TWI689863B - Touch panel and electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a touch panel including a substrate, the substrate including a main body portion and an extending portion extending from an edge of the main body portion. At least a part of the extending portion is bent and overlaps with the main body portion. A plurality of sensing electrodes is formed on the main body portion. A plurality of conductive wires is formed on the extending portion and connected to the sensing electrodes. The present disclosure also provides an electronic device in which the substrate has a bent extending portion. The substrate of the touch panel or the electronic device of the present disclosure has a bent extending portion, which can reduce the frame of the electronic device and achieving a narrow frame design.

Description

Touch panel and electronic device

The invention relates to a touch panel and an electronic device.

With the development of electronic technology, people's requirements for electronic products are continuously increasing. Taking a display device with a touch panel as an example, in order to pursue a larger display window at a fixed size and make the product more beautiful, the narrow bezel is the current design trend in the industry. However, when the size of the peripheral area of the touch panel is reduced, the wiring area of the touch panel and the area for connecting to the flexible circuit board are also limited.

In view of this, it is necessary to provide a touch panel with a bent portion.

A touch panel includes: a substrate including a main body portion and an extension portion extending from an edge of the main body portion, the extension portion is formed on an edge of the main body portion, and at least a portion of the extension portion is bent and The main body portions overlap; a sensing electrode formed on the main body portion; a wire formed on the extension portion and connected to the sensing electrode.

An electronic device includes a flexible substrate including a main body portion and an extension portion, and the extension portion of the substrate overlaps the main body portion after being bent.

Compared with the conventional technology, the substrate of the touch panel or the electronic device of the present invention has a bent extension, which is beneficial to reduce the frame of the electronic device and realize a narrow frame design.

100: touch panel

1: substrate

101: Central District

102: surrounding area

11: Main body

111: first side

112: second side

12: Extension

121: The first extension

1211: Part One

1212: Part Two

122: Second extension

1221: Part Three

1222: Part Four

1223: Part Five

2: The first sensing electrode series

21: The first sensing electrode

3: Second sensing electrode series

31: Second sensing electrode

41: The first wire

42: second wire

51: First Bridge Department

52: Second Bridge Department

61: First connection pad

62: Second connection pad

71: The first axis

72: Second axis

8: Insulation

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the invention.

2 is a schematic plan view of the touch panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic back view of the touch panel of the first embodiment of the present invention opposite to the viewing angle of FIG. 1.

4 is a schematic front view of a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the invention.

5 is a schematic plan view of a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic back view of the touch panel of the second embodiment of the present invention opposite to the viewing angle of FIG. 4.

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention. The present invention can be implemented in many different forms, and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present invention more comprehensive and complete disclosure, and to make those skilled in the art more fully understand the scope of the present invention.

It is understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, region, layer, and/or section from another element, region, layer, and/or section. Therefore, without departing from the teachings of the present invention, the first element, region, layer, and/or section discussed below may be referred to as the second element, region, layer, and/or section.

Embodiments of the present invention are described here with reference to cross-sectional views, which are schematic diagrams of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of the present invention. Thus, different shapes of the illustrations due to manufacturing processes and/or tolerances are foreseeable. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to the specific shape of the region illustrated here, but should include deviations in the shape due to manufacturing, for example. The regions shown in the figures themselves are only schematic, their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of the device, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art described in the present invention. It should also be understood that terms such as those defined in a general dictionary should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the relevant field, and should not be interpreted in terms of over-idealization or over-formal meaning , Unless clearly defined in this article. This embodiment is described by taking an electronic device with a touch panel as an example, but it is not limited to an electronic device with a touch panel. In other embodiments, the electronic device of the present invention may be suitable for the technical solution Other types of electronic devices do not necessarily have touch panels. Specifically, in the following, a specific embodiment of the electronic device of the present invention will be described by taking an electronic device with a touch panel as an example.

1 and 2, the touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an electrically insulating substrate 1. The substrate 1 defines a main body portion 11 and an extension portion 12 formed by extending the edge of the main body portion 11. In this embodiment, the main body portion 11 includes a central area 101 and a peripheral area 102 surrounding the central area 101, and the extending portion 12 extends from the edge of the peripheral area 102.

The touch panel 100 further includes a plurality of first sensing electrodes 21 and a plurality of second sensing electrodes 31 disposed on the same surface of the touch panel 100, and electrically connected to the first sensing electrodes 21 and the second sensing electrodes 31, respectively Connected first wire 41 and second wire 42. In this embodiment, the first sensing electrode 21 and the second sensing electrode 31 are both provided on the main body portion 11, and the first lead 41 and the second lead 42 are both provided on the extension portion 12. The first sensing electrodes 21 are arranged to extend in the first direction (X direction in the figure) Of multiple rows, the second sensing electrodes 31 are arranged in multiple columns extending in the second direction (Y direction in the figure), the first direction and the second direction cross, in this example, the first direction and the first The two directions cross vertically.

Optionally, one of the first sensing electrode 21 and the second sensing electrode 31 is a touch driving electrode (Tx), and the other is a touch sensing electrode (Rx), the first sensing electrode 21 and the second The sensing electrodes 31 cooperate with each other to sense the touch operation applied to the touch panel 100. Each adjacent two first sensing electrodes 21 are electrically connected by the first bridge portion 51, and each adjacent two second sensing electrodes 31 are electrically connected by the second bridge portion 52. In this embodiment, each row of the first sensing electrodes 21 is electrically connected by the first bridge portion 51 to form the first sensing electrode series 2; each row of the second sensing electrodes 31 is constituted by the second bridge portion 52 are electrically connected to form the second sensing electrode series 3, the first bridge portion 51 and the second bridge portion 52 are electrically insulated, and optionally, each corresponding first bridge portion 51 crosses the second bridge portion 52 The places are separated by an insulating layer 8.

The touch panel 100 further includes a plurality of first connection pads 61 and second connection pads 62 for electrically connecting with a flexible circuit board. One end of each first lead 41 is connected to the first sensing electrode string 2, the other end is connected to one of the first connection pads 61, one end of each second lead 42 is connected to the second sensing electrode string 3, and the other end is connected One of the second connection pads 62.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the substrate 1 may be a flexible substrate, but it is not limited thereto, as long as the substrate 1 is bent. In this embodiment, the body portion 11 is rectangular, but it is not limited to this. In an embodiment, the body portion 11 may be set to any shape according to actual needs.

In this embodiment, the extension 12 further includes a first extension 121 and a second extension 122. The first extension 121 is provided with a first wire 41, and the second extension 122 is provided with a second wire 42. The first wire 41 extends from the peripheral area 102 of the main body portion 11 to the first extension portion 121, and the second wire 42 extends from the peripheral area 102 of the main body portion 11 to the second extension portion 122.

In this embodiment, an edge of the main body portion 11 near the connection between the first sensing electrode 21 and the first wire 41 is defined as a first edge 111, and a first extension portion 121 is formed along the first edge 111, and the main body portion 11 is adjacent An edge where the second sensing electrode 31 is connected to the second wire 42 is defined as the second edge 112, and the second extension 122 extends along the second edge 112.

The first extension 121 includes a first portion 1211 and a second portion 1212. The second portion 1212 extends along the first side 111, and the first portion 1211 extends along the second portion 1212 in a direction away from the main body portion 11. In an embodiment, the area of the first portion 1211 is smaller than the area of the second portion 1212. The first portion 1211 and the second portion 1212 form a "convex" shape, but it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first portion 1211 and the second portion 1211 The size and shape of the part 1212 are not limited, and the appropriate size and shape can be selected according to actual needs, as long as the first connection pad 61 and the second connection pad 62 are bent, they will not overlap and will not be The bent substrate 1 is covered. In an embodiment, the first extension 121 and the second extension 122 do not overlap after being bent, so as to avoid increasing the thickness of the touch panel 100.

In this embodiment, the first connection pad 61 is disposed at the end of the first part 1211 away from the second part 1212. The second extending portion 122 includes a third portion 1221 and a fourth portion 1222. The fourth portion 1222 extends along the second side 112. The third portion 1221 extends in a direction away from the main body portion 11 along the fourth portion 1222. The fourth portion 1222 forms a “convex” shape, and the second connection pad 62 is disposed at an end of the third portion 1221 away from the fourth portion 1222. In order to avoid bending, the first connection pad 61 and the second connection pad 62 overlap. In an embodiment, the width of the first portion 1211 is smaller than the width of the first side 111, and the width of the third portion 1221 is smaller than the width of the second side 112 width.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the touch panel 100 is applied to an electronic device, the first extension 121 and the second extension 122 are bent until the touch panel 100 is away from the first sensing electrode 21 and the second sensing electrode 31 Side. In one embodiment, the size of the bent portion of the first extending portion 121 and the second extending portion 122 can be selected according to the size requirements of the electronic device for the surrounding area. In this implementation In the example, the second portion 1212 and the fourth portion 1222 are at least partially bent. In one embodiment, the second portion 1212 is bent along a first axis 71 parallel to the first side 111, and the fourth portion 1222 is bent along a second axis 72 parallel to the second side 112. After the first extension portion 121 and the second extension portion 122 are bent, the area of the electronic device that needs to be reserved for the peripheral area can be reduced. In this embodiment, the first extension 121 and the second extension 122 at least partially overlap the main body 11 after being bent.

Please refer to FIG. 3, after the first extension portion 121 and the second extension portion 122 are bent to a side of the touch panel 100 away from the first sensing electrode 21 and the second sensing electrode 31, the first portion 1211 and the third portion 1221 The distance becomes closer, so that the distance between the first connection pad 61 and the second connection pad 62 becomes closer, the flexible circuit board connected to the first connection pad 61 and the second connection pad 62 can be reduced The required area. After the first extension portion 121 and the second extension portion 122 are bent, the distance between the closest edge of the first portion 1211 and the third portion 1221 is defined as the distance L in the direction parallel to the substrate 1. In an embodiment, the distance L may be less than 10 mm. In this embodiment, the distance L between the first portion 1211 and the third portion 1221 after bending is 6.5 mm, but is not limited thereto.

Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a touch panel 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a touch panel 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, for the convenience of description, the elements with the same structure and function as those in the first embodiment use the same element symbols. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, at least a part of the extension 12 of the touch panel 100 is bent. As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the body portion 11 may be rectangular, and the extension portion 12 further includes a first extension portion 121 and a second extension portion 122. The first wire 41 extends from the peripheral area 102 of the main body portion 11 to the first extension portion 121, and the second wire 42 extends from the peripheral area 102 of the main body portion 11 to the second extension portion 122.

In this embodiment, an edge of the main body portion 11 near the connection between the first sensing electrode 21 and the first wire 41 is defined as a first edge 111, and the first extension portion 121 extends along the first edge 111. An edge of the portion 11 adjacent to the connection between the second sensing electrode 31 and the second wire 42 is defined as a second edge 112, and the second extension portion 122 extends along the second edge 112.

The second extension 122 includes a third portion 1221, a fourth portion 1222, and a fifth portion 1223. The third portion 1221 extends along the second side 112, and the fourth portion 1222 and the fifth portion 1223 are separated from the main portion by the third portion 1221 11 directions. As shown in FIG. 5, the portions of the second extension 122 within the dotted frame of FIG. 5 are defined as a fourth portion 1222 and a fifth portion 1223, respectively, and the remaining portions are defined as a third portion 1221.

In this embodiment, the area of the fourth portion 1222 and the area of the fifth portion 1223 are both smaller than the area of the third portion 1221, the fourth portion 1222 and the fifth portion 1223 protrude from the third portion 1221, the first The connection pad 61 is disposed at an end of the fourth portion 1222 away from the third portion 1221, and the second connection pad 62 is disposed at an end of the fifth portion 1223 away from the third portion 1221. The first wire 41 extends from the first extension 121 to the first connection pad 61 located in the fourth portion 1222 of the second extension 122. The shape of the second extension 122 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 5, in other embodiments, the third portion 1221, the fourth portion 1222, and the fifth portion 1223 may jointly form a rectangle, but is not limited to this, the third The part 1221, the fourth part 1222 and the fifth part 1223 can be set to any desired shape according to actual needs.

As shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the touch panel 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention after being bent. When the touch panel 100 is applied to an electronic device, the second extension 122 is bent along a second axis 72 to a side of the touch panel 100 away from the first sensing electrode 21 and the second sensing electrode 31. In an embodiment, the size of the bent portion of the first extension 121 and the second extension 122 can be selected according to the size requirements of the electronic device for the peripheral area.

In this embodiment, the second extension 122 is at least partially bent. After the second extension portion 122 is bent, the area of the electronic device that needs to be reserved for the surrounding area can be reduced. In this embodiment, the first extending portion 121 and the second extending portion 122 are at least partially weighted with the main body portion 11 after being bent Stack. In one embodiment, the first extension 121 and the second extension 122 do not overlap after being bent, so as to avoid increasing the thickness of the touch panel 100.

The first connection pad 61 and the second connection pad 62 may be connected to a flexible circuit board on the side of the touch panel 100 away from the first sensing electrode 21 and the second sensing electrode 31. The closer the distance between the fourth portion 1222 and the fifth portion 1223, the closer the distance between the first connection pad 61 and the second connection pad 62, the smaller the area required for the flexible circuit board. After the second extending portion 122 is bent, the distance between the closest edge of the fourth portion 1222 and the fifth portion 1223 is defined as the distance L in the direction parallel to the substrate 1. In an embodiment, the distance L may be less than 10 mm. In this embodiment, the distance between the fourth portion 1222 and the fifth portion 1223 after bending may be 6.5 mm, but it is not limited thereto.

Although the first sensing electrode 21, the second sensing electrode 31, the first wire 41, and the second wire 42 of the touch panel 100 of the first and second embodiments are formed on the same surface of the substrate 1, in other In the embodiment, the first sensing electrode 21, the second sensing electrode 31, the first wire 41 and the second wire 42 may be formed on different surfaces of the substrate 1. Specifically, the first sensing electrode 21 and the first wire 41 are formed on the same surface of the substrate 1, and the second sensing electrode 31 and the second wire 42 are formed on the substrate 1 and the first sensing electrode 21 is opposite to the first wire 41 On the other surface, the first extending portion 121 provided with the first wire 41 can be bent to the side adjacent to the second sensing electrode 31, and the second extending portion 122 provided with the second wire 42 can be bent to near the first One side of the sensing electrode 21.

This embodiment uses the touch panel 100 as an example for description, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, other substrates of other electronic devices may also have bent extensions. In an embodiment, it may be a TFT (thin film transistor) array substrate, etc., as long as it can be applied to the present technical solution. When the substrate is an FTF array substrate, a plurality of TFTs may be formed on the body portion, and the extension portion forms a wire connecting the TFT and a bonding pad connected to the wire. The wire may include, for example, a scan line, a data line, and the like.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and not to limit them. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions of the present invention can be modified or equivalently replaced, and Without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

1: substrate

101: Central District

102: surrounding area

11: Main body

111: first side

112: second side

12: Extension

121: The first extension

1211: Part One

1212: Part Two

122: Second extension

1221: Part Three

1222: Part Four

2: The first sensing electrode series

21: The first sensing electrode

3: Second sensing electrode series

31: Second sensing electrode

41: The first wire

42: second wire

51: First Bridge Department

52: Second Bridge Department

61: First connection pad

62: Second connection pad

71: The first axis

72: Second axis

8: Insulation

Claims (10)

A touch panel is improved in that it includes: a substrate including a body portion and an extension portion, the extension portion is formed at an edge of the body portion, and at least a portion of the extension portion is bent to overlap the body portion, The bent portion of the extension portion overlapping the main body portion has two spaced portions, and the distance between the nearest edges of the two spaced portions is less than 10 mm; a sensing electrode, the sensing electrode Formed in the body portion; a wire formed in the extension portion and connected to the sensing electrode; and a connection pad formed in the extension portion after bending and the body portion The overlapping two spaced portions are electrically connected to the flexible circuit board on the side of the main body portion away from the sensing electrode. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the extension portion includes a first extension portion and a second extension portion that are formed by extending different edges of the main body portion and are spaced apart. The touch panel according to claim 2, wherein one of the second extension portion or the first extension portion is bent to overlap the main body portion. The touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the first extension portion and the second extension portion are at least partially bent to overlap the main body portion. The touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the wire includes a first wire located at least partially in the first extension and a second wire located in the second extension. The touch panel according to claim 5, wherein the first wire extends only at the first extension. The touch panel according to claim 5, wherein the first wire extends from the first extension portion to the second extension portion, and the second extension portion is bent at least partially with the main body部 overlapping. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the extending portion is bent to a side of the substrate away from the sensing electrode, and the bent wire at least partially overlaps the sensing electrode after bending. An electronic device includes a substrate. The substrate includes a body portion and an extension portion. The extension portion is provided with a plurality of wires. The improvement is that the extension portion is provided with a connection pad. The connection pad is connected to the wire , The extension portion of the substrate overlaps the main body portion after being bent, and the portion where the extension portion bends and overlaps the main body portion has two spaced portions, and the nearest of the two spaced portions The distance between the edges is less than 10 mm, and the connection pad is located at two spaced apart portions of the extension portion that overlap the main body portion after being bent. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the substrate is a thin film transistor array substrate.

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