TWI832666B - Pet film and touch keyboard which can reduce cost and improve sensing capacitance between electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch keyboard, comprising: a receiving electrode; a transmitting electrode, the receiving electrode and the transmitting electrode are located on different layers; a first ground layer, located in an intersection region of the receiving electrode and the transmitting electrode and there between, in a first direction; and a key, the receiving electrode, the transmitting electrode and the first ground layer are located below the key in the first direction. The present invention also discloses a touch keyboard in which the receiving electrodes and the transmitting electrodes are on the same layer, and the grounding layer is between the bridging area of the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode. The present invention provides a ground layer between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, and the sensing capacitance distribution is more uniform and less susceptible to noise interference, so the touch keyboard can more accurately detect the user's gesture or press a button.

Description

PET film structure that can reduce costs and improve inductive capacitance between electrodes and touch-sensitive keyboard

The present invention relates to a PET (Polyester, polyester) film structure and a touch keyboard, and in particular to a PET film structure and a touch keyboard that can reduce costs and improve the inductive capacitance between electrodes.

In order to reduce the volume during use, reduce thickness, reduce cost or reduce manufacturing complexity, conventional touch keyboards often use a membrane structure. However, because the electrodes on this type of film are relatively wide, there may be excessive inductive capacitance between the electrodes, or the inductive capacitance of the electrodes may also be uneven. In addition, conventional touch keyboards usually provide a carbon film on each key so that the sensing capacitance changes when the key is pressed, which increases the manufacturing cost of the touch keyboard. Moreover, conventional touch keyboards are often made using a multi-layer film structure, which also increases the manufacturing cost of the touch keyboard.

Therefore, a new PET film structure and touch keyboard are needed to improve such problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a touch keyboard that can improve the uniformity of sensing capacitance and save costs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a touch keyboard that can improve the uniformity of the sensing capacitance and save costs.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a touch keyboard, including: a plurality of receiving electrodes; a plurality of transmitting electrodes, the receiving electrodes and the transmitting electrodes are located on different layers; a plurality of first ground layers, located on the receiving electrodes and the transmitting electrodes At least one staggered area of electrodes in the first direction is located between the receiving electrode and the transmitting electrode in the first direction; and a plurality of buttons, the receiving electrode, the transmitting electrode and the first ground layer are in the It is located below the button in the first direction.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a touch keyboard, including: a transmission electrode including a first electrode area, a crossover area and a second electrode area, the crossover area connects the first electrode area and the a second electrode region; a receiving electrode, wherein the first electrode region, the second electrode region and the receiving electrode are located on the same layer, and the bridging region is on a different layer from the receiving electrode in the vertical direction and spans the receiving electrode ; A ground layer, located between the first electrode area and the second electrode area in the horizontal direction, and between the crossover area and the receiving electrode in the vertical direction; and a button, the receiving electrode, the transmitting electrode The electrodes and the ground plane are located vertically under the button.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a PET film structure, including: a PET film including a first side and a second side; the first side of the PET film includes a plurality of transmitting electrodes and a plurality of receiving electrodes; The second side includes a plurality of first ground layers.

To sum up, the present invention provides a ground layer between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, so that the induction capacitance is distributed more evenly and is less susceptible to noise interference. Therefore, the touch keyboard can more accurately detect the user's gestures or key presses. . In addition, the present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a keyboard structure through a single-layer PET film, which can reduce costs and manufacturing complexity.

100, 400: Button structure

201, 401, 601, 603: buttons

300:PET film structure

301: bend

600:Touch keyboard

CR: crossover area

P, Q, D_1, D_2: direction

G_11, G_12: first ground layer

G_2: Second ground layer

G_a: ground layer

IS_1, IS_2: Insulating materials

PET_1, PET_a, PET_b, PET_c: PET film

TX_1, TX_a, TX_b: transmission electrode

RX_1, RX_a, RX_b: receiving electrode

TR_1: first electrode area

TR_2: Second electrode area

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a key structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the key structure shown in Figure 1 from another perspective.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a PET film structure that can be used to manufacture the key structure shown in Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a key structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of the key structure shown in Figure 4 from another perspective.

Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of a touch keyboard using the key structure provided by the present invention.

The content of the present invention will be described in multiple embodiments below. Please also note that “first”, “second” and similar descriptions in the following description are only used to define different components, parameters, data, signals or steps. It is not intended to limit the order. For example, the first device and the second device may be different devices having the same structure.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a key structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the key structure 100 shown in Figure 1 from another perspective. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram viewed from the P direction in FIG. 1, which illustrates the relationship between the components of the key structure 100 shown in FIG. 1 and the key 201. As shown in FIG. Alternatively, FIG. 2 can also be regarded as a cross-sectional view of a part of the key structure 100 shown in FIG. 1 . Please refer to both Figure 1 and Figure 2 to understand the concepts of the present invention. Please also note that Figure 2 only shows some components of Figure 1, but the key structure 100 shown in Figure 1 can all use the structure shown in Figure 2. In addition, Figures 1 and 2 are only examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the size of the components, the angular relationship or the positional relationship between the components shown in Figures 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the key structure 100 includes: a plurality of receiving electrodes (only the receiving electrodes RX_a and RX_b are marked for illustration), a plurality of transmitting electrodes (only the transmitting electrodes TX_a and TX_b are marked for illustration), and a plurality of ground layers (only the first ground layers G_11 and G_12 are marked for illustration). In the embodiment of Figure 1, the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b and the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b are located on different layers. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2 , the receiving electrode RX_a and the transmitting electrode TX_a are located on different PET (Polyester, polyester) films PET_a and PET_c. The first ground layers G_11, G_12 are located in at least one staggered area of the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b and the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b in the first direction, and are located between the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b and the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b in the first direction. . In one embodiment, the first ground layers G_11 and G_12 are also located on a PET film. For example, in the embodiment of Figure 2, the first ground layer G_11 is located on the PET film PET_b.

The first direction may refer to the direction from the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b to the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b overlapping them, or the first direction may refer to the direction from the button to the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b and the transmitting electrode TX_a overlapping the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b. , the direction of TX_b, for example, the first direction D_1 shown in Figure 2. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 2 , the button 201 , the receiving electrode RX_a, the transmitting electrode TX_a and the first ground layer G_11 are located below the button 201 in the first direction D_1. In one embodiment, the structures shown in Figures 1 and 2 are used on a touch keyboard, which can be a membrane keyboard.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2 , the receiving electrode RX_a, the transmitting electrode TX_a and the first ground layer G_11 are respectively provided on different PET films, but in other embodiments, they may also be provided on the same PET film. In such an embodiment, the receiving electrode RX_a, the transmitting electrode TX_a and the first ground layer G_11 are still different layers in the first direction, but are located on the same PET film.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a PET film structure 300 that can be used to manufacture the key structure shown in FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , the PET film structure 300 includes a PET film PET_1, which includes a first side and a second side (also called a front side and a back side). A plurality of transmitting electrodes and a plurality of receiving electrodes (such as the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b and the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b in the previous embodiment) are provided on the first surface. A plurality of first ground layers (such as the first ground layers G_11 and G_12 in the aforementioned embodiment) are provided on the second surface. The first ground layers G_11 and G_12 on the second surface are respectively located on the back surfaces of the receiving electrodes RX_a and RX_b on the first surface. In one embodiment, PET film PET_1 The first surface is further provided with at least one second ground layer G_2, which may be located between the transmission electrodes TX_a, TX_b, or the transmission electrodes TX_a, TX_b may be located between a plurality of second ground layers G2.

In one embodiment, the PET film PET_1 further includes a bend 301. Through the bend 301, the transmission electrodes TX_a and TX_b on the first surface can be bent to the back sides of the reception electrodes RX_a and RX_b, so that the transmission electrodes TX_a, TX_b and the electrodes RX_a, RX_b can form an interleaved area, and the first ground layers G_11 and G_12 will be located in this interleaved area, so the key structure 100 shown in Figure 1 can be formed. Through the structure shown in Figure 3, only a single layer of PET film is needed to produce the required button structure instead of multiple layers of PET film, which can save production costs.

The transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b and the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 can be coupled to a capacitive sensing circuit. The capacitance sensing circuit can detect the size of the sensing capacitance between the transmitting electrodes TX_a and TX_b and the receiving electrodes RX_a and RX_b. When the user presses the button, the distance between the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b and the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b will be changed, thereby changing the size of the inductive capacitance between the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b and the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b. Therefore, it can be detected by The sensing capacitance changes to determine whether the user presses the button. Similarly, when the user slides on the touch keyboard but does not press the keyboard, that is, when performing a gesture on the touch keyboard, the size of the inductive capacitance between the transmitting electrodes TX_a, TX_b and the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b will also be changed. Therefore, It can be determined whether the user performs a gesture on the touch keyboard by detecting changes in the sensing capacitance. The details of how a touch keyboard determines gestures or key presses based on changes in sensing capacitance are known to those familiar with this art, so they will not be described again here.

Since the embodiments in Figures 1, 2 and 3 include the first ground layer G_11, the transmission electrodes TX_a, TX_b and the receiving electrodes RX_a, RX_b, when the capacitance sensing circuit senses the inductive capacitance, the inductive capacitance is distributed more evenly. And it is less susceptible to noise interference, so the touch keyboard can more accurately detect the user's gestures or key presses.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a key structure 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of the key structure shown in Figure 4 from another perspective. Picture 5 is picture 4 viewed from the Q direction. A schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between the components of the key structure 400 shown in Figure 4 and the key 401. Alternatively, FIG. 5 can also be regarded as a cross-sectional view of the key structure 400 shown in FIG. 4 . Please refer to both Figures 4 and 5 to understand the present invention. Figures 4 and 5 are only examples. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the size of the components, the angular relationship or the positional relationship between the components shown in Figures 4 and 5.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the key structure 400 includes a transmitting electrode TX_1, a receiving electrode RX_1, and a ground layer G_a. The transmission electrode TX_1 includes a first electrode region TR_1, a crossover region CR and a second electrode region TR_2. The crossover region CR connects the first electrode region TR_1 and the second electrode region TR_2. The first electrode region TR_1, the second electrode region TR_2 and the receiving electrode RX_1 are located on the same layer, such as the same layer of PET film. The crossover region CR can also be regarded as a part of the electrode, and is connected to the vertical direction (that is, the first direction D_1 defined in the above manner).

The receiving electrode RX_1 is in different layers and spans the receiving electrode RX_1. The ground layer G_a is located between the first electrode area TR_1 and the second electrode area TR_2 in the horizontal direction (that is, the second direction D_2 perpendicular to the first direction D_1), and is located between the crossover area CR and the receiving electrode RX_1 in the vertical direction. between. The receiving electrode RX_1, the transmitting electrode TX_1 and the ground layer G_a are located under the button 401 in the vertical direction.

In one embodiment, the insulating material IS_1 is further included between the ground layer G_a and a part of the first electrode region TR_1, a part of the second electrode region TR_2 and the receiving electrode RX_1. In another embodiment, an insulating material IS_2 is further included between the ground layer G_a and the crossover region CR. However, please note that in Figure 5, the insulating material IS_2 covers the entire ground layer G_a. However, in FIG. 4 , in order to clearly illustrate the relationship between the components of the key structure 400 , only part of the insulating material IS_2 is shown, so the insulating material IS_2 only covers part of the ground layer G_a. In addition, in one embodiment, the structures shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are used on a touch keyboard, which may be a membrane keyboard.

The transmitting electrode TX_1 and the receiving electrode RX_1 shown in Figures 4 and 5 can be coupled to a capacitive sensing circuit. The capacitance sensing circuit can detect the size of the sensing capacitance between the transmitting electrode TX_1 and the receiving electrode RX_1. When the user presses the button, the distance between the crossover area CR and the receiving electrode RX_1 will be changed. Then the size of the sensing capacitance between the transmitting electrode TX_1 and the receiving electrode RX_1 is changed, so it can be determined whether the user presses the button by detecting the change in the sensing capacitance. Similarly, when the user slides on the touch keyboard but does not press the keyboard, that is, when the user performs a gesture on the touch keyboard, the size of the sensing capacitance between the transmitting electrode TX_1 and the receiving electrode RX_1 will also be changed. Therefore, it can be detected by The change in sensing capacitance is measured to determine whether the user performs a gesture on the touch keyboard. The details of how a touch keyboard determines key presses or gestures based on changes in sensing capacitance are known to those familiar with this art, so they will not be described again here.

Because the embodiments in Figures 4 and 5 include the ground layer G_a, the transmission electrode TX_1 and the reception electrode RX_1, when the capacitance sensing circuit senses the sensing capacitance, the sensing capacitance is distributed more evenly and is less susceptible to noise interference, so the touch control The keyboard can more accurately detect the user's gestures or key presses.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a touch keyboard 600 using the key structure provided by the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6 , the touch keyboard 600 includes a plurality of keys (only two of the keys 601 and 603 are marked for illustration). The bottom of the buttons 601 and 603 may include the button structures described in the above embodiments. When the user presses at least one of the keys 601 and 603, the touch keyboard 600 can transmit a signal or command corresponding to the pressed key, that is, the touch keyboard 600 can operate like a conventional keyboard. When the user moves on at least one of the keys 601 and 603, the touch keyboard 600 can detect the user's gesture like a trackpad or a touch screen. Therefore, the touch keyboard 600 has both a keyboard and a function that allows the user to input commands using gestures, and does not require additional navigation tools such as a trackpad or a mouse.

To sum up, the present invention provides a ground layer between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, so that the induction capacitance is distributed more evenly and is less susceptible to noise interference. Therefore, the touch keyboard can more accurately detect the user's gestures or key presses. . In addition, the present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a keyboard structure through a single-layer PET film, which can reduce costs and manufacturing complexity.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the patentable scope of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

400:Button structure

401:Button

CR: crossover area

Q, D_1, D_2: direction

G_a: ground layer

IS_1, IS_2: Insulating materials

RX_1: receiving electrode

TR_1: first electrode area

TR_2: Second electrode area

Claims (9)

A touch keyboard, including: a plurality of receiving electrodes; a plurality of transmitting electrodes, the receiving electrodes and the transmitting electrodes are located on different layers; a plurality of first ground layers are located between the receiving electrodes and the transmitting electrodes in a first direction At least one staggered area is located between the receiving electrode and the transmitting electrode in the first direction; and a plurality of buttons, the receiving electrode, the transmitting electrode and the first ground layer are located on the button in the first direction. below. The touch keyboard according to claim 1 is a membrane keyboard, and the receiving electrode, the transmitting electrode and the first ground layer are located in different layers of PET films. The touch keyboard of claim 1 is a membrane keyboard, wherein the receiving electrode and the transmitting electrode are located on a first side of a PET film, and the first ground layer is located on a second side of the PET film. . A touch keyboard includes: a transmitting electrode, including a first electrode area, a crossover area and a second electrode area, the crossover area connects the first electrode area and the second electrode area; a receiving electrode , wherein the first electrode area, the second electrode area and the receiving electrode are located on the same layer, the crossover area is in a different layer from the receiving electrode in the vertical direction, and spans the receiving electrode; a ground layer, in the horizontal direction Located between the first electrode area and the second electrode area, and between the crossover area and the receiving electrode in the vertical direction; and a button, the receiving electrode, the transmitting electrode and the ground layer are in the vertical direction is located below the button. The touch keyboard of claim 4, wherein an insulating material is further included between the ground layer and a part of the first electrode area, a part of the second electrode area and the receiving electrode. The touch keyboard of claim 4, wherein an insulating material is further included between the ground layer and the crossover area. The touch keyboard of claim 4, wherein the ground layer is connected to the first electrode area and the second electrode area. The touch keyboard described in claim 4 is a membrane keyboard. A PET film structure includes: a PET film including a first side and a second side; the first side of the PET film includes a plurality of transmitting electrodes and a plurality of receiving electrodes; the second side includes a plurality of first A ground layer; wherein the PET film structure further includes a second ground layer located on the first surface, and the second ground layer is located between the transmission electrodes.

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