KR101715629B1 - Touch Panel - Google Patents

Abstract

A row direction electrode is constituted by a plurality of segments. Two branch parts are disposed at the leftmost and rightmost sides of each segment. Each branch part is extended along a column direction. A via is formed in each branch part. A plurality of segments are connected to each other through the via and a connection conductor connecting vias. It is possible to effectively place a chip on a layer where the connection conductor exists, by using this structure.

Description

The touch panel {Touch Panel}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic component, and more particularly, to a touch panel having a function of detecting a capacitive touch input.

Various techniques for capacitive touch panels have been disclosed, but research is still continuing to improve the performance of the touch panel. When the manufacturing process of the touch panel is simplified in order to lower the manufacturing cost, the performance of the touch panel may be reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the manufacturing process while maintaining performance.

There is a technical need to simplify the structure of the touch panel as well as to mount one or more chips on the touch panel while miniaturizing the electronic device in which the touch panel is used. One method of simplifying the configuration of the touch panel is to form a complicated electrode pattern for touch input sensing on the two layers while limiting the number of substrates constituting the touch panel to two. At this time, there is a problem that it is not easy to mount one or more chips on the two layers without enlarging the respective areas of the two layers. This problem is illustrated in Fig. 12 which will be described later.

An example of the prior art for assisting the understanding of the present invention is Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0104600.

The present invention provides a technology for arranging one or more chips as well as an electrode pattern for touch input sensing in a region having a limited area of a substrate limited to two layers, .

A touch panel according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a substrate including a first surface and a second surface; And a plurality of segments disposed on the first side of the substrate and disposed along a row direction extending laterally. The plurality of segments extend along the column direction and are spaced apart from each other along the row direction and extend along the row direction and the two branch portions disposed at the leftmost and rightmost sides of the respective segments And a body portion connecting the two branch portions to each other. At this time, the plurality of segments arranged in the first row are shifted and arranged in the row direction by a predetermined gap (G) with respect to the plurality of segments arranged in the second row adjacent to the first row .

The touch panel further includes: a plurality of vias formed on the two branches of each segment; And a plurality of connection conductors disposed on the second surface and connecting the two segments disposed adjacent to each other along the row direction among the plurality of segments via the plurality of vias . Wherein each of the connection conductors includes a first via formed in a branch portion disposed on the right side of two branch portions of a left segment disposed on the left side of the two segments to which the respective connection conductors are connected, Among the two branches of the right segment disposed on the right side of the two segments, the second vias formed on the branches disposed on the left side.

The touch panel may further include a plurality of column electrodes extending along the column direction and insulated from the plurality of segments and disposed on the first surface along the row direction. have. At this time, the width of each of the column electrodes may correspond to half of the width of each of the segments. At this time, each of the segments may be surrounded by two adjacent column electrodes. At this time, the two column electrodes may each have a slit through which the two column electrodes surround the body of the segment.

At this time, the two branch portions have the same length and may be arranged side by side.

At this time, the predetermined interval G may have a size corresponding to one half of the width of each segment.

At this time, the main body portion may include a main body-branch portion extending diagonally.

At this time, the main body portion may include a main body-branch portion having a rhombic or radial shape.

The touch panel further includes a chip disposed on the second surface, and the chip and the package terminal of the chip among the fringes included in all of the segments included in the touch panel, With respect to the first branch portion having the region, the via formed in the first branch portion may be formed in a region other than the superimposed region of the first branch portion.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology for arranging one or more chips as well as an electrode pattern for touch input sensing in a region having a limited area of a substrate limited to two layers.

The use of the pattern of electrodes proposed in the present invention has the effect of reducing the number of vias to be formed for connection between the electrode segments to about half that of the prior art.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel provided according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 illustrates a structure of a row electrode formed on a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a detailed explanatory view of a configuration example of each segment shown in Fig.
4 shows an example of the shape of a column electrode provided according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining the relationship between two adjacent column electrodes and adjacent segments disposed thereon.
FIG. 7 illustrates the arrangement structure of the column electrodes and the row electrodes formed by extending the concept of the present invention illustrated in FIGS.
8 shows an example in which each of the row electrodes is reinforced so that the conductor lines connected to the touch IC can be connected to the respective row electrodes shown in Fig.
FIGS. 9 and 10 are views for explaining an effect according to an embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. FIG.
11 shows only the vicinity of the third area A3 and the fourth area A4 separately in Fig.
FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a comparison technique for explaining the advantageous effects of the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG.
13 illustrates a structure of a segment according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 14 shows an example in which the structure of the touch panel explained in Fig. 10 is modified using the structure of the deformed segment shown in Fig.
Fig. 15 shows another comparative example according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. Also, the singular forms as used below include plural forms unless the phrases expressly have the opposite meaning. The drawings attached hereto are exaggerated or partially exaggerated for ease of explanation, and the scale of each part of the elements shown in the drawings may vary when actual embodiments of the present invention are practiced.

<Structure of Touch Panel>

1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel provided according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A touch panel 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate 50 including a first surface 51 and a second surface 52, at least one row electrode 1, And may include one or more column electrodes 2 formed on one surface 51.

The first surface 51 may be a flat surface portion of the substrate 50 and the second surface 52 may mean a back surface portion opposite to the flat surface portion. The substrate 50 may be made of an insulator.

A footprint for mounting one or more chips 200 may be formed on the second surface 52 of the touch panel 5.

<Structure of Row Electrode>

1, each row electrode 1 includes a plurality of conductors 100 formed on a first surface 51, a plurality of vias 110 formed on a substrate 50, And one or more connecting conductors 120 formed on two sides 52 of the circuit board. The connection conductors 120 may electrically connect the different conductors 100 via the vias 110.

2 illustrates a structure of a row electrode formed on a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Each of the plurality of row electrodes 1 may extend along the row direction extending in the left-right direction. Hereinafter, a specific one row electrode 1, for example, the first row electrode 1a will be described.

One first row electrode 1 may include a first type segments 10 disposed on a first surface 51. In this case, In this specification, 'segment' may mean a conductor. Segment 10 may be conductor 100 shown in Fig.

The plurality of segments 10 included in the row electrode 1 may be arranged vertically aligned along the row direction extending leftward and rightward. The plurality of segments 10 may be electrically connected to each other via the via 110 and the connecting conductor 120. The segment 10 is disposed on the first side 51 and the vias 110 are disposed through the substrate 50 and the connecting conductor 120 is disposed on the second side 52, For convenience, the illustration of the substrate in FIG. 2 is omitted.

The row electrode 1 including a plurality of segments 10 electrically connected to each other serves as a driving electrode or a sensing electrode in the touch panel 5 can do.

Fig. 3 is a detailed explanatory view of a configuration example of each segment shown in Fig. In FIG. 3, the first segment 101 among the plurality of segments 10 shown in FIG. 2 has been described for convenience.

3, the first segment 101 includes a body portion 11 extending along the row direction (left and right direction), two branch portions 12 disposed at the leftmost and rightmost positions of the first segment 101 ). The branch portions 12 may extend along the column direction (vertical direction). The two branch portions 12 may have the same length and may be spaced apart from each other with an interval of W2 along the row direction. And the two branch portions 12 may be arranged side by side. That is, the upper end portions and the lower end portions of the two branch portions 12 may be arranged side by side. The trunk portion 11 can connect the two branches 12 to each other.

Referring again to FIG. In Fig. 2, the first row electrode 1a and the second row electrode 1b are arranged in the first row and the second row, respectively.

The plurality of segments 10 included in the first row electrode 1a are formed to have a predetermined gap G along the row direction with respect to the plurality of segments 10 included in the second row electrode 1b Can be shifted and arranged. The predetermined interval G is a value greater than zero and may be less than the length of each segment 10. For example, the predetermined interval G may be half the length of each segment 10.

The plurality of vias 110 may be formed in the branch 110. And each via 110 may be formed at any position of the branch 110.

The connection conductor 120 may connect two segments ex 101 and 102 disposed adjacent to each other along the row direction among the plurality of segments 10 through the plurality of vias 110.

Each of the connection conductors 120 includes a first via formed in the branch portion disposed on the right side of the two branch portions of the left segment disposed on the left side of the two segments to which the connection conductors 120 connect, Among the two branches of the right segment disposed on the right side of the two segments, the second vias formed on the branches disposed on the left side. For example, the connection conductor 121 is connected to the connection conductor 121 by a conductor (not shown) formed on the right side of the two branches of the left segment 101 disposed on the left side of the two segments 101, One of the two vias 111 and the second via 112 formed on the branch portion disposed on the left side among the two branch portions of the right segment 102 disposed on the right side of the two segments 101 and 102 .

&Lt; Structure of Column Electrode &

4 shows an example of the shape of a column electrode provided according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The plurality of column electrodes 2 are arranged on the first surface 51 along the row direction. Each column electrode 2 is disposed on the first surface 51 and extends along the column direction and is insulated from the plurality of segments 10 described above.

The width W1 of each column electrode 2 corresponds to half of the width W2 of each segment 10. The meaning of &quot; corresponds to half &quot; means that it has the same or substantially the same value as the above-mentioned half.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining the relationship between two adjacent column electrodes and adjacent segments disposed thereon.

In Fig. 5, the segment 101 is surrounded by two column electrodes 21, 22 which are adjacent to each other. The two column electrodes 21 and 22 are formed with a slit SL through which the body 101 of the segment 101 surrounding the two column electrodes 21 and 22 passes.

In Fig. 6, the segment 104 is surrounded by two column electrodes 22, 23 adjacent to each other. Each of the two column electrodes 22 and 23 is formed with a slit SL for passing through the body of the segment 104 surrounding the two column electrodes 22 and 23.

FIG. 7 illustrates the arrangement structure of the column electrodes and the row electrodes formed by extending the concept of the present invention illustrated in FIGS.

All of the segments shown in Fig. 7 satisfy the conditions described in Figs. 5 and 6. That is, the column electrodes 2 provided according to an embodiment of the present invention may have the following features. That is, the width W1 of each column electrode 2 corresponds to half the width W2 of each segment 10. And each of the segments 10 is surrounded by two adjacent column electrodes 2. Each of the two adjacent column electrodes 2 is formed with a slit SL for passing through the body of the segment 10 surrounding the two column electrodes 2.

Separate conductive lines for connecting to a separate touch IC connected to the touch panel 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be connected to each row electrode and each column electrode shown in FIG.

8 shows an example in which each of the row electrodes is reinforced so that the conductor lines connected to the touch IC can be connected to the respective row electrodes shown in Fig. The conductor lines may be connected to the leftmost end of each row electrode shown in FIG. 8, and the conductor lines may be connected to the lowermost end of each column electrode.

8, the illustration of the substrate 50 is omitted. The via 110 is disposed to penetrate the substrate 50 and the connecting conductor 120 is disposed on the second side 52 of the substrate 50 and the column electrode 2 and the segment 10 are disposed on the substrate 50, (50).

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views for explaining an effect according to an embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. FIG.

Fig. 9 shows a first embodiment in which a chip 60 is disposed on the second surface 52 of the touch panel 5 shown in Fig. In the embodiment of FIG. 9, vias 110 and connecting conductors 120 are disposed in a first region A1 and a second region A2 that intersect the region occupied by the chip 60. Therefore, in this case, the vias 110 and the connection conductors 120 existing in the first area A1 and the second area A2 interfere with the chip 60, so that the touch panel and the chip perform normal operations Can not.

Fig. 10 shows an embodiment modified from Fig. In Figure 10, vias 110 and connecting conductors 120, which must be placed adjacent to the chip 60, extend along the branches 12 included in the segments 10 disposed adjacent the chip 60 It is shown that it is moved and placed. According to the embodiment of FIG. 10, since the vias 110 and the connecting conductors 120 existing in the third and fourth regions A3 and A4 do not interfere with the chip 60, normal operation can be performed There is an advantageous effect.

This advantageous effect comes from the features of the present invention particularly described in FIG. 3, the two branch portions 12 are disposed at the leftmost and rightmost sides of the first segment 101, and (2) The advantageous effect described above can be obtained because it is extended along the column direction. That is, because of these two features, it is possible to freely adjust the vertical spacing of the vias 110 formed to connect two adjacent segments 10 to each other. In this case, the chip 60 can be disposed in a space existing between the wi-vias 110.

11 shows only the vicinity of the third area A3 and the fourth area A4 separately in Fig. The area occupied by the package terminals of the chip 60 and the chip 60 among the branch portions 12 included in all the segments 10 included in the touch panel 5 and the area occupied by the package terminals of the chip 60, The vias 110 formed in the first branches 1210 and 1240 with respect to the first branches 1210 and 1240 having the regions 1201 may be formed in the first branches 1210 and 1240, May be formed in the remaining region 1202 excluding the region 1201. Since the segments 1220 and 1230 are outside the area occupied by the chip 60, the vias formed in the segments 1220 and 1230 can be freely disposed at arbitrary positions among the branches of the segments 1220 and 1230.

<Comparative Example>

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a comparison technique for explaining the advantageous effects of the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG.

In Fig. 12, row electrodes 1 and column electrodes 2 are arranged on the first side of the substrate. In order that the row electrodes 1 and the column electrodes 2 are insulated from each other, one row electrode 1 is divided into a plurality of segments, and each segment is arranged between the column electrodes 2 have. And each segment that belongs to a particular row electrode may be connected to each other by a via and a connecting conductor disposed on a second side of the substrate.

In the example of Fig. 12, each row electrode and each column electrode has a long and thin rod shape.

If the chip 60 is disposed on the second surface of the substrate, the via and the connecting conductor are present in the area occupied by the chip 60. In this case, the touch panel can not operate normally. The same result can be obtained by changing the position of the chip 60.

In order to solve this problem, it is possible to assume another modified embodiment modified from Fig. That is, it can be assumed that each segment belonging to each row electrode shown in FIG. 12 has a rectangular shape having a sufficiently large width in the vertical direction. In this case, since the left side and the right side of the rectangular segment are sufficiently long, an effect similar to that of the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to Figs. 1 to 8 can be obtained. However, in the touch panel technology in which the row electrode and the column electrode are arranged in substantially the same plane, it is important to increase the magnitude of the fringing capacitance between the row electrode and the column electrode. If the rectangular segment is simply used as described above, It is difficult to increase the size of the semiconductor device. Therefore, this modified embodiment is not an effective solution for solving the problem according to Fig. The concept of fringing capacitance is disclosed in the aforementioned Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0104600.

In the present invention, in order to solve the problem of the comparative example as shown in FIG. 12, the idea of designing the branch portion and the main body portion separately is selected. Hereinafter, advantageous effects of the idea according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

<Other Embodiments of the Present Invention>

13 illustrates a structure of a segment according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The left part of FIG. 13 shows the segment shown in FIG. 2, and the right part shows a segment having a deformed form. The left side has a straight line shape in which the main body portion 11 extends simply in the row direction, while the right side has a complicated shape of the main body portion 11. That is, the body portion 11 of the deformed segment has a body-branch portion 1208 extending in the vertical direction. The body portion of the deformed segment also has another body-leg portion 1209 extending diagonally. The body-branches 1208 and 1209 form protrusions and recesses in the segment.

Four diagonally extending body-branches 1209 described above can be used to provide a diamond-like shape as shown in Fig.

Fig. 14 shows an example in which the structure of the touch panel explained in Fig. 10 is modified using the structure of the deformed segment shown in Fig. In Fig. 14, it can be understood that each column electrode has a projection corresponding to the recess formed in the row electrode. The combination of the column electrode and the row electrode has an advantage that the fringing capacitance component between the two electrodes can be increased.

Further, by the above-described another main body-branch portion 1209 extending in the diagonal direction, the spatial distribution of the fringing capacitance formed along the diagonal direction of the touch panel is advantageously made uniform.

The row electrode described in the present invention can function as a driving electrode or a sensing electrode described in the aforementioned Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0104600. When the row electrode functions as the driving electrode, the column electrode may function as the sensing electrode. Or when the row electrode functions as the sensing electrode, the column electrode may function as the driving electrode.

Fig. 15 shows another comparative example according to the present invention.

In the case of Fig. 15, main-branches are formed in which the main portions of the respective segments of the row electrodes extend in the vertical direction, and the shape of the column electrodes is formed corresponding to the shape of the row electrodes. Therefore, it can be seen that the firing capacitance of the touch panel according to FIG. 15 is much larger than that of the touch panel according to FIG. However, comparing FIG. 15 with FIG. 14, there is no advantage in that the spatial distribution of the fringing capacitance formed along the diagonal direction of the touch panel is uniform since the main body- Can not be obtained.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Therefore, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are to be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and that the true scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope of equivalents thereof, .

1: row electrode 2: column electrode
10: segment 11:
12: branch portion 50: substrate
51: first side 52: second side
60: chip 100: conductor
110: Via 120: Coupling conductor

Claims (6)

A substrate comprising a first side and a second side;
A plurality of segments disposed on the first side of the substrate and disposed along a row direction extending laterally; Each of the plurality of segments extending along the column direction and spaced apart from each other along the row direction and extending along the row direction, the two branch portions being disposed at the leftmost and rightmost sides of the respective segments, A plurality of segments arranged in a first row are arranged at a predetermined interval (e.g., a predetermined distance) for a plurality of segments arranged in a second row adjacent to the first row, G) in the row direction,
A plurality of vias formed in the two branches of each segment;
A plurality of connection conductors disposed on the second surface and connecting the two segments disposed adjacent to each other along the row direction among the plurality of segments through the plurality of vias; Each of said connecting conductors comprises a first via formed in a right side branch of the two branches of the left segment disposed on the left of said two segments to which said respective connecting conductors are connected, Connecting the second vias formed on the branch portion disposed on the left side among the two branch portions of the right segment disposed on the right side of the segments,
A plurality of column electrodes extending along the column direction, insulated from the plurality of segments and disposed on the first surface along the row direction; The left and right widths of the respective column electrodes correspond to half the width of the respective segments; each segment is surrounded by two adjacent column electrodes; And a slit through which the two column electrodes pass through the body portion of the segment,
/ RTI &gt;
Touch panel. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the two branches have the same length and are arranged side by side. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the predetermined gap (G) has a size corresponding to one half of the width of each segment. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the body portion includes a body-branch portion extending in a diagonal direction. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the body portion includes a body-fringe portion of a rhombic or radial shape. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a chip disposed on the second side,
The first branch having a region occupied by the chip and a package terminal of the chip and an overlapping region of the chip portions included in all the segments included in the touch panel,
Wherein the vias formed in the first branch portion are formed in regions other than the superposed region of the first branch portions.
Touch panel.

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