TWI534681B - Touch panel - Google Patents

Description

Touch panel

The present invention relates to a touch panel.

With the advancement of technology, various information devices continue to evolve, such as mobile phones, tablets, ultra-thin notebooks, and satellite navigation. In addition to keyboard or mouse input or manipulation, the use of touch technology to manipulate information devices is a fairly intuitive and popular way to manipulate. Among them, the touch display device has a user-friendly and intuitive input operation interface, so that users of any age can directly select or manipulate the information device with a finger or a stylus, and thus are increasingly favored by the market.

The touch display device has a non-visible area outside the visible area and the visible area. The non-visible area is commonly referred to as a frame, and is provided with an ink layer, which can shield some electronic components inside the touch display device, so that the touch display device is more beautiful. Although the frame of the touch display device is mostly black ink, the white has always been popular with people because of its simple and pure texture. Therefore, some manufacturers have designed the border of the touch display panel to be white.

When the border uses a light-colored ink (such as white) as the main color, since the light-colored ink has poor light-shielding properties, it is usually printed with a multi-layer stacked ink to improve the light-shielding property, but the printing tolerance of the multi-layer stacked inks is allowed. Bit, the appearance will show chromatic aberration, visually less beautiful.

A touch panel according to the present invention includes a substrate and a shielding structure. The substrate has a viewable area and a non-visible area adjacent to the viewable area. The shielding structure is disposed on the non-visible area on the substrate. The shielding structure includes a first shielding layer, a second shielding layer and a first complementary shielding layer. The first shielding layer is disposed on the substrate. The second shielding layer is disposed on the first shielding layer away from the visible area. The area of the second shielding layer is smaller than the area of the first shielding layer. The first complementary shielding layer is disposed on the first shielding layer in a coplanar manner with the second shielding layer. The surface of the first complementary shielding layer away from the substrate It is in the same plane as the surface of the second shielding layer away from the substrate.

In an embodiment, the first offset shielding layer may be located on the first shielding layer where the second shielding layer is not disposed.

In an embodiment, the materials of the first shielding layer, the second shielding layer, and the first complementary shielding layer may be the same.

In an embodiment, the color of the masking structure can be white.

In an embodiment, the shielding structure may further include a third shielding layer and a second complementary shielding layer. The third shielding layer is disposed on the second shielding layer away from the visible area. The area of the third shielding layer is smaller than the area of the second shielding layer. The surface of the second complementary shielding layer away from the substrate and the surface of the third shielding layer away from the substrate may be in the same plane.

In an embodiment, the second offset mask layer covers the first patch mask layer and the second mask layer is not provided with the third mask layer.

In an embodiment, the first replenishment mask layer and the second replenishment mask layer may be a unitary single structure.

In an embodiment, the touch panel may further include a conductive layer disposed on the visible area on the substrate.

In an embodiment, the conductive layer may be further extended on the non-visible area and disposed in the shielding structure.

As described above, the touch panel of the present invention is disposed on the first shielding layer without the second shielding layer by the first complementary shielding layer, so that the overall thickness and the light blocking property of the shielding structure are substantially the same, and the appearance is neat and Consistent colors, without the conventional masking structure, give rise to significant chromatic aberration problems.

1, 1a, 1b‧‧‧ touch panel

11‧‧‧Substrate

111‧‧‧visible area

112‧‧‧Invisible area

12‧‧‧Shielding structure

121‧‧‧First masking layer

122‧‧‧Second shelter

123‧‧‧First patching mask

124‧‧‧ third shielding layer

125‧‧‧Second offset shield

13, 13a‧‧‧ conductive layer

2‧‧‧Gravure printing equipment

21‧‧‧Transfer module

22‧‧‧Supply module

221‧‧‧ Groove

23‧‧‧Loading station

A-A‧‧ ‧ line segment

M‧‧‧Mask material

S‧‧‧bearing substrate

T‧‧‧ wire layer

1A is a top view of a touch panel in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 1A.

2 is a side elevational view of a gravure printing apparatus.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another aspect of the line segment A-A shown in Figure 1A.

4A is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel of another embodiment.

4B is a cross-sectional view showing another aspect of the touch panel of still another embodiment.

Hereinafter, a touch panel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements will be described with the same reference numerals.

1A is a top view of a touch panel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of line A-A of FIG. 1A. Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , the touch panel 1 can be applied to a touch device or a touch display device, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a notebook computer, or a wearable device. In the embodiment, the touch panel 1 includes a substrate 11 and a shielding structure 12 . In addition, since this embodiment is mainly used to describe the design of the shielding structure 12, other related components of the touch panel 1, such as a conductive layer, a wire layer, and the like, are not drawn and described in this embodiment.

The substrate 11 has a visible area 111 and a non-visible area 112, wherein the non-visible area 112 is adjacent to the visible area 111, for example, the surrounding visible area 111, or at least one side of the visible area 111. The visible area 112 is illustrated as an example of the surrounding area 111, and the invention is not limited thereto. The substrate 11 may be a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, a sapphire substrate, or a polarizer. Here, a glass substrate will be described as an example. The visible area 111 is an area where the touch panel 1 and the display panel cooperate to display a screen. The non-visible area 112 is an area in which the shielding structure 12 is disposed to shield the wires, circuit boards, or other electronic components of the touch panel 1 to have an aesthetic function.

The shielding structure 12 is disposed on the non-visible area 112 on the substrate 11. In this embodiment, the shielding structure 12 includes a first shielding layer 121, a second shielding layer 122, and a first complementary shielding layer 123. The first shielding layer 121 is disposed on the substrate 11 , and the second shielding layer 122 is disposed on the first shielding layer 121 opposite to the other side of the substrate 11 , that is, the first shielding layer 121 is interposed between the substrate 11 and the second shielding layer 122 . between. The area of the second shielding layer 122 is relatively smaller than the area of the first shielding layer 121 due to process tolerance factors, and the second shielding layer 122 is away from the visible area in order to avoid the process factor from affecting the appearance of the visible area 111. 111 is disposed on the first shielding layer 121. As a result, the portion of the first shielding layer 121 adjacent to the visible area 111 may be The yield factor of the second shielding layer 122 forms a step.

The first smear layer 123 is disposed on the first occlusion layer 121 in a coplanar manner, and the surface of the first smear layer 123 away from the substrate 11 and the second smear layer 122 are away from the substrate 11 . The surfaces are substantially in the same plane. In other words, the first offset shielding layer 123 and the second shielding layer 122 have the same thickness. In this way, the first replenishment shielding layer 123 is disposed on the first shielding layer 121 by the same thickness as the second shielding layer 122, so that the first replenishing shielding layer 123 can eliminate the above-mentioned step. As a result, the thickness and the light-shielding property of the entire shielding structure 12 are substantially the same, and the appearance is neat and uniform in color, and there is no problem that the conventional shielding structure gives a noticeable chromatic aberration.

Specifically, the setting of the first replenishment shielding layer 123 can be realized by a gravure technique. Please refer to FIG. 1B and FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the gravure printing apparatus for explaining the process flow of the gravure printing. The gravure printing apparatus 2 can include a transfer module 21 and a supply module 22. The transfer module 21 can be a roller, and the supply module 22 provides the shielding material M to the transfer module 21. In this embodiment, the supply module 22 is a gravure cylinder having an intaglio pattern, wherein the intaglio pattern is in the form of etching or plating, etc., depending on the thickness or range of the first replenishing mask layer 123 to be printed. It is formed on the surface of the drum. In other embodiments, the supply module 22 can be a gravure plate having a concave pattern. In addition, the gravure printing apparatus 2 of the present embodiment further includes a carrying platform 23 that carries the substrate 11 on which the first shielding layer 121 and the second shielding layer 122 have been formed to perform a printing process.

When the gravure printing is performed, the masking material M is uniformly inked in the intaglio pattern of the supply module 22, so that the recessed pattern groove 221 is filled with the masking material M, and then the excess masking is omitted from the intaglio pattern. The material M is scraped off, and at this time, only the recessed pattern groove 221 is filled with the masking material M. Then, the transfer module 21 and the supply module 22 are in contact with each other by the relative movement. In this embodiment, the transfer module 21 performs clockwise rotation, and the supply module 22 performs a counter-clockwise relative movement. The masking material M is adhered to the transfer module 21 from the recess 221 . Furthermore, the transfer module 21 and the substrate 11 are brought into contact by moving relative to each other, whereby the transfer module 21 continues to rotate clockwise, and the substrate 11 is transferred to the transfer mold by the translation of the carrier 23 The relative movement of the group 21 direction translation is to transfer the masking material M to the position to be set on the substrate 11. In this way, the mask printing material M is printed on the first embodiment by the gravure printing technique. The shielding layer 121 is formed to form the first replenishment shielding layer 123 shown in FIG. 1B.

In addition, in order to accurately dispose the first replenishment shielding layer 123 on the first shielding layer 121 without providing the second shielding layer 122, the gravure printing apparatus 2 may be configured with a CCD (Charge-coupled Device) alignment system (not shown). Show) to achieve precise alignment. In addition, the thickness of the first replenishment shielding layer 123 can be changed by adjusting the depth of the recess 221, for example, the deeper recess 221 forms a thicker first replenishment shielding layer 123.

In addition, the material of the shielding structure 12 may be a light-colored ink or a photoresist, for example, white, and the materials of the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122, and the first complementary shielding layer 123 may be the same or similar.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1B , in the embodiment, the first replenishment shielding layer 123 may be located on the first shielding layer 121 where the second shielding layer 122 is not disposed. Herein, the total area of the first offset shielding layer 123 and the second shielding layer 122 of the present embodiment is substantially equal to the area of the first shielding layer 121, so that the overall light shielding property of the shielding structure 12 can be more uniform.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another aspect of the line segment A-A shown in Figure 1A. As shown in FIG. 3 , the difference between the embodiment and the embodiment of FIG. 1B is that the shielding structure 12 further includes a third shielding layer 124 and a second complementary shielding layer 125 . The third shielding layer 124 is also smaller than the area of the second shielding layer 122 because of the process factor, and the third shielding layer 124 is disposed on the second shielding layer 122 away from the visible area 111. . At this time, the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122 and the third shielding layer 124 form a stepped step difference adjacent to the visible area 111. The surface of the second offset shielding layer 125 away from the substrate 11 and the surface of the third shielding layer 124 away from the substrate 11 are in the same plane, that is, the thickness of the second complementary shielding layer 125 and the third shielding layer 124 are the same. . The second masking layer 125 having the same thickness as the third shielding layer 124 is disposed on the second shielding layer 122, so that the thickness and the light shielding property of the shielding structure 12 are substantially the same, and the appearance is neat and uniform. There are known masking structures that give rise to significant chromatic aberration problems.

Similarly, the second replenishment shielding layer 125 can cover the first replenishment shielding layer 123 and the third shielding layer 122 is not provided with the third shielding layer 124, so that the overall shading property of the shielding structure 12 is more uniform.

In practice, the second offset mask layer 125 can also be formed by gravure printing technology. For the process, the method can be referred to the above, and details are not described herein again. In addition, the first offset shielding layer 123 and the second offset shielding layer 125 may be a unitary single structure. In the process, the shielding structure 12 sequentially forms the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122, the third shielding layer 124, the first complementary shielding layer 123, and the second complementary shielding layer 125 on the substrate 11. Since there is a step difference adjacent to the visible area 111 after forming the first shielding layer 121, the second shielding layer 122 and the third shielding layer 124, the first complementary printing is formed by setting the shielding material at the step by gravure printing technology. The shielding layer 123 and the second complementary shielding layer 125 eliminate the step and make the shielding property of the entire shielding structure 12 uniform. Here, the first replenishment shielding layer 123 and the second replenishment shielding layer 125 may be respectively formed through a two-pass printing process, or may be integrally formed through a single printing process.

4A is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel of another embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4A, the shielding structure 12 of the touch panel 1a is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 1B. In this embodiment, the touch panel 1a further includes a carrier substrate S and a conductive layer 13 . The carrier substrate S is disposed opposite to the substrate 11 and located on the same side of the substrate 11 on which the shielding structure 12 is disposed, that is, the shielding structure 12 is located between the substrate 11 and the carrier substrate S. The conductive layer 13 is disposed on a side of the carrier substrate S facing the substrate 11. The conductive layer 13 may be presented in the form of a metal nanowire, a transparent conductive film, or a metal mesh. The metal nanowire may be, for example, a silver nanowire (SNW) or a carbon nanotube (CNT), and the transparent conductive film may be, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc. Indium zinc oxide (IZO), fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), gallium doped zinc oxide (GZO) or graphite Graphene. In addition, a protective layer (not shown) may be disposed on the conductive layer 13, which is an insulating material, and the transparent conductive film or metal of the conductive layer 13 may be prevented from being oxidized. In addition, the touch panel 1a further includes a wire layer T disposed on the shielding structure 12 opposite to the other side of the substrate 11 and electrically connected to the conductive layer 13 to transmit the sensing signal of the conductive layer 13 to the circuit board. (not shown) for subsequent processing.

In addition, in some embodiments, the shielding structure 12 of the touch panel 1a may also include a third shielding layer 124 and a second complementary shielding layer 125, the description of which may be referred to the corresponding paragraph of FIG.

4B is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel of another embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4B , in the embodiment, the conductive layer 13 a of the touch panel 1 b is visible on the substrate 11 . The area 111 is different from the embodiment provided in the carrier substrate S shown in FIG. 4A. Herein, the substrate 11 is a reinforced plate material, and the touch panel 1b adopts a one-piece glass touch panel technology (OGS), which can save the above-mentioned carrier substrate S, thereby reducing cost and reducing The thickness of the touch panel 1b.

In addition, in the embodiment, the conductive layer 13 a is further disposed on the non-visible area 112 and is disposed through the shielding structure 12 . Further, when the shielding structure 12 is formed, the first shielding layer 121 and the second shielding layer 122 are formed before the substrate 11, and the visible region 111 of the conductive layer 13a on the substrate 11 is formed, and the conductive layer 13a is further extended on the conductive layer 13a. On the first shielding layer 121 and the second shielding layer 122, a first complementary shielding layer 123 is formed, and finally a wiring layer T is formed on the shielding structure 12 (for example, on the second shielding layer 122), wherein the wiring layer T is electrically The conductive layer 13a is connected. In this embodiment, the first masking layer 123 is disposed on the first shielding layer 121 and the second shielding layer 122 is not disposed, so that the thickness and the light shielding property of the shielding structure 12 are substantially the same, and the appearance is neat and The uniform color, without the conventional masking structure, causes a problem of chromatic aberration, and the conductive layer 13a is disposed on the substrate 11 instead of the other carrier substrate, so that the thickness of the touch panel 1b can be reduced.

In addition, in some embodiments, the shielding structure 12 of the touch panel 1b may also include a third shielding layer 124 and a second complementary shielding layer 125, the description of which may be referred to the corresponding paragraph of FIG.

In addition, in some embodiments, the conductive layer 13a may not be disposed on the shielding structure 12, but is extended from the substrate 11 above the shielding structure 12, that is, the processing sequence of the conductive layer 13a is after the shielding structure 12 is formed.

In summary, the touch panel of the present invention is disposed on the first shielding layer by the first replenishing shielding layer, and the second shielding layer is not disposed, so that the overall thickness and the shading property of the shielding structure are substantially the same, and the appearance is neat and Consistent colors, without the conventional masking structure, give rise to significant chromatic aberration problems.

The above is intended to be illustrative only and not limiting. Any equivalent modifications or alterations to the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be included in the scope of the appended claims.

11‧‧‧Substrate

111‧‧‧visible area

112‧‧‧Invisible area

12‧‧‧Shielding structure

121‧‧‧First masking layer

122‧‧‧Second shelter

123‧‧‧First patching mask

Claims (9)

A touch panel includes: a substrate having a visible area and a non-visible area adjacent to the visible area; and a shielding structure disposed on the non-visible area on the substrate, the shielding structure comprising: a first a shielding layer is disposed on the substrate; a second shielding layer is disposed on the first shielding layer away from the visible area, and an area of the second shielding layer is smaller than an area of the first shielding layer; and a first a masking layer is disposed on the first mask in a coplanar manner with the second masking layer, and a surface of the first complementary masking layer away from the substrate is located in the same surface as the surface of the second shielding layer away from the substrate a plane; wherein a total area of the first offset shielding layer and the second shielding layer is equal to an area of the first shielding layer. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the first offset shielding layer is located on the first shielding layer and the second shielding layer is not disposed. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the first shielding layer, the second shielding layer, and the first complementary shielding layer are made of the same material. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the shielding structure has a white color. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the shielding structure further comprises a third shielding layer and a second complementary shielding layer, wherein the third shielding layer is disposed on the second shielding away from the visible area. The area of the third shielding layer is smaller than the area of the second shielding layer. The surface of the second complementary shielding layer away from the substrate is in the same plane as the surface of the third shielding layer away from the substrate. The touch panel of claim 5, wherein the second offset shielding layer covers the first complementary shielding layer and the third shielding layer is not disposed on the second shielding layer. The touch panel of claim 5, wherein the first replenishment shielding layer and the second replenishing shielding layer are a single structure integrally formed. The touch panel of claim 1, further comprising a conductive layer disposed on the visible area on the substrate. The touch panel of claim 8, wherein the conductive layer is further disposed on the non-visible area and is disposed through the shielding structure.