TW202018474A - Touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a touch panel, the touch panel includes a substrate, a plurality of first electrode series and a second electrode series. The substrate has a first surface. The first electrode series are disposed on the first surface and are separately arranged, and a touch area is defined with the first electrode series. The plurality of first electrode series extend along a first direction. The second electrode series is disposed on the first surface. The second electrode series is adjacent to a first side of the touch area.

Description

Touch panel

The invention relates to a touch panel, in particular to a touch panel with independent touch lines on the edge of the touch area.

In today's consumer electronics market, the combination of display and touch function has become the mainstream development trend of portable electronic products. Touch panels have been used in a variety of electronic products, such as smart watches, mobile phones, tablet computers, or various computer screens. With the touch panel, the user can directly click on the icon objects displayed on the screen with a finger or a stylus pen, thereby providing a user-friendly operation interface between the user and the electronic product. In particular, in addition to using the tap operation, gesture operation is also an important function to increase the user experience, for example, sliding from the top and bottom edges of the mobile screen to the screen can call the menu, or such as from the left and right edges of the mobile screen to the screen Swipe to change pages, etc.

However, the conventional touch panel often suffers from poor sensing at the edge of the touch area, which prevents the user from performing page changes or restricts the user's sliding range, which degrades the user experience. Therefore, the industry needs to improve the traditional touch panel, so that the touch panel can more accurately determine the user's gesture operation, so as to perform the corresponding function more accurately.

The invention provides a touch panel to overcome the problem of poor sensing often occurring at the edges of the touch area in the past.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a touch panel. The touch panel has a substrate, a plurality of first electrode series and a second electrode series. The substrate has a first surface. The first electrodes are arranged at intervals to define a touch area. The plurality of first electrode strings extend along a first direction. The second electrode series is arranged on the first surface. The second electrode series is adjacent to the first side of the touch area.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a touch panel. The touch panel has a substrate, a first electrode series, a second electrode series, a third electrode series and a control circuit. The substrate has a first surface. The first electrode series are arranged on the first surface. The first electrodes are arranged at intervals. The first electrode series extends along a first direction. The second electrodes are arranged in series on the first surface. The second electrode strings extend along the first direction and are electrically isolated from each other. The first electrode series is located between one of the second electrode series and the other of the second electrode series. The third electrodes are arranged in series on the first surface. The third electrodes are arranged at intervals. The third electrode series extends along a second direction. The second direction is interleaved with the first direction. Each third electrode series is interleaved with each first electrode series. The control circuit is electrically connected to the first electrode series, the second electrode series and the third electrode series. The control circuit is used to provide display signals to the first electrode series and the third electrode series during the display time interval, and the control circuit is used to provide touch signals to the first electrode series and the second electrode during the touch detection time interval The tandem and the third electrode are tandem.

As mentioned above, the present invention provides a touch panel. In one of the embodiments, a second electrode string is arranged beside the display area, which widens the touch range of the user. Among them, the second electrode series can be formed together based on the original manufacturing process without adding too much additional cost. Moreover, the control circuit can effectively detect whether the user's finger or stylus is located at the edge of the touch range or moves relative to the edge of the touch range based on the information obtained by the second electrode series. In this way, the problem of poor sensing at the edge of the touch range is overcome.

The features, purposes, and functions of the present invention will be further disclosed below. However, the following are only examples of the present invention, which should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention, that is, any changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention will still be the gist of the present invention, Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, it should be regarded as a further embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch panel 1 has a substrate 10, first electrode strings 12a to 12d, and second electrode strings 14. It should be noted that in this embodiment, four first electrode strings are used for description, but the number of first electrode strings is not limited to this. On the other hand, as shown in the figure, the first electrode strings 12a-12d are arranged in a manner of 1×4 (number of columns×rows), but in fact the arrangement of the first electrode strings 12a-12d may be It is 4×1 or 2×2, not limited to those shown in the drawings. The substrate 10 is, for example, a glass substrate. The materials of the first electrode series 12a-12d and the second electrode series 14 are, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) or indium tin zinc oxide (indium tin zinc oxide, ITZO).

The substrate 10 has a first surface P1. The first electrode series 12a-12d and the second electrode series 14 are disposed on the first surface P1. The first electrode strings 12a-12d are arranged at intervals to define a touch zone ZT. In this embodiment, the touch area TZ is defined to surround the first electrode strings 12a-12d. In practice, for example, the touch panel 1 is disposed in an electronic device, and the touch zone ZT overlaps at least part of the display area (active area, AA). Therefore, while seeing the image through the display area, the user can perform touch through the touch area ZT to interact with the electronic device provided with the touch panel 1. In different implementation manners, different parts of the first electrode series 12a-12d can be defined as different sensing electrodes. With different hardware configurations, the sensing capacitance of these sensing electrodes can be used for self-capacitance (Self Capacitance) or mutual capacitance (Mutual Capacitance) for calculation and application. The related results of the sensing capacitor can be used to determine the user's touch position. The first electrode strings 12a-12d respectively extend along a first direction. In this embodiment, the first direction is, for example, parallel to the Y-axis direction shown in the figure.

The second electrode string 14 is adjacent to the first side S1 of the touch zone ZT. The first electrode series 12a to 12d and the second electrode series 14 are electrically connected to the control circuit 19 through the connection portion W, respectively. In an embodiment, the first electrode strings 12a-12d, the second electrode strings 14 and the connecting portions W are formed by using the same material and the same process, for example. In practice, the material of the connection portion W may also be metal, and the first electrode series 12a-12d and the second electrode series 14 are formed through different processes, respectively.

In an embodiment, the control circuit 19 may be disposed on the substrate 10. In another embodiment, the control circuit 19 is disposed outside the substrate 10. The control circuit 19 is used, for example, to enable the first electrode series 12a-12d and the second electrode series 14 for touch detection, and the control circuit 19 is used to control the first electrode series 12a-12d and the second electrode series 14 The corresponding sensing capacitance value or sensing voltage value determines the user's touch behavior. In this embodiment, the second electrode string 14 extends along the first direction. However, in practice, the second electrode series 14 can also be disposed in the regions Z2, Z3, and Z4, and the second side S2, the third side S3, or the fourth side S4 adjacent to the touch zone ZT . With the second electrode series 14 adjacent to the touch zone ZT, when the user's touch trajectory extends to the first side S1, the touch trajectory can continue to the effective touch range of the second electrode series 14 .

Please refer to FIG. 1B together. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a touch track according to an embodiment of the present invention. Continuing the foregoing, in terms of current software design, mobile phone systems or applications (applications) often perform page changes, scene switching, or call menus based on different touch trajectories of users at the edge of the touch zone ZT And other functions. For example, when the user touches the edge of the touch zone ZT, it is equivalent to calling out the menu. When the user slides from the inside of the touch zone ZT toward the outside of the touch zone ZT, the page change is performed. However, when the user touches to generate the touch track TR1, although the touch track TR1 is located at the edge of the touch zone ZT, the touch track TR1 is relatively far away from the first electrode string 12a, so that the first electrode string The sensing capacitance or induced voltage of 12a cannot be accurately used to express the position of the touch track TR1, thereby causing misjudgment. Similarly, when the user slides outward from the touch zone ZT to generate a touch track TR2 to change pages, since the starting point of the touch track TR2 is relatively far from the first electrode series 12a and the first electrode series 12b or The touch track TR2 itself is relatively far away from the first electrode series 12a and the first electrode series 12b, so that the sensing capacitance or the induced voltage of the first electrode series 12a cannot be accurately used to express the user's desire to change pages intention. Under the above circumstances, the system or application may not perform any function or perform the wrong function (mal-function).

In contrast, since the touch panel 1 is provided with the second electrode series 14, the second electrode series 14 can be used to detect the touch tracks TR1, TR2 located at the edge of the touch zone ZT or outside the touch zone ZT, and So that the system or application can still operate normally. Although the current touch panel is dedicated to reducing the area of the border, the touch panel still has some extra redundant areas outside the display area or the touch area. Based on these redundant regions, setting the second electrode series 14 on the substrate 10 does not actually waste the space of the substrate 10.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention. Compared with the touch panel 1, the touch panel 2 has a plurality of second electrode series, which are illustrated by the second electrode series 24 a and the second electrode series 24 b. The second electrode string 24b is adjacent to a second side S2 of the touch zone ZT. The first side S1 and the second side S2 are opposite sides. The second electrode string 24b extends in the first direction. In this embodiment, the second electrode series 24a and the second electrode series 24b are located on the left and right sides of the touch zone ZT (in terms of the orientation of the drawing). This provides touch support for the system and applications on the opposite edges of the display screen.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to a further embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the foregoing embodiment, the touch panel 3 further has a plurality of third electrode series. Here, the third electrode series 36a, 36b, 36c, 36d, and 36e will be described as an example. The third electrode strings 36a-36e are disposed on the first surface P1. The third electrode strings 36a-36e are arranged at intervals in the touch zone ZT. The third electrode strings 36a-36e extend along a second direction. The second direction is interleaved with the first direction. In this embodiment, the second direction is the X-axis direction in the drawing. However, in practice, the second direction is not necessarily orthogonal to the first direction. The third electrode strings 36a-36e are interleaved with the first electrode strings 32a-32d. Among them, the third electrodes 36a-36e are located in the touch zone ZT. In addition, in this embodiment, the touch panel 3 further has a fourth electrode series 38. The fourth electrode series 38 is disposed on the first surface P1. The fourth electrode string 38 extends in the second direction. The fourth electrode string 38 is adjacent to a third side S3 of the touch zone ZT. The third side S3 is connected to the first side S1. The fourth electrode series 38 is electrically isolated from the second electrode series 34a, 34b. In this way, it provides touch support for the system and applications above the display screen.

On the other hand, the first electrode strings 32a-32d and the third electrode strings 36a-36e can be arranged in different layers through a manufacturing process. In one embodiment, organic light-emitting materials are provided at the intersections of the first electrode strings 32a-32d and the third electrode strings 36a-36e (as in the pixel area PX in the figure). The organic square light material is located between the first electrode strings 32a-32d and the third electrode strings 36a-36e. When the control circuit 39 provides a display signal to the first electrode series 32a-32d and the third electrode series 36a-36e, the organic light-emitting material in the pixel area PX can selectively emit light according to the display signal.

4A, 4B and 4C, FIG. 4A is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention. 4C is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention. 4A to 4C depict the touch panels 4, 4', 4" respectively. Unlike the previous embodiment, the second electrode series in the previous embodiment is illustrated by a complete rectangular drawing, touch The second electrode series 44 of the panel 4 has touch electrodes 442a and 444a. There is a distance d1 between the touch electrodes 442a and 444a. The touch electrodes 442a and the touch electrodes 444a are connected to each other by a connecting portion W, and the second electrode The series 44 is electrically connected to the control circuit (not shown in FIG. 4) by the connecting portion W as described above. For brief illustration, the touch electrodes 442a and 444a are shown by rectangles, but in practice, touch The electrodes 442a and 444a may also be other geometric shapes such as triangles, diamonds, ellipses, circles, and polygons, and are not limited to rectangles.

Referring again to FIG. 4B, the structure of the touch panel 4'is substantially similar to that of the touch panel 4. The difference is that in the touch panel 4', the distance d1' between the touch electrodes 442a' and 444a' is smaller than the aforementioned distance d1. On the other hand, the connecting portion W corresponding to the second electrode series 44a' protrudes from the touch electrode 442a'. In practice, each touch electrode system can be arranged in an appropriate position according to the user's use behavior, so as to maintain the quality of touch detection while reducing the use of materials. The positions of the touch electrodes are not limited to those shown in the drawings.

Referring again to FIG. 4C, the structure of the touch panel 4" is substantially similar to the touch panel 4 and the touch panel 4'. The difference is that the second electrode series 44a", 44b" of the touch panel 4" It is patterned into a plurality of touch electrodes 446". The size and shape of the touch electrodes 446" are different from the aforementioned touch electrodes. In practice, the shape of each touch electrode can be adjusted according to the user's use behavior, so as to maintain the quality of touch detection while reducing the use of materials. The shape of each touch electrode is not limited to those shown in the drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention. The structure of the touch panel 5 is substantially similar to that of the aforementioned touch panel. The difference is that the touch panel 5 further has fifth electrode strings 55a and 55b. The fifth electrode strings 55a and 55b are provided on the first surface P1. The fifth electrode strings 55a and 55b extend in the first direction. The second electrode string 54a is located between the fifth electrode string 55a and the touch zone ZT. The second electrode series 54b is located between the fifth electrode series 55b and the touch zone ZT. From another point of view, the touch panel 5 is equivalent to providing multiple second electrode strings on one side of the touch zone ZT to extend the touch range. For the first side S1 of the touch zone ZT, the second electrode string 54a and the fifth electrode string 55a can be used to provide two detection values to the control circuit (not shown in FIG. 5), so that the control The circuit can make segmented judgments based on multiple detection values, increasing the diversity of edge touch detection mechanisms.

Please refer to FIG. 6 again, which is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the interlaced third electrode strings 66a, 66b, 66c, 66d and the first electrode strings 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d define the touch zone ZT. The touch zone ZT defines a first sub-touch zone ZTS1 and a second sub-touch zone ZTS2. The first sub-touch zone ZTS1 and the second sub-touch zone ZTS2 define a plurality of light-emitting zones ZL and a plurality of gap zones ZI. The gap zone ZI surrounds the light emitting zone ZL. From an angle, the portions of the touch zone ZT other than the light-emitting zones ZL can be regarded as the gap zone ZI. The first electrode strings 62a, 62b, 62c, and 62d are located in the first sub-touch zone ZTS1, respectively. And the third electrode strings 66a and 66b are respectively located in the first sub-touch zone ZI. Each of the first electrode strings 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d has a connecting portion W. The connecting portion W of the first electrode strings 62e, 62f, 62g, 62h in the second sub-touch zone ZTS2 extends into one of the gap zones ZI of the first sub-touch zone ZTS1, and the first electrode strings 62a, 62b , 62c, 62d are coupled to the control circuit via the connection portion W (as shown in FIG. 1A, not shown in FIG. 6).

The touch panel 6 further has a plurality of wires L and an insulating layer. Each lead L is coupled to one of the third electrode strings 66a and 66b in the first sub-touch zone ZTS1, and each lead L is coupled to the third electrode string 66c in the second sub-touch zone ZTS2 , One of 66d. In more detail, each wire L has a first trace portion LS1 and a second trace portion LS2. The first trace portion LS1 is located on the insulating layer and coupled to one of the plurality of first pads Pd1, and the second trace portion LS2 is located under the insulating layer and coupled to one of the plurality of second pads Pd2. To avoid disorder in the drawing, the insulating layer is not shown in FIG. 6, but the solid line indicates that the first trace portion LS1 is located on the insulating layer, and the broken line indicates that the second trace portion LS2 is located under the insulating layer.

With the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, although the size or resolution of the touch panel does not match the original specifications of the control circuit, the touch panel 6 shown in FIG. 6 can still be used with a control circuit whose specifications do not match. For example, when the resolution of the conventional display is 128×128, it must be equipped with a driving circuit that supports the resolution of 128×128. However, a display with a resolution of 64×256 cannot be matched with a drive circuit that supports a resolution of 128×128. The touch panel 6 shown in FIG. 6 is configured by wiring. Even if the resolution is 64×256, it can still be used with a drive circuit that supports a resolution of 128×128. As a result, manufacturers are producing displays with different resolutions without the need to use new control circuits, which greatly reduces the production cost of the displays. . The above-mentioned resolution data is only for example and demonstration, and is not actually taken as a line.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, the present invention further provides a touch panel. The touch panel has a substrate, a plurality of first electrode series, a plurality of second electrode series, a plurality of third electrode series 26 and a control circuit. The substrate has a first surface. Each first electrode is arranged in series on the first surface. The first electrode strings are arranged at intervals and the first electrode strings extend along a first direction. Each second electrode is arranged in series on the first surface. The second electrode strings extend along the first direction and are electrically isolated from each other. Each of the first electrode strings is located between one of the plurality of second electrode strings and the other of the plurality of second electrode strings. Each third electrode is arranged in series on the first surface. These third electrodes are arranged at intervals. The third electrode strings extend along a second direction. The second direction is interleaved with the first direction. Each third electrode series is interleaved with each first electrode series. The control circuit is electrically connected to the first electrode series, the second electrode series and the third electrode series. The control circuit is used to provide a display signal to the plurality of first electrode series and the plurality of third electrode series during a display time interval, and the control circuit is used to provide a touch detection time interval A touch signal is given to the plurality of first electrode series, the plurality of second electrode series and the plurality of third electrode series. In this way, in addition to detecting the touch behavior, each first electrode series can also display an image, and each second electrode series can extend the touch range to avoid the problem of poor sensing occurring at the edge of the touch area. In this embodiment, the control circuit is, for example, touch and display driver integration (TDDI).

In summary, the present invention provides a touch panel. In one of the embodiments, a second electrode string is arranged beside the display area, which widens the touch range of the user. Among them, the second electrode series can be formed together based on the original manufacturing process without adding too much additional cost. Moreover, the control circuit can effectively detect whether the user's finger or stylus is located at the edge of the touch range or moves relative to the edge of the touch range based on the information obtained by the second electrode series. In this way, the problem of poor sensing at the edge of the touch range is overcome.

1, 2, 3, 4, 4', 4", 5, 6: touch panel 10, 20, 30, 40, 40', 40", 50, 60: substrate 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d, 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d, 42a', 42b', 42c', 42d', 42a", 42b", 42c", 42d", 52a, 52b, 52c, 52d, 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e, 62f, 62g, 62h: first electrode series 14, 24a, 24b, 34a, 34b, 44a, 44b, 44a', 44b', 44a", 44b" , 54a, 54b, 64a, 64b: second electrode series 442a, 442b, 442a', 442b', 444a, 444b, 444a', 444b': touch electrodes 36a, 36b, 36c, 36d, 36e, 66a, 66b , 66c, 66d: Third electrode series 38: Fourth electrode series 55a, 55b: Fifth electrode series 19: Control circuit d1, d1': Distance L: Conductor L1: First wiring part L2: Second Route part P1: first surface Pd1: first pad Pd2: second pad PX: pixel area S1: first side S2: second side S3: third side S4: fourth side TR1 , TR2: Touch track W: Connection parts Z1, Z2, Z3: Zone ZI: Gap zone ZL: Light emitting zone ZT: Touch zone ZTS1: First sub-touch zone ZTS2: Second sub-touch zone

FIG. 1A is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a touch track according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

4B is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention.

4C is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention.

6 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

1: touch panel

10: substrate

12a, 12b, 12c, 12d: the first electrode series

14: Second electrode series

19: control circuit

P1: first surface

S1: first side

S2: second side

S3: third side

S4: Fourth side

W: connection

Z1, Z2, Z3: Zone

ZT: Touch area

Claims (8)

A touch panel includes: a substrate having a first surface; a plurality of first electrode strings arranged on the first surface, and the first electrode strings are arranged at intervals to define a touch area. The first electrode strings extend in a first direction; and a second electrode string is disposed on the first surface, and the second electrode string is adjacent to a first side of the touch area. The touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising another second electrode series, the other second electrode series is adjacent to a second side of the touch area, the first side and the The second sides are opposite sides, and the second electrode strings extend along the first direction. The touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of third electrode series arranged on the first surface, located in the touch area, arranged in the touch area at intervals, and the third electrodes The series extends along a second direction, the second direction is interlaced with the first direction, the third electrode series are interlaced with the first electrode series; and a fourth electrode series is disposed on the first surface , The fourth electrode series extends along the second direction, adjacent to a third side of the touch area, the third side is connected to the first side, the fourth electrode series and the first The two electrodes are electrically isolated. The touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising a fifth electrode string, which is disposed on the first surface, the fifth electrode string extends in the first direction, and the second electrode string is located in the fifth Between the electrode string and the touch area. A touch panel includes: a substrate having a first surface; a plurality of first electrode strings arranged on the first surface, the first electrode strings arranged at intervals, the first electrode strings lying along a The first direction extends; a plurality of second electrode strings are disposed on the first surface, the second electrode strings extend along the first direction and are electrically isolated from each other, the first electrode strings are located on the first Between one of the two electrode strings and the other of the second electrode strings; a plurality of third electrode strings are disposed on the first surface, the third electrode strings are arranged at intervals, and the first Three electrode series extend along a second direction, the second direction is interlaced with the first direction, each third electrode series is interlaced with each first electrode series; and a control circuit is electrically connected to the The first electrode series, the second electrode series and the third electrode series, the control circuit is used to provide a display signal to the first electrode series and the third electrodes during a display time interval Electrode series, and the control circuit is used to provide a touch signal to the first electrode series, the second electrode series and the third electrode series during a touch detection time interval. The touch panel according to claim 5, wherein the interleaved first electrode series and the third electrode series define a touch area, and the touch area defines a first sub-touch area and a first Two sub-touch areas, a plurality of light-emitting areas and a plurality of gap areas are defined in the first sub-touch area and the second sub-touch area, the gap areas surround the light-emitting areas, and the first electrodes A plurality of the series are located in the first sub-touch area, and a plurality of the third electrode series are located in the first sub-touch area, each of the first electrode series has a A connecting portion, the connecting portion of each of the first electrode series in the second sub-touch area extends into one of the gap areas of the first sub-touch area, each of the first electrode series passes through The connection portion is coupled to the control circuit, and the touch panel further includes: a plurality of wires, each of the wires is coupled to one of the third electrode series in the first sub-touch area, and each of the wires is coupled Connected to one of the third electrode strings in the second sub-touch area; and an insulating layer, each of the wires has a first trace portion and a second trace portion, the first trace portion is located The insulating layer is coupled to one of the first pads, and the second trace portion is located under the insulating layer and coupled to one of the second pads. The touch panel according to claim 6, further comprising a fourth electrode string arranged on the first surface, the fourth electrode string extending along the second direction, the fourth electrode string being located on the touch Outside the region, the fourth electrode string is electrically isolated from the second electrode strings. The touch panel according to claim 5, further comprising a fifth electrode string, which is disposed on the first surface, the fifth electrode string extends in the first direction, and the second electrode string is located in the fifth Between the electrode series and the first electrode series.

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