranged along the Y axis, and the first direction is the Y axis direction. Meanwhile, the plurality of second sensor electrodes 310 are arranged in the X-axis direction. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the X-axis direction is the second direction. In other embodiments, the first direction and the second direction may be interchanged.

Although the first direction (Y-axis direction) and the second direction (X-axis direction) are orthogonal to each other in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in other embodiments, the first direction and the second direction may not be orthogonal have. For example, the first direction and the second direction may be parallel to each other, and may intersect with each other at an angle of less than 90 degrees.

The substrate 100 provides a space in which the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 are formed. The type of the substrate 100 is not particularly limited as long as it has transparency and a supporting strength of a predetermined strength or more. As the substrate 100, for example, a transparent conductive film such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyethersulfone (PES) Polyimide (PI) film, polystyrene (PS), biaxially oriented polystyrene (K resin), biaxially oriented PS (BOPS), polyimide ) Or glass may be used.

The first sensor electrode 210, together with the second sensor electrode 310, generates a signal by a user's touch to recognize touch coordinates. The first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 are arranged in a line on a substrate 100 in a plurality of lines. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 are arranged in a line form so as to be orthogonal to each other, thereby forming a matrix in its entirety.

In FIG. 1, the plurality of first sensor electrodes 210 are connected in a longitudinal direction, that is, a Y-axis direction, and are formed in a total of four rows. The plurality of second sensor electrodes 310 are connected to each other in the horizontal direction, i.e., the X-axis direction, and are formed in a total of four rows. The first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 may be formed to have about 5 to 20 lines, respectively, and may be formed to 20 lines or more if necessary.

Specifically, the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 detect a user's touch. The shape of the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 is not particularly limited. The first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 may have a rectangular shape, an octagonal shape, or a circular shape, and may be formed in a stripline shape It is possible.

1, the touch panel includes a first bridge 220 connecting the first sensor electrodes 210 adjacent to each other along the first direction, and a second bridge 220 connecting the first sensor electrodes 210 adjacent to each other along the second direction. And a second bridge 320 connecting the two sensor electrodes 310 to each other.

Specifically, the first bridge 220 connects the first sensor electrode 110 in a first direction (Y-axis direction).

The second bridge 320 is formed at the intersection of the first bridge 220 and connects the adjacent second sensor electrodes 310 in the second direction (X axis direction).

1, the first bridge 220 and the second bridge 320 are disposed so as to be spaced from each other. In this case, the first bridge 220 and the second bridge 320 are electrically connected to each other And intersect with each other. For this, an insulating layer 500 may be disposed between the first bridge 220 and the second bridge 320, as shown in FIGS.

The insulating layer 500 may be any transparent material that can insulate electricity. The material of the substrate 100 may be the material of the insulating layer 500. [

Generally, after forming the first bridge 220, the first bridge 220 is protected by the insulating layer 500, and then the second bridge 320 is formed.

The first sensor electrode 210, the second sensor electrode 310, the first bridge 220, and the second bridge 320 may be formed using the same material or different materials. . Also, the first sensor electrode 210, the second sensor electrode 310, and the first bridge 220 can be simultaneously patterned.

As a material for forming the first sensor electrode 210, the second sensor electrode 310, the first bridge 220 and the second bridge 320, for example, a transparent conductive oxide oxide (TCO). As such a transparent conductive oxide, there are ITO, IZO, AZO and the like, among which ITO (Indium Thin Oxide) can be used. In addition to the above-mentioned TCO, the conductive polymer having excellent flexibility and simple coating process may also be used.

Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged view of the portion A in Fig. 1. Fig.

 The first and second sensor electrodes 210 and 310, the first and second arranged bridge portions 220 and 320, and the grounding portion 600 are shown as the center. 2, the substrate 100, the first bridge 220, the insulating layer 500, and the second bridge 320 are sequentially stacked on the bridge portion.

In order to explain the structure of the bridge in more detail, FIG. 4 shows a main part of a section cut along the line I-I 'in FIG. 3, a first bridge 220 is disposed on a substrate 100, and an insulating layer 500 is disposed to cover the first bridge 220. On the insulating layer 500, A second bridge 320 is formed. As shown in the figure, a second bridge 320 is formed to connect the two second sensor electrodes 310 which are spaced apart from each other.

A ground unit 600 is disposed above the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310.

The grounding unit 600 may be disposed in the touch panel. In the example shown in FIG. 1, three grounding portions 600 are shown.

The ground unit 600 may be disposed only on the first sensor electrode 210 or only on the second sensor electrode 310.

1 to 3, the ground unit 600 may be disposed over the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 320. That is, one ground unit 600 is formed over the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 320, and the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 320 And can be electrically connected at the same time.

The ground unit 600 is electrically connected to the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 320 to ground the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 320 can do. That is, the ground unit 600 can overcome the overvoltage generated from the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 320.

The grounding unit 600 may discharge static electricity generated from the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 320.

Meanwhile, the ground unit 600 may be connected to the lead wires 410 and 420 to eliminate an overvoltage momentarily generated in the lead wire.

As described above, since the ground unit 600 eliminates the overvoltage, the stability of the touch panel function can be improved.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ground unit 600 may be formed at a longitudinal end of the plurality of first sensor electrodes 210 connected to each other, that is, at a distal end of the Y-axis direction. In this case, one ground portion may be formed per one sensor electrode line.

Also, the grounding unit 600 may be formed at the end of the horizontal direction, that is, at the end of the X axis direction, to which the plurality of second sensor electrodes 310 are connected to each other. In this case, one ground portion may be formed per one second sensor electrode line.

A common ground unit 600 may be formed for the lines of the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, which are arranged separately from each other. Figs. 1 to 3 illustrate that a ground portion 600 of the public domain is formed on the lines of the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, which are separately arranged.

Meanwhile, the grounding unit 600 and the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 320 may be electrically connected directly. 2, the grounding part 600 is formed over the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 320 so that the grounding part 600, the first sensor electrode 210, And the second sensor electrode 320 are electrically connected to each other.

3, an insulating layer 610 may be disposed between the ground unit 600 and the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 320. Referring to FIG.

That is, the insulating film 610 is disposed between the first sensor electrodes and the second sensor electrode, and the ground unit 600 is disposed on the insulating film 610. The insulating layer 610 may be formed with a through hole 630 for electrically connecting the ground unit 600 to the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 310. The ground unit 600 and the first sensor electrode 210 or the second sensor electrode 310 may be electrically connected to each other through the through hole.

The insulating layer 610 may be formed using the same material as the insulating layer 500 by the same method.

The ground unit 600 may be formed of a conductive material, for example, a metal. For example, gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), and the like can be applied to the grounding part 600.

Lead wires 410 and 420 are formed at one ends of the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 to receive an electrical signal from the first sensor electrode 210 and the second sensor electrode 310 do. 1, the lead wires 411, 412, 413, and 414 extending from one end of the first sensor electrode 210 extend to the bottom of the substrate, respectively, and connection terminals are formed at the ends thereof. Lead wires 421, 422, 423, and 424 extended from one end of the second sensor electrode 310 extend to the side of the substrate and extend to a lower portion of the substrate, and connection terminals are formed at the ends.

The lead wires 410 and 420 may be printed using a silk screen method, a gravure printing method, an inkjet printing method, or the like. As the material of the lead wires 410 and 420, a silver paste or an organic silver material having excellent electrical conductivity may be used. The lead wires 410 and 420 are not limited thereto, and conductive polymers, carbon black, TCO, metals, or low resistance metals may be used.

1, the lead wire is connected to one end of the first sensor electrode 200 and the second sensor electrode 300. However, the lead wire may be connected to the first sensor electrode 200 and the second sensor electrode 300 300 may be connected to both ends.

In an example of the present invention, an anti-reflection layer may be formed on the second bridge 320 to improve the visibility of the touch panel. According to another example of the present invention, the anti-reflection layer may be formed on the ground portion 600 as well.

The anti-reflection layer may include a low refraction layer and a high refraction layer. The low refraction layer and the high refraction layer may be formed in two to five layers crossing each other. The low refraction layer may be formed of a material including any one of MgF ₂ , NaF, SiO _2, and CaF ₂ . The high refractive index layer may be formed of a material containing any one of CeF ₃ , Al ₂ O ₃ , ZrO ₂ , TiO ₂ and Nb ₂ O _x .

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be construed as limiting the present invention. It will be apparent that modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art. 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 as defined by the appended claims.

100: substrate
210: first sensor electrode 220: first bridge
310: second sensor electrode 320: second bridge
410, 420: lead wire 500: insulating layer
600: ground portion 610: insulating film
630: Through hole

Claims (9)

Board;
A plurality of first sensor electrodes formed on the substrate and arranged along a first direction;
A plurality of second sensor electrodes formed on the substrate and spaced apart from the plurality of first sensor electrodes and arranged along a second direction; And
And a ground unit electrically connected to at least one of the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode,
Wherein an insulating film is disposed on the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode, the ground portion is disposed on the insulating film,
The ground portion is disposed over the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode,
Wherein the insulating film is formed with a through hole for electrically connecting the ground unit to the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode,
Wherein the ground portion is electrically connected to the first sensor electrode or the second sensor electrode through the through hole. The method according to claim 1,
A first bridge connecting the first sensor electrodes adjacent to each other along the first direction; And
A second bridge connecting the second sensor electrodes adjacent to each other along the second direction;
And a touch panel. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein the first bridge and the second bridge intersect each other in an electrically insulated state. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the first sensor electrode and the second sensor electrode are formed of a transparent conductive oxide. delete delete delete The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the ground portion is formed of a metal. The touch panel of claim 8, wherein the metal comprises at least one of gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), and nickel (Ni).

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