TWM507021U - A jumper structure in a touch sensor and a fabricating method thereof, as well as a capacitive touch panel using the jumper structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A jumper structure in a touch sensor and a fabricating method thereof, as well as a capacitive touch panel using the jumper structure, wherein the jumper structure crosses an insulating layer separating two adjacent touch sensors and electrically connects said two touch sensors, the jumper structure comprising: a first bridging part being conductive and transparent and a second bridging part made of metal material, the first bridging part covering the insulating layer, the second bridging part respectively passing a climbing portion of the insulating layer at both ends of the first bridging part and electrically connected to said two adjacent touch sensors; the jumper of the present invention resolves the fragile and visual problems in the climbing portions of conventional ITO (indium tin oxide) jumpers.

Description

Wiring harness for touch sensor and capacitive touch panel using the jumper

The present invention relates to a structure of a touch sensor used in a capacitive touch panel, in particular, a jumper of a touch sensor and a capacitive touch panel using the jumper.

The existing touch panel is provided with a sensing area on the surface of the substrate, and the sensing area senses the position of the finger or its substitute (such as a stylus) to achieve the purpose of touch. There are many kinds of touch panel technologies. According to the detection method and its structure, it can be divided into resistive, capacitive, electromagnetic, infrared and surface acoustic wave. Among them, capacitive touch panels are the mainstream products. A known capacitive touch panel is provided with a plurality of mutually parallel segments on a surface of a transparent substrate (such as a glass substrate) along a first direction (such as an X-axis direction) and a second direction (such as a Y-axis direction). a directional electrode and a plurality of mutually parallel second directional electrodes, the first directional electrode and the second directional electrode are staggered on the surface of the transparent substrate, and the first directional electrode and the second directional electrode are made of a transparent conductive material such as indium oxide. Made of indium tin oxide (ITO), when a finger touches the substrate, an electrical signal is generated by the interleaved first direction electrode and the second direction electrode, and then the electrical signal is transmitted to an arithmetic circuit, and the operation circuit can be known. The coordinate position where the finger and the substrate touch. Similar technologies include the published US patents 6,970,160, 5,804,411 and the Chinese invention patents CN102253781A, CN102253782A.

It is known that the arrangement of the first direction electrode and the second direction electrode of the capacitive touch panel in the transparent substrate can be divided into two types, one of which is to set the first direction electrode and the second direction electrode on the transparent substrate respectively. The opposite surfaces, such as the previously disclosed U.S. Patents 6,970,160 and 5,804,410, are of such a design; the other is to provide the first direction electrode and the second direction electrode on the same side surface of the transparent substrate, in the first direction electrode and The staggered position between the two-direction electrodes is provided with a transparent electrically insulating layer, and a conductive jumper that spans the electrically insulating layer forms a "bridge" structure, so that the first direction electrode and the second direction electrode can mutually The staggered arrangement does not cause a short circuit at the staggered position. The above-mentioned disclosed Chinese invention patents CN102253781A, CN102253782A belong to the design, and the material used for the jumper structure across the electrically insulating layer comprises metal. As mentioned above, the Chinese invention patent CN102253781A uses a metal bridge; the other material used for the jumper is a transparent guide. Materials, such as the aforementioned Chinese patent CN102253782A i.e. using jumper ITO material production.

Due to the increasing demand for visual and operational convenience and the maturity of technology, more and more products are beginning to use capacitive touch panels, and the quality requirements for capacitive touch panels are getting higher and higher. For example, the use of ITO materials is required to make the aforementioned jumper wires to avoid visual problems with metal jumpers. Since the electrically insulating layer at the location of the bridging structure has a height such that the jumper must cross the electrically insulating layer for electrical connection, the jumper has a "climbing" phenomenon on both sides of the electrically insulating layer due to ITO The physical properties are relatively fragile, and it is easy to break or damage in the "climbing" position and thus affect the function of the capacitive touch panel. On the other hand, the width of the jumper made of ITO is generally wider (usually more than 10 times the width of the metal jumper), which will result in a lower angle when viewed in the direction of the ITO jumper. Over the range of angles, the ITO jumper was found to be brighter at the "climbing" position, creating problems with ITO jumpers.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art mentioned above, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a jumper of a touch sensor and a capacitive touch panel using the jumper, and the structure of the jumper of the capacitive touch panel is adopted. Improvements have improved the position of the ITO material in the climbing section, which is easy to break and visible, and on the other hand, the process yield is improved.

To achieve the above object, the present invention proposes that the jumper of the touch sensor spans an electrically insulating layer between two adjacent second sensors, and electrically connects the two second sensings. The jumper includes: a first bridging portion that is transparent and electrically conductive, and a second bridging portion of a metal material, the first bridging portion covering the electrically insulating layer, the second bridging The two ends of the first bridging portion are electrically connected to the first bridging portion and electrically connected to two adjacent second sensors across the two ends of the electrically insulating layer.

In an aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the second bridging portions are included, and one ends of the second bridging portions are electrically connected to the first bridging portion, and the other ends of the second bridging portions are electrically connected to each other. The second sensor adjacent to each other, and any two adjacent second bridging portions are arranged at intervals.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a touch panel using the jumper structure. The embodiment of the touch panel includes: a transparent substrate; a first direction electrode formed on a first surface of the substrate, the first The first direction electrode includes a plurality of first sensors spaced apart from each other in the first direction, and connects a first wire of the first sensor adjacent to the first direction to cover a transparent one of the first wires An insulating layer; and a second directional electrode formed on the first surface of the substrate, the second directional electrode comprising a plurality of second sensors spaced apart from each other in the second direction and adjacent to the second direction The jumper structure of the second sensor, the jumper structure is staggered at the first wire with the first direction electrode, the electrically insulating layer is electrically insulating and interposed between the jumper structure and the first wire Avoid between the jumper structure and the first wire short circuit.

In order to clearly and fully disclose the technical content of the present invention, the preferred embodiments and their embodiments are described below in conjunction with the drawings.

First, please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, showing a planar structure diagram of a touch panel having the jumper structure of the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a structural section of the first diagram at the II-II position. The figure shows the stacking relationship of the first direction electrode 10, the second direction electrode 20, the electrically insulating layer 30, and the jumper wires 40. As shown in FIG. 1 , the touch panel having the jumper 40 of the present invention includes: a first direction electrode 10 disposed in a first direction (eg, an X-axis direction) and a second direction (eg, a Y-axis direction) a second direction electrode 20, a first direction peripheral line 11 for electrically connecting the first direction electrode 10 and a controller C, and a second for electrically connecting the second direction electrode 20 and the controller C The direction peripheral line 21, the first direction electrode 10 and the second direction electrode 20 are disposed on the first surface 51 of the transparent substrate 50 and are interlaced with each other. The first direction electrode 10 includes: a plurality of first sensors 12 spaced apart from each other in the first direction, and a first wire 13 of the first sensor 12 adjacent to the first direction is connected to cover the first direction An electrically insulating layer 30 of the first wire 13; wherein the second direction electrode 20 comprises: a plurality of second sensors 22 spaced apart from each other in the second direction, wherein any two adjacent electrodes of the second direction electrode 20 The second sensors 22 are respectively located on two sides of a first wire 13 of the first direction electrode 10.

The transparent substrate 50 is usually made of any of the following transparent materials, including: glass, polycarbonate, PC, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). ), polymethylmesacrylate (PMMA), polysulfone (PES), and cyclic olefin copolymer. In an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 50 is a glass plate or a plastic plate.

The jumper 40 of the touch sensor of the present invention spans the electrically insulating layer 30 between two adjacent second sensors 22, and electrically connects the two second sensors 22 The structure of the jumper 40 proposed by the present invention includes a first bridging portion 41 that is transparent and electrically conductive, and a second bridging portion 42 of a metal material. The first bridging portion 41 covers the electrically insulating layer. 30. The second bridging portion 42 passes through a climbing portion 31 of the electrically insulating layer 30 at both ends of the first bridging portion 41 and is electrically connected to two adjacent second sensors 22 .

The first bridging portion 41 is made of a transparent conductive material, and the transparent conductive material includes: indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), cadmium tin oxide (CTO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), Indium zinc zinc oxide (ITZO), zinc oxide, cadmium oxide, hafnium oxide (HfO), graphene, Ag nanowire, and carbon nanotubes (Carbon nanotubes, CNT) Any of them. The second bridging portion 42 is made of a metal material, and the metal material includes any one of molybdenum, gold, silver, copper, and aluminum.

Referring to FIG. 3, a configuration diagram of another embodiment of the novel jumper 40 includes a first jumper 41 and a plurality of second jumpers 42a and 42b. One ends of the second bridging portions 42a and 42b are electrically connected to the first bridging portion 41, and the other ends of the second bridging portions 42a and 42b are electrically connected to the adjacent second sensor 22, The two adjacent second bridging portions 42a and 42b are spaced apart; since the second bridging portions 42, 42a and 42b of metal material are physically similar to the first bridging made using a transparent guiding material The portion 41 is strong, and the second bridging portions 42a and 42b of the metal material may have a smaller width than the first bridging portion 41, and the existing ITO material jumper can be easily broken at the climbing portion and Visual problems, on the other hand, also improve the yield of the process.

For a manufacturing method of the above configuration of the jumper type touch panel of the present invention, please refer to the flow chart of the steps shown in FIG. 4, including the following steps: A. The first process on the first surface 51 of the transparent substrate 50 is performed. (for example, a yellow light process) forming the first direction electrode 10 and the second direction electrode 20 (the stacking structure thereof is shown in FIG. 6A), and the first direction electrode 10 includes: a plurality of first sensings spaced apart from each other in the first direction The first wire 13 of the first sensor 12 adjacent to the first direction is electrically connected to the first wire 13 of the first sensor 12, wherein the second direction electrode 20 includes a plurality of second sensors 22 spaced apart from each other in the second direction. Wherein any two adjacent second sensors 22 of the second direction electrode 20 are respectively located on both sides of the first wire 13 of the first direction electrode 1; wherein the first direction electrode 10 and the second direction electrode are formed The first process of 20 may be determined by the materials used for the first direction electrode 10 and the second direction electrode 20, and generally includes any one of a yellow process and a printing process; B. a second process (for example, yellow light) Forming or dispensing a method) forming an electrically insulating layer 30 (See Figure 6B for its stack structure), the electrically insulating layer 30 is made of a transparent electrically insulating material comprising yttria SiO2 and other equivalent materials, the electrically insulating layer 30 covering at least the first The wire 13 is exposed, and the contact end 221 of the second sensor 22 of the second direction electrode 20 is exposed. The electrically insulating layer 30 has a position adjacent to the second sensor 22 at two ends of the second direction. a climbing portion 31 having a slope and having an angle with the first surface 51 of the substrate 50; and C. forming a jumper 40 over the electrically insulating layer 30, the jumper 40 comprising a transparent And a first bridging portion 41 having conductivity and a second bridging portion 42 of a metal material (see FIG. 6C-6D for stacking structure), the first bridging portion 42 covering the electrically insulating layer 30 The first bridging portion 41 has a gap 43 between the two ends of the second direction and the climbing portions 31 of the two ends of the electrically insulating layer 30, and the second bridging portion 42 is formed at the position of the gap 43. The second bridging portion 42 passes through the climbing portion 31 of the electrically insulating layer 30 at both ends of the first bridging portion 41, respectively. The second sensor is electrically connected to two adjacent 22.

The foregoing step C is used to form a method of the jumper 40 of the present invention. Please refer to the flow chart of the steps shown in FIG. 5, including the following steps: C1. The third insulating process (for example, a yellow light process) is used in the electrical insulating layer. The first bridging portion 41 is formed above 30 (the stacking structure is shown in FIG. 6C), and the first bridging portion 41 is at both ends of the second bridging portion and the climbing portion 31 at both ends of the electrically insulating layer 30. There is a gap 43 therebetween; and C2. a metal is formed at the gap 43 between the first bridging portion 41 and the climbing portion 31 at both ends of the electrically insulating layer 30 by a fourth process (for example, a sputtering process). The second bridging portion 42 of the material (see FIG. 6D for the stacking structure), the second bridging portion 42 is electrically connected to the first bridging portion 41 and the adjacent second sensor 22 respectively. The second bridging portion 42 passes through the climbing portion 31 of the electrically insulating layer 30 at both ends of the first bridging portion 41 and is electrically connected to the two adjacent second sensors 22 .

An embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, further comprising: forming a first portion for electrically connecting the first direction electrode 10 while forming the second bridging portion 42 of a metal material in a fourth process The peripheral line 11 and the second direction peripheral line 21 for electrically connecting the second direction electrode 20; therefore, in the manufacture of the present invention, the jumper can be avoided under the existing manufacturing process only by improving the structure of the jumper Breaking, improving process yield, and solving the "visible" problem of ITO material jumpers.

Referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention further includes a step D of forming a protective layer 60. The fifth layer is formed to form a protective layer 60 covering the first a directional electrode 10 (see FIG. 6E for its stacking structure), a surface of the second directional electrode 20 and the jumper 40, the protective layer 60 is a transparent insulating material, and the transparent insulating material comprises yttria SiO2. And other equivalent materials for protecting the first direction electrode 10, the second direction electrode 20, and the jumper 40.

In an embodiment of the foregoing manufacturing method for manufacturing the present invention, an embodiment of the second bridging portion 42 in which the metal material is formed includes: controlling the amount of oxygen in the process of forming the second bridging portion 42 The method comprises forming the second bridging portion 42 of an oxidized metal material, for example, increasing the amount of oxygen introduced in the sputtering process, and reacting the metal material with oxygen to form a corresponding oxidized metal (the oxidized metal means the metal material) The metal oxide formed by the oxidation reaction is also suitable for the oxidized metal described in the following hereinafter; the second bridging portion 42 of the oxidized metal material reduces the light reflectance to prevent the second bridging portion 42 from being visible. problem.

In an embodiment of the foregoing manufacturing method for manufacturing the present invention, an embodiment of the second bridging portion in which the metal material is formed includes: using a low reflectivity metal material (eg, aluminum, chromium, and chromium oxide) Forming the second bridging portion has the effect of reducing the light reflectivity of the second bridging portion and avoiding visible problems in the second bridging portion.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method for manufacturing the present invention, an embodiment of the second bridging portion 42 in which the metal material is formed includes: forming the second bridging portion 42 having a plurality of layers of metal material, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the novel jumper 40, wherein the surface of the second bridging portion 42 has at least one anti-reflection layer 420, and the anti-reflection layer 420 is implemented. It can be realized by adopting any one of a low reflectivity metal material and an oxidized metal material, and has the effect of reducing the light reflectance of the second bridging portion 42 and avoiding visible problems of the second bridging portion 42.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a second bridging portion 42 having a plurality of layers of metal material can be formed through a sputtering process, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the novel bridging 40. The second bridging portion 42 has three layers of metal materials, namely molybdenum (Mo) of the first layer 421, aluminum (Al) of the second layer 422, and molybdenum (Mo) of the third layer 423, the first layer. 421 is located on the surface of the second bridging portion 42, and the second layer 422 is interposed between the first layer 421 and the third layer 423, and can be protected by the first layer 421 and the third layer 423, and has good electrical conductivity and Low impedance. In an embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the second bridging portions 42 having a plurality of layers of metal material is an oxidized metal layer. In a preferred embodiment, the first layer 421 is an oxidized metal layer (for example, molybdenum oxide). The first layer 421) is formed to have the effect of reducing the light reflectivity of the second bridging portion 42 and avoiding visible problems of the second bridging portion 42.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and the skilled person can make some modifications and retouchings without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of patent protection is subject to the terms of the claims attached to this specification.

10‧‧‧First direction electrode
11‧‧‧First direction peripheral line
12‧‧‧first sensor
13‧‧‧First wire
20‧‧‧second direction electrode
21‧‧‧second direction peripheral line
22‧‧‧Second sensor
221‧‧‧Contact end
30‧‧‧Electrical insulation
31‧‧‧ climbing section
40‧‧‧ Jumper
41‧‧‧ First bridging department
42‧‧‧Second bridging department
42a‧‧‧Second bridging
42b‧‧‧Second bridging
420‧‧‧Anti-reflective layer
421‧‧‧ first floor
422‧‧‧ second floor
423‧‧‧ third floor
43‧‧‧ gap
50‧‧‧Substrate
51‧‧‧ first surface
60‧‧‧Protective layer
C‧‧‧ controller

Fig. 1 is a structural view showing an embodiment of the present invention, showing a plan view of a touch panel having the jumper structure of the present invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of Figure 1 at position II-II showing the stacking relationship between the jumper and the electrically insulating layer. Fig. 3 is a structural view showing another embodiment of the novel jumper, showing a planar configuration diagram of electrical connection of the first bridging portion and the plurality of second bridging portions. Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the manufacturing steps of the touch panel using the jumper structure of the present invention. Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the manufacturing steps of the jumper structure proposed by the present invention. 6A-6E are diagrams showing the manufacturing process of the stack structure of the novel touch panel. Fig. 7 is a flow chart showing another manufacturing step of the touch panel using the jumper structure of the present invention. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present type of jumper wire, showing that the surface of the second jumper has an anti-reflection layer. Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the novel jumper, showing the structure in which the second jumper is a multi-layer metal.

13‧‧‧First wire

22‧‧‧Second sensor

221‧‧‧Contact end

30‧‧‧Electrical insulation

31‧‧‧ climbing section

40‧‧‧ Jumper

41‧‧‧ First bridging department

42‧‧‧Second bridging department

50‧‧‧Substrate

51‧‧‧ first surface

60‧‧‧Protective layer

Claims (16)

A jumper of a touch sensor for spanning an electrically insulating layer between two adjacent second sensors and electrically connecting two of the second sensors, the jumper comprising: a first bridging portion that is transparent and electrically conductive, and a second bridging portion of a metal material, the first bridging portion covers the electrically insulating layer, and the second bridging portion is respectively at the first bridging portion The two ends are electrically connected to the first bridging portion and electrically connected to the two adjacent second sensors through the two ends of the electrically insulating layer. The jumper of the touch sensor of claim 1, wherein the first bridging portion is made of a transparent conductive material, the transparent conductive material comprises: indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, cadmium tin oxide Any one of aluminum zinc oxide, indium zinc tin oxide, zinc oxide, cadmium oxide, cerium oxide, graphene, nano silver wire, and carbon nanotube. The jumper of the touch sensor of claim 1, wherein the second bridging portion is made of a metal material, and the metal material comprises: any one of molybdenum, gold, silver, copper, and aluminum. . The jumper of the touch sensor according to claim 1, wherein the second jumper is made of a low reflectivity metal material, wherein the low reflectivity metal material comprises aluminum, chromium and chromium oxide. Any of them. The jumper of the touch sensor of claim 1, wherein the second jumper is made of an oxidized metal material. The jumper of the touch sensor of claim 1, wherein the second jumper has a plurality of layers of metal material, wherein a surface of the second jumper has at least one anti-reflection layer. The jumper of the touch sensor according to claim 6, wherein the anti-reflection layer is made of any one of a low reflectivity metal material and an oxidized metal material. The jumper of the touch sensor of claim 1, wherein the jumper includes a plurality of the second jumpers, and one end of the second jumpers is electrically connected to the first jumper The other ends of the second bridging portions are electrically connected to the adjacent second sensors, and any two adjacent second bridging portions are arranged at intervals. A capacitive touch panel comprising the jumper according to claim 1 , comprising: a transparent substrate; a first direction electrode formed on a first surface of the substrate, the first direction electrode being included a plurality of first sensors spaced apart from each other in a first direction, connecting a first wire of the first sensor adjacent in the first direction, covering a transparent electrical insulating layer of the first wire; and a a second direction electrode formed on the first surface of the substrate, the second direction electrode includes a plurality of second sensors spaced apart from each other in the second direction, and the second sense connected in the second direction The jumper of the detector, the jumper is interleaved with the first direction electrode at the first wire, the electrically insulating layer is transparent and electrically insulating, the electrically insulating layer is interposed between the jumper and the first Between the wires. The capacitive touch panel of claim 10, wherein the substrate is made of a transparent material, the transparent material comprises: glass, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethacrylic acid Any of methyl ester, polyfluorene, and cycloolefin copolymer. The capacitive touch panel of claim 10, wherein the second bridging portion of the jumper is made of a metal material, wherein the metal material comprises: molybdenum, gold, silver, copper, and aluminum. Any one. The capacitive touch panel of claim 10, wherein the second bridging portion of the jumper is made of a low reflectivity metal material, the low reflectivity metal material comprises aluminum, chromium and oxidation. Any of the chromium. The capacitive touch panel of claim 10, wherein the second bridging portion of the jumper is made of an oxidized metal material. The capacitive touch panel of claim 10, wherein the second bridging portion of the jumper has a plurality of layers of metal material, wherein a surface of the second bridging portion has at least one anti-reflective layer. The capacitive touch panel of claim 15, wherein the anti-reflection layer is made of any one of a low reflectivity metal material and an oxidized metal material. The capacitive touch panel of claim 10, wherein the jumper includes a plurality of the second jumpers, and one end of the second jumpers is electrically connected to the first jumper, The other ends of the second bridging portions are electrically connected to the adjacent second sensors, and any two adjacent second bridging portions are arranged at intervals.