TWI452491B - Touch panel and method for fabricating the same - Google Patents

Description

Touch panel and method of manufacturing same

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly to a touch panel using a piezoelectric element and a method of fabricating the same.

Touch panels are widely used in various electronic devices. At present, the common touch panels include resistive touch panels, capacitive touch panels, infrared touch panels, surface acoustic wave touch panels, and the like, but various touch panels are assembled in a similar manner, generally using touch panels. After the panel is independently manufactured, it is directly attached to the display of the electronic device for use. However, the existing touch panel generally has a large thickness, and when it is attached to the display screen, the volume and weight of the electronic device are increased, and the display effect may be adversely affected. In addition, the bonding process may also cause contamination of the display screen and affect its image display quality.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a touch panel that can reduce the thickness and improve the display effect, and a method of manufacturing the same.

A touch panel includes a substrate, a sensing area, a black matrix and a pixel area; wherein the sensing area has a matrix structure formed on the substrate to sense pressure and generate a corresponding piezoelectric signal; The black matrix covers the sensing area, and the primitive area is formed on the substrate at a position not covered by the sensing area and the black matrix to display an image.

A touch panel manufacturing method includes the steps of: providing a substrate; Forming a piezoelectric material layer and a light shielding material layer on the plate; partially removing the piezoelectric material layer and the light shielding material layer to form a sensing region for sensing pressure and generating a corresponding piezoelectric signal and covering the same a black matrix of the sensing area; a pixel area on the substrate that is not covered by the sensing area and the black matrix forms a primitive area for displaying an image; and a transparent conductive layer is formed on the black matrix and the pixel area.

Compared with the prior art, the touch panel provided by the present invention is integrated with the existing liquid crystal display screen, and only needs to add a minimum thickness of a piezoelectric material layer to the existing liquid crystal display screen to have the display screen and The function of the touch panel can significantly reduce the size and weight of the electronic device and save manufacturing costs. The method provided by the invention eliminates the existing process of bonding the touch panel to the display screen, thereby avoiding the risk of contamination during the bonding process, simplifying the process and improving the product quality.

100,200‧‧‧ touch panel

11, 21‧‧‧ Sensing area

12, 22‧‧‧ insulation

13, 23‧‧‧ Black Matrix

14, 24 ‧ ‧ element area

15, 25‧‧‧ Transparent conductive layer

1 is a schematic structural view of a first preferred embodiment of a touch panel of the present invention.

2 is a schematic structural view of a second preferred embodiment of the touch panel of the present invention.

3 is a schematic diagram showing the steps of a first preferred embodiment of a method for manufacturing a touch panel of the present invention.

4 is a schematic view showing the steps of a second preferred embodiment of the method for manufacturing a touch panel of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a touch panel 100 includes a substrate 10 , a sensing region 11 , an insulating layer 12 , and a black matrix ( Black Matrix ) . , BM) 13, a pixel region 14 and a transparent conductive layer 15.

The substrate 10 is a transparent smooth plate made of glass, and other portions of the touch panel 100 are stacked on the substrate 10. In this embodiment, the substrate 10 is an upper substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display.

The sensing region 11 is a matrix structure made of a piezoelectric material and is uniformly disposed on the surface of the substrate 10. The insulating layer 12 may be made of an insulating material such as a resin, and is formed on the sensing region 11. The black matrix 13 may be made of a black resin film or a chrome film or the like, and has a shape and the sensing region 11 and the insulating layer. The layers 12 are identical, and the entire black matrix 13 is formed on the insulating layer 12 to cover the sensing region 11 and the insulating layer 12.

The pixel area 14 is composed of a color filter (CF) layer having transmissivity of three primary colors of red, green, and blue. The color filter film layer may be made of a material such as a colored resin, and is filled in a position on the surface of the substrate 10 that is not covered by the sensing region 11, the insulating layer 12, and the black matrix 13 in accordance with the principle of manufacturing a general color filter. That is, it is disposed in the above-described grid of the matrix structure of the sensing region 11, the insulating layer 12, and the black matrix 13, thereby constituting a plurality of primitives required for image display. For example, the three portions 141, 142, and 143 of the pixel region 14 in the different grids of the anti-reflection structure in FIG. 1 may respectively be provided with red, green, and blue color filter layers to form three monochromatic primitives. And further form a full-color spot for displaying color.

The transparent conductive layer 15 is a transparent conductive film made of Indium Tin Oxides (ITO), which is formed on the black matrix 13 and the surface of the pixel region 14 by sputtering or the like to form the black matrix 13 The pixel region 14 is completely covered, so that the sensing region 11, the insulating layer 12, the black matrix 13 and the pixel region 14 are encapsulated between the transparent conductive layer 15 and the substrate 10. The transparent conductive layer 15 can be used as an electrode of the above-mentioned conventional liquid crystal display, and can also block harmful radiation generated during its operation.

When the touch panel 100 is used, it can be directly mounted on an electronic device as a part of an existing liquid crystal display. As described above, the substrate 10 can be used as the upper substrate of the liquid crystal display. After the other components of the touch panel 100 are formed on the substrate 10, the liquid crystal is packaged on the side where the transparent conductive layer 15 is located. As such, the transparent conductive layer 15. The pixel area 14 and the black matrix 13 can achieve the effect of the existing color filter, and the image displayed on the liquid crystal display can be observed from the side where the substrate 10 is located. At the same time, the liquid crystal display backlight emitted from the side of the transparent conductive layer 15 is blocked by the black matrix 13 and does not illuminate the sensing region 11 and the insulating layer 12, so the sensing region 11 and the insulating layer 12 do not affect. The image display of the LCD screen.

After the sensing area 11 and the electronic device establish the necessary electrical connection, the touch panel 100 can implement the touch function. The user prompts to touch the outside of the substrate 10 according to the image viewed from the direction of the substrate 10, and the pressure received by the touched portion of the substrate 10 is transmitted to the sensing region 11 on the other side thereof, and is converted into a piezoelectric signal by the sensing region 11. Transfer to an electronic device. The electronic device determines the position on the substrate 10 that is pressed by the source position of the piezoelectric signal, and can determine the command input by the user to perform the related operation.

Referring to FIG. 2 , a second preferred embodiment of the touch panel of the present invention is a touch panel 200 . The touch panel 100 includes a substrate 20 , a sensing region 21 , an insulating layer 22 , a black matrix 23 , and a The pixel area 24 and a transparent conductive layer 25. The substrate 20 is identical to the substrate 10, and the materials of the sensing region 21, the insulating layer 22, the black matrix 23, the pixel region 24, and the transparent conductive layer 25 are also the same as the corresponding components in the touch panel 100 described above, and stacked. The order of formation is also the same as that of the touch panel 100. The sensing region 21, the insulating layer 22, the black matrix 23, and the transparent conductive layer 25 are sequentially formed on the surface of the substrate 20, and the pixel region 24 is formed on the substrate 20 without a black matrix. The portion covered by 23, that is, is placed in the grid of the black matrix 23.

The touch panel 200 is different from the touch panel 100 in that the sensing area 21 is formed on the surface of the substrate 20 in a matrix structure that is more sparse than the sensing area 11 of the touch panel 100. The insulating layer 22 is formed on the surface. The sensing area 21 is on the same, and the black matrix 23 still has the same density as the black matrix 13 of the touch panel 100. In this way, part of the black matrix 23 The sensing region 21 and the insulating layer 22 are completely covered on the insulating layer 22, and the other portion of the black matrix 23 is directly formed on the surface of the substrate 20. The primitive region 24 may be formed between all the grids of the black matrix 23. For example, portions 241 and 243 of the primitive region 24 in FIG. 2 are formed between the grids of the black matrix 23 covered with the sensing region 21 and the insulating layer 22, 242 The portion is formed between the grids in which the black matrix 23 does not cover the sensing region 21 and the insulating layer 22 at all. The transparent conductive layer 25 is completely identical to the transparent conductive layer 15, and is formed on the surface of the black matrix 23 and the sensing region 24 to completely cover the two.

The principle of use of the touch panel 200 is exactly the same as that of the touch panel 100. Since the size of the picture element of the liquid crystal display and the grid of the black matrix 23 is much smaller than the size of the finger or the stylus for the touch operation, when the finger or the pen tip contacts a certain touch position on the surface of the substrate 20, The pressed area of the location will be much larger than the dimension of the black matrix 23 grid. Therefore, the touch operation on the touch position can simultaneously generate pressure on the plurality of meshes under the position, as long as a piezoelectric material is disposed between a part of the plurality of meshes and the substrate 20 The sensing area 21 senses the operation of the touch position. Therefore, the touch panel 200 can set the sensing area 21 to be sparse, and does not necessarily need to have a completely coincident structure with the black matrix 23, as long as it ensures that all touch positions are in each range where the finger or the nib can generate pressure. The sensing area 21 can be provided. This can reduce the total area of the sensing area 21, save the amount of piezoelectric material, and reduce manufacturing costs.

In the touch operation of the touch panel 100/200, if the black matrix 13/23 is made of a conductive material such as a chrome film or the like, the insulating layer 12/22 can avoid the sensing area 11/21 and the black. A short circuit occurs between the matrix 13/23 and the transparent conductive layer 15/25. If the black matrix 13/23 is made of an insulating material such as a resin or the like, the insulating layer 12/22 may be omitted, and the black matrix 13 may be directly formed on the sensing region 11, or the black matrix 23 may be directly formed. It is sufficient to use the area 21 and the substrate 20.

It can be understood that in the touch panel 100/200, the substrate 10/20, the black matrix 13/23, the pixel area 14/24, and the transparent conductive layer 15/25 are all necessary components of the liquid crystal display, and can be used. Acts with the corresponding components in the display of the existing electronic device. Therefore, the touch panel 100/200 provided by the present invention can be constructed by adding the sensing region 11/21 between the black matrix and the upper substrate in the process of the existing liquid crystal display. Compared with the existing touch panel which is separately assembled and assembled on the display screen, the touch panel 100/200 provided by the present invention is integrated with the display screen, and only needs to add a minimum thickness to the existing liquid crystal display screen. It has the functions of a display screen and a touch panel at the same time, which can significantly reduce the size and weight of the electronic device and save manufacturing costs.

Referring to FIG. 3 , a first preferred embodiment of the method for manufacturing a touch panel according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing the touch panel 100 . The method includes the following steps: first, providing the substrate 10 , the substrate 10 It is the upper substrate of the existing liquid crystal display.

A piezoelectric material layer, an insulating material layer and a black light shielding material layer completely covering the surface are sequentially formed on a surface of the substrate 10.

The piezoelectric material layer, the insulating material layer and the black light shielding material layer are partially removed by a conventional method such as etching, and a plurality of meshes are formed on the piezoelectric material layer, the insulating material layer and the black light shielding material layer, thereby forming the above The sensing region 11, the insulating layer 12 and the black matrix 13 constitute a matrix-shaped anti-reflection structure. The size and number of the grid can be determined according to the picture element of the liquid crystal display.

The color filter material such as resin is used to fill the surface of the substrate 10 without the sensing area 11 The position covered by the edge layer 12 and the black matrix 13 is laid in the grid of the matrix structure of the sensing region 11, the insulating layer 12, and the black matrix 13, thereby forming the above-described primitive region 14.

Finally, a transparent conductive film is formed on the surface of the black matrix 13 and the pixel region 14 as a transparent conductive layer 15 by indium tin metal oxide by sputtering or the like, thereby completing the manufacture of the touch panel 100. In addition, if the black light shielding material layer is formed of an insulating material such as a resin or the like, the insulating material layer may be eliminated, and the piezoelectric material layer and the black light shielding material layer may be sequentially formed on the substrate, and then the subsequent steps are continued. can.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a second preferred embodiment of the method for manufacturing a touch panel provided by the present invention is a method for manufacturing the touch panel 200 . The method includes the following steps: first, providing the substrate 20 , the substrate 20 can be It is the upper substrate of the existing liquid crystal display.

A piezoelectric material layer and an insulating material layer completely covering the surface are sequentially formed on a surface of the substrate 20.

The piezoelectric material layer and the insulating material layer are partially removed by a conventional method such as etching, and a plurality of meshes are formed on the piezoelectric material layer and the insulating material layer to form the sensing region 21 and the insulating layer 22 described above. . The size and number of the grid can be determined according to the touch operation requirements of the touch panel 200.

A black light shielding material layer is formed on the substrate 20 and the insulating layer 22, and the upper surface of the substrate 20 and the insulating layer 22 are completely covered, and then the black light shielding material layer is directly covered on the substrate by a conventional method such as etching. A portion of the area on the surface of the 20 is removed such that the portion of the black light-shielding material layer that does not cover the sensing region 21 and the insulating layer 22 A plurality of meshes are opened to form the above-described black matrix 23. The size and number of the grids can be determined according to the primitive indicators of the liquid crystal display. Since the density of the display element in the actual application is much larger than the distribution density of the piezoelectric sensing material required for the touch, the black matrix 23 has a dense structure, and can completely cover the sparse induction while opening more meshes. Zone 21 and its insulating layer 22.

The pixel region 24 is formed by filling a position on the surface of the substrate 20 which is not covered by the sensing region 21, the insulating layer 22, and the black matrix 23 with a color filter material such as a resin.

Finally, a transparent conductive film is formed on the surface of the black matrix 23 and the pixel region 24 as a transparent conductive layer 25 by indium tin metal oxide by sputtering or the like, thereby completing the manufacture of the touch panel 100. In addition, if the black light-shielding material layer is formed of an insulating material such as a resin or the like, the insulating material layer may be eliminated, and the piezoelectric material layer may be formed on the substrate first, and the mesh is formed to form the sensing region 21, and then directly The black light-shielding material layer is formed on the substrate 10 and the sensing region 21, and then the subsequent steps are continued.

It can be understood that, in the touch panel manufacturing method provided by the present invention, in addition to the steps of forming the sensing region 11/21 and the insulating layer 12/22, other steps are necessary steps for manufacturing the existing liquid crystal display. In other words, the above-described touch panel 100/200 can be fabricated by introducing a step of forming the sensing region 11/21 and its insulating layer 12/22 in the existing method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display. Meanwhile, since the touch panel manufacturing method provided by the present invention completely integrates the touch panel with the existing display panel, compared with the prior art in which the touch panel is separately manufactured and then assembled onto the display screen, the present invention provides The method not only saves cost, but also eliminates the process of attaching the independently manufactured touch panel to the existing display screen, thereby avoiding the risk of contamination during the bonding process, simplifying the process and improving the product quality.

In summary, the present invention complies with the requirements of the invention patent and submits a patent application according to law. but The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and equivalent modifications or changes made by those skilled in the art to the spirit of the present invention should be It is covered by the following patent application.

100‧‧‧ touch panel

11‧‧‧ Sensing area

12‧‧‧Insulation

13‧‧‧Black matrix

14‧‧‧Tuen District

15‧‧‧Transparent conductive layer

Claims (6)

A touch panel includes a substrate, wherein the touch panel further includes a sensing area, a black matrix and a pixel area; wherein the sensing area has a matrix structure with a mesh formed therein, Sensing a pressure on the substrate to generate a corresponding piezoelectric signal; the black matrix covers the sensing area, the pixel area being formed on a position of the substrate not covered by the sensing area and the black matrix to display an image; The shape of the black matrix is exactly the same as the sensing area, and all are formed on the sensing area and completely cover the sensing area, or the number of meshes of the black matrix is greater than the number of meshes of the sensing area, and the black A portion of the matrix is formed on the sensing region and covers the sensing region completely, and another portion is formed directly on the substrate. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the substrate is an upper substrate of a liquid crystal display. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the touch panel further comprises an insulating layer formed between the sensing region and the black matrix. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the touch panel further comprises a transparent conductive layer formed on the black matrix and the pixel area to cover the two. A method for manufacturing a touch panel, the method comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a piezoelectric material layer and a light shielding material layer on the substrate; removing the piezoelectric material layer and the light shielding material layer at the pressure a plurality of meshes are formed on the layer of electrically conductive material and the layer of light shielding material to form a sensing region for sensing pressure and generating a corresponding piezoelectric signal and a black matrix covering the sensing region; wherein the black matrix The shape is exactly the same as the sensing area, and all are formed on the sensing area and completely cover the sensing area, or the number of meshes of the black matrix is more than the number of meshes of the sensing area, and a part of the black matrix is formed in the The sensing area is completely covered and the other part is directly formed on the substrate; the sensing area and the black matrix are not covered on the substrate The position of the cover forms a primitive area for displaying an image; a transparent conductive layer is formed on the black matrix and the primitive area. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises the step of forming an insulating layer between the sensing region and the black matrix.