TWI417600B - Method of fabricating touch panel and mother substrate - Google Patents

Description

Touch panel manufacturing method and motherboard

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a touch panel and a motherboard, and more particularly to a method for fabricating a touch panel that can share a photomask and a motherboard.

The photolithography process has been widely used in the manufacture of high-tech products such as flat panel displays and semiconductor devices. The lithography process is performed by pattern transfer on the reticle, and each of the material layers of the stack is separately defined by a pattern to form components required for various flat panel displays and semiconductor devices. For example, when manufacturing a touch panel, a lithography process must be used to make the desired sensing pad pattern.

Generally, when manufacturing a touch panel, in order to achieve mass production, the size of a single substrate may include a plurality of touch panels, and after the fabrication of the sensing pads is completed to form a mother board, the motherboard is cut into a plurality of layers. Touch panel. That is to say, a plurality of touch panels of the same specification can be simultaneously fabricated on one substrate. The manufacturing process of the touch panel can be improved by such a manufacturing method.

However, when the touch panel specifications are different, the corresponding sensing pad size must be changed to achieve the desired layout design. Therefore, each size of the touch panel needs to be made with a reticle. For touch panel manufacturers, once the customer asks for a new size, they need to re-purchase or create a new mask, which is a cost burden.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a touch panel, which can produce touch panels of different sizes by using a mask, which helps to reduce production cost and simplify process steps.

The present invention further provides a motherboard that can produce the same number of different sizes of touch panels, thereby helping to reduce production costs and simplify process steps.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a touch panel. A transparent conductive layer is formed on a substrate, and the substrate has a plurality of panel regions. A patterning process is performed using a mask to pattern the transparent conductive layer to form a plurality of sensing pads in each panel region to form a mother board, and a pitch of the sensing pads is P. Then, the mother board is cut to form a plurality of first touch panels or a plurality of second touch panels, wherein a first side of the display area of each of the first touch panels is W1, and each second touch A second side of the display area of the panel is W2, and P=W1/n=W2/m, where n and m are positive integers.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first side length is a side length of the display area of the first touch panel in the width direction.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first side length is a side length of the display area of the first touch panel in the length direction.

In an embodiment of the invention, the second side length is a side length of the display area of the second touch panel in the width direction.

In an embodiment of the invention, the second side length is a side length of the display area of the second touch panel in the length direction.

In an embodiment of the invention, the distance between the two is a distance separating the centers of adjacent sensing pads.

In an embodiment of the invention, before the cutting of the motherboard, the method further comprises forming a plurality of transverse bridge wires and a plurality of longitudinal bridge wires, wherein the horizontal bridge wires and the longitudinal bridge wires are connected in series with the sensing pads to form a plurality of lateral sensing strings. Columns and multiple longitudinal sensing series.

In addition, the manufacturing method of the touch panel of an embodiment further includes forming a plurality of transmission lines connecting one end of the lateral sensing series and one end of the longitudinal sensing series.

In one embodiment of the invention, the method of cutting a motherboard includes cutting the motherboard along a pre-cut line. The pre-cut line is, for example, aligned with the edge of the panel area. Alternatively, the pre-cut line passes through one of the longitudinal sense trains and does not overlap the longitudinal bridge line. In addition, the pre-cut line can also pass through one of the lateral sense series and does not overlap the lateral bridge line. Or the pre-cut line passes through one of the longitudinal sense series and overlaps the longitudinal bridge line. In addition, the pre-cut line can also pass through one of the lateral sense series and overlap the lateral bridge line.

In an embodiment of the invention, the patterning process includes a lithography process.

The invention further provides a motherboard comprising a substrate and a plurality of sensing pads. The substrate has a plurality of panel regions. The sensing pad is disposed in each panel area, and a pitch of the sensing pad is P. The motherboard is adapted to be cut into a plurality of first touch panels or a plurality of second touch panels along a plurality of pre-cut lines. a first side of the display area of each of the first touch panels is W1, and a second side of the display area of each of the second touch panels The side length is W2, P=W1/n=W2/m, n and m are positive integers, and when the pre-cut line overlaps the edge of the panel area, the motherboard is adapted to be cut into the first touch panel.

In an embodiment of the invention, the distance between the two is a distance separating the centers of adjacent sensing pads.

Based on the above, the present invention makes the layout design of the sensing pad conform to the requirements of different size panels by adjusting the size of the sensing pad. Therefore, the design of the present invention can use a reticle to make a touch panel having the same number of faces and different sizes. Thereby, the design of the present invention helps to increase process flexibility and reduce the cost of the reticle requirements.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

100‧‧‧ mother board

102‧‧‧ panel area

104, 106‧‧‧Pre-cut line

110‧‧‧ Conductive layer

112‧‧‧Sense pad

120‧‧‧Horizontal sensing series

122‧‧‧Horizontal bridge wiring

130‧‧‧Longitudinal sensing series

132‧‧‧Longitudinal bridge wiring

140‧‧‧ transmission line

141‧‧ transverse transmission line

142‧‧‧First oblique transmission line

143‧‧‧Longitudinal transmission line

144‧‧‧Second oblique transmission line

200‧‧‧ mask

300‧‧‧First touch panel

400‧‧‧Second touch panel

A, B‧‧‧ area

P‧‧‧ spacing

W1‧‧‧ first side

W2‧‧‧ second side

1 to 3 illustrate a method of fabricating a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention.

4A and 4B are respectively partially enlarged schematic views of a region A and a region B in the touch panel of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are respectively partially enlarged schematic views showing another embodiment of the touch panel of FIG. 3 in which the area A and the area B are in another embodiment.

1 to 3 illustrate a method of fabricating a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring first to FIG. 1, a transparent conductive layer 110 is formed on a substrate (for example, a glass substrate), and the substrate has a plurality of panel regions 102. In the present embodiment, the substrate has, for example, four panel regions 102. Of course, in other embodiments, the base The board may have one or more panel areas 102. Also. The material of the transparent conductive layer 110 is, for example, a metal oxide such as indium tin oxide or indium zinc oxide.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, a masking process is performed using a mask 200 to pattern the transparent conductive layer 110 illustrated in FIG. 1 to form a plurality of sensing pads 112 in the panel region 102 to form the motherboard 100. And a pitch of the sensing pad 112 is P, that is, the distance between the center points of the two adjacent sensing pads 112, that is, the pitch P is composed of three parts: the diagonal of the sensing pad 112 One half, half of the diagonal of the adjacent sensing pads 112 and the distance between the two adjacent sensing pads 112 between the bridges 122 or 132. Here, the patterning process is, for example, a photolithography process. That is to say, the reticle 200 actually has a specific pattern layout, and by the lithography etching process, the pattern layout on the reticle 200 is transferred onto the transparent conductive layer 110 to form the sensing pads 112.

In addition, the manufacturing method of the embodiment further includes forming a plurality of lateral bridge wires 122 and a plurality of longitudinal bridge wires 132. The transverse bridge wire 122 and the longitudinal bridge wire 132 are connected in series with the sensing pad 112 to form a plurality of lateral sensing series 120 and a plurality of longitudinal sensing series 130.

That is to say, each of the panel regions 102 of the present embodiment is provided with a plurality of lateral sensing series 120 and vertical sensing series 130 which are staggered with each other. These lateral sensing series 120 and the longitudinal sensing series 130 can be capacitively coupled when they are input with different voltages. The capacitive coupling effect between the lateral sensing series 120 and the longitudinal sensing series 130 may be affected by interference from external objects (such as fingers), and thus may serve as a basis for touch sensing.

In detail, in order to transmit the signal changes on the respective sensing series 120, 130 To the corresponding control circuit or wafer, a plurality of transmission lines 140 are further formed on each panel area 102 of the motherboard 100, and the transmission line 140 is connected to one end of the lateral sensing series 120 and one end of the longitudinal sensing series 130. In an actual product, one end of each transmission line 140 is connected to the lateral sensing series 120 or the longitudinal sensing series 130, and the other end is connected to a drive controlled circuit or a wafer.

Transmission line 140, lateral bridge line 122, and longitudinal bridge line 132 can be fabricated from metal or a transparent conductive material. For example, in one embodiment, one of the lateral bridge wires 122 and the longitudinal bridge wires 132 may be made of metal, the other of which is made of a transparent conductive material, and the transmission line 140 is made of metal. The bridge wire (122 or 132) made of a transparent conductive material is, for example, made of the same mask 200 as the sensing pad 112. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in the actual structural design, in order to maintain the electrical independence of the lateral sensing series 120 from the longitudinal sensing series 130, the lateral bridges 122 and the longitudinal bridges 132 An insulating layer (not shown) may be disposed between the two.

Then, the plurality of first touch panels 300 or the plurality of second touch panels 400 as shown in FIG. 3 can be formed in an equal number. That is, the design of the embodiment can use the same mask 200 on the same substrate to perform a patterning process to form a mother board 100, and then through a cutting process to form touch panels 300 or 400 of different sizes, so The sensing pads of the control panels 300 and 400 are the same size. It is worth mentioning that when the first side of the display area of the first touch panel 300 is W1, and the second side of the display area of the second touch panel 400 is W2, the distance between the sensing pads 112 is P=W1/n=W2/m, where n And m is a positive integer, that is, n and m are the number of sensing pads of the first side length and the second side length, respectively. Moreover, the number of the first touch panels 300 that can be cut using the same motherboard is the same as the number of the second touch panels 400. Therefore, when the design of the shared mask is used, since the motherboard 100 is not wasted, it can be reduced at the same time. The number of masks 200 required by the manufacturer is such that the design of this embodiment can achieve cost reduction.

Specifically, the first side length W1 is the side length of the display area of the first touch panel 300 in the width direction, and may be the side length in the length direction. The second side length W2 corresponds to the first side length W1, and is a side length in the width direction of the display area of the second touch panel 400, and may be a side length in the length direction. In other words, the display area of the first touch panel 300 and the display area of the second touch panel 400 are integer multiples of the distance between the sensing pads 112 regardless of the width direction or the length in the length direction. Therefore, the sensing capabilities of all the sensing series 120, 130 of the first touch panel 300 are equivalent to each other, and the sensing capabilities of all the sensing series 120, 130 of the second touch panel 400 may also be equivalent to each other.

In fact, when the mother board 100 of FIG. 2 is cut, the mother board 100 can be cut along the edge of the panel area 102 to obtain the first touch panel 300 of a larger size. Alternatively, the transverse pre-cut line 104 is defined to pass through one of the lateral sensing series 120 and the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 through one of the longitudinal sensing series 130, and along the transverse pre-cut line 104 and the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 cuts the mother board 100.

In the design of the present embodiment, the transmission line 140 is located at one end (for example, the right end) of the lateral sensing series 120 and at one end (for example, the lower end) of the longitudinal sensing series 130. The transverse pre-cut line 104 and the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 are defined in the lateral sense The other end of the series 120 (for example, the left end) and the other end of the longitudinal sensing train 130 (for example, the upper end). That is, the design of the present embodiment places the pre-cut lines 104, 106 and the transmission line 140 at opposite ends of the sensing series 120, 130, respectively. When the motherboard 100 is cut, all the sensing series 120, 130 in the display area of the second touch panel 300 still maintain a good connection relationship with the transmission line 140. Therefore, the process in which portions of the sensing series 120, 130 located outside of the pre-cut lines 104, 106 are removed does not affect the connection relationship of the other sensing series 120, 130.

It is worth mentioning that FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are respectively partially enlarged schematic views of the area A and the area B in the touch panel of FIG. 3 . Referring to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B simultaneously, in an embodiment, in order to prevent the bridge wire 122 or 132 from being short-circuited due to the cutting process, the lateral pre-cut line 104 does not overlap the lateral bridge wire 122, or the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 does not. Overlaps the longitudinal bridge wire 132. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, the transmission line 140 in the lateral direction is constituted by the lateral transmission line 141 and the first oblique transmission line 142. After being cut along the transverse pre-cut line 104, the transverse bridge line 122 adjacent to the transverse pre-cut line 104 and the lateral transmission line 141 (the horizontal transmission line above the pre-cut line in FIG. 4A) connected to the lateral bridge line 122 are cut away. . Therefore, the first oblique transmission line 142 of the transmission line 140 remains on the touch panel. Of course, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4B, the transmission line 140 in the longitudinal direction is constituted by the longitudinal transmission line 143 and the second oblique transmission line 144. After cutting along the longitudinal pre-cut line 106, the longitudinal bridge wire 132 adjacent the pre-cut line and the longitudinal transmission line 143 (the longitudinal transmission line to the left of the pre-cut line in Fig. 4B) connected to the longitudinal bridge line 132 are cut away. Therefore, the second oblique transmission line 144 of the transmission line 140 remains on the touch panel.

In addition, FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are respectively partially enlarged schematic views of the region A and the region B in the touch panel of FIG. 3 in another embodiment. 5A and 5B, in another embodiment, the transverse pre-cut line 104 may overlap the lateral bridge line 122 or the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 may overlap the longitudinal bridge line 132. In a possible preferred manner, the transverse pre-cut line 104 passes through the center of the transverse bridge line 122, or the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 passes through the center of the longitudinal bridge line 132, ie, the transverse pre-cut line 104 is located at the transverse bridge line 122. The middle, or longitudinal pre-cut line 106 is located intermediate the longitudinal bridge line 132. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5A, the transmission line 140 in the lateral direction is constituted by the lateral transmission line 141 and the first oblique transmission line 142. After being cut along the transverse pre-cut line 104, the lateral bridge line 122 overlapping the transverse pre-cut line 104 and the lateral transmission line 141 of the transmission line 140 connected to the lateral bridge line 122 are partially cut away and partially remain on the touch panel. For example, if the transverse pre-cut line 104 passes through the center point of the lateral bridge line 122, after cutting, the cut transverse bridge line 122 and the lateral transmission line 141 are cut in half and half remain on the touch panel. In addition, the first oblique transmission line 142 of the transmission line 140 remains on the touch panel. Of course, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5B, the transmission line 140 in the longitudinal direction is constituted by the longitudinal transmission line 143 and the second oblique transmission line 144. After being cut along the longitudinal pre-cut line 106, the longitudinal bridge line 132 overlapping the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 and the longitudinal transmission line 143 connected to the longitudinal bridge line 132 are partially cut away and partially remain on the touch panel. For example, if the longitudinal pre-cut line 106 passes through the center point of the longitudinal bridge line 132, after cutting, the cut longitudinal bridge line 132 and the longitudinal transmission line 143 are cut in half and half remain on the touch panel. In addition, the transmission The second oblique transmission line 144 of the line 140 is also left on the touch panel. At this time, the exposed portions of the lateral bridge wires 122 and the lateral transmission wires 141 or the longitudinal bridge wires 132 and the longitudinal transmission wires 143 may be removed by grinding after the cutting process is performed to avoid the occurrence of a short circuit. Thus, after grinding, the grounded transmission line 140 leaves oblique transmission lines (such as the first oblique transmission line 142 and the second oblique transmission line 144).

In short, the cutting method of the mother board 100 may be to define the edge of the panel area 102 as a pre-cut line or to define a pre-cut line according to the required size of the product. That is to say, the manufacturing method proposed in this embodiment can make different sizes of the touch panel 300 or 400 only by defining the pre-cut lines in different manners, and the remaining steps can be the same.

For example, in an actual layout design, the size of the first touch panel 300 may be 14 inches, and the second touch panel 400 may be 13.3 inches. In order to achieve a better layout of the sensing pads 112, the pitch P of the sensing pads 112 may be 7.2 mm. The two sizes of touch panels 300 and 400 can use one photomask 200 in common, which reduces the manufacturing cost. That is to say, the mother board 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 can be used to manufacture products of at least two sizes, and has higher design flexibility and flexibility in use. It is worth mentioning that the number of the first touch panel 300 that the motherboard 100 can cut is equal to the number of the second touch panel 400 that the motherboard 100 can cut, that is, regardless of which size the touch panel is cut, Have the same face count.

In addition, the pitch P of the sensing pads 112 is 7.2 mm, and the difference in width of the display regions of the two touch panels 300 and 400 in the lateral direction is 7.2 mm×2, and the width in the vertical direction is wide. When the degree difference is 7.2 mm, the design of the two touch panels 300, 400 is, for example, a product of 16:10 or 16:9. That is to say, under such a dimensional design, the difference between n and m in the lateral direction of the two touch panels 300, 400 is 2, and the difference between n and m in the longitudinal direction is 1. Of course, the application of the present invention is not limited to the application of the above size panel, and other large, medium and small size panels are also applicable, and n and m may also have a difference of 0 in the lateral direction, or a difference of 0 in the longitudinal direction between n and m.

In summary, the sensing pad of the present invention meets the requirements of different sizes of touch panel layout. Therefore, the masks for patterning the sensing pads can be applied to different touch panel manufacturing methods, in particular, different sizes of touch panel manufacturing methods. In other words, the present invention can provide a touch panel manufacturing method with low manufacturing cost and high design flexibility. In addition, the design of the present invention can cut out the same number of different touch panels of similar size from the motherboard of the same specification design.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

104, 106‧‧‧Pre-cut line

112‧‧‧Sense pad

120‧‧‧Horizontal sensing series

122‧‧‧Horizontal bridge wiring

130‧‧‧Longitudinal sensing series

132‧‧‧Longitudinal bridge wiring

140‧‧‧ transmission line

300‧‧‧First touch panel

400‧‧‧Second touch panel

A, B‧‧‧ area

P‧‧‧ spacing

W1‧‧‧ first side

W2‧‧‧ second side

Claims (17)

A method for manufacturing a touch panel, comprising: forming a transparent conductive layer on a substrate, the substrate having a plurality of panel regions; performing a patterning process using a photomask to pattern the transparent conductive layer on each of the panels Forming a plurality of sensing pads in the region to form a mother board, and a pitch of the sensing pads is P; and cutting the motherboard to form a plurality of first touch panels or a plurality of the same number The first side of the display area of each of the first touch panels is W1, and the second side of each of the display areas of the second touch panel is W2, and P=W1/n =W2/m, where n and m are positive integers. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1, wherein the first side length is a side length of the display area of each of the first touch panels in the width direction. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1, wherein the first side length is a length of a side of the display area of each of the first touch panels in a length direction. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1, wherein the second side length is a side length of the display area of each of the second touch panels in the width direction. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1, wherein the second side length is a side length of the display area of each of the second touch panels in the length direction. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1, wherein the spacing is a distance between centers of adjacent sensing pads. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1, wherein before the cutting the motherboard, the method further comprises forming a plurality of horizontal bridge wires and a plurality of longitudinal bridge wires, wherein the horizontal bridge wires are connected to the longitudinal bridge wires. The sensing pads form a plurality of lateral sensing series and a plurality of longitudinal sensing series. The method for manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 7 further includes forming a plurality of transmission lines, connecting one end of the lateral sensing series and one end of the longitudinal sensing series. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the method of cutting the mother board comprises cutting the mother board along a pre-cut line. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 9, wherein the pre-cut line is aligned with an edge of the panel area. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 9, wherein the pre-cut line passes through one of the longitudinal sensing series and does not overlap the longitudinal bridge lines. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 9, wherein the pre-cut line passes through one of the longitudinal sensing series and overlaps the longitudinal bridge lines. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 9, wherein the pre-cut line passes through one of the lateral sensing series and does not overlap the lateral bridge lines. The method of fabricating a touch panel according to claim 9 , wherein the pre-cut line passes through one of the lateral sensing series and overlaps the lateral bridge lines. The method for fabricating a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the patterning process comprises a lithography process. A motherboard includes: a substrate having a plurality of panel regions; and a plurality of sensing pads disposed in each of the panel regions, a pitch of the sensing pads being P, wherein the motherboard is adapted to be A plurality of first touch panels or a plurality of second touch panels are cut along the plurality of pre-cut lines, and a first side length of each of the display areas of the first touch panel is W1, and each of the second The second side of the display area of the touch panel has a length W2, P=W1/n=W2/m, n and m are positive integers, and when the pre-cut lines overlap the edges of the panel areas, the mother The board is adapted to be cut into the first touch panels. For example, the motherboard of claim 16 of the patent, wherein the spacing is the distance between the centers of adjacent sensing pads.