KR20090015482A - Window-unified thin film touch panel of glass-glass type, and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A window integrated thin film touch panel of glass-glass type using chemical etching and physical grinding process, and a manufacturing method thereof are provided to improve productivity and to reduce operation time by omitting contacting process of a touch panel and a window. A window integrated thin film touch panel of glass-glass type comprises a bottom glass substrate(110a), a top glass substrate(110b), an anti-glare coating layer(120a, 120b), an ITO coating layer(130a, 130b), a connector tail(140), a dot spacer(150), a sealing material(160), and a polyethylene protective film(170). The ITO coating layer is formed by depositing ITO in a top side of a bottom plate and a bottom side of a top plate. The anti-glare coating layer is formed for preventing dazzling phenomena. A driving circuit is connected to the connector tail. The dot spacer is formed on the top plate or the bottom plate. The sealing material seals the top plate and the bottom plate.

Description

Glass-glass type window-integrated thin film touch panel and its manufacturing method {Window-unified thin film touch panel of glass-glass type, and manufacturing method

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel used in a portable multimedia device and a method of manufacturing the same.

The touch panel is an input device that is integrated or added to a computer, a portable transmission device, a display device, or another personal data processing device (PDA). Simple, less misoperation and input characteristics that can be input by hand, various forms and driving methods are known.

Briefly referring to the driving method of the touch panel, there is a resistive touch panel formed by combining two sheets of resistive components which are separated by dot spacers and arranged to be in contact with each other by being pressed. There are also touch panels such as capacitive, ultrasonic, optical (infrared) sensor, and electromagnetic induction. They all have different signal amplification problems, resolution differences, and difficulty levels in design and processing technology. Therefore, when selecting a driving method, durability and economic efficiency in addition to optical characteristics, electrical characteristics, mechanical characteristics, environmental resistance, input characteristics, etc. It is decided by considering.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 1, the glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the related art includes a lower glass substrate 11a, an upper glass substrate 11b, polymer conductive coating layers 12a and 12b, a dot spacer 13, The connector tail 14 includes an adhesive or double-sided tape 15, a metal wire 16, and a PET protective film 17, and is input through a user's finger or pen 18.

2 is a front view and a side view of a glass-glass type thin film touch panel using a conductive polymer according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 2, the front surface a of the glass-glass type thin film touch panel shows a PET protective film 17, a touch region 20, and a connector tail 14. In addition, the side surface (b) of the glass-glass type thin film touch panel is shown in detail with reference A. That is, the glass-glass type thin film touch panel is formed of a thin film, and the glass and the plastic of the thin film are assembled to each other.

On the other hand, Figure 3 is a view for explaining the sealing between the glass substrate and the glass substrate according to the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 3, a sealing method between an upper glass substrate and a lower glass substrate according to the related art is to seal each individual cell 32 on a disc glass 31 with a sealant 33. The method is used, for example, one drop method, capillary method and the like.

Figure 4 is a schematic process flow diagram for explaining a glass-glass type thin film touch panel manufacturing method according to the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the method of manufacturing a glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the related art, first, the original glass is cleaned (S10), and upper and lower glass substrates of the thin film are prepared. The conductive polymer is coated on the glass substrate (S20).

Next, an insulator is printed on the upper and lower glass substrates coated with the conductive polymer (S30), and a dot spacer is formed (S40). Then, after printing the UV curing agent (S50), the upper and lower glass substrates are coated with a conductive polymer (S60).

Next, after cutting to a certain standard, the cut touch panel is bonded to the window and assembled (S70).

FIG. 5 is a detailed process flow diagram of FIG. 4, wherein a transparent conductive film, which is a polymer conductive coating layer, is used, and a touch panel and a window made of polycarbonate (PC) are assembled using double-sided tape, and then assembled on the assembled touch panel and glass. It shows that the PET protective film is made of a structure to paste.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, in the method of manufacturing a glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the related art, the original glass is cleaned (S11), and upper and lower glass substrates of the thin film are prepared (S21, S31), the conductive polymer is coated on the upper and lower glass substrates of the thin film (S22, S32).

Next, the coated conductive polymer is dried (S23, S33), and an insulator is printed on the upper and lower glass substrates coated with the conductive polymer (S24, S34), for example, a dot spacer is formed on the lower glass substrate. To form (S35), to form a silver spacer (S36). At this time, the silver spacer is also formed on the upper substrate (S25).

Thereafter, after printing the UV curing agent (S26, S37), the upper and lower glass substrates coated with a conductive polymer are bonded and assembled (S41).

Next, the assembled glass substrate is cut to a certain standard, that is, the glass substrate is subjected to a scriber and brake-up (S42 and S43).

On the other hand, as a separate process from the manufacture of the touch panel, the window is formed, after the window mold is manufactured (S51), the window is injected (S52), and the double-sided tape is attached (S53).

Next, the touch panel cut as described above is bonded to the window and assembled (S61), and after attaching a protective film on the upper glass substrate (S62), by attaching a pulltape (S63), the touch panel is completed.

However, in the case of a conventional glass-glass type touch panel, defects such as breakage of a thin film glass substrate due to an operator's mistake or carelessness occur during manufacturing operations. In addition, since the use of an expensive thin film glass substrate requires high work proficiency, which is directly connected to productivity, resulting in low productivity, and thus, high manufacturing costs have disadvantages. In addition, the manufacturing method of coating the conductive organic polymer on the thin glass substrate, there is a problem that the reliability, such as moisture resistance by the organic polymer is low.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention to solve the above problems is to use a glass-glass that can be implemented as a thin film by using a chemical etching and physical polishing process without using an expensive thin film glass substrate, a general ITO coated glass substrate To provide a window-integrated thin film touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same.

In addition, another technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, by eliminating the bonding process between the touch panel and the window, the glass-glass type window-integrated thin film touch panel that can reduce the working time and increase the production accordingly, and its manufacture It is to provide a method.

As a means for achieving the above-described technical problem, the window-integrated glass-glass type touch panel according to the present invention, the glass-glass type touch panel, the lower glass substrate; An upper glass substrate aligned to face the lower glass substrate; A transparent metal coating layer formed by coating a transparent metal on an upper side of the lower glass substrate and a lower side of the upper glass substrate, respectively; A dot spacer formed on the lower or upper glass substrate to insulate the lower and upper glass substrates from each other; And a sealing material for sealingly sealing the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate so that the touch panel itself becomes a window unit serving as a window, wherein a thickness of the lower and / or upper glass substrate coated with the transparent metal is lower than the lower glass. After the substrate and the upper glass substrate are sealed, a thin film thickness is formed through a glass thickness reduction process.

Here, the glass thickness reduction process is characterized in that the chemical etching (Chemical Etching) or physical grinding (Physical Grinding) process.

Here, the thickness of the upper and / or lower glass substrate coated with the transparent metal is characterized in that formed in the range of 0.1 ~ 0.4mm.

The sealant may be a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable sealant or a double-sided tape for preventing the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate from being etched.

The transparent metal coating layer may be formed by depositing indium tin oxide (ITO) on the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate.

Here, the protective film attached to the upper portion of the upper glass substrate may further include a protective film for protecting the surface of the upper glass substrate, the protective film is characterized in that the polyethylene terephthalate (Poly Ethylene Terephthalte: PET) material .

On the other hand, as another means for achieving the above-described technical problem, the method of manufacturing a window-integrated glass-glass type touch panel according to the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a glass-glass type touch panel, a) the top and bottom Forming a transparent metal coating layer on the glass substrate, respectively; b) printing spacers and insulators on the transparent metal coating layer; c) sealing between the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate on which the transparent metal coating layer is formed; d) lowering the thickness of the upper / lower glass substrate on which the transparent metal coating layer is formed to a thin film thickness through a glass thickness reduction process; And e) processing the thin film touch panel into an integrated window.

Here, the glass thickness reduction process of step d) is characterized in that the chemical etching (Chemical Etching) or physical grinding (Physical Grinding) process.

Here, the thickness of the upper and / or lower glass substrate coated with the transparent metal of step d) is characterized in that formed in the range of 0.1 ~ 0.4mm.

Here, the step c) is sealed in the step d) with a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable sealing material or double-sided tape in order to prevent the lower side of the upper glass substrate, and the upper side of the lower glass substrate to be etched. .

The transparent metal coating layer of step a) may be formed by depositing ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) on the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate.

According to the present invention, by manufacturing the window-integrated thin film touch panel, it has excellent reliability compared to the glass-glass type thin film touch panel manufacturing method using a conventional conductive polymer, and is generated by using the existing expensive thin film glass substrate The productivity can be improved by reducing the difficulty of handling and the occurrence of defects.

In addition, according to the present invention, by eliminating the bonding process between the touch panel and the window, it is possible to reduce the working time and increase the production amount, and also to reduce the manufacturing cost of about 30% compared to the existing method.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a window-integrated touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

As an embodiment of the present invention, disclosed is a window integrated thin film touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same for a portable multimedia device capable of realizing a thin film thickness of an ITO coated glass substrate using chemical etching and physical grinding. do. That is, the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention uses chemical etching and physical grinding to reduce the thickness of the glass substrate coated with ITO, and is also formed as a window integral.

6 is a cross-sectional view of a glass-glass window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a lower glass substrate 110a, an upper glass substrate 110b, an anti-glare coating layer 120a and 120b, and an ITO. Coating layers 130a and 130b, connector tail 140, dot spacer 150, sealing material 160 and PET protective film 170 is included.

In the glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the upper glass substrate 110b, that is, the upper plate is aligned with the lower glass substrate 110a, that is, the lower plate.

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coating layers 130a and 130b are formed by completely depositing ITO, which is a transparent metal, on the upper side of the lower plate 110a and the lower side of the upper plate 110b, respectively. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transparent metal is not limited to ITO.

The anti-glare coating layers 120a and 120b are antireflection layers and are formed to prevent glare.

The connector tail 140 is connected to a driving circuit that is a flexible printed circuit (FPC). FPC is a circuit board formed by forming a complex circuit on a flexible insulating film, and is a substrate using a heat resistant plastic film such as polyester (PET) or polyimide (PI), which is a flexible material.

The dot spacer 150 is formed on the lower plate or the upper plate to insulate the lower plate 110a and the upper plate 110b from each other. That is, it may be formed on either the lower plate or the upper plate.

The sealing material 160 seals the lower plate 110a and the upper plate 110b by bonding the lower panel 110a and the upper plate 110b so that the touch panel itself becomes a window integral type serving as a window. The sealing member 160 may be a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable sealing material or a double-sided tape for preventing the lower side of the upper glass substrate 110b and the upper side of the lower glass substrate 110a from being etched.

Polyethylene terephthalte (PET) protective film 170 is attached to the upper portion of the upper glass substrate 110b to protect the surface of the upper glass substrate 110b.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the lower plate 110a and / or the upper plate 110b coated with the transparent metal is chemical etching that is a glass thickness reduction process after the lower plate 110a and the upper plate 110b are sealed. Alternatively, the thin film may be formed into a thin film through a physical polishing process. For example, as shown by reference numeral D, the thicknesses of the upper plate 110b and / or the lower glass substrate 110a coated with the ITOs 130a and 130b are reduced to about 0.1 to 0.4 mm.

In the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, the ITO coating layers 130a and 130b are disposed between the upper glass substrate 110b and the lower glass substrate 110a to be disposed below. It is sealed with a thermosetting or UV curable adhesive or double-sided tape 160 having a thickness of about a μm. The upper glass substrate 110b is in contact with the lower glass substrate 110a by the pressure of the pen pressed when inputted. In this case, in the case of the glass-glass type, the PET protective film 17 may be attached to the upper glass substrate 11b.

On the other hand, the input position detection of the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, by sandwiching the upper glass substrate 110b and the lower glass substrate 110a between the dot spacer 140 to face at intervals of about 100 ~ 300㎛, The input signal is extracted by the connector tail 140. The operation is performed by contacting the upper glass substrate 110b and the lower glass substrate 110a by an input point to apply a voltage between the electrodes of the lower glass substrate 110a. Then, a potential gradient occurs on the resistance surface between the two electrodes, and the voltage is read from the electrode of the upper glass substrate 110b to calculate and calculate the input position of the X axis through the controller. Then, a voltage is applied between the electrodes of the upper glass substrate 110b, the voltage is read from the electrodes of the lower glass substrate 110a, the position of the Y-axis is calculated, and the input point is displayed on the display. By repeating this at high speed, by continuously displaying the input position on the display, it is possible to draw characters or lines.

7 is a front view and a side view of a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the front side (a) of the glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention shows the PET protective film 170, the touch region 200, and the connector tail 140. In addition, the side surface (b) of the glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in detail with reference B. That is, the glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention is formed as a thin film through chemical etching or physical polishing process, and the touch panel itself is not a window in which glass and thin film plastic are assembled together. It will play a role. The window-integrated touch panel means that the window is integrally formed as a window as the touch panel itself, rather than constituting the window by assembling glass and plastic.

8 is a view for explaining the sealing between the glass substrate and the glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 8, in the touch panel manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the process of sealing the gap (Gap) between the upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate is a method for sealing the original glass 310 by UV curing itself For example, by preventing the liquid penetrating into the two inner disk glass consisting of the upper and lower, it is possible to prevent the loss of the internal ITO pattern, and also prevent the etching between the glass and the glass. Here, reference numeral 320 denotes an individual cell, and reference numeral 330 denotes that it is sealed by a sealing material.

Meanwhile, FIG. 9 is a schematic process flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

9, in the method of manufacturing a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a glass-glass type touch panel, after cleaning the material of the original glass and cleaning it ( S110), ITO which is a transparent metal is coated on the cleaned glass (S120).

Next, an insulator pattern is printed on the cleaned glass (S130), and a dot spacer is printed after the insulator pattern is printed (S140).

Next, after printing the UV curing agent (S150), after the alignment of the dried upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate is sealed between the glass and the glass (S160). In this case, the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate are subsequently sealed with a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable sealing material or a double-sided tape to prevent etching.

Next, the thickness of the upper or lower glass substrate is adjusted through chemical etching and physical polishing processes (S170), and at this time, the thickness of the upper and / or lower glass substrate coated with the transparent metal is in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 mm. . Thereafter, the thin film touch panel is processed into an integrated window (S180). Subsequently, a protective film may be attached to an upper portion of the upper glass substrate to protect a surface of the upper glass substrate.

FIG. 10 is a detailed process flow diagram of FIG. 9, illustrating a method of manufacturing a window integrated thin film touch panel.

Referring to FIG. 10, in the method of manufacturing a glass-glass window-integrated thin film touch panel according to the present invention, an ITO-coated glass substrate is largely etched and polished to a thin film thickness of the upper and lower glass substrates. It is divided into processes.

In the method for manufacturing a glass-glass type window-integrated thin film touch panel according to the present invention, the bonding process of the glass substrate coated with ITO will be described. According to the general touch panel manufacturing method of 0.45 to 1.1 mm after the material inspection, The original glass is cleaned (S110), and the upper and lower glass substrates of the thin film are prepared (S210 and S310), and the transparent metal ITO is coated on the upper and lower glass substrates of the thin film (S220 and S320).

Next, the coated ITO is dried (S230, S330), an insulator is printed on the ITO coated upper and lower glass substrates (S240, S340), for example, a dot spacer is formed on the lower glass substrate ( S350) and forming a silver spacer (S360). At this time, the silver spacer is also formed on the upper substrate (S250).

Next, after printing the UV curing agent (S260, S370), the upper and lower glass substrates are aligned and bonded to each other.

In order to prevent the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate of the bonded touch panel from being etched, the upper and lower portions of the ITO glass substrate are sealed (S420), and then the upper glass substrate and the lower substrate are assembled. (S430).

In order to implement the sealed glass-glass type touch panel in a thin film thickness, the upper and lower glass substrates are lowered to a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 mm, respectively, through chemical etching and physical polishing (S430).

Next, the thin film touch panel manufactured as described above is processed into a laser integrated laser hole (S440).

Finally, an anti-glare coating is applied to the upper ITO glass substrate, and then a hard coating and a scrubber process (S450) and a break-up process (S460) are performed, followed by a PET protective film. By performing the step (S470) of attaching the glass-glass-type window integrated thin film touch panel of 0.2 ~ 0.8 mm.

As a result, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the window integrated touch panel is formed through chemical etching and physical polishing processes, and in the etching process performed for manufacturing the thin film touch panel, the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate After sealing to prevent the upper side of the etching, the thickness can be reduced by etching or polishing the upper glass substrate or the lower glass substrate.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible in the technical field of the present invention without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be clear to those of ordinary knowledge.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a glass-glass type thin film touch panel according to the related art.

2 is a front view and a side view of a glass-glass type thin film touch panel using a conductive polymer according to the related art.

3 is a view for explaining the sealing between the glass substrate and the glass substrate according to the prior art.

Figure 4 is a schematic process flow diagram for explaining a glass-glass type thin film touch panel manufacturing method according to the prior art.

5 is a detailed process flowchart of FIG. 4.

6 is a cross-sectional view of a glass-glass window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a front view and a side view of a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a view for explaining the sealing between the glass substrate and the glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic process flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a detailed process flowchart of FIG. 9.

<Brief description of the main parts of the drawing>

110a: lower glass substrate (bottom plate) 110b: upper glass substrate (top plate)

120a, 120b: anti-glare coating layer

130a, 130b: indium tin oxide (ITO) coating layer

140: connector tail

150: dot spacer 160: sealant

170: PET (Poly Ethylene Terephthalte) 200: touch area

Claims (13)

In the glass-glass touch panel, A lower glass substrate; An upper glass substrate aligned to face the lower glass substrate; A transparent metal coating layer formed by coating a transparent metal on an upper side of the lower glass substrate and a lower side of the upper glass substrate, respectively; A dot spacer formed on the lower or upper glass substrate to insulate the lower and upper glass substrates from each other; And A sealing material for sealingly sealing the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate so that the touch panel itself becomes a window integrated that acts as a window. Including but not limited to: The thickness of one or both of the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate coated with the transparent metal may be thinly formed to a thin film thickness through a glass thickness reduction process after the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate are sealed. Glass-type window integrated thin film touch panel. The method of claim 1, The glass thickness reduction process is a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel, characterized in that the chemical etching (Physical Etching) or physical grinding (Physical Grinding) process. The method of claim 1, The glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel, wherein the thickness of one or both of the upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate coated with the transparent metal is formed in a range of 0.1 to 0.4 mm. The method of claim 1, The transparent metal coating layer may be formed by depositing ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) on the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate. The method of claim 1, The sealing material is a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel, characterized in that the lower side of the upper glass substrate, and the upper side of the lower glass substrate is a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable sealing material or double-sided tape. The method of claim 1, And a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel attached to an upper portion of the upper glass substrate to protect a surface of the upper glass substrate. The method of claim 1, The protective film is a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel, characterized in that the polyethylene terephthalate (Poly Ethylene Terephthalte: PET) material. In the manufacturing method of a glass-glass type touch panel, a) forming a transparent metal coating layer on each of the upper and lower glass substrates; b) printing spacers and insulators on the transparent metal coating layer; c) sealing between the lower glass substrate and the upper glass substrate on which the transparent metal coating layer is formed; d) lowering the thickness of one or both of the upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate on which the transparent metal coating layer is formed to a thin film thickness through a glass thickness reducing process; And e) processing the thin film touch panel into an integrated window; Method of manufacturing a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel comprising a. The method of claim 8, The glass thickness reduction process of step d) is a chemical etching (Physical Etching) or Physical Grinding (Physical Grinding) process, characterized in that the glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel manufacturing method. The method of claim 8, Method of manufacturing a glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel, characterized in that the thickness of one or both of the upper glass substrate and the lower glass substrate coated with the transparent metal of step d) is formed in the range of 0.1 ~ 0.4mm. . The method of claim 8, Step c) is a glass, characterized in that in the step d), the lower side of the upper glass substrate, and the upper side of the lower glass substrate is sealed with a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable sealing material or double-sided tape to prevent etching. Method for manufacturing a glass-type window integrated thin film touch panel. The method of claim 8, The transparent metal coating layer of step a) may be formed by depositing ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) on the lower side of the upper glass substrate and the upper side of the lower glass substrate in front of the glass-glass type window integrated thin film touch panel. Manufacturing method. The method of claim 8, And forming a protective film attached to an upper portion of the upper glass substrate to protect a surface of the upper glass substrate.

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