TW201729051A - Touch panel and three-dimensional cover plate thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A three-dimensional cover plate includes a principal part, a bending part and a protecting layer. The bending part is connected to at least one end surface of the principal part, and the protecting layer covers the outside surface of the bending part. An elastic modulus of the protecting layer is greater than 10<SP>8</SP> Pa, and an elongation at break of the protecting layer is in a range from 50% to 90%.

Description

Touch panel and its stereo cover

The present invention relates to a touch panel, and more particularly to a touch panel and a three-dimensional cover structure thereof.

Touch Panels are commonly used in the display screens of electronic products such as mobile phones, cameras, and tablets to improve handling and signal input convenience. For example, the current common smart phones and tablets use touch panels, allowing users to input information directly through the screen panel, such as handwriting recognition system.

In the current touch technology, the three-dimensional cover plate has replaced the traditional flat cover plate because of its beautiful appearance and better user experience. For example, the industry's commonly known 2.5D or 3D glass screens are all one type of stereo cover. Wherein, the 2.5D glass screen is in a plane covering the display panel, and is subjected to a curvature treatment at a joint between the outer surface of the plane (near the user-operated surface) and the side surface to form an arc surface. The difference between the 3D glass and the 2.5D glass is that the portion of the 3D glass covering the display panel is also a curved surface, and the curved surface at the side is more extendable to present the image of the display panel. However, the curved surface of the three-dimensional cover structure is easy to fall or be stressed. Stress concentration occurs and causes cracking. According to this, not only the life of the touch product is reduced, but also the user has a poor experience.

Based on the above reasons, how to prepare a three-dimensional cover structure that is resistant to falling and high strength has become one of the topics that the industry needs to develop.

One aspect of the present invention provides a three-dimensional cover comprising a main portion, a curved portion and a protective layer. The bending portion is connected to at least one end surface of the main portion, and the protective layer covers the outer surface of the bending portion, and the elastic modulus of the protective layer is greater than 10 ⁸ Pa, and the elongation at break is 50% to 90%.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the three-dimensional cover plate further includes a side portion, wherein the curved portion is coupled between the main portion and the side portion, and the protective layer further extends to cover the side portion.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the protective layer on the curved portion is greater than the thickness of the protective layer on the side portion.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer has a thickness on the curved portion of between 1 micrometer and 100 micrometers.

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the protective layer has a thickness on the bend of between 5 and 80 microns.

According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the surface hardness of the protective layer is greater than 4H.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer is a transparent polymer material protective layer and further extends to cover part or all of the main portion.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the main portion is a planar junction Structure or a curved structure.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer is an opaque protective layer to present the three-dimensional cover to a frame.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, an adhesive layer is further disposed between the curved portion and the protective layer.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the bent portion and the protective layer are bonded by a hydrogen bond.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer comprises silicone, acryl, polycarbonate, polyimine, polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polystyrene sulfonate. Acid, or a combination of the above.

One aspect of the present invention provides a touch panel including the above-described three-dimensional cover and a touch sensing structure. The three-dimensional cover has an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein the protective layer is located on the outer surface, and the touch sensing structure and the protective layer are respectively disposed on different sides of the three-dimensional cover.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the touch sensing structure is a flexible sensing structure and is attached to the inner surface of the three-dimensional cover by an adhesive layer.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer is an opaque protective layer, and the touch sensing structure includes a sensing electrode layer disposed on the inner surface and corresponding to the main portion, and a plurality of wires electrically connected to each other. The electrode layer is covered and covered by a protective layer.

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a shielding layer is further disposed to cover an inner surface of the curved portion and extend to cover an inner surface of the main portion, and the touch sensing structure includes a sensing electrode layer located on the inner surface and corresponding to Main setting, And a plurality of wires electrically connected to the sensing electrode layer and located on a portion of the shielding layer covering the main portion.

100, 200, 300‧‧‧ stereo cover

110A‧‧‧Outer surface

110B‧‧‧ inner surface

112, 312‧‧‧ Main Department

114, 314‧‧‧ side

116, 316‧‧‧ bending

120, 320‧‧‧ protective layer

130‧‧‧Adhesive layer

400, 500‧‧‧ touch panel

410‧‧‧Touch sensing structure

412‧‧‧Sensor electrode layer

414‧‧‧ wire

420‧‧‧Adhesive layer

430‧‧‧shading layer

T, T1, T2, T3‧‧‧ thickness

The above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become more <RTIgt; 2 is a cross-sectional view of a three-dimensional cover plate according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a three-dimensional cover plate according to another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the present invention. A cross-sectional view of a touch panel in some embodiments; and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel in another embodiment of the present invention.

In order to make the description of the present invention more detailed and complete, the embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments disclosed herein may be combined or substituted with each other in an advantageous manner, and other embodiments may be added to an embodiment without further description or description.

1 is a perspective view of a portion of an embodiment of the present invention. A schematic view of the cross section of the cover. As shown in FIG. 1 , a three-dimensional cover plate 100 has a main portion 112 , a curved portion 116 and a protective layer 120 , wherein the curved portion 116 is connected to at least one end surface of the main portion 112 . Specifically, the main portion 112 is a planar structure, and the three-dimensional cover plate 100 further has a side portion 114 having an angle with the main portion 112 and being connected to the curved portion 116 between the main portion 112 and the side portion 114. There is a curved surface to connect the main portion 112 and the side portion 114 that extend in different directions. However, the stress and the strain at the curved surface of the curved portion 116 are nonlinear, and thus the stress-receiving portion 116 is liable to cause stress concentration and breakage. In addition, the stress concentration often occurs at a change or discontinuity of the cross section. If the curvature of the curved portion 116 is higher, the variation of the representative cross section is larger, resulting in a larger stress concentration effect, which reduces the durability of the stereoscopic cover plate 100.

In order to solve the above problem, the three-dimensional cover plate 100 further has a protective layer 120 covering the outer surface of the curved portion 116, that is, the protective layer 120 covers the stress concentration of the three-dimensional cover plate 100. The protective layer 120 has a modulus of elasticity greater than 10 ⁸ Pa and an elongation at break of 50% to 90%. The elastic modulus of more than 10 ⁸ Pa means that the protective layer 120 is less susceptible to strain when subjected to stress, and thus can effectively absorb external impact energy to protect the bent portion 116 thereunder. On the other hand, the protective layer 120 has an excellent elongation at break, which means that the protective layer has a certain elastic elongation after absorbing energy, so that the protective layer 120 can remain intact without breaking. In some embodiments, the protective layer 120 may also have a higher surface hardness to achieve scratch resistance, such as a surface hardness greater than 4H. In other embodiments, the protective layer 120 also has a high viscosity and elasticity, and has a cushioning property to repair its own small flaws or cracks and has a self-healing function.

In other partial embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer 120 is The parties may have various functional coatings, such as anti-fingerprint and anti-bacterial coatings, and such functional coatings may extend over the main portion 112 to achieve process integration.

It should be noted that the protective layer 120 provided by the embodiment of the present invention has characteristics different from those of ordinary yttrium oxide (SiO ₂ ), tantalum nitride (SiN) or hard coating, tantalum oxide or tantalum nitride. Compared with the protective layer 120, the protective layer has a small elastic modulus, cannot absorb large external impact energy, and has a small elongation at break, and is easily broken when subjected to an external impact, thereby causing the protective effect to fail. Although the hard coat generally has a large elastic modulus, its elongation at break is small, and similarly, it is easily broken when subjected to an external impact, thereby causing the protection to fail. Ordinary bismuth oxide (SiO2), tantalum nitride (SiN) or hard coating (Hard coating) cannot achieve the effect of the protective layer 120.

In some embodiments of the invention, the stereoscopic cover sheet 100 can be prepared using any suitable transparent insulating material, such as: glass, quartz, sapphire, polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, or polymethyl. Methyl acrylate, but not limited to this.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer 120 is a transparent polymer material protective layer, and the transparent polymer material protective layer comprises tantalum, acrylic, polycarbonate, polyimine, and poly-p-phenylene. Ethylene formate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polystyrene sulfonic acid, combinations of the foregoing, or other suitable polymeric materials. In other embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer 120 is an opaque protective layer to present the three-dimensional cover 100 to a frame.

In some embodiments of the invention, the thickness T of the protective layer 120 on the bend 116 is between 1 and 100 microns. In other parts of the invention In some embodiments, the thickness T of the protective layer on the curved portion 116 is between 5 and 80 microns. The thickness of the protective layer 120 is selected to ensure that the protective layer 120 reaches the effect of protecting the curved portion 116 from being easily broken, and the setting of the protective layer 120 does not affect the appearance of the stereoscopic cover 100 or the overall touch device. effect.

Various embodiments in which the protective layer 120 covers the curved portion 116 are described below. In an embodiment, the three-dimensional cover structure 100 further includes an adhesive layer 130 between the curved portion 116 and the protective layer 120. The protective layer 120 may be prepared, for example, by the above suitable material, and after the adhesive is applied to the protective layer 120, it is attached to the curved portion 116, and the adhesive is cured (for example, baked) in a suitable manner. The portion 116 is formed to form an adhesive layer 130 between the curved portion 116 and the protective layer 120.

In another embodiment, the protective layer 120 is disposed directly on the curved portion 116 without the adhesive layer 130 therebetween. For example, after the material of the protective layer 120 is heated to a molten state at a high temperature, the molten material is coated onto the curved portion 116 by spraying, dipping or pad printing, and the temperature is lowered to cure to form the protective layer 120.

In another embodiment, the protective layer 120 is also disposed directly on the curved portion 116, and the curved portion 116 and the protective layer 120 are coupled by a hydrogen bond. In this embodiment, the curved portion 116 and the protective layer 120 are first surface-treated, then the curved portion 116 and the protective layer 120 are laminated, and placed in a bonding machine to generate hydrogen bonds therebetween to achieve stable bonding. .

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a cross-sectional view of a three-dimensional cover plate according to another embodiment of the present invention. Stereo cover 200 of Fig. 2 The main portion of the three-dimensional cover plate 100 of FIG. 1 is a planar structure, but the main difference between them is that in the corresponding embodiment of FIG. 2, the protective layer 120 further extends to cover the side portion 114 and a portion of the main portion 112 to enhance The durability of the three-dimensional cover plate 110. Further, the protective layer 120 has a thickness T1 formed on the main portion 112, a thickness T3 formed on the side portion 114, and a thickness T2 formed on the curved portion 116. As previously mentioned, the curved portion 116 is subject to a large concentration of stress, and the protective layer 120 herein needs to have a large thickness T2 to achieve a good protective effect. Further, the side portion 114 is also subject to stress concentration and cracking when subjected to a force, but the stress is less than that of the curved portion 116, so that the thickness T3 of the protective layer 120 thereon may be slightly smaller than the thickness T2. On the other hand, the main portion 112 serves as a touch display surface, so that the protective layer 120 is not suitable to have a too large thickness T1 here to avoid affecting the visual perception. Specifically, the thickness T2 of the protective layer 120 on the curved portion 116 may be greater than its thicknesses T1 and T3 on the side portion 114 and the main portion 112, and the thickness T3 is greater than the thickness T1.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the protective layer 120 may conformally cover the main portion 112, the curved portion 116 and the side portion 114, that is, the protective layer 120 can have a uniform thickness.

In some embodiments of the invention, the thickness T2 of the protective layer 120 on the bend 116 is between 1 and 100 microns. In other partial embodiments of the invention, the thickness T2 of the protective layer on the bend 116 is between 5 and 80 microns.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a cross-sectional view showing a three-dimensional cover plate in other embodiments of the present invention. The main difference between the three-dimensional cover 300 of FIG. 3 and the three-dimensional cover 100 of FIG. 1 is that the three-dimensional cover 300 of FIG. 3 is a 3D cover, and the main portion 312 and the side portion 314 of the three-dimensional cover 300 are bend The curved portion 316 is also a curved surface structure, so that the surface of the main portion 312 is also a curved surface, and the stress is concentrated and broken when subjected to a force. Accordingly, in addition to covering the curved portion 316 and the side portion 314, the protective layer 320 extends over the entire main portion 312 to absorb external impact energy and prevent the main portion 312 of the curved structure from being broken by excessive stress concentration. In the embodiment of Figure 3, the protective layer 320 has a uniform thickness and the thickness is between 1 and 100 microns, preferably between 5 and 80 microns.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to some embodiments of the present invention. The touch panel 400 includes the stereoscopic cover 100 and the touch sensing structure 410 shown in FIG. 1 , and as shown in FIG. 4 , the stereoscopic cover 100 has an opposite outer surface 110A and an inner surface 110B , and The outer surface 110A can function as a touch sensing operation surface. Specifically, the user can observe the image displayed by the display panel (not shown) disposed under the stereoscopic cover 110 through the main portion 112 of the stereoscopic cover 110, and intuitively touch or approach the stereoscopic cover. The outer surface 110A of 110 is commanded and programmed. The protective layer 120 is disposed on the outer surface 110A, and at least covers the curved portion 116. The touch sensing structure 410 and the protective layer 120 are respectively disposed on different sides of the three-dimensional cover 100, that is, the touch sense. The measuring structure 410 is located on the inner surface 110B of the three-dimensional cover plate 100.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the touch sensing structure 410 is a flexible sensing structure including a sensing electrode layer 412 and a plurality of wires 414 . The touch sensing structure 410 is attached to the inner surface 110B of the three-dimensional cover plate 100 through an adhesive layer 420. In detail, the sensing electrode layer 412 is disposed on the inner surface 110B and is disposed substantially corresponding to the main portion 112, and the wires 414 are located in the sense One side of the electrode layer 412 is electrically connected to the sensing electrode layer 412 to transmit a touch sensing signal to a flexible circuit board (not shown).

In general, the inner surface 110B of the three-dimensional cover plate 100 is additionally provided with a shielding layer to make the wires 414 or other internal lines in the touch panel 400 not visible to the user, but in the embodiment, the protective layer 120 itself can be An opaque protective layer enables the stereoscopic cover 100 to present a frame to define a non-visible area of the touch panel 400, and the unmasked portion is a viewable area of the touch panel 400. Accordingly, the process of providing the shielding layer on the inner surface 110B of the three-dimensional cover plate 100 can be omitted, and the protective layer 120 directly serves as the shielding layer. It should be noted that when the wire 414 is formed of an opaque material, the wire 414 generally has to be covered by the protective layer 120, so that the orthographic projection of the protective layer 120 on the stereoscopic cover 100 covers at least the position of the wire 414. In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the protective layer 120 extends further to cover the side portions 114 to ensure that the wires 414 are covered without being viewed by the user from the side portions 114.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the material of the sensing electrode layer 412 may be, for example, a metal nanowire, a transparent conductive film, a metal mesh, or the like. The metal nanowire may be, for example, a silver nanowire (SNW) or a carbon nanotubes (CNT) transparent conductive film, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (indium). Zinc oxide, IZO), cadmium tin oxide (CTO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), zinc oxide (ZnO), Cadmium oxide (CdO), indium gallium zinc oxide (InGaZnO), oxygen Indium gallium zinc magnesium oxide (InGaZnMgO), indium gallium magnesium oxide (InGaMgO) or indium gallium aluminum oxide (InGaAlO) and other materials. The arrangement of the wires 414 can also be adjusted according to actual needs, and is also not limited. The material thereof can be, for example, gold, silver, copper, nickel, aluminum, chromium, or the foregoing alloys or any combination thereof.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention. The same elements are denoted by the same symbols, and their materials are not described in detail. The difference between the touch panel 500 of FIG. 5 and the touch panel 400 of FIG. 4 is that the protective layer 120 of FIG. 5 is a transparent protective layer without a shielding effect, so that a shielding layer 430 is additionally provided to cover the bending. The inner surface 110B of the portion 116, and the shielding layer 430 extends further to cover the inner surface 110B of the portion main portion 112.

On the other hand, in order to cope with the development of thinner and lighter, the sensing electrode layer 412 is directly formed on the inner surface 110B of the main portion 112, and the adhesive layer in the embodiment of Fig. 4 is omitted. As shown in FIG. 5 , a portion of the sensing electrode layer 412 extends onto the shielding layer 430 , and a plurality of wires 414 are located on the partial shielding layer 430 covering the main portion 112 and electrically connected to the sensing electrode layer 412 . . The sensing electrode layer 412 and the wires 414 are substantially located at a relatively flat position on the inner surface of the three-dimensional cover plate 100, so that the process of the lithography etching can be directly formed to improve the precision of the sensing electrode layer 412 and the wires 414.

Specifically, in one or more embodiments, since the shielding layer 430 does not cover the inner surface 110B of the side portion 114, the light of the display panel can be protected by the side portion 114 and transparently except through the main portion 112. Layer 120 Into the user's eyes, the visible area at this time includes a side portion 114 in addition to the main portion 112. Thereby, the visible area can be extended to the side portion 114 of the touch panel to make the display image more rich in diversity and variability, which greatly enhances the visual effect.

In addition, in addition to having a larger visual range, the user may also set some touch function keys, such as a mobile phone lock screen, and the volume control is equal to the inner surface of the side portion 114. This will enable the side portion 114 to also have a touch function, and can sense the touch signal, and then the touch signal is transmitted to the processor (not shown) by the wire, and the touch position is calculated by the processor. Thereby, the use of the touch panel 500 is more diverse, and also gives the user a more complete experience.

It will be apparent from the above-described embodiments of the present invention that the present invention has the following advantages. The protective layer provided by the invention has high elastic modulus and excellent elongation at break, which can protect the curved portion of the three-dimensional cover plate, achieve buffering effect and improve durability. In addition, the thickness of the protective layer at each position can be adjusted to ensure that the stress of the bending portion is reduced without affecting the visual appearance of other parts. Moreover, the touch panel using the stereoscopic cover structure increases the diversification of the touch mode, and the user can perform the touch operation on the side of the device in addition to the commonly used flat touch panel.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and the present invention can be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached.

100‧‧‧Three-dimensional cover

112‧‧‧ Main Department

114‧‧‧ side

116‧‧‧Bend

120‧‧‧Protective layer

130‧‧‧Adhesive layer

T‧‧‧ thickness

Claims (16)

A three-dimensional cover plate comprising: a main portion; a curved portion connected to at least one end surface of the main portion; and a protective layer covering the outer surface of the curved portion, and the elastic modulus of the protective layer is greater than 10 ⁸ Pa The elongation at break is 50% to 90%. The three-dimensional cover according to claim 1, further comprising a side portion connected between the main portion and the side portion, and the protective layer further extends to cover the side portion. The three-dimensional cover plate of claim 2, wherein the thickness of the protective layer on the curved portion is greater than the thickness of the protective layer on the side portion. The three-dimensional cover of claim 1 or 3, wherein the protective layer has a thickness on the curved portion of between 1 micrometer and 100 micrometers. The three-dimensional cover of claim 4, wherein the protective layer has a thickness on the curved portion of between 5 and 80 microns. The three-dimensional cover plate of claim 1, wherein the protective layer has a surface hardness greater than 4H. The three-dimensional cover plate of claim 1, wherein the protective layer is a transparent polymer material protective layer, and the protective layer further extends to cover part or all of The main department. The stereoscopic cover according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the main portion is a planar structure or a curved structure. The three-dimensional cover of claim 1, wherein the protective layer is an opaque protective layer such that the three-dimensional cover presents a frame. The three-dimensional cover of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive layer between the curved portion and the protective layer. The three-dimensional cover plate of claim 1, wherein the bent portion and the protective layer are coupled by a hydrogen bond. The three-dimensional cover plate according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer comprises silicone, acrylic, polycarbonate, polyimine, polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyphenylene Ethylene sulfonic acid, or a combination thereof. A touch panel, comprising: the three-dimensional cover plate according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the three-dimensional cover plate further has an opposite outer surface and an inner surface, wherein the protective layer is located on the outer surface; And a touch sensing structure, and the protective layer is respectively disposed on different sides of the three-dimensional cover. The touch panel of claim 13 , wherein the touch sensing structure is a flexible sensing structure and is attached to the inner surface of the three-dimensional cover by an adhesive layer. The touch panel of claim 13 or 14, wherein the protective layer is an opaque protective layer, and the touch sensing structure comprises: a sensing electrode layer disposed on the inner surface and disposed at the main portion; A plurality of wires are electrically connected to the sensing electrode layer and are covered by the protective layer. The touch panel of claim 13, further comprising a shielding layer covering the inner surface of the curved portion and extending over an inner surface of the main portion, the touch sensing structure comprising: a sensing electrode layer Located on the inner surface and disposed on the main portion; and a plurality of wires electrically connected to the sensing electrode layer and located on a portion of the shielding layer covering the main portion.