KR20110059949A - Touch cell structure of touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A touch cell structure of a touch panel is provided to exactly detect a touch input even multi touch inputs are generated at the same time. CONSTITUTION: A first and a second conducting pads(46,48) are placed by being separated with each other. A conductive layer(62) applies electric current to the first and the second conducting pads by a touch input. The conducting layer is formed by being divided into a touch cell-by-cell. The first and the second conducting pad are formed into a concavo-convex shape in which concave parts and convex parts are formed. The concave parts and convex parts are arranged in order to be closely connected with each other.

Description

Touch cell structure of touch panel

The present invention relates to a touch cell structure of a touch panel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a new touch pad, which is a pressure type touch input device and has high detection sensitivity, easy mass production, good yield, and easy to detect multi-touch input. The present invention relates to a pad touch cell structure.

The touch input device is an input device that is added to or embedded in a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED), or the like. As an object, when an object such as a finger or a touch pen comes into contact with the screen, the device recognizes it as an input signal. Touch input devices are recently installed in mobile devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable multimedia players (PMPs), and the like. In addition, navigation, netbooks, laptops, digital information devices (DIDs), and touches are available. It is used across all industries, such as desktop computers with input-enabled operating systems, IPTV (Internet Protocol TV), high-tech fighters, tanks and armored vehicles.

Conventional touch panels are classified into various types according to a method of detecting a touch input. In general, a resistive touch input device is widely used as a touch input device for detecting a pressure type touch input. 1 shows a resistive touch panel. Referring to FIG. 1, a first substrate 3 and a second substrate 5 are disposed to face each other on an upper surface of the display device 1, and an upper surface of the first substrate 3 and a lower surface of the second substrate 5. In each case, a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO) is coated to form the conductive layers 7 and 9. A plurality of resistance points 11 are formed on the upper portion of the first substrate 3, and resistance points are formed on the lower portion of the second substrate 5, although not shown.

As illustrated, when an object such as a pen 17 contacts the second substrate 5, bending occurs on the second substrate 5 while the conductive layer 9 on the bottom surface of the second substrate 5 becomes the first substrate. It is in contact with the conductive layer 7 on the upper surface of the substrate 3. At this time, the voltage applied to the conductive layers 7 and 9 drops due to the resistance value obtained at the corresponding resistance point 11, and the voltage detected by the change in the resistance value is converted into a digital signal through the AD converter 13. The converted signal is transmitted to the CPU 15 to obtain the coordinate value of the point where the touch is made. Such a resistive touch panel is the most widely used touch panel because of its simple manufacturing process and low cost.

But resistance has many problems. First, it is difficult to accurately recognize the touch point due to the nature of the method of detecting the touch input, and there is a problem in that the detection sensitivity is largely reduced due to a large number of missing signals. In addition, since the conductive layers 7 and 9 must be formed in the entire region of the upper and lower substrates, the light transmittance is greatly reduced. In addition, since the uniformity of the sheet resistance is strictly required in the process of forming the conductive layers 7 and 9, ITO should be applied with a uniform thickness. However, such an ITO process is very demanding and the manufacturing process is complicated and the yield is greatly deteriorated. have. Due to the problem of uniformly matching the sheet resistance, the resistive touch input device is used only in a small touch screen. On the other hand, as the demand for full touch phones has recently increased and operating systems supporting touch input have been released, the demand for touch screens has arisen in laptops and desktop computers. .

In addition, the resistive touch input device requires an expensive AD converter 13, which inevitably causes a time delay in the process of converting an analog signal into a digital signal. In addition, since the touch point is calculated by the change of the resistance value, zero adjustment is required for the resistance points.

Furthermore, the resistive touch input device is inherently unable to recognize a multi-touch input in which a plurality of points are simultaneously touched. Recently, a resistive touch input device for detecting touch inputs to two points has been developed. However, this is a software that recognizes a time difference between touch inputs of two points, and cannot be called true multi-touch input detection. touch). In addition, it is difficult to recognize an accurate point when detecting touch inputs to two points, and three or more touch inputs are virtually impossible to detect.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the problems of the conventional pressure-type touch input device as described above, and does not need to consider the sheet resistance of the transparent conductive layer by providing a new type of specialized touch cell structure. The touch cell of the touch panel is good, excellent in mass production, good in yield, and capable of providing a real multi-touch environment that accurately detects each touch input even when a plurality of multi-touch inputs occur simultaneously. The purpose is to provide a structure.

The touch cell structure of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the touch cell structure constituting the unit touch cell 50 of the touch panel, and the first conductive pad 46 and the first conductive pad 46 Second conductive pads 48 spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval; And a conductive layer contacting the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 by a pressure type touch input to electrically conduct the pair of first conductive pads 46 and the second conductive pads 48. And (62).

According to one embodiment, the conductive layer 62 is formed by partitioning at least one touch cell 50.

According to one embodiment, the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 are each formed in a concave-convex shape in which the concave portion 52 and the convex portion 54 are continuous, and the mutual concave portion 52. And the convex portion 54 are arranged to mate.

According to one embodiment, the first conductive pad 46 or the second conductive pad 48, the switching element 30 for switching the current between the pair of the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 ) Is installed.

According to a preferred embodiment, the switching element 30 is a TFT.

According to one embodiment, each of the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 has a first switching to switch the energization between the pair of first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 The element 30a and the second switching element 30b are provided.

According to a preferred embodiment, the first switching element 30a and the second switching element 30b are each TFTs.

According to the touch cell structure of the present invention, in a structure in which two mutually opposing pads are contacted by a pressure touch input, one pad is composed of a pair of conductive pads, and the other pad is a conductive layer formed by pressure. By providing a new touch cell structure of pad to pad (P2P) or pad to double pad (P2DP) method that energizes two conductive pads when they are in contact with a pair of conductive pads, no signal lines are formed on the substrate side where the conductive layer is formed. There is no need for wiring, which simplifies the structure and makes it easy to design the built-in display device.It does not need to have a uniform sheet resistance of the conductive layer, and there is no problem in energizing the two conductive pads even if a crack occurs in the conductive layer. Stable operation characteristics can be guaranteed, mass production is very good, yield can be greatly improved, and multi-touch inputs in which three or more points are simultaneously touched are accurate. It can be detected stably.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

First, the present invention relates to a touch cell structure of a touch panel that is installed in addition to an upper surface of a display device such as LCD, PDP, OLED, AMOLED, or the like, and is designed to be built in the display device. A touch cell structure for detecting an input is provided. The various embodiments described below are for a touch panel (or touch input device) in which touch cells according to the present invention are arranged in a matrix form, and are merely some embodiments for implementing the technical idea of the present invention. That is, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the touch cell structure according to the present invention can be applied to other embodiments not mentioned below.

In the accompanying drawings, the thickness or area is enlarged in order to clearly express the various layers and areas. Here, when a portion of a layer, film, region, substrate, etc. is said to be "on" or "top" of another portion, this includes not only the case where the other portion is "right over" but also another portion in the middle. On the contrary, when a part is "just above" another part, there is no other part in the middle. In addition, the signals described herein collectively refer to voltage or current, unless otherwise noted. In addition, the embodiments shown in the present specification illustrate that the touch cells are arranged at a resolution of 3 * 3, but this is merely an example for the sake of understanding, and in a real touch panel, the touch cells will be arranged at a higher resolution.

The touch panel referred to herein has a structure in which a plurality of touch cells are arranged in a matrix form on the panel, and each unit touch cell includes a pair of conductive pads for sensing a touch input. The pair of conductive pads are formed of a transparent conductor having ITO, carbon nano tube (CNT), antimony tin oxide (ATO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or similar conductive properties, and are opposed to each other by a pressure touch input. Is in contact with each other and is energized. The conductive layer is also formed of a transparent conductor having ITO, CNT, ATO, IZO or similar conductive properties.

Each unit touch cell may include one or more switching elements. The switching element may be of a two-terminal type, such as a diode, but is preferably of a three-terminal type. The three-terminal switching element has a circuit configuration for switching a position detection signal input to each touch cell, a position detection signal output from each touch cell, or both signals. For example, a three-terminal switching device is a device that controls the conduction of an input / output terminal according to a signal applied to a control terminal, and includes a relay, a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) switch, a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), and a field effect (FET). Transistors, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and thin film transistors (TFTs). Relay is a device that outputs voltage or current applied to input terminal without loss when current is applied to control terminal, and BJT is applied to base that is higher than threshold voltage of base. When current flows to the base terminal at, a certain amount of amplified current flows from the collector to the emitter. In addition, TFT is a switching element used in the pixel portion of a display device such as LCD or AMOLED. It is composed of a gate terminal as a control terminal, a drain terminal as an input terminal, and a source terminal as an output terminal. When a voltage that is more than a threshold voltage is applied to the gate terminal as a voltage applied to the gate terminal, a current flowing through the input terminal to the output terminal while conducting is applied to the gate terminal.

Hereinafter, an example in which a TFT is used as the switching element will be described, and the same reference numerals will be given to the switching element and the TFT. As described above, switching signals in each touch cell using TFTs is similar to a method in which pixels are formed using TFTs for screen display in a similar LCD (or active matrix LCD) or AMOLED. That is, the touch cells 50 mentioned in the present invention detect the touch input by the active matrix method. The technical advantages thereof are good mass productivity, reliability, and the like of the touch panel, and it is possible to prevent backflow of signals to prevent misrecognition of touch inputs and to recognize multi-touch inputs in which a plurality of points are in contact at the same time.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a touch panel according to the present invention, schematically showing the basic structure of the touch panel of the present invention. As illustrated, the first substrate 40 and the second substrate 60 are disposed to face each other on the upper surface of the display device 20. Both the first substrate 40 and the second substrate 60 may be made of transparent glass or film. Of course, it may be formed of another material having a light transmittance.

Preferably, a glass substrate is used as the first substrate 40 and signal lines are wired on the upper surface of the first substrate 40. Similarly to the conventional display devices, an outgoing drive IC 71 for transmitting a position detection signal and a receiving drive IC 72 for receiving a position detection signal are provided at an edge portion of the first substrate 40. It is mounted. The transmission drive IC 71 and the reception drive IC 72 may be mounted in the form of a chip on film (COF) or a chip on glass (COG) at an edge portion of the second substrate 60. In addition, the transmitting drive IC 71 and the receiving drive IC 72 may be integrated into a single IC.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a configuration diagram showing an example in which a touch cell is formed on the first substrate. With reference to these two drawings, the structure of this invention is demonstrated more concretely.

First, referring to FIG. 3, the first substrate 40 and the second substrate 60 are disposed to be spaced apart from each other by a plurality of spacers 25. The spacer 25 is made of an insulator, and the ball spacer 25a, which is in contact with the cloud between the first substrate 40 and the second substrate 60, or one end of the spacer 25 is patterned and fixed to the other side of the substrate. The pattern spacer 25b is in contact with or bonded to the opposing substrate, and two spacers may be used together.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44 are disposed on the upper surface of the first substrate 40 with different layers. As shown, the metal layer of the first signal line 42 and the metal layer of the second signal line 44 are insulated by the insulating layer 33. A conductive layer 62 is formed on the lower surface of the second substrate 60.

Signal lines include aluminum-based metals such as aluminum and aluminum alloys, silver-based metals such as silver and silver alloys, copper-based metals such as copper and copper alloys, and molybdenum-based metals such as molybdenum and molybdenum alloys, such as chromium, titanium, and tantalum It is preferable that it consists of. The first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44, and other signal lines not mentioned in the present embodiment but mentioned in the following embodiments, are two films having different physical properties, that is, a lower film (not shown) and the same. It may include an upper layer (not shown). The upper layer is made of a low resistivity metal such as aluminum (Al) or an aluminum alloy to reduce signal delay or voltage drop. On the other hand, the lower layer is made of a material having excellent contact characteristics with ITO (Indium Tion Oxide) and IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide), such as molybdenum (Mo), molybdenum alloy, and chromium (Cr).

Although FIG. 3 illustrates that the signal lines are formed of a metal layer, the signal lines are preferably formed of a transparent conductor, thereby avoiding visual recognition by the observer. When the signal lines are formed of a transparent conductor, a metal line signal line may be used in part for the purpose of reducing the resistance of the signal line. In addition, a metal line signal line may be used at the intersection of the signal lines to reduce mutual capacitance generated between the signal lines. The signal lines formed in the heterogeneous layers are connected to other components by contact holes 59.

4 shows a planar configuration of the first substrate 40. The first signal line 42 is wired in the horizontal direction, and the second signal line 44 is wired in the longitudinal direction to intersect the first signal line 42. As shown in FIG. . The first signal line 42 is a line connected to the transmission drive IC 71 to transmit a position detection signal, and the second signal line 44 is connected to a reception drive IC 72 to receive the position detection signal. to be.

The wiring example of the signal lines shown is merely a preferred embodiment, and does not have to be wired so that the first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44 intersect. The wiring directions of the first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44 are not limited to the illustrated example and are not necessarily wired in a straight line. For example, the first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44 may be wired in parallel to each other. In addition, the first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44, and other signal lines to be described later, are wired in a diagonal line or zigzag form so as to avoid optical interference with a signal line or a black matrix (BM) of the display device 20. It can also prevent.

As illustrated, a first conductive pad 46 is connected to the first signal line 42, and a second conductive pad 48 is connected to the second signal line 44. The two conductive pads are spaced apart from each other, and form a pair to form the touch cell 50. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, insulating layers 35 and 37 are formed to insulate each conductive pad from the metal layer for signal line wiring.

In the above configuration, when the human body or the object is in contact with the second substrate 60 and bending occurs in the second substrate 60, the second substrate 60 is in contact with the first substrate 40 side. If the contact of the second substrate 60 is generated at the boxed portion in the dotted line in FIG. 4, the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad are formed by the conductive layer 62 on the lower surface of the second substrate 60. 48 is energized. Accordingly, the position detection signal sourced from the transmission drive IC 71 and applied to the first signal line 42 is transmitted to the second signal line 44 by energization of the conductive pads in the corresponding touch cell 50. Obtained by credit drive IC 72. Thus, a coordinate value for the point where the touch is generated is obtained. The coordinate values obtained in FIG. 4 may be the coordinates of the touch cell 50 at the point where the third first signal line 42 and the third second signal line 44 intersect.

6 shows a system configuration of the present invention. The upper box represents the touch position detector 70, and the lower box represents the CPU 80. The touch position detection unit 70 includes the above-described transmission drive IC 71, the reception drive 72, the signal processing unit 73, the timing control unit 74, and the memory unit 75. The signal detected by the touch position detector 70 is transmitted to the CPU 80. The CPU may be a CPU of the display device 20, a main CPU of a computer device, or a CPU of the touch input device itself. Although not shown, the system configuration further includes a power supply unit for generating a high or low voltage of signals for detecting a touch input.

The timing controller 74 generates a time division signal of several tens of ms or less, and the signal processor 73 applies a time-divided position detection signal to each of the first signal lines 42 through the transmission drive IC 71, and the second A signal obtained by the signal line 44 is detected to obtain a coordinate value of a point where a touch input occurs. Preferably, the signal processing unit 73 causes the other first signal lines 42 to be in a high impedance or floating state at the moment of applying the position detection signal to any one first signal line 42. Keep it. A resistor connected to the ground may be installed at the end of the second signal line 44 to set the input signal to the ground level when no touch input occurs.

The memory means 75 is a means for temporarily storing the obtained coordinate values. The signal processor 73 may miss some signals when the signal processor 73 is in a "Busy" state in the course of processing many signals. Therefore, the signal processor 73 temporarily stores the obtained signals in the memory means 75, scans the entire signals once, and reads the memory means 75 to determine whether there are any missing signals. If there is a missing signal, the signal is generated as a normal input signal, and the memory means 75 is erased before the next scanning.

Referring to the waveform diagram of FIG. 6, the period of the pulse of the position detection signal is "T". If a touch input is generated in the touch cell 50 at the lower right in FIG. 3, the signal S3 may be obtained through the second right signal line 44 at the rightmost time at t3 to t4 time. In this case, the signal processor 73 generates an input signal corresponding to the coordinate values "D3 and S3" of the touch cell 50.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the conductive layer 62 is formed on the bottom surface of the second substrate 60 in the present invention. For the sake of understanding, the planar structure of the first substrate 40 is illustrated and the conductive layer 62 is indicated by a dotted line. Added.

The conductive layer 62 may be formed to cover the entire active area (area where the actual touch is made), but preferably, in order to expect an improvement in transmittance, each touch cell 50 may be electrically connected. As shown in FIG. 11, the cells may be partitioned to correspond to the region where the touch cell 50 is formed.

8 is a plan view showing an arrangement example of the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48. 8 illustrates an example of stably detecting a touch input even when the touch input area is a small area.

As shown in FIG. 8, the first conductive pads 46 and the second conductive pads 48 are formed in a sawtooth shape in which the concave portion 52 and the convex portion 54 are continuous, respectively, and the concave portion 52. And the convex portion 54 are arranged to engage in a state spaced apart by a predetermined gap. According to this structure, even if the contact area of the touch input has a small area, the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 can be stably energized.

For example, suppose that the end area of the touch pen is very small compared to the area of the touch cell 50. In this case, if the first conductive pads 46 and the second conductive pads 48 are simply spaced apart side by side, the contact portion 39 is pressed against the first substrate 40 by pressing the transparent conductive layer 52. Only one conductive pad may be in contact. If so, the touch input will not be detected. However, if the first conductive pads 46 and the second conductive pads 48 are disposed as shown in FIG. 15, the contact portion 39 of the touch pen is connected to the two conductive pads 46 no matter where the touch pen contacts. 48) can be energized.

9 and below illustrate examples of stably detecting a multi-touch input in the present invention. Hereinafter, an example of detecting a multi-touch input will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown, each touch cell 50 has a switching element 30 for switching the position detection signal. By switching the position detection signal from each touch cell 50 to the switching element 30, the reverse flow of the signal can be prevented to prevent misrecognition of the touch input, and at the same time, it is possible to recognize a multi-touch input contacting a plurality of points. Will be. As mentioned at the outset, the switching element 30 may be of a two-terminal type (for example, using a breakdown voltage of a diode), but is preferably of a three-terminal type, more preferably a TFT. It consists of 30. TFTs are proven in AMLCDs and AMOLEDs.

9, a plurality of gate signal lines 28 are further disposed on the first substrate 40, and the gate IC 77 applies the gate signal Gn to the gate signal line 28. The TFT 30 is provided between the first signal line 42 and the first conductive pad 46. The gate terminal of the TFT 30 is connected to the gate signal line 28, the input terminal is connected to the first signal line 42, and the output terminal is connected to the first conductive pad 46.

10 illustrates an example of detecting a touch input through the embodiment of FIG. 9. Referring to the waveform diagram shown in FIG. 10, there is a pause between G1, G2, and G3 signals when the gate IC 77 sequentially supplies scan pulses to the respective gate signal lines 28. The transmission drive IC 71 applies the common position detection signal Dn to the first signal line 42 as a whole. At this time, the position detection signal Dn supplied from the transmission drive IC 71 may also have the same rest period as the gate signal. That is, Dn may be applied only when any one of G1, G2, and G3 is On. Of course, Dn may be applied continuously. Also, as shown by the waveform of the gate signal G3, the position detection signal Dn may have more pauses.

As shown in the drawing, when the gate signal of one line of the plurality of gate signals is turned on, the remaining gate signals are turned off. If G3 signal is On, G1 and G2 signal are Off. When the G3 signal is turned on, the TFT On voltage is supplied to the TFTs 30 connected to the third gate signal line 28, and the TFT Off voltage is supplied to the other gate signal lines 28. In one embodiment, the TFT On voltage is 12-18V and the TFT Off voltage is -5-10V.

Preferably, the input voltage of the position detection signal Dn is selected to be approximately 3 V or less than the input voltage of the gate signal. The large difference between the voltage of the gate signal and the voltage of the position detection signal ensures that the TFT 30 operates completely in the active region. However, if the difference is too small, a separate process of amplifying the obtained signal is required in the process of acquiring and processing the signal, so it is important to select an appropriate voltage to avoid this. For example, the on voltage of the gate signal is 15V and the voltage of the position detection signal is selected to 5V. These voltage values are voltage values that ensure the complete operation of the TFT 30 and do not require an additional circuit such as an amplifier.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the S3 signal is received by the receiving drive IC 72 in the G3 signal on state, the touch position detector 70 may recognize that a touch has occurred at the coordinates D3 and S3.

11 and 12 illustrate other embodiments for detecting a multi-touch input.

Unlike the embodiment of FIG. 9, in the embodiment of FIG. 11, a TFT 30 is provided between the second conductive pad 48 and the second signal line 44. According to this configuration, when the gate signal is blocked, the position detection signal is not obtained through the second signal line 44 even when the conductive pads are energized in the touch cell 50. Therefore, even when the conductive layer 62 is formed on the entire surface of the second substrate 60 to form a conductor, the position detection signal can be accurately recognized in synchronism with the gate signal, and the multi-touch can be recognized more safely. do.

On the other hand, compared to the embodiment of FIG. 11, the embodiment of FIG. 9 blocks the input terminal of the position detection signal, thereby preventing malfunction from external noise.

12 is an example incorporating advantages of the embodiments of FIGS. 9 and 11, respectively. Referring to FIG. 12, each touch cell 50 includes a first switching element 30a disposed between the first signal line 42 and the first conductive pad 46, a second signal line 44, and a second conductive pad. A second switching element 30b provided between the 48 is provided. Each of the switching elements 30a and 30b is composed of TFTs, and the gate terminals of the first TFT 30a and the second TFT 30b are common in the touch cell 50 and are connected to the gate signal line 28. Therefore, when the gate signal is blocked, the conductive pads of each touch cell 50 are completely isolated from the signal line.

According to this configuration, the touch cells 50 of the corresponding line are activated only when the gate signal is applied, and the touch cells 50 of the corresponding line are completely inactivated when the gate signal is blocked. Therefore, the multi-touch can be recognized more completely, and malfunctions caused by static electricity can be reliably blocked.

Figure 13 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The above-described embodiments are a method of changing the signals of the input terminal and the output terminal of the TFT by touch and obtaining the touch signal by interlocking with the scan voltage of the gate terminal. In contrast, the embodiment of FIG. A touch signal acquisition method is provided.

Referring to FIG. 13, a first signal line 42 and a second signal line 44 are arranged side by side on the first substrate 40, and the gate signal line 28 intersects the first and second signal lines 42 and 44. Is arranged to. A gate IC 77 for applying a gate signal to each gate signal line 28 is mounted at one edge portion of the first substrate 40, and a position detection signal is applied to the first signal line 42 at the other edge portion. A receiving drive IC 72 for applying a position detection signal to the transmitting drive IC 71 and the second signal line 44 is mounted.

In the unit touch cell 50, the first conductive pad 46 is connected to the gate signal line 28, and the third conductive pad 48 is spaced apart from the first conductive pad 48 by a predetermined distance. The gate terminal of the switching element 30c is connected. This three-terminal switching element 30c is also a TFT. The input terminal and the output terminal of the TFT 30c are connected between the first signal line 42 and the second signal line 44.

The touch panel having such a configuration is similar to the above-described embodiments in a method of recognizing a touch using a gate signal and a position detection signal. The only difference is that the TFT 30c is turned on when the conductive pads are energized in the touch cell 50. In this method, the touch position can be recognized even if the gate signal is not provided in the form of a scan pulse.

However, in order to recognize the multi-touch using the embodiment of FIG. 21, the gate IC 77 sequentially applies a scan pulse to each gate signal line 28 to isolate the signal from the touch cells 50 of other lines. There is a need to.

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 configuration view showing a conventional resistive touch panel

2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a touch panel according to the present invention;

3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a touch cell structure according to the present invention.

4 is a circuit diagram illustrating a touch cell structure according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of the present invention.

6 is a waveform diagram illustrating a pulse applied to a signal line;

7 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example in which a conductive layer is formed in a compartment.

8 is a plan view illustrating one embodiment of a pair of conductive pads;

9 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of implementing multi-touch.

10 is a waveform diagram illustrating a pulse applied to a signal line;

11 is a circuit diagram showing another example of implementing a multi-touch

12 is a circuit diagram illustrating another example of implementing a multi-touch.

13 is a circuit diagram showing another example of a touch cell structure according to the present invention;

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

20: display device 25: spacer

25a: Ball spacer 25b: Pattern spacer

28 gate signal line 30 switching element

39: contact portion 40: first substrate

42: first signal line 44: second signal line

46: first conductive pad 48: second conductive pad

50: touch cell 52: recessed portion

54: convex portion 60: second substrate

62: conductive layer 70: touch position detection unit

71: Outgoing drive IC 72: Outgoing drive IC

73: signal processor 74: timing controller

77: gate IC 75: memory means

80: CPU

Claims (7)

In the touch cell structure constituting the unit touch cell 50 of the touch panel, A first conductive pad 46 and a second conductive pad 48 spaced apart from the first conductive pad 46 by a predetermined interval; And A conductive layer contacting the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 by a pressure touch input to electrically conduct a pair of the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 to each other; 62); touch cell structure comprising a. The method of claim 1, The conductive layer 62 is a touch cell structure, characterized in that formed by partitioning at least one or more touch cells (50). The method of claim 1, The first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 are each formed in a concave-convex shape in which the concave portion 52 and the convex portion 54 are continuous, and the mutual concave portion 52 and the convex portion 54 are formed. Touch cell structure, characterized in that arranged to be engaged. The method of claim 1, The first conductive pad 46 or the second conductive pad 48 is provided with a switching element 30 for switching the energization between the pair of the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 is installed. Touch cell structure. The method of claim 4, wherein The switching device 30 is a touch cell structure, characterized in that the TFT. The method of claim 1, Each of the first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48 has a first switching element 30a and a first switching element that switch energization between the pair of first conductive pad 46 and the second conductive pad 48. Touch cell structure, characterized in that the switching element (30b) is installed. The method of claim 6, The first switching device (30a) and the second switching device (30b) is a touch cell structure, characterized in that each of the TFT.

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