TWM655629U - Touch sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch sensor comprises two spaced substrates, a first electrode between the two substrates, and a pressure sensing module. The first electrode is used to realize two-dimensional touch of the touch sensor. An insulating material is provided between the pressure sensing module and the first electrode. The pressure sensing module comprises a second electrode based on the insulating material and arranged on one side of the insulating material away from the first electrode. , and a third electrode disposed above the other of the two substrates, the second electrode not in contact with the third electrode, an air gap between the second electrode and the third electrode, the second electrode and the third electrode are respectively connected to a signal output source, the air gap changes its distance when the one of the two substrates close to the second electrode is touched, and causes the self-capacitance signals of the two signal output sources to change.

Description

Touch sensor

The invention relates to a touch sensor, in particular to a touch sensor which uses an air gap to provide insulation.

According to TW 201205404A1 and TW 202109259A, a capacitive touch sensor is disclosed. The capacitive touch sensor uses the capacitance signal change sensed between two electrodes as the sensing signal of the touch sensor.

In addition, the touch sensor of the aforementioned patent has an insulator disposed between the two electrodes (TW 201205404A1 discloses an elastic insulator, and TW 202109259A discloses a variable pressure sensitive material). The two sides of the insulator are in contact with the two electrodes respectively. When one of the two electrodes is subjected to force, the insulator is pressed, changing the contact area between the insulator and the two electrodes, thereby changing the capacitance signal between the two electrodes. However, the aforementioned technical solution may cause the other of the two electrodes to be affected by external force or the insulating material, thereby affecting the variation of the capacitance signal, so that the aforementioned touch sensor cannot provide the other of the two electrodes with a better shielding effect.

The main purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem that conventional touch sensors cannot provide good shielding effect for electrodes, thereby affecting signal interpretation.

To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a touch sensor, comprising two spaced-apart substrates, a first electrode located between the two substrates and below one of the two substrates, and a pressure sensing module located between the two substrates. The first electrode is used to realize the two-dimensional touch of the touch sensor. An insulating material is provided between the pressure sensing module and the first electrode. The pressure sensing module includes a second electrode based on the insulating material and arranged on one side of the insulating material away from the first electrode, and a third electrode arranged above the other of the two substrates. The second electrode is not in contact with the third electrode. There is an air gap between the second electrode and the third electrode. The second electrode and the third electrode are respectively connected to a signal output source. The distance of the air gap changes when the substrate close to the second electrode is touched, and the self-capacitance signal of the two signal output sources changes.

In one embodiment, the pressure sensing module and the first electrode are overlapped on the same axis.

In one embodiment, the distance of the air gap is greater than the thickness of the insulating material.

In one embodiment, the insulating material is a polyester material.

In one embodiment, the touch sensor has at least one adhesive disposed along the periphery of the two substrates to bond the two substrates.

In one embodiment, the first electrode, the second electrode and the third electrode are respectively composed of a conductive material and an insulating tape disposed on the conductive material.

According to the aforementioned novel content, compared with the conventional technology, the present invention has the following characteristics: the touch sensor of the present invention provides insulation between the second electrode and the third electrode with the air gap, so that when the substrate close to the second electrode of the two substrates is touched, the pressure applied by the user can be concentrated on the second electrode, so that the third electrode can obtain a better shielding effect, thereby allowing the two signal output sources to measure more accurate signal changes.

The detailed description and technical content of this new model are as follows with the help of diagrams:

Please refer to Figures 1 to 3. The present invention provides a touch sensor 20. The touch sensor 20 is adapted to the frame position of a touch screen. The touch screen is provided with another structure for realizing touch control. The touch sensor 20 includes two substrates 21, a first electrode 22 and a pressure sensing module 23. The two substrates 21 are arranged at intervals and provide protection for the first electrode 22 and the pressure sensing module 23. More specifically, the touch sensor 20 has a touch surface 201, which is arranged on one of the two substrates 21 and provides a user 70 with touch control. In one embodiment, each of the two substrates 21 is made of a glass material.

In addition, the first electrode 22 is located between the two substrates 21 and is disposed under one of the two substrates 21. The first electrode 22 is used to realize the two-dimensional touch of the touch sensor 20. Specifically, the first electrode 22 is arranged with a plurality of conductive patterns (not shown in the figure). The conductive patterns are located on the side of the first electrode 22 facing the one of the two substrates 21 where the touch surface 201 is disposed. When the touch surface 201 is touched, the conductive patterns determine the two-dimensional touch of the touch sensor 20 based on the power-on status. It should be noted that the two-dimensional touch referred to herein refers to the control signal formed by the position information formed by the first electrode 22 based on the X coordinate and Y coordinate of a touch point. In plain words, the control method of this two-dimensional touch can be sliding, single point, etc., thereby generating instructions such as movement and clicking.

The pressure sensing module 23 is located between the two substrates 21 and is used to realize the three-dimensional touch of the touch sensor 20. The three-dimensional touch described herein is also referred to as force touch by those skilled in the art, which refers to the control signal generated by the pressure sensing module 23 based on the Z coordinate of the touch point. In plain words, the three-dimensional touch is generated based on the touch depth of the user 70 on the touch surface 201.

An insulating material 24 is provided between the pressure sensing module 23 and the first electrode 22. The insulating material 24 may be made of a polyester (PET) material or other materials that can be used to prevent the first electrode 22 from being electrically conductive with the pressure sensing module 23. The pressure sensing module 23 includes a second electrode 231 and a third electrode 232. The second electrode 231 is based on the insulating material 24 and is disposed on a side of the insulating material 24 away from the first electrode 22. The third electrode 232 is disposed above the two substrates 21 where the touch surface 201 is not disposed. After the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232 are assembled, the second electrode 231 is suspended above the third electrode 232 by bonding the insulating material 24. The second electrode 231 is not in contact with the third electrode 232. There is an air gap 233 between the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232. The air gap 233 blocks the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232 from being connected, and provides a shielding effect for the third electrode 232 when the touch surface 201 is touched, so that the pressing weight applied by the user 70 on the touch surface 201 can be concentrated on the second electrode 231.

Next, the implementation of the touch sensor 20 is described. Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. When the touch sensor 20 is implemented, the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232 are respectively connected to a signal output source 30. Assuming that the touch sensor 20 does not receive the touch of the user 70 at the beginning, the signal output source 30 outputs a self-capacitance signal, and the self-capacitance signal is the initial capacitance value. When the touch sensor 20 receives the touch of the user 70 with the touch surface 201, the first electrode 22 will generate a corresponding two-dimensional touch based on the coordinates of the touch point of the user 70. At the same time, the one of the two substrates 21 close to the second electrode 231 will be deformed based on the pressure applied by the user 70, so that the second electrode 231 is pressed and the air gap 233 changes its own spacing (as marked 234), so that the self-capacitance signal output by the two signal output sources 30 changes from the initial capacitance value to the capacitance value after pressing. Once the touch surface 201 is no longer touched, the second electrode 231 is released from the compressed state and returns to normal, so that the distance (as indicated by reference numeral 234) of the air gap 233 returns to normal, thereby restoring the self-capacitance signal of the signal output source 30 to the initial capacitance value.

As mentioned above, the touch sensor 20 of the present invention provides insulation between the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232 with the air gap 233, so that when the substrate 21 closer to the second electrode 231 is touched, the pressure applied by the user 70 can be concentrated on the second electrode 231, so that the third electrode 232 can obtain a better shielding effect, thereby allowing the two signal output sources 30 to measure more accurate signal changes.

Referring again to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 , in one embodiment, the touch sensor 20 of the present invention overlaps the pressure sensing module 23 and the first electrode 22 on the same axis 25 to reduce the volume of the touch sensor 20. In another embodiment, the spacing of the air gap 233 of the present invention (such as the label 234) is greater than the thickness of the insulating material 24 (such as the label 241), thereby enabling the third electrode 232 to obtain a good shielding effect.

Furthermore, please refer to Figures 1 to 3 again. In one embodiment, the first electrode 22, the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232 of the present invention are respectively composed of a conductive material 221 (or 235 or 237) and an insulating tape 222 (or 236 or 238). The conductive material 221 (or 235 or 237) has a conductive function. The insulating tape 222 (or 236 or 238) is arranged around the conductive material 221 (or 235 or 237) and provides the conductive material 221 (or 235 or 237) with an insulating effect, thereby preventing the first electrode 22, the second electrode 231 and the third electrode 232 from being erroneously conductive. In this embodiment, the conductive material 221 (or 235 or 237) is a copper foil.

In addition, please refer to Figures 1 to 3 again. In one embodiment, the touch sensor 20 of the present invention further has at least one adhesive 26. The at least one adhesive 26 is disposed between the two substrates 21, and both sides have an adhesive function. The at least one adhesive 26 is disposed along the periphery of the two substrates 21 to bond the two substrates 21.

20: Touch sensor 201: Touch surface 21: Substrate 22: First electrode 221: Conductive material 222: Insulating tape 23: Pressure sensing module 231: Second electrode 232: Third electrode 233: Air gap 234: Spacing 235: Conductive material 236: Insulating tape 237: Conductive material 238: Insulating tape 24: Insulating material 241: Thickness 25: Axis 26: Adhesive 30: Signal output source 70: User

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is an enlarged schematic diagram of part of the structure of Figure 2.

20: Touch sensor

201: Touch screen

21: Substrate

22: First electrode

221: Conductive material

222: Insulation tape

23: Pressure sensing module

231: Second electrode

232: Third electrode

233: Air gap

234: Spacing

235: Conductive material

236: Insulation tape

237: Conductive material

238: Insulation tape

24: Insulation material

241:Thickness

25: Axis

26: Adhesive

Claims (6)

A touch sensor comprises: Two substrates, spaced apart; A first electrode, located between the two substrates and below one of the two substrates, the first electrode being used to realize two-dimensional touch of the touch sensor; and A pressure sensing module is located between the two substrates. An insulating material is provided between the pressure sensing module and the first electrode. The pressure sensing module includes a second electrode based on the insulating material and arranged on one side of the insulating material away from the first electrode, and a third electrode arranged above the other of the two substrates. The second electrode is not in contact with the third electrode. There is an air gap between the second electrode and the third electrode. The second electrode and the third electrode are respectively connected to a signal output source. When the one of the two substrates close to the second electrode is touched, the distance of the air gap changes, and the self-capacitance signal of the two signal output sources changes. A touch sensor as described in claim 1, wherein the pressure sensing module and the first electrode overlap on the same axis. A touch sensor as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the spacing of the air gap is greater than the thickness of the insulating material. A touch sensor as described in claim 3, wherein the insulating material is a polyester material. A touch sensor as described in claim 3, wherein the touch sensor has at least one adhesive disposed along the periphery of the two substrates to bond the two substrates. A touch sensor as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first electrode, the second electrode and the third electrode are respectively composed of a conductive material and an insulating tape disposed on the conductive material.

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