TWM455213U - One-glass-solution touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an one-glass-solution touch panel, comprising: a cover plate and a carrier layer, on which forming: a patterned conductive layer, comprising a sensing electrode; a plurality of signal lines electrically connected to the sensing electrode, the plurality of signal lines converging at at least one bonding region and the bonding region is located at at least one outer edge of the sensing electrodes, wherein the thickness of the carrier layer in the bonding region is greater than in non-bonding region; and a bonding adhesive formed between the cover plate and the carrier layer to bond the cover plate and the carrier layer.

Description

Monolithic glass trackpad

This creation is about touch technology, and especially about a single glass trackpad.

In recent years, with the popularity of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers with touch functions, it is becoming more and more important to reduce the production cost of touch panels and make thinner touch panels, and monolithic glass touch panels. It is one of the structures that can meet this requirement.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a conventional technique for fabricating a monolithic glass touch panel is described. First, a release layer 12 is formed on the carrier substrate 10 to form a larger support layer thereon. After the carrier 14 is finished on the support carrier, the process of the touch structure 16 is completed, and then the edges C and C' of the release layer 12 are cut, and the adhesion of the release layer 12 to the carrier substrate 10 is not good, and the carrier substrate 10 is to be carried. Separating from the film layer of the release layer 12, the support carrier 14, the touch structure 16, and the like, and attaching a glass cover (not shown) to obtain a monolithic glass touch panel. However, in the process of separating the carrier substrate 10, since the thickness of the release layer 12 and the support carrier 14 itself is relatively thin and the touch structure 16 is mainly distributed in the central region of the support carrier 14, the touch of the edge region of the support carrier 14 is separated. The structure is prone to falling off or damaged, which in turn affects the yield of the monolithic glass trackpad. If the thick release layer 12 and the support carrier 14 are used, the light transmittance of the overall single-chip glass touch panel will be affected, which may affect the adoption. The display effect of the touch display device of the single-chip glass touch panel. In view of this, this creation provides a single-chip glass trackpad that can effectively solve this problem.

The present invention provides a monolithic glass touch panel comprising: a cover plate; a carrier layer, the carrier layer is formed with: a patterned conductive layer comprising a sensing electrode; a plurality of signal wires electrically connected to the Sensing electrodes, wherein the signal wires are concentrated in at least one of the bonding regions, and the at least one bonding region is located on at least one outer side of the sensing electrode, wherein a thickness of the carrier layer of the at least one bonding region is greater than a carrier layer of the non-bonding region a thickness; and a bonding glue disposed between the cover plate and the carrier layer for engaging the cover plate and the carrier layer.

With the creation of the monolithic glass touch panel, the stress on the carrier layer of the joint region can be buffered when the substrate is removed, thereby reducing the possibility of the board being detached or damaged. In addition, since only the thickness of the carrier layer of the bonding region is thickened, the non-bonding region carrier layer is not thickened, and the bonding region is not the main body of the touch region, so the subsequent application of the touch panel to the touch display device does not affect The light transmittance of the main body of the touch panel.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent and understood.

10‧‧‧Substrate

12‧‧‧ release layer

14‧‧‧Support carrier

16‧‧‧ touch structure

400, 500‧‧‧ single glass trackpad

410, 510‧‧‧ substrate

420, 520‧‧‧ carrying layer

422, 522‧‧ ‧ plastic layer

424, 524‧‧‧ buffer layer

432, 532‧‧‧ sensing electrodes

440, 540‧‧‧ signal wires

450, 550‧‧‧ joint glue

551‧‧‧Adhesive

460, 560‧‧‧ conductive adhesive

470, 570‧‧‧ circuit board

480, 580‧‧ ‧ cover

490, 590‧‧‧ shading layer

432a, 432b‧‧‧electrode block

432c‧‧‧First wire

433‧‧‧second wire

P‧‧‧Insulation block

H ₁ ‧‧‧The first thickness of the plastic layer

H ₂ ‧‧‧second thickness of the plastic layer

M‧‧‧ junction area

C, C’‧‧‧ cutting line

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method of fabricating a single-piece glass trackpad.

2A~2D are a series of sections according to an embodiment of the present creation. The figure illustrates the flow of the method for fabricating the monolithic glass trackpad of the present invention.

3A-3B are top views of an embodiment of the present invention for illustrating the sensing electrodes of the present invention.

4A-4B are cross-sectional views of another embodiment of the present invention for explaining a part of the flow of the method for fabricating the monolithic glass touch panel of the present invention.

5A-5C are top views of another embodiment of the present invention for illustrating the sensing electrodes of the present invention.

The present invention is provided to illustrate the technical features of the present invention. The contents of the embodiments and the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Non-essential elements may be omitted from the drawings, and different features may not be drawn to scale and are for illustrative purposes only. The disclosure of the present disclosure may use repeated element symbols in different embodiments, and does not represent an association between different embodiments or drawings. In addition, an element formed "above", "above", "below" or "below" another element may include an embodiment in which two elements are in direct contact, or may include other additional elements interposed between the two elements. An embodiment. The various components may be displayed at any different scale to make the illustration clear and concise.

Please refer to FIGS. 2A-2D for a series of cross-sectional views according to an embodiment of the present invention for explaining the flow of the method for fabricating the monolithic glass trackpad of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2A, first, a substrate 410 is provided, and a plastic layer 422 is formed on the substrate 410. The substrate 410 serves as a mechanical support for the structure formed in the subsequent step, and may be a transparent or opaque substrate such as a glass substrate, but the material thereof is not limited thereto. The plastic layer 422 has a release ability, which may include polyimide (PI), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin (ABS), poly-p-phenylene Ethylene formate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or a combination thereof . The plastic layer 422 may be a single layer or a multi-layer structure, or may be a stacked structure composed of a material having a release property of the lower layer and a material having no release property of the upper layer. In this step, the plastic layer 422 in a predetermined region M engagement circuit board having a first thickness H _1, in a region (non-junction region) outside the engagement region having a second thickness M H _2, and H ₁ is greater than the first thickness The second thickness H ₂ . The first thickness H ₁ can be between about 0.5 microns and 15 microns, and the second thickness H ₂ can be between about 0.5 microns and about 10 microns. This step can be carried out by printing, lithography, and spraying.

Subsequently, a buffer layer 424 is formed on the plastic layer 422, and the buffer layer 424 and the plastic layer 422 together form a carrier layer 420 on the substrate 410. In another embodiment, the carrier layer 420 can include only the plastic layer 422, ie, the buffer layer 424 is not formed. The buffer layer 424 can be formed of any transparent material. In one embodiment, the buffer layer 424 is formed of ruthenium oxide and may be formed using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or other suitable methods. In another embodiment, the buffer layer 424 may employ an adhesion promoter comprising functional groups of two different characteristics. More specifically, the adhesion promoter comprises an organo-organic functional group and a pro-organic material. a functional group, wherein the functional group of the organophilic material may be an amine group, a hydroxyl group, an epoxy group, etc., and the functional group of the parent material may be a hydrogenthio group, an amine group, a hydroxyl group, a phosphate group, etc., and a functional group having these two characteristics The adhesion promoter of the base has better adhesion to inorganic or organic substances, thereby ensuring that the buffer layer 424 can be adapted to different plastic layer materials.

The buffer layer 424 can have a thickness of between about 10 angstroms and about 3,000 angstroms. buffer The layer 424 has a higher hardness than the plastic layer 422, and the buffer layer 424 having a higher hardness and the carrier layer 420 formed of the ductile plastic layer 422 can simultaneously have good release ability and superior load carrying capacity to improve The reliability of other components subsequently formed on the carrier layer 420. Further, by forming the plastic layer 422 and the buffer layer 424 as a composite film layer, the carrier layer 420 having both good mechanical strength and release ability can be obtained. Since only the thickness of the carrier layer 420 of the bonding region M is thickened, the thickness of the carrier layer 420 of the non-bonding region is not thickened, and the bonding region M is not the main body of the touch region, so the single-chip glass track panel is subsequently applied to the touch. The display device does not affect the light transmission of the monolithic glass touch panel body.

Next, the step of FIG. 2B is performed, a conductive layer is formed on the carrier layer 420, and the conductive layer is patterned to form the sensing electrode 432. The sensing electrode 432 is a see-through conductive material, and may include indium tin oxide, aluminum zinc oxide, zinc oxide, antimony tin oxide, tin dioxide, indium oxide, nano silver, carbon nanotubes, or a combination thereof. It can be formed using physical or chemical vapor deposition, printing, evaporation, spraying or other suitable methods. The patterning step described above can be carried out by any suitable method, such as a lithography and etching step. In other embodiments, the sensing electrode 432 can also be directly formed by screen printing, spraying, or the like. Please also refer to FIG. 3A. FIG. 3A illustrates a sensing electrode 432 that can be used in FIG. 2B. The sensing electrode 432 can be formed on the carrier layer 420 by this patterning process step. In this embodiment, the sensing electrode 432 includes a plurality of strip electrodes, but other touch structures may also be used.

Referring to FIGS. 2C and 3B simultaneously, after the sensing electrode 432 is formed, a signal wire is formed. The signal wire 440 is electrically connected to the sensing electrode 432 and is concentrated in at least one bonding area M, and the bonding area M is located at least one of the sensing electrodes 432. Side. It should be noted that the position and number of the joint regions M can be adjusted according to the specific electrode structure, and are not limited to the positions and the numbers shown. The signal conductor 440 is used to transmit the signal generated by the sensing electrode 432 to an external circuit. The material of the signal conductor 440 may include copper, aluminum, silver, gold, molybdenum aluminum molybdenum alloy, indium tin oxide (ITO), or a combination thereof.

A bonding step is then performed to electrically connect the circuit board 470 to the sensing electrode 432. One end of the circuit board 470 can be connected to the signal wire 440 of the bonding area M by the conductive adhesive 460, and then electrically connected to the sensing electrode 432 by the signal wire 440, and can be connected to a control chip (not shown) at the other end. The control wafer is thus electrically connected to an external circuit (not shown), such as a printed circuit board. In this embodiment, the circuit board 470 can be a Flexible Printed Circuits (FPC), and the conductive adhesive 460 can use an Anisotropic Conductive Film (ACF). The circuit board 470 can transmit the signal of the change generated by the sensing electrode 432 to the external circuit, and the coordinate of the touch position can be obtained after the IC operation and the system interpretation. The sensing electrode 432, the signal wire 440, and the circuit board 470 formed on the carrier layer 420 constitute a body of the touch structure.

Subsequently, the bonding glue 450 is attached from above the sensing electrode 432. Since the bonding region M is formed with the conductive paste 460 and the circuit board 470, the bonding region M is relatively uneven with respect to other regions, so that the bonding yield is improved and the bubble is generated in the bonding region M when the bonding adhesive 450 is attached. The joint area is opened, that is, the joint area M is not covered by the bonding glue 450. The bonding adhesive 450 may be made of a material having good light transmittance, such as Solid Optical Clear Adhesive or Liquid Optical Clear Adhesive. The bonding paste 450 may include a transparent synthetic resin such as Acrylic. Bonding glue 450 can use heat and pressure to heat the process The soldering paste 450 is fixed on the sensing electrode 432 after the hot pressing is completed, so that the overall strength of the touch structure can be further improved. In one embodiment, a step of bonding the bonding paste 450 may be performed to separate the plurality of touch structures formed on the same large-sized substrate, and the cutting step may be performed by cutter wheel cutting or laser cutting. The way. In another embodiment, the bonding glue 450 may be attached first, and then the circuit board 470 is bonded.

Finally, in the step of FIG. 2D, the cover 480 is attached over the touch structure, and the substrate 410 in FIG. 2C is removed from the carrier layer 420 (release). The cover 480 is used to protect the touch structure, and may include a transparent material such as glass. In this embodiment, before the cover 480 is attached, the light shielding layer 490 may be formed on the edge of the cover 480. More specifically, the light shielding layer 490 is located on the side of the cover 480 that is engaged with the touch structure. In another embodiment, the light shielding layer 490 can be located on the other side opposite the joint surface. The light shielding layer 490 is used to shield the signal wires 440 to ensure that the user does not see the signal wires 440 of the single glass trackpad during use, which affects the visual appearance. The material of the light shielding layer 490 may be a colored ink or a colored photoresist. The method of releasing the substrate 410 from the carrier layer 420 may be solution immersion, heat treatment, cold treatment, external force detachment or a combination thereof. More specifically, when the solution is immersed in the solution, the solution may be water, alcohol, propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA) solution, polyvinylidene fluoride (NMP) solution, etc.; heat treatment and cold treatment are used to heat the substrate 410 or Cooling, using the different thermal expansion rates of the carrier layer 420 and the substrate 410, generates stress and facilitates release. Moreover, the order in which the cover plate is attached and the substrate is removed is adjustable, and is not limited to the above sequence.

Referring to FIG. 2D and FIG. 3B , the monolithic glass touch panel 400 formed by the above process includes a cover 480 and a carrier layer 420 . The carrier layer 420 is formed with a patterned conductive layer including a sensing electrode. 432. The signal wire 440 is electrically connected to the sensing electrode, and the signal wire 440 is concentrated on the at least one bonding region M. The bonding region M is located on at least one outer side of the sensing electrode 432, wherein the thickness of the bearing layer of the bonding region M is greater than The thickness of the carrier layer of the land; the circuit board 470, the signal wire 440 electrically connected to the land M; and the bonding glue 450 disposed between the cover 480 and the carrier layer 420 for engaging the cover 480 and the carrier Layer 420. The carrier layer 420 includes a plastic layer 422 and a buffer layer 424. The plastic layer 422 has a first thickness H ₁ at the land M, and a second thickness H ₂ outside the land M, the first thickness H ₁ is between 0.5 μm and 15 μm, and the second thickness H ₂ may be Between about 0.5 microns and about 10 microns. The edge of the cover 480 is formed with a light shielding layer 490 for shielding the signal wires 440 to ensure that the user does not see the signal wires 440 of the single glass track pad 400 during use, which affects the visual appearance. Other characteristics of the components of the monolithic glass trackpad 400 are detailed in the forming process thereof and will not be described herein.

The purpose of thickening the thickness of the carrier layer 420 of the bonding region M is achieved by making the plastic layer 422 of the bonding region M have a thick thickness H _{1 such} that the bonding region M of the carrier layer 420 is stressed when the substrate 410 is removed. The effect can be buffered, thus reducing the likelihood of the board 470 of the landing zone M falling off or being damaged. On the other hand, since the non-joining area of the carrier layer 420 does not need to be correspondingly thickened, it does not affect the light transmittance of the overall single-chip glass touch panel. Since the signal wire 440 of the bonding area M is subsequently shielded by the light shielding layer 490 (ie, the bonding area M is not the main body of the touch area), the subsequent application of the single-chip glass touch panel to the touch display device does not affect Transparency of the main body of the monolithic glass touch panel.

Please also refer to Figures 4A~4C, single-chip glass trackpad 500 and single-chip The main components and manufacturing methods of the glass touch panel 400 are substantially similar, except that the strengthening step of the present embodiment further includes the step of filling the gap between the circuit board 570 and the carrier layer 520 in the bonding region M with the adhesive 551. By adding the adhesive 551, the stability of the bonding region M when the carrier layer 520 is peeled off when the substrate 510 is peeled off can be further enhanced, and the possibility that the circuit board 570 of the bonding region M is peeled off or damaged can be reduced. The additional adhesive 551 may be a solid optical adhesive, a liquid optical adhesive or the like.

In the foregoing embodiment of the present creation, the sensing electrodes may be other aspects in addition to the strip structure shown in FIG. 3A. The sensing electrode 432 shown in the first embodiment is taken as an example to describe another sensing electrode. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, the sensing electrode 432 includes a plurality of first electrode blocks 432a arranged along the first direction. a plurality of first wires 432c connecting adjacent first electrode blocks 432a and a plurality of second electrode blocks 432b arranged in a second direction, each of the second electrode blocks 432b being distributed on both sides of the first wires 432c. Preferably, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.

As shown in FIG. 5B, after the sensing array electrode sensing electrode 432 of FIG. 5A is formed, an insulating block P is further formed on each of the first wires 432c. The insulating block P may be made of an insulating material such as an epoxy resin.

As shown in FIG. 5C, after the insulating block P shown in FIG. 5B is formed, the second wires 433 connecting the adjacent second electrode blocks 432b and the signal wires 440 are further formed on the respective insulating blocks P. The second wire 433 and the signal wire 440 may be formed at the same time or may be formed one after another. The second wire 433 may be of the same material as the signal wire 440, such as copper, aluminum, silver, gold, molybdenum aluminum molybdenum alloy, indium tin oxide (ITO), or a combination thereof. The second wire 433 can also be made of a material different from the signal wire 440. Other characteristics of the sensing electrode 432 and the signal conductor 440 are as described above The embodiments are the same and will not be described again here.

With the monolithic glass touch panel of the present invention, when the substrate is removed by thickening the thickness of the carrier layer of the joint region, the stress on the bearing layer of the joint region can be buffered, thereby reducing the edge region of the bearing layer of the joint region. The component is prone to detachment or damage. Moreover, since only the thickness of the carrier layer of the bonding zone is thickened, the non-bonding zone carrier layer is not thickened, and the bonding zone is subsequently shielded by the light shielding layer (ie, the bonding zone is not the body of the touch area) Therefore, when the single-chip glass touch panel is applied to the touch display device, the light transmittance of the main body of the single-piece glass touch panel is not affected.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and any person skilled in the art can make any changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. And the retouching, therefore, the scope of protection of this creation is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached.

400‧‧‧Touchpad

440‧‧‧Signal wire

450‧‧‧Joint adhesive

460‧‧‧ conductive adhesive

470‧‧‧ circuit board

480‧‧‧ cover

420‧‧‧bearing layer

422‧‧‧ plastic layer

424‧‧‧buffer layer

432‧‧‧Sensor electrode

490‧‧‧Lighting layer

H ₁ ‧‧‧bonding zone plastic layer thickness

H ₂ ‧‧‧non-bonded plastic layer thickness

M‧‧‧ junction area

Claims (11)

A monolithic glass touch panel comprises: a cover plate; a carrier layer, the carrier layer is formed with: a patterned conductive layer comprising a sensing electrode; and a plurality of signal wires electrically connected to the sensing electrode And the signal wires are concentrated on the at least one bonding region, and the at least one bonding region is located on at least one outer side of the sensing electrode, wherein a thickness of the carrier layer of the at least one bonding region is greater than a thickness of the carrier layer of the non-bonding region; A bonding glue is disposed between the cover plate and the carrier layer for engaging the cover plate and the carrier layer. The monolithic glass trackpad of claim 1, wherein the carrier layer comprises a plastic layer and a buffer layer, and the patterned conductive layer is formed on the buffer layer. The monolithic glass touch panel of claim 2, wherein the plastic layer is made of polyimide (PI), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butyl Aceene-styrene resin (ABS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) , polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or a combination of the foregoing. The monolithic glass touch panel of claim 2, wherein the buffer layer is made of ruthenium oxide. The monolithic glass touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the buffer layer comprises an adhesive layer containing an organophilic functional group and a functional group of a pro-organic material. Promoter. The monolithic glass touch panel of claim 2, wherein the plastic layer has a first thickness in the at least one bonding region, and a second thickness outside the at least one bonding region, the first thickness The system is between 0.5 microns and 15 microns. The monolithic glass trackpad of claim 6, wherein the second thickness is between 0.5 microns and 10 microns. The monolithic glass trackpad of claim 1, wherein the carrier layer is further formed with a circuit board electrically connected to the signal wires of the at least one bonding region. The monolithic glass track panel of claim 8, wherein an adhesive is formed in a gap between the circuit board and the carrier layer in the at least one bonding region. The monolithic glass touch panel of claim 1, wherein the cover is formed with a light shielding layer at an edge thereof. The single-piece glass touch panel of claim 1, wherein the sensing electrode comprises: a plurality of first electrode blocks arranged along a first direction; and a plurality of first electrode blocks connected adjacent to each other a wire, a plurality of second electrode blocks arranged along a second direction, and each of the second electrode blocks is distributed on two sides of the first wires, and each of the first wires is formed with an insulating block, and each of the insulating blocks A second wire connecting the adjacent second electrode blocks is formed thereon.