TWI537806B - Touch panel - Google Patents

Description

Touch panel

The invention relates to a touch panel.

With the development of technology, touch panels have gradually become one of the indispensable components for consumer electronics. According to different touch principles, the touch panel can be divided into a capacitive touch panel, a resistive touch panel, an acoustic touch panel, an optical touch panel and an electromagnetic touch panel, wherein capacitive touch is used. The panel is the mainstream of today's development.

When the touch panel is fabricated, the laminated structure is usually formed on a substrate in sequence. However, due to the different materials of the laminated structure, it also has different effects on the substrate. For example, in a vacuum coating process, the laminated structure may produce different film stresses, which may cause stress concentration and weaken the strength of the substrate at the place, causing the substrate to crack and the yield of the touch panel to be reduced.

One aspect of the present invention provides a touch panel including a substrate, a light shielding element layer, an inorganic dielectric stack layer, and a touch sensing layer. The substrate has a first side wall and a surface. The surface has a display area and a peripheral area. The peripheral area surrounds the display area, and the first side wall is adjacent to the surrounding area. The light shielding element layer is disposed on the surface of the substrate a peripheral region of the face and having a side edge adjacent the first side wall and spaced apart from the first side wall by a first distance. The inorganic dielectric stack layer covers the display area of the surface and a portion of the light shielding element layer, and exposes the side layer of the light shielding element layer adjacent to the first side wall. The inorganic dielectric stack layer includes a first inorganic dielectric layer and a second inorganic dielectric layer. The first inorganic dielectric layer is disposed on the surface and the light shielding element layer. The second inorganic dielectric layer is disposed on the first inorganic dielectric layer. The touch sensing layer is disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer.

In one or more embodiments, the touch panel further includes a metal conductive layer disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer and electrically connected to the touch sensing layer.

In one or more embodiments, the side edges of the light shielding element layer have a boundary with the substrate in a vertical projection direction, and the inorganic dielectric stacked layer has a second side wall adjacent to the boundary. The second sidewall is interposed between the metal conductive layer and the boundary.

In one or more embodiments, the inorganic dielectric stack layer further includes a third inorganic dielectric layer disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer, and the third inorganic dielectric layer covers the metal Conductive layer. The touch sensing layer includes a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer is disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the third inorganic dielectric layer. The second conductive layer is disposed between the third inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer, and is electrically connected to the first conductive layer and the metal conductive layer.

In one or more embodiments, the first distance between the side edges and the first side wall is between about 50 microns and 5000 microns.

In one or more embodiments, the side edges of the light shielding element layer and the substrate have a boundary in a vertical projection direction, and the inorganic dielectric stacked layer has a neighbor The second side wall of the near boundary. The second sidewall and the boundary have a second distance greater than about 1 micron in a vertical projection direction.

In one or more embodiments, the second distance between the second sidewall and the boundary is between about 3 microns and 20 microns.

In one or more embodiments, the light shielding element layer includes a light shielding layer and an organic insulating layer. The light shielding layer is placed on the surface. The organic insulating layer covers the light shielding layer and is disposed between the light shielding layer and the inorganic dielectric stacked layer.

In one or more embodiments, the substrate is made of glass, plastic or other suitable material.

The touch panel of the present embodiment uses the light shielding element layer to isolate the peripheral region of the substrate from the inorganic dielectric stack layer, so that the light shielding device layer can buffer the stress generated by the inorganic dielectric stack layer during the process, so the substrate strength is not affected by the inorganic The influence of the dielectric stack layer can avoid substrate cracking.

110, 910‧‧‧ substrate

102‧‧‧ border

112‧‧‧First side wall

114‧‧‧ surface

116a‧‧‧ display area

116b‧‧‧ surrounding area

120, 920‧‧‧ shading element layer

121‧‧‧ side edge

122‧‧‧Lighting layer

124‧‧‧Organic insulation

130‧‧‧Inorganic dielectric stack

132‧‧‧First inorganic dielectric layer

134‧‧‧Second inorganic dielectric layer

136‧‧‧ Third inorganic dielectric layer

138‧‧‧ second side wall

140‧‧‧Touch sensing layer

142‧‧‧First conductive layer

144‧‧‧Second conductive layer

150‧‧‧Metal conductive layer

930‧‧‧Inorganic dielectric layer

D1‧‧‧first distance

D2‧‧‧Second distance

T1, T2‧‧‧ thickness

TH1‧‧‧ first contact window

TH2‧‧‧Second contact window

FIG. 1 is a side view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a side elevational view of the substrate and inorganic dielectric layer of an embodiment.

2B is a side view showing the substrate and the light shielding element layer of another embodiment.

2C is a side view showing the substrate, the light shielding device layer, and the inorganic dielectric layer of still another embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in the following drawings, and for the purpose of clarity However, it should be understood that these practical details are not intended to limit the invention. That is, in some embodiments of the invention, these practical details are not necessary. In addition, some of the conventional structures and elements are shown in the drawings in a simplified schematic manner in order to simplify the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch panel includes a substrate 110 , a light shielding device layer 120 , an inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 , and a touch sensing layer 140 . The substrate 110 has a first sidewall 112 and a surface 114. Surface 114 has a display area 116a and a peripheral area 116b. The peripheral zone 116b surrounds the display zone 116a and the first sidewall 112 is adjacent to the perimeter zone 116b. The light shielding element layer 120 is disposed on the peripheral region 116b of the surface 114 of the substrate 110 and has a side edge 121 adjacent to the first sidewall 112 and spaced apart from the first sidewall 112 by a first distance d1. The inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 covers the display region 116a of the surface 114 and a portion of the light shielding device layer 120, and exposes the light shielding device layer 120 adjacent to the side edge 121 of the first sidewall 112. The inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 includes a first inorganic dielectric layer 132 and a second inorganic dielectric layer 134. The first inorganic dielectric layer 132 is disposed on the substrate 110 and the light shielding device layer 120. The second inorganic dielectric layer 134 is disposed on the first inorganic dielectric layer 132. The touch sensing layer 140 is disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer 132 and the second inorganic dielectric layer 134 .

The touch panel of the present embodiment is used to isolate the peripheral region 116b of the substrate 110 from the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 by using the light shielding device layer 120, so that the light shielding device layer 120 can buffer the stress generated by the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 during the process. The strength of the substrate 110 is not affected by the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130, and the substrate 110 can be prevented from being cracked. In detail, the touch panel of the present embodiment can be applied to a touch panel of a One Glass Solution (OGS), which is formed on a large substrate (such as glass) to form a touch sensing component. After that, it is divided into a plurality of touch panels. In the present embodiment, the first side wall 112 of the substrate 110 is a cut portion. Since the light shielding element layer 120 and the first side wall 112 are separated by a first distance d1, the light shielding element layer 120 can be prevented from being cut to break the light shielding during cutting. Element layer 120. On the other hand, the substrate 110 of the present embodiment is, for example, glass. Since the inorganic dielectric stacked layer 130 has lattice characteristics, if the inorganic dielectric stacked layer 130 directly contacts the substrate 110, the film stress of the inorganic dielectric stacked layer 130 may be affected. The substrate 110 is further weakened by the glass strength of the substrate 110. For example, if the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 is disposed on the surface 114 between the light shielding device layer 120 and the first sidewall 112, stress is concentrated between the light shielding device layer 120, the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130, and the substrate 110. Junction. In detail, the stress is concentrated on the boundary 102 between the substrate 110 and the side edge 121 of the light shielding element layer 120 in the vertical projection direction, so that the substrate 110 is more likely to be cracked during the strength test.

In the present embodiment, the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 exposes a portion of the side edge 121 of the light shielding device layer 120, that is, the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 does not cover the boundary 102 of the side edge 121, and thus the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 The film stress is not concentrated on the boundary 102 of the side edge 121. In addition, the light shielding element layer 120 of the present embodiment may be a light shielding matrix (Black Matrix, BM) made of an organic material. The material property of the organic material is softer than that of the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130. Therefore, when disposed between the substrate 110 and the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130, it can serve as a stress buffer release layer of the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130, and the stress is less likely to concentrate on the boundary. 102. In this way, the touch panel of the embodiment can be used to avoid the cracking of the substrate 110 during the manufacturing process or during the strength test.

Please refer to FIG. 2A , which is a schematic side view of the substrate 910 and the inorganic dielectric layer 930 of an embodiment. In FIG. 2A, the material of the substrate 910 is glass, and the material of the inorganic dielectric layer 930 is Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) having a thickness T1 of 130 nm. In the present embodiment, the glass strength of the substrate 910 is 1980.95 MPa, and after the inorganic dielectric layer 930 is added, the strength is lowered to 942.51 MPa. Therefore, it can be confirmed that the inorganic dielectric layer 930 weakens the glass strength of the substrate 910 itself after the substrate 910 is in contact with the inorganic dielectric layer 930.

Next, please refer to FIG. 2B , which is a schematic side view of the substrate 910 and the light shielding device layer 920 of another embodiment. In FIG. 2B, the material of the substrate 910 is glass, and the material of the light shielding element layer 920 is an organic material (carbon oxy-polymer) having a thickness T2 of 3 μm. In the present embodiment, after the light shielding element layer 920 is added, the glass strength of the substrate 910 is still maintained at 1960.46 MPa, so that it can be proved that the light shielding element layer 920 directly contacts the substrate 910 without substantially affecting its strength.

Next, please refer to FIG. 2C , which is a schematic side view of the substrate 910 , the light shielding device layer 920 and the inorganic dielectric layer 930 according to still another embodiment. In FIG. 2C, the light shielding device layer 920 is interposed between the substrate 910 and the inorganic dielectric layer 930. The material of the substrate 910 is glass; the material of the light shielding device layer 920 is an organic material (carbon oxy-polymer); the material of the inorganic dielectric layer 930 is Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), and the thickness T1 is 130 nm. . When the thickness T2 of the light shielding element layer 920 is 2 μm, the glass strength of the substrate 910 is 1953.01 MPa, and when the thickness T2 of the light shielding element layer 920 is 3 μm, the glass strength of the substrate 910 is 2068.25 MPa. That is, regardless of the thickness T2 of 3 micrometers or 2 micrometers, the light-shielding element layer 920 can buffer and uniformly stress the inorganic dielectric layer 930, thereby preventing the glass strength of the substrate 910 from being affected.

In summary, it is found from the experimental results that the inorganic dielectric layer 930 contacts the substrate 910 to reduce the glass strength of the substrate 910. However, the light shielding device layer 920 can alleviate the stress of the inorganic dielectric layer 930, so that the substrate 910 can maintain its glass strength. .

In the embodiment, the touch panel further includes a metal conductive layer 150 disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer 132 and the second inorganic dielectric layer 134 and electrically connected to the touch sensing layer 140 . The metal conductive layer 150 is used as a signal line of the touch panel, and the signal of the touch sensing layer 140 is connected to an external circuit (for example, a circuit board) by the metal conductive layer 150. In addition, the metal conductive layer 150 is disposed on the first inorganic dielectric layer 132 and overlaps the light shielding device layer 120 in the vertical projection direction. Therefore, the light shielding device layer 120 can be used to shield the metal conductive layer 150 to prevent the metal conductive layer 150 from affecting the touch. The appearance of the panel.

In the present embodiment, the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 has a second sidewall 138 adjacent the boundary 102. The second sidewall 138 is interposed between the metal conductive layer 150 and the boundary 102. In some embodiments, the second sidewall 138 and the boundary 102 have a second distance d2 greater than about 1 micron in a vertical projection direction, wherein the vertical projection direction is substantially the normal direction of the surface 114. In other embodiments, the second distance d2 is about 1 micron to 3 microns, whereas the second distance d2 can also be greater than 3 microns, depending on process requirements. Basically, as long as the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 exposes the side edges 121 of the light shielding device layer 120 and covers the metal conductive layer 150, it is within the scope of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130 further includes a third inorganic dielectric layer 136 disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer 132 and the second inorganic dielectric layer 134, and the third inorganic dielectric layer 136. The metal conductive layer 150 is covered. The touch sensing layer 140 includes a first conductive layer 142 and a second conductive layer 144. The touch sensing layer 140 can be, for example, a single-layer transparent conductive film (SITO) structure, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the touch sensing layer 140 can also be other touch structures. In the embodiment, the first conductive layer 142 is disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer 132 and the third inorganic dielectric layer 136 . The second conductive layer 144 is disposed between the third inorganic dielectric layer 136 and the second inorganic dielectric layer 134 , and is electrically connected to the first conductive layer 142 and the metal conductive layer 150 through the second conductive layer 144 . In detail, the third inorganic dielectric layer 136 is provided with a first contact window TH1 and a second contact window TH2, wherein the first conductive layer 142 and the second conductive layer 144 are electrically connected through the first contact window TH1, and the second Conductive layer 144 and metal conductive layer 150 is electrically connected through the second contact window TH2. Therefore, the first conductive layer 142 and the second conductive layer 144 may form sensing layers having different extending directions.

In the present embodiment, the first distance d1 between the side edge 121 and the first side wall 112 is between about 50 microns and 5000 microns. In addition, although the glass substrate is used as the description in the above embodiments, in other embodiments, the material of the substrate 110 may be plastic or other suitable materials, and the invention is not limited thereto.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a side view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the present invention. The difference between the touch panel of the present embodiment and FIG. 1 lies in the structure of the light shielding element layer 120. In the present embodiment, the light shielding element layer 120 includes a light shielding layer 122 and an organic insulating layer 124. The light shielding layer 122 is placed on the surface 114. The organic insulating layer 124 covers the light shielding layer 122 and is disposed between the light shielding layer 122 and the inorganic dielectric stacked layer 130 . Specifically, the light shielding layer 122 can be a light shielding matrix. Therefore, the materials of the light shielding layer 122 and the organic insulating layer 124 are organic materials, which can buffer the stress generated by the inorganic dielectric stack layer 130. In some embodiments, the organic insulating layer 124 may be a transparent or opaque material, which may be added to the optical layer according to the requirements of the touch panel to adjust the optical properties of the touch panel. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. . Other details of the present embodiment are the same as those of Fig. 1, and therefore will not be described again.

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

102‧‧‧ border

110‧‧‧Substrate

112‧‧‧First side wall

114‧‧‧ surface

116a‧‧‧ display area

116b‧‧‧ surrounding area

120‧‧‧ shading element layer

121‧‧‧ side edge

130‧‧‧Inorganic dielectric stack

132‧‧‧First inorganic dielectric layer

134‧‧‧Second inorganic dielectric layer

136‧‧‧ Third inorganic dielectric layer

138‧‧‧ second side wall

140‧‧‧Touch sensing layer

142‧‧‧First conductive layer

144‧‧‧Second conductive layer

150‧‧‧Metal conductive layer

D1‧‧‧first distance

D2‧‧‧Second distance

TH1‧‧‧ first contact window

TH2‧‧‧Second contact window

Claims (9)

A touch panel includes: a substrate having a first sidewall and a surface, the surface having a display area and a peripheral area, the peripheral area surrounding the display area, and the first side wall adjacent to the peripheral area; a shading element a layer disposed on the peripheral region of the surface of the substrate and having a side edge adjacent to the first sidewall and spaced apart from the first sidewall by a first distance; an inorganic dielectric stack layer covering the display of the surface And a portion of the light shielding device layer, and exposing the light shielding device layer adjacent to the side edge of the first sidewall, wherein the inorganic dielectric stack layer comprises: a first inorganic dielectric layer disposed on the surface and the light shielding layer And a second inorganic dielectric layer disposed on the first inorganic dielectric layer; and a touch sensing layer disposed on the first inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer between. The touch panel of claim 1, further comprising: a metal conductive layer disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer and electrically connected to the touch sensing layer. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein the side edge of the light shielding element layer has a boundary with the substrate in a vertical projection direction. And the inorganic dielectric stack layer has a second sidewall adjacent to the boundary, the second sidewall being interposed between the metal conductive layer and the boundary. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein the inorganic dielectric stack further comprises: a third inorganic dielectric layer disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer, and The third inorganic dielectric layer covers the metal conductive layer; and the touch sensing layer comprises: a first conductive layer disposed between the first inorganic dielectric layer and the third inorganic dielectric layer; and a The second conductive layer is disposed between the third inorganic dielectric layer and the second inorganic dielectric layer, and is electrically connected to the first conductive layer and the metal conductive layer. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the first distance between the side edge and the first sidewall is between about 50 microns and 5000 microns. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the side edge of the light shielding element layer has a boundary with the substrate in a vertical projection direction, and the inorganic dielectric stack layer is adjacent to a second sidewall of the boundary, the first The two sidewalls have a second distance greater than about 1 micron from the boundary in the vertical projection direction. The touch panel of claim 6, wherein the second distance between the second sidewall and the boundary is about 3 microns to 20 microns. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the light shielding element layer comprises: a light shielding layer disposed on the surface; and an organic insulating layer covering the light shielding layer, and disposed on the light shielding layer and the inorganic dielectric layer Between stacked layers. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of glass, plastic or other suitable material.