TWM592988U - Touch type three-dimensional knob - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch-type three-dimensional knob, comprising: a three-dimensional configuration of a knob mold shell with a curved abutment surface on the outer surface of the knob mold shell; an ITO touch sensor, which is arranged on the knob mold shell An outer surface; a ductile auxiliary conductive unit electrically connected to the touch sensor and forming an overlapping area, the overlapping area including the range of the adjacent surface, and the overlapping area The auxiliary conductive unit has a conductive pattern corresponding to the touch sensor; a surface coating layer, which has a three-dimensional configuration corresponding to the knob mold shell, and is closely coated on the touch sensor On the inner side of the surface coating layer, the shield and the auxiliary conductive unit have an opaque shielding surface, and the shielding surface shields at least the overlapping area.

Description

Touch stereo knob

This creation relates to a touch knob, especially a touch stereo knob made of a metal oxide material touch sensor.

Touch knobs have gradually been widely used as control knobs for in-vehicle central control devices, household appliances or electronic equipment; today's touch knobs are mainly made of extensible transparent conductive film materials (such as transparent carbon nanotubes) Conductive film) is made into a touch sensor. After printing the metal circuit on the extendable transparent conductive film, the planar touch sensor is thermoformed by In Mold Decoration (IMD) technology. The three-dimensional touch sensor is formed, and the product characteristics of the rear view can be used directly, or the mechanism for in-film injection can be used to reinforce the action. The traditional touch knob manufacturing method relies on the extensible characteristics of the material of the transparent conductive film. However, compared with the commonly used metal oxide transparent conductive film, the extensible transparent conductive film is not only more expensive but also has less material supply sources. Many restrictions, in addition, the current commercial production of extensible transparent conductive films is still unstable and needs to be improved, and temporarily cannot meet the market's expectations for stable production and delivery. The metal oxide transparent conductive film (such as indium tin oxide ITO), which is cheap and rich in material supply, is easy to break at the bend due to the material's hard and brittleness and poor ductility, resulting in non-conductive phenomenon (blocking signal transmission) Therefore, it has not been applied to the production of three-dimensional touch knobs.

This creation provides an improved touch-type three-dimensional knob, which is mainly made of a transparent metal oxide conductive film to make a touch sensor. The touch sensor is arranged on the surface of the three-dimensional knob mold shell, and the touch The bent or stretched portion of the control sensor is electrically connected to the auxiliary conductive unit with ductility to ensure the signal transmission performance of the touch sensor, thereby reducing the material cost and improving the product yield.

To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides a three-dimensional touch-sensitive knob, which includes: a three-dimensional configuration of a knob mold shell, which has a first surface, a second surface and an adjacent surface, the first surface is located on the knob The outer surface of the top of the mold shell, the second surface is located on the outer surface of the circumferential side of the knob mold shell, the abutment surface is connected between the first surface and the second surface; a touch sensor, which consists of Made of a transparent metal oxide conductive film, the touch active area of the touch sensor is disposed on the first surface and the adjacent surface, and at least a part of the second surface; a Auxiliary conductive unit made of ductile and low-resistivity material, the auxiliary conductive unit is electrically connected on the touch sensor and forms an overlapping area, the overlapping area includes the adjacent The range of the surface and at least a part of the range of the second surface, and the auxiliary conductive unit in the overlapping area has a conductive pattern corresponding to the touch sensor; a surface coating layer made of an insulating transparent material It is made with a three-dimensional configuration corresponding to the knob mold shell, and is closely covered on the touch sensor and the auxiliary conductive unit, and has an inner side of the surface coating layer An opaque shielding surface, and the shielding surface shields at least the overlapping area.

In particular, the abutment surface is one of a curved surface, a spherical arc surface, or an obtuse angle surface.

In particular, the touch sensor is selected from a capacitive touch sensor, an electromagnetic touch sensor, a sonic touch sensor, a vibration wave touch sensor, an optical touch sensor, etc., However, the scope of implementation is not limited to the aforementioned types.

In particular, the material of the metal oxide conductive film of the touch sensor is selected from indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc aluminum oxide (AZO), tin antimony oxide (ATO), etc., However, the scope of implementation is not limited to the aforementioned materials.

In particular, the materials used for the auxiliary conductive unit are selected from conductive silver (Conductive Adhesive) or a thin metal layer mainly composed of gold, silver, copper, aluminum, molybdenum, nickel, etc., but the implementation scope is not The aforementioned materials are limited.

In particular, the shielding surface is formed of an opaque insulating material, the insulating material is selected from insulating ink (Insulating ink) or photoresist (Photoresist), etc., but the scope of implementation is not limited to the aforementioned materials; It also includes setting a decorative pattern on the shielding surface. The decorative pattern is selected from a decorative pattern, an icon (ICON) or a symbol, etc., but the scope of implementation is not limited to the aforementioned types of patterns.

In particular, the knob mold shell is made of an insulating material with high light transmittance, the material is selected from glass, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate ( PC), polypropylene (PP), etc., but the scope of implementation is not limited to the aforementioned materials.

In particular, the first surface of the knob mold shell is a see-through area, and the first surface, the touch sensor and the surface coating layer together form a see-through window.

In particular, it also includes setting a manipulation information display element in the hollow cavity of the knob mold shell, so as to instantly feed back information on the manipulation status of the knob through the perspective window; the manipulation information display element is selected from a small display and an LED lamp Etc., but the scope of implementation is not limited to the aforementioned element types.

This will further clarify the other functions and technical features of this creation in the following, and those skilled in the art can realize this creation after reading the instructions in the text.

10: Knob mold shell

11: The first surface

12: Second surface

13: adjacent surface

15: Perspective window

16: Manipulation information display element

20: Touch sensor

21: induction electrode

30: auxiliary conductive unit

40: Surface coating layer

41: Shielding surface

OL: overlapping area

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of an embodiment of creation.

Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the creative embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the touch sensor in the creative embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an auxiliary conductive unit of the creative embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the auxiliary conductive unit superposed on the touch sensor in the creative embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the creation. .

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, a three-dimensional touch knob according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a knob mold case 10, a touch sensor 20, an auxiliary conductive unit 30 and a surface膜膜层40。 40 film layer.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the knob mold shell 10 is a three-dimensional configuration made of an insulating material, and has a first surface 11, a second surface 12 and an abutment surface 13, wherein the first surface 11 is located at the The outer surface of the top of the knob mold shell 10, the second surface 12 is located on the outer surface of the circumferential side of the knob mold shell 10, and the abutting surface 13 is connected between the first surface 11 and the second surface 12; wherein, the abutting surface 13 is preferably A surface that does not contain an acute-angle bending configuration, such as a curved surface.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the touch sensor 20 is a transparent touch sensor made of indium tin oxide (ITO) film. In this embodiment, the touch sensor 20 is a capacitive touch For the control sensor, the structure of the capacitive touch sensor is well known, so it will not be repeated here. In FIGS. 3 and 5, only the pattern of the sensing electrode 21 in the touch active area is simply depicted. , The rest of the components (such as the signal wires of the touch sensor, etc.) are ignored; the touch active area of the touch sensor 20 is set It is placed on the first surface 11 and the abutting surface 13 of the aforementioned knob mold shell 10, and at least a part is on the second surface 12.

The auxiliary conductive unit 30 is made of a ductile material with low resistivity, such as copper foil or silver glue, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the auxiliary conductive unit 30 is electrically connected to the aforementioned touch Above the sensor 20, an overlapping area OL is formed. The overlapping area OL includes an area of the abutting surface 13 and at least a part of the area of the second surface 12, and the auxiliary conductive unit 30 of the OL in the overlap area has the touch sensing The corresponding conductive patterns of the sensing electrodes 21 of the device 20.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the surface coating layer 40 is made of an insulating transparent material, such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), poly Acrylic (PP) or the like, which has a three-dimensional configuration corresponding to the knob mold case 10, and is closely coated on the touch sensor 20 and the auxiliary conductive unit 30, inside the surface coating layer 40 It has an opaque shielding surface 41 formed by insulating ink or photoresist. The shielding surface 41 shields at least the overlapping area OL, preferably the abutting surface 13 and the second surface The range of 12 is completely covered; various decorative patterns can also be optionally set on the shielding surface 41, such as: decorative patterns, icons (ICON) or symbol marks, etc.; using the shielding surface 41 to block the naked eyes in the aforementioned overlapping area OL The visible auxiliary conductive unit 30 and other circuit patterns can improve the appearance or function of the mark.

As is known, due to the hard and brittleness and poor ductility of ITO materials, the ITO conductive film is likely to break at the bent or stretched portion, causing non-conductivity or poor conductivity; in this embodiment, when it is made of ITO material When the formed touch sensor 20 is disposed on the first surface 11, the abutting surface 13 and the second surface 12 of the knob mold case 10, the ITO disposed on the abutting surface 13 and the second surface 12 The conductive film will be bent or stretched, so these parts may have a problem of poor conductivity, so in this creation by providing an auxiliary conductive unit 30 on the adjacent surface 13 and the second surface 12, To overcome this deficiency; because the auxiliary conductive unit 30 is made of copper foil or silver glue and other low-resistivity, malleable materials, so it will not be broken or non-conductive if it is placed on these bent or stretched parts Problem, the auxiliary conductive unit 30 is electrically connected to the touch sensor 20, which can help maintain the conductive function of the touch sensor 20 in the bent or stretched portion, and ensure the normal operation of the touch sensor 20 .

The knob mold shell 10 will be assembled on a control base of an electronic device or an electrical device, and the knob mold shell 10 and the control base are combined and fixed into a whole (not shown); when used, although the overall touch The body of the three-dimensional stereo knob will not be really rotated (because it is fixed on the control base), but by the user’s finger rotating and sliding on the outer surface of the three-dimensional stereo knob, the touch The sensor 20 inputs a touch signal, which can be translated into a control signal corresponding to the rotary knob by the signal processing circuit, and the electronic device or the electrical device can be controlled accordingly. In addition, the first The surface 11 is a flat touch surface, and the user can use the touch surface to input various information, such as clicks, gestures, or handwriting input.

As shown in FIG. 6 again, in another embodiment, the knob mold shell 10 is made of an insulating material with high light transmittance, such as glass, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS ), polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP) and other transparent insulating materials, so a transparent area is formed on the first surface 11 of the knob mold shell 10, and the touch sensing is arranged on the first surface 11 Both the device 20 and the surface coating layer 40 are also transparent thin layers, so that a see-through window 15 can be formed together in the area of the first surface 11, according to which a manipulation information display element 16 can be provided in the hollow cavity of the knob mold shell 10 For example, it is a small display, an LED lamp, etc., so that the perspective window 15 can be used to feed back the information indicating the operation status of the knob in real time.

Although this creation has been fully described with reference to the drawings and in conjunction with specific embodiments, it should be understood that the foregoing embodiments are merely implementation examples for further explanation, and this creation implementation is not limited to this description, and those skilled in the art will understand Various changes and modifications; and such changes and modifications should be understood to be included in the scope of this creation as defined by the scope of the accompanying patent application.

10: Knob mold shell

11: The first surface

12: Second surface

13: adjacent surface

20: Touch sensor

30: auxiliary conductive unit

40: Surface coating layer

41: Shielding surface

Claims (11)

A touch-type three-dimensional knob, comprising: a knob mold shell, which has a three-dimensional configuration made of an insulating material, and has a first surface, a second surface and an abutment surface, the first surface is located outside the top of the knob mold shell Surface, the second surface is located on the outer surface of the circumferential side of the knob mold shell, the abutment surface is connected between the first surface and the second surface; the touch sensor is made of transparent metal oxide Made of conductive film, the touch active area of the touch sensor is arranged on the first surface and the adjacent surface, and at least a part of the second surface; the auxiliary conductive unit, which consists of Made of ductile and low-resistivity material, the auxiliary conductive unit is electrically connected to the touch sensor, and forms an overlapping area, the overlapping area includes the range of the adjacent surface and at least a part The range of the second surface, and the auxiliary conductive unit in the overlapping area has a conductive pattern corresponding to the touch sensor; and a surface coating layer made of an insulating transparent material, which has The three-dimensional configuration of the knob mold shell is closely covered on the touch sensor and the auxiliary conductive unit, and an opaque shielding surface is provided inside the surface coating layer And the shielding surface shields at least the overlapping area. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 1, wherein the abutment surface is one of a curved surface, a spherical arc surface, or an obtuse angle surface. The touch three-dimensional knob according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensor is selected from a capacitive touch sensor, an electromagnetic touch sensor, an sonic touch sensor, and a vibrating touch One of the control sensor or optical touch sensor. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensor uses a material selected from one of indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, zinc aluminum oxide, and tin antimony oxide. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary conductive unit is selected from conductive silver glue or a thin metal material mainly composed of gold, silver, copper, aluminum, molybdenum, and nickel One of the layers. The touch three-dimensional knob according to claim 1, wherein the shielding surface is formed of an opaque insulating material selected from one of insulating ink or photoresist. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 6, further comprising setting a decorative pattern on the shielding surface, the decorative pattern being selected from one of decorative patterns, icons, or symbol marks. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 1, wherein the knob mold shell is made of an insulating material with high light transmittance, and the material is selected from glass, polymethyl methacrylate, polybenzene One of ethylene, polycarbonate and polypropylene. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 8, wherein the first surface of the knob mold shell is a see-through area, and the first surface, the touch sensor and the surface coating layer are common Form a perspective window. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 9, further comprising a manipulation information display element arranged in the hollow cavity of the knob mold shell, so that information on the manipulation state of the knob can be displayed through the perspective window in real time. The touch-type three-dimensional knob according to claim 10, wherein the manipulation information display element is selected from a small display and an LED.

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