TW201445693A - Structure and method of production of electrical control circuit for panels - Google Patents

Abstract

Present invention relates to a method of production of electrical control circuit for panels, comprising following steps: preparing a first transparent carrier with an insulating layer formed on periphery, and a first transparent conductive layer formed between the insulating layer and the top surface of the first transparent carrier, and a metal conductive layer formed on the first transparent conductive layer; processing first etching to form a first metal conductive frame circuit and several etching circuit covers; processing second etching to form a first central transparent conductive circuit; processing third etching to remove the etching circuit covers, in order to complete needed electrical control circuit. As a result, width of the electrical control circuit in the panel structure is efficiently decreased, whereby the size of a touch panel is minimized.

Description

Panel electronic control circuit structure and manufacturing method thereof

The invention relates to a panel electronic control circuit, in particular to a manufacturing method of a panel electronic control circuit structure, thereby manufacturing a panel electronic control circuit structure with a reduced electrical control line width.

In recent years, touch panels have been widely used in general consumer electronic products, such as mobile communication devices, digital cameras, digital music players (MP3), personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite navigation devices (GPS), Hand-held PCs, Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs), and even smart watches that are about to enter the next wave of mobile device revolutions. As technology matures, how to reduce the area of the touch panel has become a key issue.

At present, in the conventional capacitive touch panel technology, the film structure of GFF (Glass-Film-Film) is mainly used, and the manufacturing method is to separately manufacture the touch sensors of the X-axis and the Y-axis. On the ITO film (Indium Tin Oxide, ITO), and bonded with two OCA optical adhesives (OCA), and then added a second transparent carrier protection on the outer layer, wherein two layers of ITO film and two layers are used for GFF. The OCA optical adhesives are bonded to each other. Since the GGF has to use two layers of ITO film and two layers of OCA optical glue, the cost is high, and the power consumption of the mobile electronic device is less likely to be reduced. However, if the ITO film is reduced, By using the number of layers, the thickness of the touch panel can be further reduced.

The touch panel can be mainly divided into a resistive type or a capacitive type according to the operation principle. Among them, regardless of whether the resistive type or the capacitive type is used, the electronic control circuit is disposed on the touch panel by using a screen printing process to conduct the conductive ink. (Silver glue) is directly printed on the first transparent conductive layer disposed on a glass substrate by screen printing, but limited by the characteristics of the screen and the ink, the image quality and the reduced size of the electronic control lines still exist the following The problem that cannot be broken today.

(1) Overflow problem of conductive ink: When the size of the touch panel is getting smaller, the thickness uniformity of the electronic control line, the line alignment and the L/S (line width/line spacing) are particularly important, and the conductive ink Problems such as dry plate or ink spill on the screen printing process have made the current L/S (line width/line spacing) only reach 80 μm/80 μm, which has gradually failed to meet the demand for miniaturized electronic mobile devices.

(2) Poor adhesion between the conductive ink and the surface of the conductive glass: the conventional screen printing process prints the conductive ink to the first transparent conductive layer, and after heat treatment by drying, forms an electronic control line with a standard pencil hardness. Test this kind of electronic control circuit, its adhesion to the substrate can only withstand the pencil hardness below 4H, it will damage it if it exceeds 4H.

(3) Poor heat resistance and chemical resistance: Conventional conductive inks used in screen printing processes, generally silver glue, in which the composition contains about 20% solvent, so that the silver glue can be liquidized for printing. During the drying process, the solvent volatilizes with increasing temperature, solidifies the silver paste, and adheres to the first transparent conductive layer of the glass substrate, wherein the main conductive factor "silver" is adhered by the adhesive force of the glue. On the first transparent conductive layer, if the electronic control circuit formed by the silver paste is dry, and is exposed to a solvent or moisture in the process or the environment, the "silver" is first transparently conductive. The adhesion on the layer will decrease with the adhesion of the colloid, resulting in unstable quality.

(4) The processing difficulty is high and the quality is difficult to control: the conductive ink used in the screen printing process is mainly a heat curing type, and the working state of the silver glue will change the viscosity with the printing time, and even cause drying. Phenomenon, the difficulty of printing and the difficulty of quality control, the need to update the ink and clean the screen from time to time, resulting in unnecessary waste of manpower and working hours, and limited by the screen printing accuracy has a certain bottleneck, so that The finished touch panel has never been able to meet the high specification requirements.

In view of the above disadvantages, the present invention provides a panel electronic control circuit structure and a manufacturing method thereof, which replace the screen printing by an etching process, so that the L/S (line width/line spacing) of the electronic control circuit can be further reduced.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned technical means, the manufacturing method of the panel electronic control circuit structure of the present invention comprises the following steps: preparing a first transparent carrier having an upper surface and a lower surface; on the surface of the first transparent carrier An insulating layer is disposed on the periphery; a first transparent conductive layer is formed on the upper surface of the first transparent carrier and the insulating layer; a metal conductive layer is laid on the first transparent conductive layer; and the first etching process is performed to conduct the metal conductive Forming a first frame metal conductive line and a plurality of etching lines; performing a second etching process to form the first transparent conductive layer into a first central transparent conductive line; and performing a third etching process to remove the plurality of etching lines, To form a desired electronic control circuit; and to prepare a second transparent carrier, the center of which is etched to form a second central transparent conductive line, and a second frame metal conductive line is disposed on the periphery of the second central transparent conductive line. Wherein, an optical glue is disposed between the first transparent carrier and the second transparent carrier.

Therefore, the panel electronic control circuit structure manufactured by the above steps comprises: a first transparent carrier having an upper surface and a lower surface; and an insulating layer disposed on the first transparent carrier a first transparent conductive layer disposed on the upper surface of the first transparent carrier and covering the upper surface of the insulating layer, and forming a first surface having an X-axis touch sensor in the center of the upper surface a central transparent conductive line; a frame metal conductive layer having a rigid structure disposed at a periphery of the first transparent conductive layer and above the insulating layer; and a second transparent carrier having a central portion And a second frame metal conductive line formed on the periphery of the second central transparent conductive line, wherein an optical glue is disposed between the first transparent carrier and the second transparent carrier.

According to the above, one of the effects of the present invention is achieved by using OCA optical glue to adhere to each other between the first transparent carrier and the second transparent carrier, and a first transparent conductive layer (on the ITO film) can be reduced compared with the conventional one. And an OCA (Optical Glue) can reduce the number of layers of ITO film used in the panel structure and further reduce the thickness of the touch panel.

By the above, the second aspect of the present invention achieves the effect of arranging the electronic control circuit by means of etching, and the L/S (line width/line spacing) can be further reduced to 20 μm/ compared with the conventional method of screen printing. Between 20μm~30μm/30μm.

By the above, the third effect of the invention is achieved by providing an adhesion layer between the metal conductive layer of the bezel and the first transparent conductive layer, thereby improving the adhesion of the metal conductive layer of the bezel to the insulating layer.

According to the above, the fourth effect of the invention is that the copper metal is used as the material of the frame conductive layer, and the liquid diffusion problem caused by the liquid phase can be solved without liquid phase coating, and the ink can be strengthened. The stability of the conductive layer of the frame reduces the impact of the working environment.

For the convenience of the description, the central idea expressed by the present invention in the column of the above summary of the invention is expressed by the specific embodiments. The various items in the embodiments are set forth in proportion to the description and not in the

1 to FIG. 10, FIG. 1 is a manufacturing flow chart of the present invention, and FIGS. 2-10 are schematic views showing a preferred embodiment of the manufacturing process of the present invention. The manufacturing method of the panel electronic control circuit structure of the present invention comprises the following steps:

A first transparent carrier 10 is prepared, as shown in FIG. 2, having an upper surface 11 and a lower surface 12 which are removed from impurities or dirt on the surface of the first transparent carrier 10. In the present invention, the first transparent carrier 10 The material may be soft, hard, transparent or translucent, and the material of the first transparent carrier 10 may be polycarbonate (PC), polyester (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). One of them.

An insulating layer 20 is formed, as shown in FIG. 3, which is applied to the periphery of the upper surface 11. In this embodiment, the insulating layer 20 is made of an opaque ink and is surrounded by the first transparent carrier. 10, a central recess is formed. In the present invention, the insulating layer 20 is formed by exposure development and etching, so that the insulating layer 20 is attached to the periphery of the upper surface 11 of the first transparent carrier 10.

A first transparent conductive layer 30 is formed, as shown in FIG. 4, which is applied between the insulating layer 20 and the upper surface 11. In the present invention, the first transparent conductive layer 30 can be formed by sputtering or wet. Etching or photo etching one of them, and the first transparent conductive layer 30 may be made of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO), or Al-doped ZnO. , AZO) or one of Impurity-Doped Oxides composed of Antimony Tin Oxide 'ATO.

A metal conductive layer 40 is formed, as shown in FIG. 5, and is electrically connected to the first transparent conductive layer 30. In the present invention, the metal conductive layer 40 is made of copper (Cu) having high conductivity. Metal, and an adhesion layer (not shown) is disposed above the first transparent conductive layer 30. The material of the adhesion layer may be at least one of nickel-chromium alloy (NiCr), titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), and the like. The metal conductive layer 40 can have a better adhesion to the first transparent conductive layer 30.

Performing a first etching process, as shown in FIG. 6, coating a layer of photoresist prior to the metal conductive layer 40, exposing the development to etching, and selecting a specific etching process, in this embodiment, The copper metal material (Cu) of the metal conductive layer 40 can be etched only, and a first frame metal conductive line 41 and a plurality of etching lines 42 are formed according to the requirements of different circuit patterns, and the first transparent conductive layer 30 is not caused. The effect is that a plurality of etching channels 43 are formed correspondingly for the plurality of etching lines 42 to be passed through for solution or light.

Performing a second etching process, as shown in FIG. 7, is first performed by exposure development and etching, and is selected to be a specific etching process. In this embodiment, only indium oxide may be applied to the first transparent conductive layer 30. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) is etched, and the first transparent conductive layer 30 ′ is etched into the first transparent conductive layer 30 ′ of the next layer through the etch channels 43 and is set to have an X-axis touch. The sensor 30'a, in addition, the second etching process does not affect the metal conductive layer 40.

Performing a third etching process, as shown in FIG. 8, a protective film 50 is covered before the first bezel metal conductive line 41 to ensure that the first bezel metal conductive line 41 is not affected during the etching process, and then with the first time. The etching process is similar to the technical means, and only the etching line 42 etched by the copper metal material on the first central transparent conductive line 30' is removed. As shown in FIG. 9, the protective film 50 is removed, and the protective film 50 can be formed. The required electronic control circuit.

A second transparent carrier 60 is formed, and a second central transparent conductive line 61 is formed in the center thereof, and a second frame metal conductive line 70 is etched on the periphery of the second central transparent conductive line 61. In this embodiment, The second central transparent conductive line 61 and the second bezel metal conductive line 70 are etched in the same manner as the first central transparent conductive line 30' and the first bezel metal conductive line 41, and the second central transparent conductive line 61 and the The etching process of the two-frame metal conductive line 70 will not be repeated.

An optical adhesive 80 is disposed between the first transparent carrier 10 and the second transparent carrier 60.

Referring to FIG. 10, the electronic control circuit formed by the above steps is disposed between the first transparent carrier 10 and the second transparent carrier 60 by an OCA optical adhesive 80, and the X-axis touch sensor 30 is attached. The 'a and Y-axis touch sensor 61a provides a specific current of the first transparent conductive layer 30 through transmission by an electronic control unit, and the user directly touches the first transparent carrier 10 with a finger, a pen or other medium. When the lower surface 12 is at a certain position, the first transparent carrier 10 in the current position is electrically connected to the first transparent conductive layer 30, and a potential difference is generated at the corresponding position. At this time, the X-axis touch sensor The 30'a and Y-axis touch sensor 61a can sense different potential differences and transmit to the calculator to calculate the coordinate value of the touch position, which can be a panel with touch function.

In summary, since the first central transparent conductive line 30' is etched by using a plurality of etching lines 42 as a sacrificial layer, only a yellow light process is required, which can reduce the manufacturing cost and does not require the first transparent conductive The layer 30 and the metal conductive layer 40 are treated as a one-bit treatment, and at the same time, the fineness of the fabrication can be controlled. In addition, the present invention uses an etching process to arrange the electronic control circuit, compared with the conventional method of screen printing. The L/S (line width/line spacing) can be further reduced to between 20 μm/20 μm and 30 μm/30 μm, and is fabricated into a first bezel metal conductive line 41 by metal etching, without liquid phase coating. It can solve the problem of ink diffusion caused by the liquid phase of the conventional silver glue and reduce the influence of the working environment. Therefore, the problem of updating the silver glue and cleaning the screen plate can be eliminated, and the first transparent carrier 10 can be effectively improved. Control the quality stability of the line and improve the product yield.

Referring to FIG. 9, the panel electronic control circuit structure manufactured by the above steps includes:

a first transparent carrier 10 having an upper surface 11 and a lower surface 12;

An insulating layer 20 is disposed on the periphery of the upper surface 11 of the first transparent carrier 10;

a first transparent conductive layer 30 is disposed on the upper surface 11 of the first transparent carrier 10 and covers the upper portion of the insulating layer 20, and forms a first central transparent conductive line 30' in the center of the upper surface 11 A central transparent conductive line 30' is designed as an X-axis touch sensor 30'a.

A first bezel metal conductive line 41 is rigid and non-destructive, and is disposed in electrical communication with the periphery of the first transparent conductive layer 30 and above the insulating layer 20, wherein the first frame metal is electrically conductive. An adhesion layer is disposed between the line 41 and the first transparent conductive layer 30, so that the first frame metal conductive line 41 has a better adhesion force on the first transparent conductive layer 30. In this embodiment, the first frame metal is electrically conductive. The line 41 is made of a rigid material of copper metal (Cu), and is formed by exposure and development, and is formed by etching. The first frame metal conductive line 41 has a flat wall surface by micro-processing technology to reduce the contact between the lines. A short circuit occurs.

a second transparent carrier 60 is disposed at the center thereof with a second central transparent conductive line 61 having a Y-axis touch sensor 61a, and a second frame metal conductive line is formed on the periphery of the second central transparent conductive line 61. 70. In this embodiment, the second central transparent conductive line 61 and the second bezel metal conductive line 70 are disposed in the same manner as the first central transparent conductive line 30' and the first bezel metal conductive line 41.

An OCA optical adhesive 80 is disposed between the first transparent carrier 10 and the second transparent carrier 60.

Referring to FIG. 10, the electronic control circuit formed by the above structure is adhered to each other by the OCA optical adhesive 80 between the first transparent carrier 10 and the second transparent carrier 60, and the X-axis touch sensor 30'a is attached. And the Y-axis touch sensor 61a can provide a specific current of the first transparent conductive layer 30 through transmission by an electronic control unit, and further, when the lower surface 12 of the first transparent carrier 10 is subjected to a touch action, The change of the potential difference is measured, and the change data is transmitted back to the electronic control unit to calculate the coordinates of the touch position.

In addition, since the first bezel metal conductive line 41 and the second bezel metal conductive line 70 formed by the exposure and development and the etching method are used, the first bezel metal conductive line 41 and the second bezel metal conductive line are micro-processed. 70 has a flat wall surface, compared with the conventional formation of metal conductive lines with silver glue, can eliminate the defects of ink overflow, cohesion, adhesion and the like generated by the liquid phase without the need to change the liquid phase into a solid phase wire, and further Solving the dilemma that micro-processing technology can't break through, and forming it on the periphery in the form of solid metal and having a flat wall surface, and L/S (line width/line) of the first frame metal conductive line 41 and the second frame metal conductive line 70 The pitch can be reduced to between 20 μm/20 μm and 30 μm/30 μm, and the short-circuit phenomenon can be further reduced by the contact between the lines. In addition, the present invention can reduce the use of a transparent conductive layer and an OCA compared to the conventional techniques. The optical adhesive 80 can reduce the number of layers of the ITO film used in the panel structure, and further reduce the thickness of the touch panel.

While the invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, the various embodiments may The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. All modifications or changes made without departing from the spirit of the invention are within the scope of the invention.

10. . . First transparent carrier

42. . . Etched line

11. . . Upper surface

43. . . Etching channel

12. . . lower surface

50. . . Protective film

20. . . Insulation

60. . . Second transparent carrier

30. . . First transparent conductive layer

61. . . Second central transparent conductive line

30’. . . First central transparent conductive line

61a. . . Y-axis touch sensor

30’a. . . X-axis touch sensor

70. . . Second frame metal conductive line

40. . . Metal conductive layer

80. . . Optical glue

41. . . First frame metal conductive line

FIG. 1 is a manufacturing flow chart of the present invention. 2 to [Fig. 10] are schematic views showing a preferred embodiment of the manufacturing process of the present invention.

10. . . First transparent carrier

60. . . Second transparent carrier

20. . . Insulation

61. . . Second central transparent conductive line

30. . . First transparent conductive layer

61a. . . Y-axis touch sensor

30’. . . First central transparent conductive line

70. . . Second frame metal conductive line

30’a. . . X-axis touch sensor

80. . . Optical glue

41. . . First frame metal conductive line

Claims (9)

A panel electronic control circuit structure comprising: a first transparent carrier having an upper surface and a lower surface; an insulating layer disposed on a periphery of the upper surface of the first transparent carrier; a first transparent conductive layer, The first transparent carrier is disposed on the upper surface of the first transparent carrier, and is disposed above the insulating layer, and forms a first central transparent conductive line in the center of the upper surface; a first frame metal conductive line having a rigid structure. And disposed on the periphery of the first transparent conductive layer and above the insulating layer; and a second transparent carrier, the center of which is provided with a second central transparent conductive line, and on the periphery of the second central transparent conductive line Forming a second bezel metal conductive line; wherein an optical glue is disposed between the first transparent carrier and the second transparent carrier. The panel electronic control circuit structure of claim 1, wherein the first bezel metal conductive line is electrically connected to the first transparent conductive layer. The panel electronic control circuit structure of claim 1, wherein the first frame metal conductive line and the second frame metal conductive line have a flat wall surface. A manufacturing method of a panel electronically controlled circuit structure, the manufacturing step comprising the steps of: preparing a first transparent carrier having an upper surface and a lower surface; and providing an insulating layer on a periphery of the upper surface of the first transparent carrier; Forming a first transparent conductive layer with the upper surface of the first transparent carrier; forming a metal conductive layer on the first transparent conductive layer; performing a first etching process to etch the metal conductive layer to form a first border a metal conductive line and a plurality of etching lines; performing a second etching process to etch the first transparent conductive layer to form a first central transparent conductive line; and performing a third etching process to remove the etching lines to form a desired And a second transparent carrier, wherein a second transparent conductive line is formed in the center, and a second frame metal conductive line is disposed on a periphery of the second central transparent conductive line; wherein An optical glue is attached between the first transparent carrier and the second transparent carrier. The manufacturing method of the panel electronic control circuit structure of claim 4, wherein the second etching process is only for the first transparent conductive layer, and the first transparent conductive layer is etched into the first central transparent conductive layer. line. The manufacturing method of the panel electronic control circuit structure according to claim 4, wherein in the third etching process, the protective circuit of the frame is covered with a protective film, and the removing operation is performed on the etching lines. The method for manufacturing a panel electronic control circuit structure according to claim 4, wherein the first transparent conductive layer is provided with an adhesion layer, so that the metal conductive layer has a better adhesion force on the insulating layer. The method for manufacturing a panel electronic control circuit according to claim 7, wherein the material of the adhesion layer is at least one of a nickel-chromium alloy (NiCr), titanium (Ti), and molybdenum (Mo). The method for manufacturing a panel electronic control circuit structure according to claim 4, wherein the metal conductive layer is made of copper (Cu).