US20150242010A1 - Micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires - Google Patents
Micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20150242010A1 US20150242010A1 US14/191,482 US201414191482A US2015242010A1 US 20150242010 A1 US20150242010 A1 US 20150242010A1 US 201414191482 A US201414191482 A US 201414191482A US 2015242010 A1 US2015242010 A1 US 2015242010A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- micro
- wires
- layer
- wire
- gap
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/044—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by capacitive means
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/044—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by capacitive means
- G06F3/0445—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by capacitive means using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
- G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/0412—Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/0416—Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
- G06F3/04164—Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/042—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by opto-electronic means
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/044—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by capacitive means
- G06F3/0446—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by capacitive means using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/046—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means by electromagnetic means
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
- G06F3/041—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
- G06F3/047—Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means using sets of wires, e.g. crossed wires
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K1/00—Printed circuits
- H05K1/02—Details
- H05K1/0213—Electrical arrangements not otherwise provided for
- H05K1/0216—Reduction of cross-talk, noise or electromagnetic interference
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K1/00—Printed circuits
- H05K1/02—Details
- H05K1/0296—Conductive pattern lay-out details not covered by sub groups H05K1/02 - H05K1/0295
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/00 - G06F3/048
- G06F2203/041—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/041 - G06F3/045
- G06F2203/04103—Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/00 - G06F3/048
- G06F2203/041—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/041 - G06F3/045
- G06F2203/04107—Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/00 - G06F3/048
- G06F2203/041—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/041 - G06F3/045
- G06F2203/04111—Cross over in capacitive digitiser, i.e. details of structures for connecting electrodes of the sensing pattern where the connections cross each other, e.g. bridge structures comprising an insulating layer, or vias through substrate
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/00 - G06F3/048
- G06F2203/041—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/041 - G06F3/045
- G06F2203/04112—Electrode mesh in capacitive digitiser: electrode for touch sensing is formed of a mesh of very fine, normally metallic, interconnected lines that are almost invisible to see. This provides a quite large but transparent electrode surface, without need for ITO or similar transparent conductive material
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to printed circuits covered by H05K1/00
- H05K2201/10—Details of components or other objects attached to or integrated in a printed circuit board
- H05K2201/10007—Types of components
- H05K2201/10204—Dummy component, dummy PCB or template, e.g. for monitoring, controlling of processes, comparing, scanning
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T29/00—Metal working
- Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
- Y10T29/49002—Electrical device making
- Y10T29/49105—Switch making
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T29/00—Metal working
- Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
- Y10T29/49002—Electrical device making
- Y10T29/49117—Conductor or circuit manufacturing
Definitions
- the present invention relates to touch screens having micro-wire electrodes and an unpatterned transparent conductor layer.
- Transparent conductors are widely used in the flat-panel display industry to form electrodes that are used to electrically switch light-emitting or light-transmitting properties of a display pixel, for example in liquid crystal or organic light-emitting diode displays.
- Transparent conductive electrodes are also used in touch screens in conjunction with displays. In such applications, the transparency and conductivity of the transparent electrodes are important attributes. In general, it is desired that transparent conductors have a high transparency (for example, greater than 90% in the visible spectrum) and a low electrical resistivity (for example, less than 10 ohms/square).
- Transparent conductive metal oxides are well known in the display and touch-screen industries and have a number of disadvantages, including limited transparency and conductivity and a tendency to crack under mechanical or environmental stress.
- Typical prior-art conductive electrode materials include conductive metal oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or very thin layers of metal, for example, silver or aluminum or metal alloys including silver or aluminum. These materials are coated, for example, by sputtering or vapor deposition, and are patterned on display or touch-screen substrates, such as glass.
- ITO indium tin oxide
- metal alloys including silver or aluminum.
- Transparent conductive metal oxides are increasingly expensive and relatively costly to deposit and pattern.
- the substrate materials are limited by the electrode material deposition process (such as sputtering) and the current-carrying capacity of such electrodes is limited, thereby limiting the amount of power that is supplied to the pixel elements and the size of touch screens that employ such electrodes.
- thicker layers of metal oxides or metals increase conductivity, they also reduce the transparency of the electrodes.
- Conductive micro-wires are formed in micro-channels embossed in a substrate, for example as taught in CN102063951, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
- a pattern of micro-channels are formed in a substrate using an embossing technique.
- Embossing methods are generally known in the prior art and typically include coating a curable liquid, such as a polymer, onto a rigid substrate.
- a pattern of micro-channels is embossed (impressed or imprinted) onto the polymer layer by a master having an inverted pattern of structures formed on its surface. The polymer is then cured.
- a conductive ink is coated over the substrate and into the micro-channels, the excess conductive ink between micro-channels is removed, for example, by mechanical buffing, patterned chemical electrolysis, or patterned chemical corrosion.
- the conductive ink in the micro-channels is cured, for example, by heating.
- a photosensitive layer, chemical plating, or sputtering is used to pattern conductors, for example, using patterned radiation exposure or physical masks. Unwanted material (such as photosensitive resist) is removed, followed by electro-deposition of metallic ions in a bath.
- a prior-art display and touch-screen apparatus 100 includes a display 110 with a corresponding touch screen 120 mounted with the display 110 so that information displayed on the display 110 can be viewed through the touch screen 120 . Graphic elements displayed on the display 110 are selected, indicated, or manipulated by touching a corresponding location on the touch screen 120 .
- the touch screen 120 includes a first transparent substrate 122 with transparent first electrodes 130 extending in the x dimension on the first transparent substrate 122 and a second transparent substrate 126 with transparent second electrodes 132 extending in the y dimension facing the x-dimension transparent first electrodes 130 on the second transparent substrate 126 .
- a dielectric layer 124 is located between the first and second transparent substrates 122 , 126 and transparent first and second electrodes 130 , 132 .
- Touch pad areas 128 are formed by the overlap of the transparent first electrodes 130 with the transparent second electrodes 132 .
- a display controller 142 connected through electrical bus connections 136 controls the display 110 in cooperation with a touch-screen controller 140 .
- the touch-screen controller 140 is connected through electrical bus connections 136 and wires 134 and controls the touch screen 120 .
- the touch-screen controller 140 detects touches on the touch screen 120 by sequentially electrically energizing and testing the apparently transparent x-dimension first and y-dimension second electrodes 130 , 132 .
- the rectangular transparent first electrodes 130 separated by first electrode gaps 60 and transparent second electrodes 132 separated by second electrode gaps 62 include micro-wires 150 and are arranged orthogonally in a micro-pattern 156 on transparent first and second substrates 122 , 126 with intervening dielectric layer 124 , forming touch screen 120 which, in combination with the display 110 forms the touch screen 120 and display and touch screen apparatus 100 .
- electromagnetic interference from the display 110 can interfere with the operation of the touch-screen 120 .
- This problem is mitigated by providing a ground plane between the touch screen 120 and display 110 .
- such a structure undesirably increases the thickness and decreases the transparency of the display and touch screen apparatus 100 .
- U.S. Pat. No. 7,920,129 discloses a multi-touch capacitive touch-sense panel created using a substrate with column and row traces formed on either side of the substrate.
- the row traces were widened to shield the column traces, and the row (drive) traces were placed closer to the LCD.
- the rows are widened so that there is spacing of about 30 microns between adjacent row traces. In this manner, the row traces can serve the dual functions of driving the touch sense panel, and also the function of shielding the more sensitive column (sense) traces from the effects of capacitive coupling.
- Shielding has also been achieved by using metal micro-wire sense electrodes in combination with transparent conductive drive electrodes.
- U.S. Pat. No. 8,279,187 discloses a multi-layer touch panel having an upper electrode layer having a plurality of composite electrodes including a plurality of metal or metal alloy micro-wire conductors with a cross-sectional dimension of less than 10 microns, a lower electrode layer having a plurality of (patterned) indium oxide-based electrodes, the upper electrodes and lower electrodes defining an electrode matrix having nodes where the upper and lower electrodes cross over.
- the upper electrode layer is disposed between the first layer and the lower electrode layer and a dielectric layer is disposed between the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer.
- touch screens are intended to be invisible to a user. It is important, therefore, that any conductive structures in a touch screen be visually imperceptible.
- apparently transparent conductive electrodes made of transparent conductive oxides reduce electrode visibility. Nonetheless, such electrodes do absorb some light, having a transparency for example of 88% in the visible range and a slightly yellow appearance.
- electrode structures in a touch screen having transparent conductive oxides are visible to perceptive users.
- regular first electrode gaps 60 between transparent first electrodes 130 and second electrode gaps 62 between transparent second electrodes 132 are visible as areas with increased transparency.
- dummy conductive structures are provided in the first electrode gap 60 .
- These dummy structures typically include conductive materials and structures similar to those found in the electrodes but are not electrically connected to the electrodes.
- the dummy structures provide optical uniformity in the touch screen by providing structures with an appearance similar to the electrodes but without any electrical function.
- Micro-wire breaks 64 or other conductive element breaks between the dummy structures and the electrodes to maintain electrical isolation between the dummy structures and the electrodes are typically so small (for example, a few microns) that the micro-wire breaks 64 are imperceptible to viewers. As shown in FIG.
- a plurality of rectangular, spatially separated transparent first electrodes 130 connected to wires 134 in an electrical bus connection 136 are arranged in an array on a first transparent substrate 122 .
- Each transparent first electrode 130 includes a plurality of electrically connected micro-wires 150 .
- Dummy micro-wires 152 located in first electrode gaps 60 between the transparent first electrodes 130 are arranged in a similar way so that the dummy micro-wires 152 located in the first electrode gaps 60 between the transparent first electrodes 130 appear similar to the micro-wires in transparent first electrodes 130 .
- U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0248953 entitled “Touch Screen Panel” describes conductive dummy patterns between adjacent sensing cells in a touch screen panel.
- U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0289771 entitled “Method for Producing Conductive Sheet and Method for Producing Touch Panel” describes unconnected dummy patterns formed near each side of a sensing region.
- U.S. Pat. No. 7,663,607 entitled “Multi-Point Touch Screen” describes dummy features disposed between driving lines and sensing lines to optically improve the visual appearance of the touch screen.
- the dummy features provide the touch screen with a more uniform appearance and are electrically isolated and positioned in the gaps between each of the lines. Although they can be patterned separately, the dummy features are typically patterned along with the lines and formed with the same conductive materials. The dummy features still produce some gaps but the gaps are much smaller than the gaps found between the lines.
- a micro-wire electrode structure comprises:
- each first micro-wire electrode including a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires
- each second micro-wire electrode located in a second layer in relation to the surface, the second layer at least partially different from the first layer and each second micro-wire electrode including a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires; and a plurality of first gap micro-wires located in each first electrode gap, at least some of the first gap micro-wires located in a gap layer different from the first layer, the first gap micro-wires electrically isolated from the first micro-wires.
- the present invention provides a micro-wire electrode structure useful in capacitive touch screens having improved sensitivity, efficiency, consistency, optical uniformity, and reduced susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. By locating dummy micro-wires from one layer in another layer, electrode electrical performance is improved and optical uniformity maintained or improved.
- the presence of an unpatterned conductive layer electrically connected to first electrodes and first micro-wires provides electromagnetic shielding to the first and second electrodes, thereby reducing electromagnetic interference.
- the integrated unpatterned conductive layer therefore reduces device thickness by reducing the number of insulating layers. This has the additional benefit of reducing conductive layer thickness and improving transparency in comparison to a conventional shielding system.
- the presence of the unpatterned conductive layer also increases capacitance between the first and second electrodes, thereby reducing the voltage needed to sense changes in the capacitive field, for example due to touches, thereby improving efficiency.
- FIGS. 1A , 1 B, and 1 C are plan views of different layers of a micro-wire electrode structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 1D is a perspective combining the layers of FIGS. 1A , 1 B, and 1 C;
- FIGS. 2A , 2 B and 2 C are plan views of the same layer of a micro-wire electrode structure with different micro-wire markings according to another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 2C is a plan view of a layer of a micro-wire electrode structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 2D is a perspective combining the layers of FIGS. 2A , 2 B, and 2 C;
- FIG. 3A is a plan view of a layer of a micro-wire electrode structure according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 3B and 3C are plan views of the same layers of a micro-wire electrode structure with different micro-wire markings according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3D is a plan view of a layer of a micro-wire electrode structure according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 3E and 3F are perspectives combining the layers of FIGS. 3A , 3 B, 3 C and 3 D, in different embodiments of the present invention.
- FIGS. 4A and 4B are plan views of the same layer of a micro-wire electrode structure with different micro-wire markings according to a further embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 4C and 4D are plan views of different layers of a micro-wire electrode structure according to a further embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross sectional views of different embodiments of the present invention.
- FIGS. 7-10 are flow diagrams illustrating various methods of various embodiments of the present invention.
- FIG. 11 is a prior-art perspective of a capacitive touch screen
- FIG. 12 is a plan view of two prior-art overlapping micro-wire electrodes useful in understanding the present invention.
- FIG. 13 is a schematic illustrating prior-art micro-wire electrodes and dummy micro-wires useful in understanding the present invention.
- FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view of yet another embodiment of the present invention.
- the present invention provides a micro-wire electrode structure useful in forming capacitive touch-screen devices and in combination with a display.
- the micro-wire electrode structure improves electrode conductivity, optical uniformity, reduces the effects of electromagnetic interference, and improves touch-response sensitivity, efficiency, and consistency over the extent of the touch screen.
- the micro-wire electrode structure of the present invention is also useful in other applications requiring overlapping micro-wire electrodes and is not limited to applications of touch-screen devices. According to embodiments of the present invention, dummy wires provided for optical uniformity found in layers of conventional prior-art designs are instead used in different layers to improve electrode conductivity or resistance to electromagnetic interference.
- FIGS. 1A , 1 B, and 1 C are plan views of layers forming a multi-layer structure. The layers are shown in combination in the perspective of FIG. 1 D.
- a micro-wire electrode structure 5 includes a substrate 10 with first and second opposing sides, one of which provides a surface 12 .
- the substrate 10 is an element of a display 110 , for example a cover or substrate of the display 110 , or is affixed to the display 110 .
- the display 110 is a source of electromagnetic radiation located on or adjacent to the second opposing side.
- a plurality of electrically isolated first micro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated by first electrode gaps 60 is located in a first layer 20 in relation to the surface 12 .
- Each first micro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24 .
- the first electrode gaps 60 electrically isolate each of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 from the other first micro-wire electrodes 22 and each first micro-wire electrode 22 is connected to one of the wires 134 for controlling the first micro-wire electrode 22 .
- a plurality of electrically isolated second micro-wire electrodes 52 is located in a second layer 50 in relation to the surface 12 .
- the second layer 50 is at least partially different from the first layer 20 .
- Each second micro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires 54 .
- Micro-wire breaks 64 electrically isolate each of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 from the other second micro-wire electrodes 52 and each second micro-wire electrode 52 is connected to one of the wires 134 for controlling the second micro-wire electrode 52 .
- a plurality of first gap micro-wires 26 is located in each first electrode gap 60 in a gap layer 80 different from the first layer 20 ( FIG. 1A ).
- the first micro-wires 24 ( FIG. 1A ) and the first gap micro-wires 26 have the same pattern (ignoring the micro-wire breaks 64 ).
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are electrically isolated from the first micro-wires 24 in first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 include micro-wire breaks 64 , as described further below.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 have the same micro-wire pattern over the touch-sensitive area 32 ( FIGS.
- first gap micro-wires 26 serve as dummy micro-wires to visually fill in the first electrode gaps 60 between the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and provide optical uniformity in the first electrode gaps 60 .
- the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 overlap in a touch-sensitive area 32 .
- the overlapping portions of the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 form capacitors whose capacitance is detectably modified by the presence of a touching implement, such as a finger, to form a touch-screen device.
- the first and second micro-wires 24 , 54 are formed in a regular micro-wire pattern that extends over the touch-sensitive area 32 .
- the first electrode gaps 60 are readily visible to the unaided human visual system where the micro-wire breaks 64 are not when viewed at useful distances.
- the first electrode gaps 60 are 10-1,000 microns wide and the micro-wire breaks 64 are 0.1-10 microns wide.
- first gap micro-wires 26 that are described as located within the first electrode gap 60 are located within the first electrode gap 60 when viewed from a direction P perpendicular to the surface 12 so that the first gap micro-wires 26 appear between the first electrode gaps 60 .
- the first electrode gap 60 extends through multiple layers in the direction P.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are in a separate gap layer 80 that is different from the first layer 20 in the first electrode gap 60 but are not in the first layer 20 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are located in the first electrode gaps 60 because, as viewed from the direction P perpendicular to the surface 12 , the first gap micro-wires 26 appear between the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 extend in a first direction D 1 parallel to the surface 12
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 extend in a second direction D 2 parallel to the surface 12 and the first direction D 1 is orthogonal to the second direction D 2 .
- the gap layer 80 is the second layer 50
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are located within the second micro-wire electrodes 52
- at least some of the first gap micro-wires 26 are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 .
- FIGS. 2A , 2 B and 2 C are plan views of layers forming a multi-layer structure. The layers are shown in combination in the perspective of FIG. 2D .
- the second layer 50 and the gap layer 80 are the same layer in relation to the surface 12 of the substrate 10 and display 110 .
- the second layer 50 includes both the second micro-wires 54 and at least some of the first gap micro-wires 26 in second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically isolated from each other by the micro-wire breaks 64 in the first gap micro-wires 26 , as illustrated in FIGS. 1A , 2 A, 2 B and 2 C.
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 with the first micro-wires 24 separated by first electrode gaps 60 are formed in a first layer 20 different from the second layer 50 and gap layer 80 .
- FIGS. 1A , 2 A, 2 B and 2 C The first micro-wire electrodes 22 with the first micro-wires 24 separated by first electrode gaps 60 are formed in a first layer 20 different from the second layer 50 and gap layer 80 .
- 2A , 2 B, 2 C and 2 D provides an electrical advantage in that the second micro-wire electrodes 52 have improved electrical conductivity because the first gap micro-wires 26 are located within the second micro-wire electrodes 52 and are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 , as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B
- FIG. 2A illustrates both the second micro-wire electrodes 52 and the first gap micro-wires 26 in the second layer 50 so that the second layer 50 is also the gap layer 80 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are in the first electrode gap 60 .
- the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are shown with solid lines and the first gap micro-wires 26 are shown with dashed lines. Because the second layer 50 includes both the second micro-wires 54 and at least some of the first gap micro-wires 26 , the second micro-wires 54 and at least some of the first gap micro-wires 26 are electrically connected to form second micro-wire electrodes 52 having a variable micro-wire density along the length of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 . Note that the micro-wire breaks 64 illustrated in FIG. 1C in this embodiment electrically isolate each of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 from the other second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- FIG. 2B The elements and structures illustrated in FIG. 2B are identical to those of FIG. 2A .
- the only difference in the Figures is that the first gap micro-wires 26 are shown in FIG. 2B with solid lines as are the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 separated by the micro-wire breaks 64 in the first gap micro-wires 26 in the first electrode gap 60 .
- Both the first gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 are in the second layer 50 (which is also the gap layer 80 ).
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and the first micro-wires 24 separated by the first electrode gaps 60 are added to the illustration of FIG. 2B to illustrate the micro-wire electrode structure 5 .
- the first micro-wires 24 of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 (illustrated in FIG. 1A ) are shown with dashed lines to distinguish them from the second micro-wires 54 and the first gap micro-wires 26 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are separated by the first electrode gaps 60 and the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are separated by the micro-wire breaks 64 in the first gap micro-wires 26 .
- the micro-wires illustrated with solid lines are those of the second layer 50 and the micro-wires illustrated with the dashed lines are those of the first layer 20 (see also FIG. 2D ).
- the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 overlap in the touch-sensitive area 32 to form capacitors useful in a capacitive touch screen.
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are separated by the micro-wire breaks 64 in the first gap micro-wires 26 but otherwise have the same micro-wire pattern as the first micro-wires 24 and first gap micro-wires 26 (and the first micro-wire electrode 22 ) except that the second micro-wires 54 are spatially offset in one dimension in a direction parallel to the surface and are 180 degrees spatially out of phase with respect to the first micro-wires 24 .
- FIGS. 2A , 2 B, 2 C and 2 D provides an electrical advantage in that the second micro-wire electrodes 52 have improved electrical conductivity because the first gap micro-wires 26 of the first electrode gap 60 are connected to the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 ( FIG. 2B ). Furthermore, the presence of additional first gap micro-wires 26 in the second micro-wire electrodes 52 reduces the interference of electromagnetic radiation arising from sources below the second layer 50 (e.g. the display 110 ) on the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- the sense electrode first micro-wire electrodes 22
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are used as drive electrodes in a capacitive touch screen
- FIGS. 1A , 1 C, 3 A, 3 B, 3 C and 3 D are plan views of layers forming a multi-layer structure according to embodiments of the present invention. The layers are shown in different combinations in the perspectives of FIGS. 3E and 3F .
- the second gap micro-wires 56 FIGS. 3A-3D ) are located in each second electrode gap 62 when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the surface 12 ( FIG. 1D ) and are not necessarily in a common layer with the second micro-wires 54 and second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 having the second micro-wires 54 are spatially separated by second electrode gaps 62 .
- a plurality of second gap micro-wires 56 are located in each second electrode gap 62 and the second gap micro-wires 56 are electrically isolated from the second micro-wires 54 by the micro-wire breaks 64 .
- the second gap micro-wires 56 have the same micro-pattern as the second micro-wires 54 , ignoring the micro-wire breaks 64 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 illustrated in FIG. 1C are located in the second layer 50 of FIG. 3A , have a common micro-pattern with the second micro-wires 54 and second gap micro-wires 56 , and at least some of the first gap micro-wires 26 are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 that are within the area defined by the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrode 52 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 that are not within the area defined by the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are not electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 or the second micro-wire electrode 52 . Instead, they are located in the second electrode gap 62 and, in an embodiment, are electrically connected to the second gap micro-wires 56 .
- the second micro-wires 54 and the second gap micro-wires 56 are shown with solid lines.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are shown with dashed lines. Because the first gap micro-wires 26 in the second electrodes 52 are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 they form a single electrode with variable micro-wire density. Likewise, because the first gap micro-wires 26 in the second electrode gap 62 are electrically connected to the second gap micro-wires 56 , they form a single electrically conductive structure with variable micro-wire density.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 in the first electrode gap 60 and the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically isolated from the first gap micro-wires 26 in the first electrode gap 60 and the second gap micro-wires 56 in the second electrode gaps 62 by micro-wire breaks 64 .
- FIG. 3C illustrates the identical elements and structures illustrated in FIG. 3B .
- the only difference is that the first gap micro-wires 26 in the first electrode gaps 60 are now shown with solid lines as are the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 and the second gap micro-wires 56 in the second electrode gap 62 .
- Both the first gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 are in the second layer 50 (which is also the gap layer 80 ).
- the first micro-wires 24 of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 separated by first electrode gaps 60 are incorporated into the micro-wire structure of FIG. 3C to form a micro-wire electrode structure 5 .
- the first micro-wires 24 are shown with dashed lines corresponding to the first layer 20 (e.g. as in FIG. 2D ).
- the first gap micro-wires 26 , the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 separated by second electrode gaps 62 , and the second gap micro-wires 56 are shown with solid lines.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically connected to form an electrode with variable micro-wire density (as shown more clearly in FIG. 3C that has improved conductivity and performance.
- the second gap micro-wires 56 are electrically connected to first gap micro-wires 26 in the second electrode gap 62 providing variable-density dummy micro-wires that more readily shields electromagnetic radiation.
- FIG. 3E is a perspective of a combination of the layers shown in FIG. 3D .
- the second layer 50 also the gap layer 80
- the first gap micro-wires 26 in the second micro-wire electrodes 52 and the second electrode gap 62 shield the first micro-wire electrodes 22 in the first layer 20 separated by the first electrode gaps 60 .
- the micro-wire breaks 64 prevent electrical shorts between the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- signals sensed by the first micro-wire electrodes 22 have an improved signal-to-noise ratio.
- a separate dielectric layer 40 is provided to separate the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 . If the first layer 20 and second layer 50 are otherwise electrically isolated (for example by portions of the first or second layers 20 , 50 as discussed further below), the dielectric layer 40 is unnecessary.
- the first layer 20 is between the second layer 50 (which is also the gap layer 80 ) and the surface 12 of substrate 10 and the display 110 .
- An unpatterned conductive layer 30 is in electrical contact with the first micro-wires 24 ( FIG. 3D ) of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 separated by first electrode gaps 60 .
- a separate optional dielectric layer 40 is provided to separate the first micro-wire electrodes 22 from the second micro-wire electrodes 52 and the unpatterned conductive layer 30 from the second electrodes 52 separated by second electrode gaps 62 .
- the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 extend in directions orthogonal to those of FIG. 3E . In general, the positions of the first and second layers 20 , 50 and the orientations and positions of the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 can be interchanged.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is an electrically conductive layer with a relatively high resistance compared to the first micro-wires 24 and the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and is unpatterned within the touch-sensitive area 32 ( FIG. 1A , 2 C, 2 D) so that at least some electrical current can flow from one first micro-wire electrode 22 to another first micro-wire electrode 22 through the unpatterned conductive layer 30 .
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are not completely electrically isolated from each other.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 shields the second micro-wire electrodes 52 in the second layer 50 .
- signals sensed by the second micro-wire electrodes 52 have an improved signal-to-noise ratio.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is patterned in areas outside the touch-sensitive area 32 , for example around the periphery of a touch screen.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 and the second gap micro-wires 56 are located in the second layer 50 . In another embodiment, at least some of the second gap micro-wires 56 are located in a layer different from the second layer 50 .
- FIGS. 4A , 4 B, 4 C and 4 D are plan views of various layers of a micro-wire electrode structure 5 in various embodiments of the present invention. Combinations of the layers are shown in FIGS. 3E and 3F .
- FIG. 4A the elements of FIG. 3A are combined with the elements of FIG. 1C to form the micro-wire electrode structure 5 of an embodiment of the present invention.
- the first gap micro-wires 26 in the first electrode gaps 60 between the first micro-wire electrodes 22 ( FIG. 1A ) are illustrated with dashed lines and the second micro-wires 54 and the second gap micro-wires 56 in the second electrode gap 62 between the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are illustrated with solid lines.
- FIG. 4B illustrates the identical elements and structures illustrated in FIG. 4A .
- the only differences are that the first gap micro-wires 26 are now shown with solid lines representing the second layer 50 ( FIG. 3E ) as are the second micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the second gap micro-wires 56 in the first micro-wire electrodes 22 ( FIG. 1A ) are now shown as dashed lines representing the first layer 20 ( FIG. 3E ).
- the second gap micro-wires 56 shown as dashed lines no longer include micro-wire breaks 64 with the first micro-wires 24 ( FIG. 1A ) since, as shown in FIG.
- the dashed second gap micro-wires 56 are in a different layer from the second micro-wires 54 and the second gap micro-wires 56 in the first electrode gap 60 and therefore will maintain electrical isolation between the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the absence of the micro-wire breaks 64 improves both optical uniformity and resistance to electromagnetic radiation interference.
- FIG. 4C illustrates the structure of FIG. 4B with the addition of the first microwire electrodes 22 and the first micro-wires 24 .
- the first micro-wires 24 of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and the second gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 that are not in both the first and second electrode gaps 60 , 62 are shown with dashed lines that correspond to first micro-wire electrodes 22 in the first layer 20 ( FIGS. 3E and 3F ) and are separately shown in FIG. 4D .
- FIG. 4D shows the first micro-wire electrodes 22 with the first micro-wires 24 and the second gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 forming the first micro-wire electrodes 22 with variable micro-wire density.
- the second micro-wires 54 and the first gap micro-wires 26 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are shown with solid lines.
- the first and second gap micro-wires 26 , 56 in both the first and second electrode gaps 60 , 62 are also shown with solid lines.
- Solid-line micro-wires correspond to the second layer 50 ( FIGS. 3E and 3F ). Both the dielectric layer 40 ( FIGS. 3E and 3F ) and the unpatterned conductive layer 30 ( FIG. 3F ) are useful with the layers illustrated in FIG. C in the structures illustrated in either FIG. 3E or FIG. 3F .
- the micro-wire electrode structure 5 of FIG. 4C electrically connects the first gap micro-wires 26 that are in the area of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 to the second micro-wires 54 to form more conductive second micro-wire electrodes 52 (shown in FIG. 4B ).
- the second gap micro-wires 56 that are in the area of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are electrically connected to the first micro-wires 24 (as shown in FIG. 4D ).
- first gap micro-wires 26 and second gap micro-wires 56 that are in neither of the areas of the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 and are therefore in both the first and second electrode gaps 60 , 62 , shown as dummy-wire area 36 , are electrically connected and can serve as an electromagnetic interference shield for the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 .
- at least some of the dummy micro-wires of the first layer 20 (first gap micro-wires 26 ) serve as second micro-wire electrode 52 micro-wires.
- at least some of the dummy micro-wires of the second layer 50 (second gap micro-wires 56 ) serve as second micro-wire electrode 52 micro-wires.
- Those first gap micro-wires 26 and second gap micro-wires 56 that are located in both the first and second electrode gaps 60 , 62 are therefore dummy wires electrically isolated from both the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 .
- the first or second gap micro-wires 26 , 56 in the dummy-wire area 36 are located in the second layer 50 (as shown in FIGS. 4C , 3 E, and 3 F), but in another embodiment are in the first layer 20 .
- the first or second gap micro-wires 26 , 56 in the dummy-wire area 36 are located in the second layer 50 to avoid electrically shorting the unpatterned conductive layer 30 .
- the conductivity of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 is improved.
- those second gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 do not then serve as electromagnetic interference shields as do the second gap micro-wires in the dummy-wire area 36 .
- the embodiment of FIG. 4C compared to the embodiment of FIG. 3D represents a different tradeoff between electrode conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding.
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are the drive electrodes of a capacitive touch screen and the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are the sense electrodes of the capacitive touch screen.
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are the sense electrodes of a capacitive touch screen and the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are the drive electrodes of the capacitive touch screen.
- the present invention includes a capacitive touch screen having the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 and first or second gap micro-wires 26 , 56 , as described above.
- a method of making a micro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention includes providing the substrate 10 having the surface 12 in step 200 .
- a first layer 20 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 205 and a plurality of first micro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated by first electrode gaps 60 is located in the first layer 20 in step 210 .
- Each first micro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24 .
- a second layer 50 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 215 and a plurality of electrically isolated second micro-wire electrodes 52 is located in the second layer 50 in step 220 .
- the second layer 50 is at least partially different from the first layer 20 and each second micro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires 54 .
- a gap layer 80 different from the first layer 20 is provided in step 225 and a plurality of first gap micro-wires 26 is located in each first electrode gap in step 230 . At least some of the first gap micro-wires 26 are located in the gap layer 80 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are electrically isolated from the first micro-wires 24 .
- the second layer 50 and the gap layer 80 are the same layer and the step 215 of providing the second layer 50 is the same as the step 225 of providing the gap layer 80 .
- first gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 are located in the same second layer 50 (and gap layer 80 ).
- the step 220 of locating the second micro-wires 54 is the same as step 230 of locating the first gap micro-wires 26 .
- a dielectric layer 40 is provided between the first and second layer 20 , 50 .
- a protective overcoat layer 70 is provided over the second layer 50 to protect the micro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention and provide a touch surface 11 .
- FIGS. 6 and 8 another method of making a micro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention locates the first and second layers 20 , 50 in an opposite order with respect to the surface 12 .
- Such an embodiment includes providing the substrate 10 having the surface 12 in step 200 .
- a second layer 50 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 215 and a plurality of second micro-wire electrodes 52 is located in the second layer 50 in step 250 .
- Each second micro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires 54 and first gap micro-wires 26 .
- a first layer 20 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 205 and a plurality of electrically isolated first micro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated by first electrode gaps 60 is located in the first layer 20 in step 210 .
- the first layer 20 is at least partially different from the second layer 50 and each first micro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24 .
- the second layer 50 also serves as the gap layer 80 different from the first layer 20 and includes the first gap micro-wires 26 .
- the first gap micro-wires 26 are electrically isolated from the first micro-wires 24 .
- An optional protective overcoat layer 70 is provided over the second layer 50 to protect the micro-wire electrode structure 5 and provide a touch surface 11 .
- another method of making a micro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention includes providing the substrate 10 having the surface 12 in step 200 .
- a first layer 20 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 205 and a plurality of first micro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated by first electrode gaps 60 is located in the first layer 20 in step 210 .
- Each first micro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24 .
- An unpatterned conductive layer 30 is optionally provided in electrical contact with the first micro-wire electrodes 22 in step 260 .
- the first layer 20 is located between the unpatterned conductive layer 30 and the surface 12 (as shown in FIG. 5 ).
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is located between the first layer 20 and the surface 12 (not shown). In one embodiment, the unpatterned conductive layer 30 and first layer 20 are located between the second layer 50 and the surface 12 (as shown in FIG. 5 ). Alternatively, the second layer 50 is located between the surface 12 and both the unpatterned conductive layer 30 and the first layer 20 (not shown, but FIG. 6 illustrates the second layer 50 between the first layer 20 and the surface 12 ). In an embodiment, the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is used in the structure of FIG. 6 , for example by locating the unpatterned conductive layer 30 between the first layer 20 and the protective overcoat layer 70 .
- an optional dielectric layer 40 is optionally located in contact with the unpatterned conductive layer 30 in step 270 .
- a portion of the first or second layers 20 , 50 serves to electrically isolate micro-wires in the first layer 20 from micro-wires in the second layer 50 (e.g. as shown in FIG. 6 ).
- a second layer 50 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 215 and a plurality of second micro-wire electrodes 52 and first gap micro-wires 26 are located in the second layer 50 in a common step 250 .
- a method of making a micro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention includes providing the substrate 10 having the surface 12 in step 200 .
- a first layer 20 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 205 and a plurality of first micro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated by first electrode gaps 60 is located in the first layer 20 in step 280 .
- Each first micro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24 and at least some second gap micro-wires 56 located at the same time in the same step 280 .
- a second layer 50 is provided in relation to the surface 12 in step 215 and a plurality of second micro-wire electrodes 52 spatially separated by second electrode gaps 62 is located in the second layer 50 in step 250 .
- Each second micro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires 54 and at least some first gap micro-wires 26 located at the same time in the same step 250 .
- step 250 the second micro-wire electrodes 52 are formed in a single step in the second layer 50 so that the second micro-wires 54 and first gap micro-wires 26 are likewise formed in a single step and are formed from a common material.
- step 280 the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are formed in a single step in the first layer 20 so that the first micro-wires 24 and second gap micro-wires 56 are formed in a single step and are formed from a common material.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 in electrical contact with the first micro-wires 24 of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 is provided before the second layer 50 is located.
- the first layer 20 is located with respect to the surface 12 before the second layer 50 is provided.
- the first layer 20 is formed on the surface 12 and the second layer 50 is subsequently formed on the first layer 20 , or on layers such as the unpatterned conductive layer 30 or dielectric layer 40 formed on the first layer 20 , so that the first layer 20 is between the surface 12 and the second layer 50 .
- the second layer 50 is located with respect to the surface 12 before the first layer 20 is provided.
- the second layer 50 is formed on the surface 12 and the first layer 20 is subsequently formed on the second layer 50 , or on layers such as the unpatterned conductive layer 30 or dielectric layer 40 formed on the second layer 50 , so that the second layer 50 is between the surface 12 and the first layer 20 .
- a display substrate or a display cover having the surface 12 is provided so that the display cover or display substrate is the substrate 10 .
- the substrate 10 is affixed to the display 110 .
- the display 110 is a source of electromagnetic radiation.
- the micro-wire electrode structure 5 is peeled from the substrate 10 and applied to another substrate, such as the display substrate or display cover.
- the micro-wire electrode structure 5 is applied with either side adjacent to the other substrate, effectively enabling a reversal of layer order with respect to the other substrate.
- the end result is that the first and second micro-wires 24 , 25 are effectively located at the bottom of their respective first and second layers 20 , 50 .
- the structure of FIG. 6 is constructed with the unpatterned conductive layer 30 in place of the overcoat layer 70 ( FIG. 6 ) in electrical contact with the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and first micro-wires 24 in first layer 20 separated by first electrode gaps 60 .
- the micro-wire electrode structure 5 is peeled from the surface 12 of the substrate 10 ( FIG. 6 ) and applied to another substrate (shown as the display 110 ) with the unpatterned conductive layer 30 in contact with the other substrate and the second layer 50 (also the gap layer 80 ) with second micro-wire electrodes 52 having second micro-wires 54 and first gap micro-wires 26 on the opposite side of the first layer 20 .
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 are provided in a first micro-pattern that is similar to a second micro-pattern in which the second micro-wires 54 are provided but offset from the first micro-pattern in a direction parallel to the surface by a spatial phase difference of 180 degrees.
- various layers are formed from a curable material, such as a polymer or resin that is coated in a liquid form and then cured to form a solid, for example by exposure to ultra-violet radiation or heat.
- Curable materials can include cross-linking materials.
- micro-wires are provided in association with layers in various ways.
- micro-wires are formed on a layer surface, for example by printing on surface 12 and then coated with a curable layer that is then cured.
- the micro-wires are located at the bottom of the layer.
- conductive ink is printed, for example by inkjet, gravure, or flexographic printing, on top of a layer surface and then cured.
- micro-channels are imprinted in an uncured layer, the layer is cured, and then conductive ink supplied in the micro-channels and cured to form micro-wires.
- layers are laminated together.
- Laminated layers can include micro-wires in a pre-formed pattern.
- Coating methods such as spin coating, curtain coating, slot coating, extrusion coating, and hopper coating are known in the art as are printing methods such as ink jet, gravure, and flexographic printing. Lamination methods are well known. Conductive inks are also known as are method for imprinting and filling micro-channels.
- First micro-wires 24 can extend partially or all of the way through the first layer 20 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 and the first layer 20 can be the same common layer and first micro-wires 24 formed in, on, or under the common layer.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 and the first layer 20 can be coated together, for example with slot or extrusion coating.
- the first or second layers 20 , 50 can be imprinted with a stamp having protrusions as deep as or deeper than the depth of the respective layers.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 can be coated on the first layer 20 and in contact with the first micro-wires 24 .
- first or second layers 20 , 50 are cured to form micro-channels that are filled with conductive ink and to form first or second micro-wires 24 , 54 .
- the dielectric layer 40 , second layer 50 , or overcoat layer 70 are also formed using known coating methods.
- the electrical resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is greater than the resistance of each of the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 .
- the resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 was measured as the sheet resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 independently of the first or second micro-wires 24 , 54 .
- the resistance of the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 is the resistance measured along the length of the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 has a sheet resistance greater than 1 k ⁇ per square, greater than 10 k ⁇ /per square, greater than 100 k ⁇ per square, greater than 1 M ⁇ per square, greater than 10 M ⁇ per square, greater than 100 M ⁇ per square, greater than 1 G ⁇ per square, greater than 10 G ⁇ per square, or greater than 100 G ⁇ per square.
- This lower limit in resistivity of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is dependent in part on the frequency at which the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 are driven and on the touch-screen controller 140 current and voltage characteristics and on the conductivity of the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 .
- the resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 between any two first micro-wire electrodes 22 is at least five times greater, at least ten times greater, at least twenty times greater, at least fifty times greater, at least 100 times greater, at least 500 times greater, at least 1,000 times greater, at least 10,000, at least 100,000, or at least 1,000,000 times greater than the resistance of either of the any two first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- the resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 between the first micro-wire electrodes 22 separated by the first electrode gap 60 is at least ten times greater than the resistance of any of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- the touch-screen controller 140 for example an integrated circuit, for driving the first micro-wire electrodes 22 provides voltage and current to the first micro-wire electrodes 22 in a desired driver waveform having a period and frequency.
- the frequency of the driver waveform limits the rate at which the capacitance between the first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 can be measured. Because the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is electrically connected to the first micro-wire electrode 22 and has a limited conductivity, the rate at which the first micro-wire electrode 22 and the unpatterned conductive layer 30 can be charged is likewise limited.
- a micro-wire electrode such as the first micro-wire electrode 22 , has open areas between the micro-wires in the micro-wire electrode that, according to the present invention, are filled with conductive material in the unpatterned conductive layer 30 .
- the conductivity of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 will define, in combination with the open area defined by the geometry of the first micro-wires 24 in the first micro-wire electrode 22 , the rate at which the first micro-wire electrode 22 and the unpatterned conductive layer 30 can be charged or discharged. Therefore, the conductivity of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 and the open area define the time constant for charging or discharging the first micro-wire electrode 22 and the center of the open area in response to a voltage change as provided by the driver waveform.
- the sheet resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is sufficiently low that the time constant for charging the center of the open area between first micro-wires 24 in the first micro-wire electrode 22 is less than the period of a driver waveform.
- the time constant is substantially less than the period. By substantially less is meant at least 5% less, at least 10% less, at least 20% less, or at least 50% less.
- a touch-screen controller (for example touch-screen controller 140 of FIG. 11 ) energizes one of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 with a signal and senses one of the second micro-wire electrode 52 to detect the capacitance or changes in capacitance of the area overlapped by the one first micro-wire electrode 22 and one second micro-wire electrode 52 .
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 extending in a first direction parallel to the surface 12 are located orthogonally to the second micro-wire electrodes 52 extending in a second direction D 2 parallel to the surface and orthogonal to the first direction D 1 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 electrically connects the first micro-wire electrodes 22 , some current leaks from the driven first micro-wire electrode 22 to other first micro-wire electrodes 22 . However, because the resistance of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is high relative to the resistance of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 , capacitance is still detected in the overlapped electrode area. Moreover, the presence of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 inhibits electromagnetic interference from affecting the capacitance measure by the second micro-wire electrode 52 , especially if the electromagnetic interference originates from a side of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 opposite the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 assists in extending the electrical field produced by driving the first micro-wires 24 in the one first micro-wire electrode 22 into the spaces between the first micro-wires 24 , thereby providing a more uniform field between the first micro-wire electrode 22 and the second micro-wire electrode 52 .
- a more uniform field enables a more consistent and sensitive detection of capacitance changes due to the presence of perturbing elements such as a finger or a stylus at varying spatial locations.
- the presence of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 reduces the sensitivity of the touch-screen device to differences in alignment between the micro-wires of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the present invention provides a thinner touch-screen and display structure with fewer layers.
- the patterned first micro-wire electrodes 22 are formed in a layer, such as first layer 20 , unpatterned conductive layer 30 , or dielectric layer 40 , printed or transferred onto a layer, such as the substrate 10 , unpatterned conductive layer 30 , or dielectric layer 40 , or laminated on the substrate 10 or other layer on the substrate 10 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is laminated, coated, formed by evaporation, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition, or formed by atomic layer deposition on the first micro-wire electrodes 22 or first layer 20 or on the second layer 50 .
- the dielectric layer 40 is laminated, coated, formed by evaporation, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition, or formed by atomic layer deposition on the unpatterned conductive layer 30 .
- the patterned second micro-wire electrodes 52 are formed in a layer, such as second layer 50 or dielectric layer 40 , printed or transferred onto a layer, such as the substrate 10 or dielectric layer 40 , or laminated on the substrate 10 or other layer on the substrate 10 .
- unpatterned conductive layer 30 or dielectric layer 40 is deposited by sputtering or deposition and patterned outside the touch-sensitive area 32 either with masks or by photolithographic processes.
- conductive material is only deposited in the touch-sensitive area 32 .
- conductive material is deposited over the entire substrate 10 and removed as needed, for example in peripheral regions of the touch screen outside the touch-sensitive area 32 .
- atomic layer deposition methods are used to form a transparent conductive layer, for example a patterned aluminum zinc oxide layer using methods known in the art. Patterning outside the touch-sensitive area 32 is accomplished, for example, by masking the deposition, using patterned deposition inhibitors, or by photolithographic processes.
- the substrate 10 and the surface 12 are provided in step 200 , together with imprinting stamps.
- the first layer 20 is provided on the substrate 10 and surface 12 in step 205 , for example by coating.
- the patterned first micro-wire electrodes 22 are formed by imprinting the first layer 20 with an imprinting stamp, curing the first layer 20 to form the first micro-channels that are filled with conductive ink.
- the conductive ink is cured to form first micro-wires 24 and optional second gap micro-wires 56 located in the first micro-channels in step 210 or step 280 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is coated over the first micro-wires 24 in step 260 and the optional dielectric layer 40 is optionally coated over the unpatterned conductive layer 30 in step 270 .
- the patterned second micro-wire electrodes 52 are formed by coating and imprinting the second layer 50 with an imprinting stamp, curing the second layer 50 to form second micro-channels that are filled with conductive ink.
- the conductive ink is cured in step 250 to form the second micro-wires 54 and form the first gap micro-wires 26 .
- imprinting methods are used to imprint first micro-channels in the dielectric layer 40 or in the unpatterned conductive layer 30 .
- imprinting methods are used to imprint second micro-channels in the dielectric layer 40 .
- a conductive ink is printable, for example with a flexographic plate, on a substrate 10 or other layer and cured to form micro-wires.
- a pattern of micro-wires is transferrable to the substrate 10 or other layer from another substrate.
- micro-wires are formed by coating a flexographic substrate having a raised pattern corresponding to a desired micro-wire pattern with a conductive ink.
- the flexographic substrate is brought into contact with a layer surface to print the conductive ink onto the layer surface.
- the conductive ink is dried. Flexographic substrates are known in the flexographic printing arts.
- Transferred or printed micro-wires can be coated with curable material to form the first layer 20 or second layer 50 .
- the first layer 20 or second layer 50 can also be the dielectric layer 40 .
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is the first layer 20 .
- layer structures are laminated to another layer.
- the first layer 20 is made as a separate construction (for example as a layer of PET) including first micro-wires 24 and then laminated with an adhesive to substrate 10 .
- Second layer 50 is made and similarly laminated.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 or dielectric layer 40 can be laminated onto their respective layers, together or separately.
- a layer structure is formed on a temporary substrate with a temporary adhesive on a first side, the layer structure is permanently adhered to the substrate 10 or layer formed on the substrate 10 on a second side, and then the temporary substrate is removed from the first side, for example by peeling.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 is laminated, coated, or deposited on the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- atomic layer deposition is used to form the unpatterned conductive layer 30 .
- the dielectric layer 40 is laminated, coated, or deposited on the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- Dielectric layer 40 can be any of many known dielectric materials included polymers or oxides and are deposited or formed in any of a variety of known ways, including pattern-wise inkjet deposition, sputtering, or coating through a mask or blanket coated and patterned using known photo-lithographic methods.
- Such known photo-lithographic technology can include a photo-sensitive material that is optically patterned through a mask to cure the photo-sensitive material and removal of either the cured or the uncured material.
- unpatterned conductive layer 30 is transparent and includes one or more of a variety of transparent conductive materials, for example organic conductive polymers such as Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) PEDOT: poly(styrene sulfonate) PSS, Poly(4,4-dioctylcyclopentadithiophene), and Polypyrrole (PPy), long-chain aliphatic amines (optionally ethoxylated) and amides, quaternary ammonium salts (such as, behentrimonium chloride or cocamidopropyl betaine), esters of phosphoric acid, polyethylene glycol esters, or polyols, polyaniline nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene, metals such as silver nanowires, and inorganic conductive oxides such as ITO, SnO 2 , In 2 O 3 , ZnO, Aluminum-do
- Deposition methods for conductive materials can include solvent or aqueous coating, printing by for example inkjet, gravure, offset litho, flexographic, or electro-photographic, lamination, evaporation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, atomic-layer deposition (ALD) or spatial-atomic-layer deposition (SALD).
- CVD chemical vapor deposition
- ALD atomic-layer deposition
- SALD spatial-atomic-layer deposition
- unpatterned conductive layer 30 is an ionic conductor, a solid ionic conductor, an electrolyte, a solid electrolyte, or a conductive gel, as are known in the art.
- the unpatterned conductive layer 30 has a thickness less than or equal to 50 nm, 100 nm, 200 nm, 500 nm, or 1 micron. In other embodiments, the unpatterned conductive layer 30 has a thickness less than or equal to 10 microns, 100 microns, 200 microns, 500 microns, or 1 mm.
- the substrate 10 is any material on which a layer is formed.
- the substrate 10 is a rigid or a flexible substrate made of, for example, a glass, metal, plastic, or polymer material, is transparent, and can have opposing substantially parallel and extensive surfaces.
- the substrates 10 can include a dielectric material useful for capacitive touch screens and can have a wide variety of thicknesses, for example 10 microns, 50 microns, 100 microns, 1 mm, or more.
- substrates 10 are provided as a separate structure or are coated on another underlying substrate, for example by coating a polymer substrate layer on an underlying glass substrate.
- the substrate 10 is an element of other devices, for example the cover or substrate of a display or a substrate, cover, or dielectric layer of a touch screen.
- the substrate 10 of the present invention is large enough for a user to directly interact therewith, for example using an implement such as a stylus or using a finger or hand. Methods are known in the art for providing suitable surfaces on which to coat or otherwise form layers.
- the substrate 10 is substantially transparent, for example having a transparency of greater than 90%, 80% 70% or 50% in the visible range of electromagnetic radiation.
- Micro-wires and methods of the present invention are useful for making electrical conductors and buses for transparent micro-wire electrodes and electrical conductors in general, for example as used in electrical buses.
- a variety of micro-wire patterns are used and the present invention is not limited to any one pattern.
- Micro-wires can be spaced apart, form separate electrical conductors, or intersect to form a mesh electrical conductor on, in, or above the substrate 10 .
- Micro-channels can be identical or have different sizes, aspect ratios, or shapes.
- micro-wires can be identical or have different sizes, aspect ratios, or shapes.
- Micro-wires can be straight or curved.
- a micro-channel is a groove, trench, or channel formed on or in a layer extending from the surface of the layer and having a cross-sectional width for example less than 20 microns, 10 microns, 5 microns, 4 microns, 3 microns, 2 microns, 1 micron, or 0.5 microns, or less.
- the cross-sectional depth of a micro-channel is comparable to its width.
- Micro-channels can have a rectangular cross section. Other cross-sectional shapes, for example trapezoids, are known and are included in the present invention. The width or depth of a layer is measured in cross section. Micro-channels are not distinguished in the Figures from the micro-wires.
- Imprinted layers useful in the present invention can include a cured polymer material with cross-linking agents that are sensitive to heat or radiation, for example infra-red, visible light, or ultra-violet radiation.
- the polymer material is a curable material applied in a liquid form that hardens when the cross-linking agents are activated.
- a molding device such as an imprinting stamp having an inverse micro-channel structure is applied to liquid curable material and the cross-linking agents in the curable material are activated, the liquid curable material in the curable layer is hardened into a cured layer with imprinted micro-channels.
- the liquid curable materials can include a surfactant to assist in controlling coating. Materials, tools, and methods are known for embossing coated liquid curable materials to form cured layers.
- a cured layer is a layer of curable material that has been cured.
- a cured layer is formed of a curable material coated or otherwise deposited on a layer surface to form a curable layer and then cured to form the cured layer.
- the coated curable material is considered herein to be a curable layer before it is cured and cured layer after it is cured.
- a cured electrical conductor is an electrical conductor formed by locating a curable material in micro-channel and curing the curable material to form a micro-wire in a micro-channel.
- curing refers to changing the properties of a material by processing the material in some fashion, for example by heating, drying, irradiating the material, or exposing the material to a chemical, energetic particles, gases, or liquids.
- the curable layer is deposited as a single layer in a single step using coating methods known in the art, such as curtain coating.
- the curable layer is deposited as multiple sub-layers using multi-layer deposition methods known in the art, such as multi-layer slot coating, repeated curtain coatings, or multi-layer extrusion coating.
- the curable layer includes multiple sub-layers formed in different, separate steps, for example with a multi-layer extrusion, curtain coating, or slot coating machine as is known in the coating arts.
- Curable inks useful in the present invention are known and can include conductive inks having electrically conductive nano-particles, such as silver nano-particles.
- the electrically conductive nano-particles are metallic or have an electrically conductive shell.
- the electrically conductive nano-particles can be silver, can be a silver alloy, or can include silver.
- cured inks can include metal particles, for example nano-particles. The metal particles are sintered to form a metallic electrical conductor.
- the metal nano-particles are silver or a silver alloy or other metals, such as tin, tantalum, titanium, gold, copper, or aluminum, or alloys thereof.
- Cured inks can include light-absorbing materials such as carbon black, a dye, or a pigment.
- Curable inks provided in a liquid form are deposited or located in first or second micro-channels and cured, for example by heating or exposure to radiation such as infra-red radiation, visible light, or ultra-violet radiation.
- the curable ink hardens to form the cured ink that makes up first or second micro-wires 24 , 54 .
- a curable conductive ink with conductive nano-particles are located within first or second micro-channels and cured by heating or sintering to agglomerate or weld the nano-particles together, thereby forming an electrically conductive first or second micro-wire 24 , 54 .
- Materials, tools, and methods are known for coating liquid curable inks to form micro-wires.
- a curable ink can include conductive nano-particles in a liquid carrier (for example an aqueous solution including surfactants that reduce flocculation of metal particles, humectants, thickeners, adhesives or other active chemicals).
- a liquid carrier for example an aqueous solution including surfactants that reduce flocculation of metal particles, humectants, thickeners, adhesives or other active chemicals.
- the liquid carrier is located in micro-channels and heated or dried to remove liquid carrier or treated with hydrochloric acid, leaving a porous assemblage of conductive particles that are agglomerated or sintered to form a porous electrical conductor in a layer.
- curable inks are processed to change their material compositions, for example conductive particles in a liquid carrier are not electrically conductive but after processing form an assemblage that is electrically conductive.
- the conductive inks are cured, for example by heating.
- the curing process drives out the liquid carrier and sinters the metal particles to form a metallic electrical conductor.
- Conductive inks are known in the art and are commercially available. In any of these cases, conductive inks or other conducting materials are conductive after they are cured and any needed processing completed. Deposited materials are not necessarily electrically conductive before patterning or before curing.
- a conductive ink is a material that is electrically conductive after any final processing is completed and the conductive ink is not necessarily conductive at any other point in the micro-wire formation process.
- micro-channels or micro-wires have a width less than or equal to 10 microns, 5 microns, 4 microns, 3 microns, 2 microns, or 1 micron.
- each micro-wire is from 10 to 15 microns wide, from 5 to 10 microns wide, or from 5 microns to one micron wide.
- micro-wires can fill micro-channels; in other embodiments micro-wires do not fill micro-channels.
- the micro-wires are solid; in another embodiment, the micro-wires are porous.
- Micro-wires can be metal, for example silver, gold, aluminum, nickel, tungsten, titanium, tin, or copper or various metal alloys including, for example silver, gold, aluminum, nickel, tungsten, titanium, tin, or copper.
- Micro-wires can include a thin metal layer composed of highly conductive metals such as gold, silver, copper, or aluminum. Other conductive metals or materials are usable.
- micro-wires can include cured or sintered metal particles such as nickel, tungsten, silver, gold, titanium, or tin or alloys such as nickel, tungsten, silver, gold, titanium, or tin.
- Conductive inks are used to form micro-wires with pattern-wise deposition or pattern-wise formation followed by curing steps. Other materials or methods for forming micro-wires, such as curable ink powders including metallic nano-particles, are employed and are included in the present invention.
- Electrically conductive micro-wires of the present invention are operable by electrically connecting micro-wires through connection pads and electrical connectors to electrical circuits that provide electrical current to micro-wires and can control the electrical behavior of micro-wires. Electrically conductive micro-wires of the present invention are useful, for example in touch screens such as projected-capacitive touch screens that use transparent micro-wire electrodes and in displays. Electrically conductive micro-wires can be located in areas other than display areas, for example in the perimeter of the display area of a touch screen, where the display area is the area through which a user views a display.
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 including the second micro-wires 54 but excluding the first gap micro-wires 26 were prepared using a standard lithographic process. Microposit 1813 photoresist was spin-coated onto a 1000 ⁇ thermally deposited aluminum layer coated on a 2.5 inch by 2.5 inch square 4 mil PET support. The photoresist was exposed to UV light through a chrome-on-quartz mask, developed, rinsed and dried. The film was then etched in PAN etch leaving a positive image having 10 ⁇ m wide aluminum micro-wires forming connected open right-angle-diamond electrodes, 1600 ⁇ m on diagonal.
- the periodic width of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 was 6.42 mm separated by 400 micron micro-wire breaks 64 in the second micro-wires 54 at intersections between the second micro-wire electrodes 52 .
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 were terminated with conductive rectangular pads to enable simple resistance measurements end-to-end.
- the pads at one end of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 also had conductive bus lines leading to additional pads at the edge of the support (the dielectric layer 40 ) to enable conventional 1 mm pitch edge connection with electrical test fixtures.
- the photoresist was removed with acetone and methanol baths and dried with nitrogen.
- the second micro-wire electrode 52 resistance was measured to be on the order of 450 ⁇ from end-to-end and essentially infinite between nearest neighbor electrodes.
- the first micro-wire electrodes 22 including the first micro-wires 24 but excluding the second gap micro-wires 56 were prepared as were the second micro-wire electrodes 52 , on a separate 4 mil PET support (substrate 10 ), and with the final addition of a transparent unpatterned conductive layer 30 formed on the lithographically patterned first micro-wires 24 by spin coating a solution of PEDOT/PSS at 3000 rpm and drying on a hotplate for 2 minutes at 110° C. Sheet resistance of the dried PEDOT/PSS coating on a section of bare PET support using a four-point probe was 8 M ⁇ /square. First electrode resistance was measured to be on the order of 450 ⁇ from end-to-end with approximately 160 k ⁇ between nearest neighbor electrodes. Thus the ratio of shorting resistance to first electrode resistance in this inventive example was 356 to 1.
- a functional touch-screen was fabricated from the prepared second and first micro-wire electrodes 52 , 22 by first laminating a cover sheet of 4 mil PET (overcoat layer 70 ) on the exposed side of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 on dielectric layer 40 using optically clear adhesive, OCA (Adhesives Research, ARClear 8154 Optically Clear Unsupported Transfer Adhesive) to form a coversheet (overcoat layer 70 ) of the touch-screen example.
- the second micro-wire electrodes 52 were oriented 90 degrees with respect to the first micro-wire electrodes 22 and offset such that the intersections of the diamonds were directly above the center of the diamonds of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- the uncoated side of the dielectric layer 40 was laminated to the exposed side of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 using the same optically clear adhesive.
- the dielectric thus includes both the OCA and the 4 mil PET dielectric layer 40 .
- a control touch-screen representing an example of the prior art was prepared exactly as described above except the coating of PEDOT/PSS forming the unpatterned conductive layer 30 was eliminated in the comparative example.
- the measurement apparatus included two translation stages which were used to move a mechanical, artificial finger incrementally across the sample.
- the weight of the finger was used to provide a constant touch force and the tip of the artificial finger included a compliant, conductor loaded, polymer foam mounted on the end of a conductive rod.
- All but one first micro-wire electrode 22 were held at ground while a voltage waveform including a controlled burst of sine waves (either 100 kHz or 1 MHz) was applied to one of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 .
- All of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 were held at ground and one was connected to a charge sensitive pre-amplifier (operational amplifier with capacitor feedback) which held the second micro-wire electrodes 52 at ground and output a voltage proportional to the input charge.
- the output voltage from the sensing amplifier was sampled periodically at 20 MHz.
- Digital processing was used to synchronously (with respect to the driven waveform) rectify the sampled signal and compute an average (in phase) voltage.
- the sensed voltages are mapped as a function of the artificial finger location.
- the response of a single repetitive unit at a single location is the same as the response at any other location (except for boundaries).
- the voltage reading is converted to effective capacitance readings.
- the mutual no-touch capacitance for the inventive example was 1.8 times higher than the comparative example at either 100 kHz or 1 MHz. This increase illustrates the effective field-spreading characteristic of the unpatterned conductive layer 30 in the inventive example at practical measurement frequencies and is usable to reduce the relative power consumption of a touch-sensor controller resulting in improved system efficiency.
- the examples were scanned with a 10.4 mm diameter artificial finger in a matrix pattern centered at an intersection of the active second and first micro-wire electrodes 52 , 22 .
- the capacitance was equivalent to the no-touch condition, as expected. Centered on the intersection the capacitance was less than the no-touch condition and the relative difference between the near node touch and no-touch reading was taken as a measure of the touch sensitivity.
- Touch-Sensitivity ⁇ ( C touch ⁇ C no — touch )/ C no — touch
- the relative touch sensitivity was 42% for the inventive example and 50% for the comparative example.
- the touch signal in the inventive example was strong and differences between the inventive and comparative example small, demonstrating that the unpatterned conductive layer 30 has minimal effect on the touch sensitivity while increasing the capacitance.
- the observed difference in touch sensitivity can be due in part or entirely to imperfections of the alignment of driver and sensor electrodes (first and second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 ) in each example.
- a touch-screen structure of the present invention having a PEDOT/PSS unpatterned conductive layer 30 was constructed using the imprinting techniques described and, in a separate sample, an unpatterned conductive layer 30 of AZO on etched first micro-wires 24 was formed using atomic-layer deposition methods.
- the first or second micro-wire electrodes 22 , 52 can be formed in a variety of patterns. Electrodes can be rectangular and arranged in regular arrays. The first micro-wire electrodes 22 and the second micro-wire electrodes 52 can be arranged orthogonally to each other. Alternatively, electrodes can be arranged using polar coordinates, in circles, or in other curvilinear patterns. Electrodes can have uniform spacing or widths. Alternatively, electrodes can have non-uniform spacing and variable widths.
- the present invention is useful in a wide variety of electronic devices.
- Such devices can include, for example, photovoltaic devices, OLED displays and lighting, LCD displays, plasma displays, inorganic LED displays and lighting, electrophoretic displays, electrowetting displays, dimming mirrors, smart windows, transparent radio antennae, transparent heaters and other touch-screen devices such as capacitive touch screen devices.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Position Input By Displaying (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- Reference is made to commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. K001737US01RLO) filed concurrently herewith, entitled Making Micro-Wire Electrode Structure with Single-Layer Dummy Micro-Wires, by Cok the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.
- Reference is made to commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/032,213, filed Sep. 20, 2013 entitled Micro-Wire Touch Screen with Unpatterned Conductive Layer, by Burberry et al.; and to commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/167,134, filed Jan. 29, 2014 entitled Micro-Wire Electrodes with Equi-Potential Dummy Micro-Wires, by Cok; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein.
- The present invention relates to touch screens having micro-wire electrodes and an unpatterned transparent conductor layer.
- Transparent conductors are widely used in the flat-panel display industry to form electrodes that are used to electrically switch light-emitting or light-transmitting properties of a display pixel, for example in liquid crystal or organic light-emitting diode displays. Transparent conductive electrodes are also used in touch screens in conjunction with displays. In such applications, the transparency and conductivity of the transparent electrodes are important attributes. In general, it is desired that transparent conductors have a high transparency (for example, greater than 90% in the visible spectrum) and a low electrical resistivity (for example, less than 10 ohms/square).
- Transparent conductive metal oxides are well known in the display and touch-screen industries and have a number of disadvantages, including limited transparency and conductivity and a tendency to crack under mechanical or environmental stress. Typical prior-art conductive electrode materials include conductive metal oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or very thin layers of metal, for example, silver or aluminum or metal alloys including silver or aluminum. These materials are coated, for example, by sputtering or vapor deposition, and are patterned on display or touch-screen substrates, such as glass. For example, the use of transparent conductive oxides to form arrays of touch senses on one side of a substrate is taught in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0099805 entitled “Method of Fabricating Capacitive Touch-Screen Panel”.
- Transparent conductive metal oxides are increasingly expensive and relatively costly to deposit and pattern. Moreover, the substrate materials are limited by the electrode material deposition process (such as sputtering) and the current-carrying capacity of such electrodes is limited, thereby limiting the amount of power that is supplied to the pixel elements and the size of touch screens that employ such electrodes. Although thicker layers of metal oxides or metals increase conductivity, they also reduce the transparency of the electrodes.
- Apparently transparent electrodes including very fine patterns of conductive elements, such as metal wires or conductive traces are known. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0007011 teaches a capacitive touch screen with a mesh electrode, as do U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0026664, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0328248, and U.S. Pat. No. 8,179,381, which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,179,381, fine conductor patterns are made by one of several processes, including laser-cured masking, inkjet printing, gravure printing, micro-replication, and micro-contact printing. In particular, micro-replication is used to form micro-conductors formed in micro-replicated channels. The apparently transparent micro-wire electrodes include micro-wires between 0.5μ and 4μ wide and a transparency of between approximately 86% and 96%.
- Conductive micro-wires are formed in micro-channels embossed in a substrate, for example as taught in CN102063951, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. As discussed in CN102063951, a pattern of micro-channels are formed in a substrate using an embossing technique. Embossing methods are generally known in the prior art and typically include coating a curable liquid, such as a polymer, onto a rigid substrate. A pattern of micro-channels is embossed (impressed or imprinted) onto the polymer layer by a master having an inverted pattern of structures formed on its surface. The polymer is then cured. A conductive ink is coated over the substrate and into the micro-channels, the excess conductive ink between micro-channels is removed, for example, by mechanical buffing, patterned chemical electrolysis, or patterned chemical corrosion. The conductive ink in the micro-channels is cured, for example, by heating. In an alternative method described in CN102063951, a photosensitive layer, chemical plating, or sputtering is used to pattern conductors, for example, using patterned radiation exposure or physical masks. Unwanted material (such as photosensitive resist) is removed, followed by electro-deposition of metallic ions in a bath.
- Mutual capacitive touch screen devices are constructed by locating drive electrodes near sense electrodes to form an electric field. In one prior-art design, the drive and sense electrodes are located on a common substrate with bridge electrical connections to prevent electrical shorts between the drive and sense electrodes where the drive electrodes cross over or under the sense electrodes. In another prior-art design, the drive and sense electrodes are located on either side of a dielectric layer. Referring to
FIG. 11 , a prior-art display and touch-screen apparatus 100 includes adisplay 110 with acorresponding touch screen 120 mounted with thedisplay 110 so that information displayed on thedisplay 110 can be viewed through thetouch screen 120. Graphic elements displayed on thedisplay 110 are selected, indicated, or manipulated by touching a corresponding location on thetouch screen 120. Thetouch screen 120 includes a firsttransparent substrate 122 with transparentfirst electrodes 130 extending in the x dimension on the firsttransparent substrate 122 and a secondtransparent substrate 126 with transparentsecond electrodes 132 extending in the y dimension facing the x-dimension transparentfirst electrodes 130 on the secondtransparent substrate 126. Adielectric layer 124 is located between the first and secondtransparent substrates second electrodes Touch pad areas 128 are formed by the overlap of the transparentfirst electrodes 130 with the transparentsecond electrodes 132. When a voltage is applied across the transparent first andsecond electrodes - A
display controller 142 connected throughelectrical bus connections 136 controls thedisplay 110 in cooperation with a touch-screen controller 140. The touch-screen controller 140 is connected throughelectrical bus connections 136 andwires 134 and controls thetouch screen 120. The touch-screen controller 140 detects touches on thetouch screen 120 by sequentially electrically energizing and testing the apparently transparent x-dimension first and y-dimensionsecond electrodes - Referring to
FIG. 12 as well asFIG. 11 , in another prior-art embodiment, the rectangular transparentfirst electrodes 130 separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 and transparentsecond electrodes 132 separated bysecond electrode gaps 62 include micro-wires 150 and are arranged orthogonally in a micro-pattern 156 on transparent first andsecond substrates dielectric layer 124, formingtouch screen 120 which, in combination with thedisplay 110 forms thetouch screen 120 and display andtouch screen apparatus 100. - As is known in the prior art, electromagnetic interference from the
display 110 can interfere with the operation of the touch-screen 120. This problem is mitigated by providing a ground plane between thetouch screen 120 and display 110. However, such a structure undesirably increases the thickness and decreases the transparency of the display andtouch screen apparatus 100. - Alternatively, it has been recognized that shielding is achieved by controlling the relative width of the drive and sense electrodes. For example U.S. Pat. No. 7,920,129 discloses a multi-touch capacitive touch-sense panel created using a substrate with column and row traces formed on either side of the substrate. To shield the column (sense) traces from the effects of capacitive coupling from a modulated Vcom layer in an adjacent liquid crystal display (LCD) or any source of capacitive coupling, the row traces were widened to shield the column traces, and the row (drive) traces were placed closer to the LCD. In particular, the rows are widened so that there is spacing of about 30 microns between adjacent row traces. In this manner, the row traces can serve the dual functions of driving the touch sense panel, and also the function of shielding the more sensitive column (sense) traces from the effects of capacitive coupling.
- Shielding has also been achieved by using metal micro-wire sense electrodes in combination with transparent conductive drive electrodes. For example U.S. Pat. No. 8,279,187 discloses a multi-layer touch panel having an upper electrode layer having a plurality of composite electrodes including a plurality of metal or metal alloy micro-wire conductors with a cross-sectional dimension of less than 10 microns, a lower electrode layer having a plurality of (patterned) indium oxide-based electrodes, the upper electrodes and lower electrodes defining an electrode matrix having nodes where the upper and lower electrodes cross over. The upper electrode layer is disposed between the first layer and the lower electrode layer and a dielectric layer is disposed between the upper electrode layer and the lower electrode layer. As noted above, it is difficult, expensive, or impossible to meet conductivity requirements for larger touch-screens using patterned indium tin oxide electrodes.
- In general, touch screens are intended to be invisible to a user. It is important, therefore, that any conductive structures in a touch screen be visually imperceptible. In prior-art designs, apparently transparent conductive electrodes made of transparent conductive oxides reduce electrode visibility. Nonetheless, such electrodes do absorb some light, having a transparency for example of 88% in the visible range and a slightly yellow appearance. Thus, electrode structures in a touch screen having transparent conductive oxides are visible to perceptive users. In particular, regular
first electrode gaps 60 between transparentfirst electrodes 130 andsecond electrode gaps 62 between transparentsecond electrodes 132 are visible as areas with increased transparency. - Referring to
FIG. 13 , to reduce the visibility of gaps between electrodes in a touch screen; dummy conductive structures are provided in thefirst electrode gap 60. These dummy structures typically include conductive materials and structures similar to those found in the electrodes but are not electrically connected to the electrodes. Thus, the dummy structures provide optical uniformity in the touch screen by providing structures with an appearance similar to the electrodes but without any electrical function. Micro-wire breaks 64 or other conductive element breaks between the dummy structures and the electrodes to maintain electrical isolation between the dummy structures and the electrodes are typically so small (for example, a few microns) that the micro-wire breaks 64 are imperceptible to viewers. As shown inFIG. 13 , a plurality of rectangular, spatially separated transparentfirst electrodes 130 connected towires 134 in anelectrical bus connection 136 are arranged in an array on a firsttransparent substrate 122. Each transparentfirst electrode 130 includes a plurality of electrically connected micro-wires 150.Dummy micro-wires 152 located infirst electrode gaps 60 between the transparentfirst electrodes 130 are arranged in a similar way so that the dummy micro-wires 152 located in thefirst electrode gaps 60 between the transparentfirst electrodes 130 appear similar to the micro-wires in transparentfirst electrodes 130. - U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0248953 entitled “Touch Screen Panel” describes conductive dummy patterns between adjacent sensing cells in a touch screen panel. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0289771 entitled “Method for Producing Conductive Sheet and Method for Producing Touch Panel” describes unconnected dummy patterns formed near each side of a sensing region. U.S. Pat. No. 7,663,607 entitled “Multi-Point Touch Screen” describes dummy features disposed between driving lines and sensing lines to optically improve the visual appearance of the touch screen. The dummy features provide the touch screen with a more uniform appearance and are electrically isolated and positioned in the gaps between each of the lines. Although they can be patterned separately, the dummy features are typically patterned along with the lines and formed with the same conductive materials. The dummy features still produce some gaps but the gaps are much smaller than the gaps found between the lines.
- There remains a need for further improvements in the structure of a display and touch-screen apparatus that improves sensitivity and efficiency, reduces susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, and improves optical uniformity.
- In accordance with the present invention, a micro-wire electrode structure comprises:
- a substrate having a surface;
- a plurality of first micro-wire electrodes spatially separated by first electrode gaps located in a first layer in relation to the surface, each first micro-wire electrode including a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires;
- a plurality of electrically isolated second micro-wire electrodes located in a second layer in relation to the surface, the second layer at least partially different from the first layer and each second micro-wire electrode including a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires; and a plurality of first gap micro-wires located in each first electrode gap, at least some of the first gap micro-wires located in a gap layer different from the first layer, the first gap micro-wires electrically isolated from the first micro-wires.
- The present invention provides a micro-wire electrode structure useful in capacitive touch screens having improved sensitivity, efficiency, consistency, optical uniformity, and reduced susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. By locating dummy micro-wires from one layer in another layer, electrode electrical performance is improved and optical uniformity maintained or improved.
- The presence of an unpatterned conductive layer electrically connected to first electrodes and first micro-wires provides electromagnetic shielding to the first and second electrodes, thereby reducing electromagnetic interference. The integrated unpatterned conductive layer therefore reduces device thickness by reducing the number of insulating layers. This has the additional benefit of reducing conductive layer thickness and improving transparency in comparison to a conventional shielding system.
- The presence of the unpatterned conductive layer also increases capacitance between the first and second electrodes, thereby reducing the voltage needed to sense changes in the capacitive field, for example due to touches, thereby improving efficiency.
- The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when taken in conjunction with the following description and drawings wherein identical reference numerals have been used to designate identical features that are common to the figures, and wherein:
-
FIGS. 1A , 1B, and 1C are plan views of different layers of a micro-wire electrode structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 1D is a perspective combining the layers ofFIGS. 1A , 1B, and 1C; -
FIGS. 2A , 2B and 2C are plan views of the same layer of a micro-wire electrode structure with different micro-wire markings according to another embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2C is a plan view of a layer of a micro-wire electrode structure according to another embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2D is a perspective combining the layers ofFIGS. 2A , 2B, and 2C; -
FIG. 3A is a plan view of a layer of a micro-wire electrode structure according to yet another embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 3B and 3C are plan views of the same layers of a micro-wire electrode structure with different micro-wire markings according to yet another embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 3D is a plan view of a layer of a micro-wire electrode structure according to yet another embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 3E and 3F are perspectives combining the layers ofFIGS. 3A , 3B, 3C and 3D, in different embodiments of the present invention; -
FIGS. 4A and 4B are plan views of the same layer of a micro-wire electrode structure with different micro-wire markings according to a further embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 4C and 4D are plan views of different layers of a micro-wire electrode structure according to a further embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross sectional views of different embodiments of the present invention; -
FIGS. 7-10 are flow diagrams illustrating various methods of various embodiments of the present invention; -
FIG. 11 is a prior-art perspective of a capacitive touch screen; -
FIG. 12 is a plan view of two prior-art overlapping micro-wire electrodes useful in understanding the present invention; -
FIG. 13 is a schematic illustrating prior-art micro-wire electrodes and dummy micro-wires useful in understanding the present invention; and -
FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view of yet another embodiment of the present invention. - The Figures are not drawn to scale since the variation in size of various elements in the Figures is too great to permit depiction to scale.
- The present invention provides a micro-wire electrode structure useful in forming capacitive touch-screen devices and in combination with a display. The micro-wire electrode structure improves electrode conductivity, optical uniformity, reduces the effects of electromagnetic interference, and improves touch-response sensitivity, efficiency, and consistency over the extent of the touch screen. The micro-wire electrode structure of the present invention is also useful in other applications requiring overlapping micro-wire electrodes and is not limited to applications of touch-screen devices. According to embodiments of the present invention, dummy wires provided for optical uniformity found in layers of conventional prior-art designs are instead used in different layers to improve electrode conductivity or resistance to electromagnetic interference.
-
FIGS. 1A , 1B, and 1C are plan views of layers forming a multi-layer structure. The layers are shown in combination in the perspective of FIG. 1D. Referring toFIG. 1D , amicro-wire electrode structure 5 includes asubstrate 10 with first and second opposing sides, one of which provides asurface 12. In various embodiments, thesubstrate 10 is an element of adisplay 110, for example a cover or substrate of thedisplay 110, or is affixed to thedisplay 110. In an embodiment, thedisplay 110 is a source of electromagnetic radiation located on or adjacent to the second opposing side. - As shown in
FIGS. 1A and 1D , a plurality of electrically isolated firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 is located in afirst layer 20 in relation to thesurface 12. Each firstmicro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24. Thefirst electrode gaps 60 electrically isolate each of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 from the other firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and each firstmicro-wire electrode 22 is connected to one of thewires 134 for controlling the firstmicro-wire electrode 22. - Referring to
FIGS. 1B and 1D , a plurality of electrically isolated secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 is located in asecond layer 50 in relation to thesurface 12. Thesecond layer 50 is at least partially different from thefirst layer 20. Each secondmicro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connectedsecond micro-wires 54. Micro-wire breaks 64 electrically isolate each of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 from the other secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 and each secondmicro-wire electrode 52 is connected to one of thewires 134 for controlling the secondmicro-wire electrode 52. - Referring to
FIGS. 1C and 1D , a plurality offirst gap micro-wires 26 is located in eachfirst electrode gap 60 in agap layer 80 different from the first layer 20 (FIG. 1A ). The first micro-wires 24 (FIG. 1A ) and thefirst gap micro-wires 26 have the same pattern (ignoring the micro-wire breaks 64). Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are electrically isolated from the first micro-wires 24 in firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. In an embodiment, thefirst gap micro-wires 26 includemicro-wire breaks 64, as described further below. In an embodiment, thefirst gap micro-wires 26 have the same micro-wire pattern over the touch-sensitive area 32 (FIGS. 1A-1C ) as the first micro-wires 24 so as to provide a uniform optical appearance. In this embodiment, thefirst gap micro-wires 26 serve as dummy micro-wires to visually fill in thefirst electrode gaps 60 between the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and provide optical uniformity in thefirst electrode gaps 60. - As shown in
FIGS. 1A , 1B, and 1C, the first and secondmicro-wire electrodes sensitive area 32. The overlapping portions of the first and secondmicro-wire electrodes - In an embodiment, the first and second micro-wires 24, 54 are formed in a regular micro-wire pattern that extends over the touch-
sensitive area 32. In useful designs, thefirst electrode gaps 60 are readily visible to the unaided human visual system where the micro-wire breaks 64 are not when viewed at useful distances. For example, thefirst electrode gaps 60 are 10-1,000 microns wide and the micro-wire breaks 64 are 0.1-10 microns wide. - As shown in
FIG. 1D with respect to the present invention,first gap micro-wires 26 that are described as located within thefirst electrode gap 60 are located within thefirst electrode gap 60 when viewed from a direction P perpendicular to thesurface 12 so that thefirst gap micro-wires 26 appear between thefirst electrode gaps 60. Thefirst electrode gap 60 extends through multiple layers in the direction P. As noted, thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are in aseparate gap layer 80 that is different from thefirst layer 20 in thefirst electrode gap 60 but are not in thefirst layer 20. Thus, as shown inFIG. 1D , thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are located in thefirst electrode gaps 60 because, as viewed from the direction P perpendicular to thesurface 12, thefirst gap micro-wires 26 appear between the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. In further embodiments, the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 extend in a first direction D1 parallel to thesurface 12, the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 extend in a second direction D2 parallel to thesurface 12 and the first direction D1 is orthogonal to the second direction D2. - Referring to
FIGS. 2A , 2B, 2C and 2D, in another embodiment of the present invention, thegap layer 80 is thesecond layer 50, thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are located within the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52, and at least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are electrically connected to thesecond micro-wires 54.FIGS. 2A , 2B and 2C, are plan views of layers forming a multi-layer structure. The layers are shown in combination in the perspective ofFIG. 2D . - As shown in
FIG. 2D , thesecond layer 50 and thegap layer 80 are the same layer in relation to thesurface 12 of thesubstrate 10 anddisplay 110. Thesecond layer 50 includes both the second micro-wires 54 and at least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. The secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically isolated from each other by the micro-wire breaks 64 in thefirst gap micro-wires 26, as illustrated inFIGS. 1A , 2A, 2B and 2C. The firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 with the first micro-wires 24 separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 are formed in afirst layer 20 different from thesecond layer 50 andgap layer 80. The embodiment ofFIGS. 2A , 2B, 2C and 2D provides an electrical advantage in that the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 have improved electrical conductivity because thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are located within the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 and are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54, as shown inFIGS. 2A and 2B -
FIG. 2A illustrates both the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 and thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thesecond layer 50 so that thesecond layer 50 is also thegap layer 80. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are in thefirst electrode gap 60. Thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are shown with solid lines and thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are shown with dashed lines. Because thesecond layer 50 includes both the second micro-wires 54 and at least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26, the second micro-wires 54 and at least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are electrically connected to form secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 having a variable micro-wire density along the length of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. Note that the micro-wire breaks 64 illustrated inFIG. 1C in this embodiment electrically isolate each of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 from the other secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. - The elements and structures illustrated in
FIG. 2B are identical to those ofFIG. 2A . The only difference in the Figures is that thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are shown inFIG. 2B with solid lines as are thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 separated by the micro-wire breaks 64 in thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thefirst electrode gap 60. Both thefirst gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 are in the second layer 50 (which is also the gap layer 80). - Referring next to the plan view of
FIG. 2C , the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and the first micro-wires 24 separated by thefirst electrode gaps 60 are added to the illustration ofFIG. 2B to illustrate themicro-wire electrode structure 5. Thefirst micro-wires 24 of the first micro-wire electrodes 22 (illustrated inFIG. 1A ) are shown with dashed lines to distinguish them from the second micro-wires 54 and thefirst gap micro-wires 26 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. The firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are separated by thefirst electrode gaps 60 and the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are separated by the micro-wire breaks 64 in thefirst gap micro-wires 26. Thus, inFIG. 2C , the micro-wires illustrated with solid lines are those of thesecond layer 50 and the micro-wires illustrated with the dashed lines are those of the first layer 20 (see alsoFIG. 2D ). The first and secondmicro-wire electrodes sensitive area 32 to form capacitors useful in a capacitive touch screen. - As shown in
FIG. 2C , the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are separated by the micro-wire breaks 64 in thefirst gap micro-wires 26 but otherwise have the same micro-wire pattern as the first micro-wires 24 and first gap micro-wires 26 (and the first micro-wire electrode 22) except that the second micro-wires 54 are spatially offset in one dimension in a direction parallel to the surface and are 180 degrees spatially out of phase with respect to thefirst micro-wires 24. - The embodiment of
FIGS. 2A , 2B, 2C and 2D provides an electrical advantage in that the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 have improved electrical conductivity because thefirst gap micro-wires 26 of thefirst electrode gap 60 are connected to thesecond micro-wires 54 of the second micro-wire electrodes 52 (FIG. 2B ). Furthermore, the presence of additionalfirst gap micro-wires 26 in the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 reduces the interference of electromagnetic radiation arising from sources below the second layer 50 (e.g. the display 110) on the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. Thus, if the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are used as sense electrodes and the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are used as drive electrodes in a capacitive touch screen, the sense electrode (first micro-wire electrodes 22) have reduced noise and interference and improved sensitivity. -
FIGS. 1A , 1C, 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D are plan views of layers forming a multi-layer structure according to embodiments of the present invention. The layers are shown in different combinations in the perspectives ofFIGS. 3E and 3F . As noted above, the second gap micro-wires 56 (FIGS. 3A-3D ) are located in eachsecond electrode gap 62 when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the surface 12 (FIG. 1D ) and are not necessarily in a common layer with the second micro-wires 54 and secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. - Referring next to
FIG. 3A , in another embodiment the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 having the second micro-wires 54 are spatially separated bysecond electrode gaps 62. A plurality ofsecond gap micro-wires 56 are located in eachsecond electrode gap 62 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 are electrically isolated from the second micro-wires 54 by the micro-wire breaks 64. Thesecond gap micro-wires 56 have the same micro-pattern as the second micro-wires 54, ignoring the micro-wire breaks 64. - Referring next to
FIG. 3B , thefirst gap micro-wires 26 illustrated inFIG. 1C are located in thesecond layer 50 ofFIG. 3A , have a common micro-pattern with the second micro-wires 54 andsecond gap micro-wires 56, and at least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are electrically connected to thesecond micro-wires 54. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 that are within the area defined by the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically connected to thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrode 52. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 that are not within the area defined by the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are not electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 or the secondmicro-wire electrode 52. Instead, they are located in thesecond electrode gap 62 and, in an embodiment, are electrically connected to thesecond gap micro-wires 56. - In
FIG. 3B , the second micro-wires 54 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 are shown with solid lines. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are shown with dashed lines. Because thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thesecond electrodes 52 are electrically connected to the second micro-wires 54 they form a single electrode with variable micro-wire density. Likewise, because thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thesecond electrode gap 62 are electrically connected to thesecond gap micro-wires 56, they form a single electrically conductive structure with variable micro-wire density. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thefirst electrode gap 60 and thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically isolated from thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thefirst electrode gap 60 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in thesecond electrode gaps 62 bymicro-wire breaks 64. -
FIG. 3C illustrates the identical elements and structures illustrated inFIG. 3B . The only difference is that thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thefirst electrode gaps 60 are now shown with solid lines as are thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in thesecond electrode gap 62. Both thefirst gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 are in the second layer 50 (which is also the gap layer 80). - Referring next to
FIG. 3D , thefirst micro-wires 24 of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 separated by first electrode gaps 60 (FIG. 1A ) are incorporated into the micro-wire structure ofFIG. 3C to form amicro-wire electrode structure 5. In this illustration of themicro-wire electrode structure 5, the first micro-wires 24 are shown with dashed lines corresponding to the first layer 20 (e.g. as inFIG. 2D ). Thefirst gap micro-wires 26, thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 separated bysecond electrode gaps 62, and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 are shown with solid lines. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 and thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are electrically connected to form an electrode with variable micro-wire density (as shown more clearly inFIG. 3C that has improved conductivity and performance. Thesecond gap micro-wires 56 are electrically connected tofirst gap micro-wires 26 in thesecond electrode gap 62 providing variable-density dummy micro-wires that more readily shields electromagnetic radiation. -
FIG. 3E is a perspective of a combination of the layers shown inFIG. 3D . In the embodiment ofFIG. 3E , the second layer 50 (also the gap layer 80) is between thefirst layer 20 and thesurface 12 ofsubstrate 10 anddisplay 110. If thedisplay 110 creates electromagnetic interference, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first gap micro-wires 26 (FIG. 3D ) in the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 and thesecond electrode gap 62 shield the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 in thefirst layer 20 separated by thefirst electrode gaps 60. The micro-wire breaks 64 prevent electrical shorts between the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. Thus, signals sensed by the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 have an improved signal-to-noise ratio. Aseparate dielectric layer 40 is provided to separate the first and secondmicro-wire electrodes first layer 20 andsecond layer 50 are otherwise electrically isolated (for example by portions of the first orsecond layers dielectric layer 40 is unnecessary. - In the embodiment illustrated in the perspective of
FIG. 3F , thefirst layer 20 is between the second layer 50 (which is also the gap layer 80) and thesurface 12 ofsubstrate 10 and thedisplay 110. An unpatternedconductive layer 30 is in electrical contact with the first micro-wires 24 (FIG. 3D ) of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 separated byfirst electrode gaps 60. A separateoptional dielectric layer 40 is provided to separate the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 from the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 and the unpatternedconductive layer 30 from thesecond electrodes 52 separated bysecond electrode gaps 62. The first and secondmicro-wire electrodes FIG. 3E . In general, the positions of the first andsecond layers micro-wire electrodes - The unpatterned
conductive layer 30 is an electrically conductive layer with a relatively high resistance compared to the first micro-wires 24 and the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and is unpatterned within the touch-sensitive area 32 (FIG. 1A , 2C, 2D) so that at least some electrical current can flow from one firstmicro-wire electrode 22 to another firstmicro-wire electrode 22 through the unpatternedconductive layer 30. Thus, the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are not completely electrically isolated from each other. If thedisplay 110 creates electromagnetic interference, according to an embodiment of the present invention the unpatternedconductive layer 30 shields the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 in thesecond layer 50. Thus, signals sensed by the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 have an improved signal-to-noise ratio. In embodiments, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is patterned in areas outside the touch-sensitive area 32, for example around the periphery of a touch screen. - In the embodiment illustrated in
FIGS. 3A-3F , thefirst gap micro-wires 26 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 are located in thesecond layer 50. In another embodiment, at least some of thesecond gap micro-wires 56 are located in a layer different from thesecond layer 50. -
FIGS. 4A , 4B, 4C and 4D are plan views of various layers of amicro-wire electrode structure 5 in various embodiments of the present invention. Combinations of the layers are shown inFIGS. 3E and 3F . - Referring first to
FIG. 4A , the elements ofFIG. 3A are combined with the elements ofFIG. 1C to form themicro-wire electrode structure 5 of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 4A , thefirst gap micro-wires 26 in thefirst electrode gaps 60 between the first micro-wire electrodes 22 (FIG. 1A ) are illustrated with dashed lines and the second micro-wires 54 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in thesecond electrode gap 62 between the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are illustrated with solid lines. -
FIG. 4B illustrates the identical elements and structures illustrated inFIG. 4A . The only differences are that thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are now shown with solid lines representing the second layer 50 (FIG. 3E ) as are thesecond micro-wires 54 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. Thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in the first micro-wire electrodes 22 (FIG. 1A ) are now shown as dashed lines representing the first layer 20 (FIG. 3E ). Thesecond gap micro-wires 56 shown as dashed lines no longer includemicro-wire breaks 64 with the first micro-wires 24 (FIG. 1A ) since, as shown inFIG. 4C , the dashedsecond gap micro-wires 56 are in a different layer from the second micro-wires 54 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in thefirst electrode gap 60 and therefore will maintain electrical isolation between the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. The absence of the micro-wire breaks 64 improves both optical uniformity and resistance to electromagnetic radiation interference. -
FIG. 4C illustrates the structure ofFIG. 4B with the addition of thefirst microwire electrodes 22 and thefirst micro-wires 24. In this Figure, thefirst micro-wires 24 of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 that are not in both the first andsecond electrode gaps micro-wire electrodes 22 in the first layer 20 (FIGS. 3E and 3F ) and are separately shown inFIG. 4D .FIG. 4D shows the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 with the first micro-wires 24 and thesecond gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 forming the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 with variable micro-wire density. - As shown in
FIG. 4C , the second micro-wires 54 and thefirst gap micro-wires 26 of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are shown with solid lines. The first andsecond gap micro-wires second electrode gaps FIGS. 3E and 3F ). Both the dielectric layer 40 (FIGS. 3E and 3F ) and the unpatterned conductive layer 30 (FIG. 3F ) are useful with the layers illustrated in FIG. C in the structures illustrated in eitherFIG. 3E orFIG. 3F . - The
micro-wire electrode structure 5 ofFIG. 4C electrically connects thefirst gap micro-wires 26 that are in the area of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 to the second micro-wires 54 to form more conductive second micro-wire electrodes 52 (shown inFIG. 4B ). Similarly, thesecond gap micro-wires 56 that are in the area of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are electrically connected to the first micro-wires 24 (as shown inFIG. 4D ). Thosefirst gap micro-wires 26 andsecond gap micro-wires 56 that are in neither of the areas of the first or secondmicro-wire electrodes second electrode gaps wire area 36, are electrically connected and can serve as an electromagnetic interference shield for the first or secondmicro-wire electrodes micro-wire electrode 52 micro-wires. Likewise, at least some of the dummy micro-wires of the second layer 50 (second gap micro-wires 56) serve as secondmicro-wire electrode 52 micro-wires. Thosefirst gap micro-wires 26 andsecond gap micro-wires 56 that are located in both the first andsecond electrode gaps micro-wire electrodes - In one embodiment, the first or
second gap micro-wires wire area 36 are located in the second layer 50 (as shown inFIGS. 4C , 3E, and 3F), but in another embodiment are in thefirst layer 20. In the case in which an unpatternedconductive layer 30 is provided to electrically connect the first micro-wires 24, the first orsecond gap micro-wires wire area 36 are located in thesecond layer 50 to avoid electrically shorting the unpatternedconductive layer 30. - By locating the
second gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 in a different layer from the other second gap micro-wires 56 (those in the dummy-wire area 36), the conductivity of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 is improved. However, thosesecond gap micro-wires 56 in the area of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 do not then serve as electromagnetic interference shields as do the second gap micro-wires in the dummy-wire area 36. Thus, the embodiment ofFIG. 4C compared to the embodiment ofFIG. 3D represents a different tradeoff between electrode conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding. - In an embodiment of the present invention, the first
micro-wire electrodes 22 are the drive electrodes of a capacitive touch screen and the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are the sense electrodes of the capacitive touch screen. Alternatively, the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are the sense electrodes of a capacitive touch screen and the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are the drive electrodes of the capacitive touch screen. The present invention includes a capacitive touch screen having the first and secondmicro-wire electrodes second gap micro-wires - Referring to
FIGS. 5 and 7 , a method of making amicro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention includes providing thesubstrate 10 having thesurface 12 instep 200. Afirst layer 20 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 205 and a plurality of firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 is located in thefirst layer 20 instep 210. Each firstmicro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24. Asecond layer 50 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 215 and a plurality of electrically isolated secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 is located in thesecond layer 50 instep 220. Thesecond layer 50 is at least partially different from thefirst layer 20 and each secondmicro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connectedsecond micro-wires 54. Agap layer 80 different from thefirst layer 20 is provided instep 225 and a plurality offirst gap micro-wires 26 is located in each first electrode gap instep 230. At least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are located in thegap layer 80. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are electrically isolated from thefirst micro-wires 24. As shown inFIG. 5 , in an embodiment thesecond layer 50 and thegap layer 80 are the same layer and thestep 215 of providing thesecond layer 50 is the same as thestep 225 of providing thegap layer 80. Moreover, at least some of thefirst gap micro-wires 26 and the second micro-wires 54 are located in the same second layer 50 (and gap layer 80). In another embodiment, thestep 220 of locating the second micro-wires 54 is the same asstep 230 of locating thefirst gap micro-wires 26. - In additional embodiments of the present invention, a
dielectric layer 40 is provided between the first andsecond layer protective overcoat layer 70 is provided over thesecond layer 50 to protect themicro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention and provide atouch surface 11. - Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 8 , another method of making amicro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention locates the first andsecond layers surface 12. Such an embodiment includes providing thesubstrate 10 having thesurface 12 instep 200. Asecond layer 50 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 215 and a plurality of secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 is located in thesecond layer 50 instep 250. Each secondmicro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires 54 andfirst gap micro-wires 26. Afirst layer 20 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 205 and a plurality of electrically isolated firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 is located in thefirst layer 20 instep 210. Thefirst layer 20 is at least partially different from thesecond layer 50 and each firstmicro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24. Thesecond layer 50 also serves as thegap layer 80 different from thefirst layer 20 and includes thefirst gap micro-wires 26. Thefirst gap micro-wires 26 are electrically isolated from thefirst micro-wires 24. An optionalprotective overcoat layer 70 is provided over thesecond layer 50 to protect themicro-wire electrode structure 5 and provide atouch surface 11. - Referring to
FIG. 5 again and toFIG. 9 , another method of making amicro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention includes providing thesubstrate 10 having thesurface 12 instep 200. Afirst layer 20 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 205 and a plurality of firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 is located in thefirst layer 20 instep 210. Each firstmicro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24. An unpatternedconductive layer 30 is optionally provided in electrical contact with the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 instep 260. In one embodiment, thefirst layer 20 is located between the unpatternedconductive layer 30 and the surface 12 (as shown inFIG. 5 ). In another embodiment, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is located between thefirst layer 20 and the surface 12 (not shown). In one embodiment, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 andfirst layer 20 are located between thesecond layer 50 and the surface 12 (as shown inFIG. 5 ). Alternatively, thesecond layer 50 is located between thesurface 12 and both the unpatternedconductive layer 30 and the first layer 20 (not shown, butFIG. 6 illustrates thesecond layer 50 between thefirst layer 20 and the surface 12). In an embodiment, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is used in the structure ofFIG. 6 , for example by locating the unpatternedconductive layer 30 between thefirst layer 20 and theprotective overcoat layer 70. - In yet another embodiment, an
optional dielectric layer 40 is optionally located in contact with the unpatternedconductive layer 30 instep 270. In other embodiments, a portion of the first orsecond layers first layer 20 from micro-wires in the second layer 50 (e.g. as shown inFIG. 6 ). Asecond layer 50 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 215 and a plurality of secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 andfirst gap micro-wires 26 are located in thesecond layer 50 in acommon step 250. - Referring to
FIG. 4C ,FIG. 5 , and toFIG. 10 , in an alternative embodiment a method of making amicro-wire electrode structure 5 of the present invention includes providing thesubstrate 10 having thesurface 12 instep 200. Afirst layer 20 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 205 and a plurality of firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 spatially separated byfirst electrode gaps 60 is located in thefirst layer 20 instep 280. Each firstmicro-wire electrode 22 includes a plurality of electrically connected first micro-wires 24 and at least somesecond gap micro-wires 56 located at the same time in thesame step 280. Asecond layer 50 is provided in relation to thesurface 12 instep 215 and a plurality of secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 spatially separated bysecond electrode gaps 62 is located in thesecond layer 50 instep 250. Each secondmicro-wire electrode 52 includes a plurality of electrically connected second micro-wires 54 and at least somefirst gap micro-wires 26 located at the same time in thesame step 250. - In useful embodiments of the present invention, in
step 250 the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are formed in a single step in thesecond layer 50 so that the second micro-wires 54 andfirst gap micro-wires 26 are likewise formed in a single step and are formed from a common material. Likewise, instep 280 the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are formed in a single step in thefirst layer 20 so that the first micro-wires 24 andsecond gap micro-wires 56 are formed in a single step and are formed from a common material. - In an embodiment, the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 in electrical contact with thefirst micro-wires 24 of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 is provided before thesecond layer 50 is located. In other embodiments of the present invention, thefirst layer 20 is located with respect to thesurface 12 before thesecond layer 50 is provided. For example, thefirst layer 20 is formed on thesurface 12 and thesecond layer 50 is subsequently formed on thefirst layer 20, or on layers such as the unpatternedconductive layer 30 ordielectric layer 40 formed on thefirst layer 20, so that thefirst layer 20 is between thesurface 12 and thesecond layer 50. Alternatively, thesecond layer 50 is located with respect to thesurface 12 before thefirst layer 20 is provided. For example, thesecond layer 50 is formed on thesurface 12 and thefirst layer 20 is subsequently formed on thesecond layer 50, or on layers such as the unpatternedconductive layer 30 ordielectric layer 40 formed on thesecond layer 50, so that thesecond layer 50 is between thesurface 12 and thefirst layer 20. - In a further embodiment of a method of the present invention, a display substrate or a display cover having the
surface 12 is provided so that the display cover or display substrate is thesubstrate 10. Alternatively, thesubstrate 10 is affixed to thedisplay 110. In an embodiment, thedisplay 110 is a source of electromagnetic radiation. - In yet another embodiment, the
micro-wire electrode structure 5 is peeled from thesubstrate 10 and applied to another substrate, such as the display substrate or display cover. Themicro-wire electrode structure 5 is applied with either side adjacent to the other substrate, effectively enabling a reversal of layer order with respect to the other substrate. In such a structure, the end result is that the first and second micro-wires 24, 25 are effectively located at the bottom of their respective first andsecond layers - Referring to
FIG. 14 , the structure ofFIG. 6 is constructed with the unpatternedconductive layer 30 in place of the overcoat layer 70 (FIG. 6 ) in electrical contact with the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and first micro-wires 24 infirst layer 20 separated byfirst electrode gaps 60. Themicro-wire electrode structure 5 is peeled from thesurface 12 of the substrate 10 (FIG. 6 ) and applied to another substrate (shown as the display 110) with the unpatternedconductive layer 30 in contact with the other substrate and the second layer 50 (also the gap layer 80) with secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 having second micro-wires 54 andfirst gap micro-wires 26 on the opposite side of thefirst layer 20. - In a useful embodiment that provides optical uniformity, the first
micro-wire electrodes 22 are provided in a first micro-pattern that is similar to a second micro-pattern in which the second micro-wires 54 are provided but offset from the first micro-pattern in a direction parallel to the surface by a spatial phase difference of 180 degrees. - In various embodiments of the present invention, various layers are formed from a curable material, such as a polymer or resin that is coated in a liquid form and then cured to form a solid, for example by exposure to ultra-violet radiation or heat. Curable materials can include cross-linking materials.
- According to various embodiments of the present invention, micro-wires are provided in association with layers in various ways. In one embodiment, micro-wires are formed on a layer surface, for example by printing on
surface 12 and then coated with a curable layer that is then cured. In such an embodiment, the micro-wires are located at the bottom of the layer. In another embodiment, conductive ink is printed, for example by inkjet, gravure, or flexographic printing, on top of a layer surface and then cured. Alternatively, micro-channels are imprinted in an uncured layer, the layer is cured, and then conductive ink supplied in the micro-channels and cured to form micro-wires. In yet another method, layers are laminated together. Laminated layers can include micro-wires in a pre-formed pattern. Coating methods such as spin coating, curtain coating, slot coating, extrusion coating, and hopper coating are known in the art as are printing methods such as ink jet, gravure, and flexographic printing. Lamination methods are well known. Conductive inks are also known as are method for imprinting and filling micro-channels. -
First micro-wires 24 can extend partially or all of the way through thefirst layer 20. The unpatternedconductive layer 30 and thefirst layer 20 can be the same common layer and first micro-wires 24 formed in, on, or under the common layer. The unpatternedconductive layer 30 and thefirst layer 20 can be coated together, for example with slot or extrusion coating. The first orsecond layers conductive layer 30 can be coated on thefirst layer 20 and in contact with thefirst micro-wires 24. In an embodiment, the first orsecond layers dielectric layer 40,second layer 50, orovercoat layer 70 are also formed using known coating methods. - In embodiments of the present invention, the electrical resistance of the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 is greater than the resistance of each of the first or secondmicro-wire electrodes conductive layer 30 was measured as the sheet resistance of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 independently of the first or second micro-wires 24, 54. The resistance of the first or secondmicro-wire electrodes micro-wire electrodes - In an embodiment, the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 has a sheet resistance greater than 1 kΩ per square, greater than 10 kΩ/per square, greater than 100 kΩ per square, greater than 1 MΩ per square, greater than 10 MΩ per square, greater than 100 MΩ per square, greater than 1 GΩ per square, greater than 10 GΩ per square, or greater than 100 GΩ per square. This lower limit in resistivity of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is dependent in part on the frequency at which the first or secondmicro-wire electrodes screen controller 140 current and voltage characteristics and on the conductivity of the first or secondmicro-wire electrodes - In another embodiment, the resistance of the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 between any two firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 is at least five times greater, at least ten times greater, at least twenty times greater, at least fifty times greater, at least 100 times greater, at least 500 times greater, at least 1,000 times greater, at least 10,000, at least 100,000, or at least 1,000,000 times greater than the resistance of either of the any two firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. In one embodiment, the resistance of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 between the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 separated by thefirst electrode gap 60 is at least ten times greater than the resistance of any of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. - In a further embodiment of the present invention, the touch-
screen controller 140, for example an integrated circuit, for driving the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 provides voltage and current to the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 in a desired driver waveform having a period and frequency. The frequency of the driver waveform limits the rate at which the capacitance between the first and secondmicro-wire electrodes conductive layer 30 is electrically connected to the firstmicro-wire electrode 22 and has a limited conductivity, the rate at which the firstmicro-wire electrode 22 and the unpatternedconductive layer 30 can be charged is likewise limited. A micro-wire electrode, such as the firstmicro-wire electrode 22, has open areas between the micro-wires in the micro-wire electrode that, according to the present invention, are filled with conductive material in the unpatternedconductive layer 30. Thus, the conductivity of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 will define, in combination with the open area defined by the geometry of the first micro-wires 24 in the firstmicro-wire electrode 22, the rate at which the firstmicro-wire electrode 22 and the unpatternedconductive layer 30 can be charged or discharged. Therefore, the conductivity of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 and the open area define the time constant for charging or discharging the firstmicro-wire electrode 22 and the center of the open area in response to a voltage change as provided by the driver waveform. Therefore, according to the further embodiment of the present invention, the sheet resistance of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is sufficiently low that the time constant for charging the center of the open area between first micro-wires 24 in the firstmicro-wire electrode 22 is less than the period of a driver waveform. In another embodiment, the time constant is substantially less than the period. By substantially less is meant at least 5% less, at least 10% less, at least 20% less, or at least 50% less. - In operation, a touch-screen controller (for example touch-
screen controller 140 ofFIG. 11 ) energizes one of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 with a signal and senses one of the secondmicro-wire electrode 52 to detect the capacitance or changes in capacitance of the area overlapped by the one firstmicro-wire electrode 22 and one secondmicro-wire electrode 52. For such an application, the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 extending in a first direction parallel to thesurface 12 are located orthogonally to the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 extending in a second direction D2 parallel to the surface and orthogonal to the first direction D1. - Since the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 electrically connects the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22, some current leaks from the driven firstmicro-wire electrode 22 to other firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. However, because the resistance of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is high relative to the resistance of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22, capacitance is still detected in the overlapped electrode area. Moreover, the presence of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 inhibits electromagnetic interference from affecting the capacitance measure by the secondmicro-wire electrode 52, especially if the electromagnetic interference originates from a side of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 opposite the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. Furthermore, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 assists in extending the electrical field produced by driving the first micro-wires 24 in the one firstmicro-wire electrode 22 into the spaces between the first micro-wires 24, thereby providing a more uniform field between the firstmicro-wire electrode 22 and the secondmicro-wire electrode 52. A more uniform field enables a more consistent and sensitive detection of capacitance changes due to the presence of perturbing elements such as a finger or a stylus at varying spatial locations. Furthermore, the presence of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 reduces the sensitivity of the touch-screen device to differences in alignment between the micro-wires of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. - In comparison to other prior-art solutions using a separate ground plane beneath driver or sensor electrodes to reduce the effect of electro-magnetic radiation, for example from a display located beneath the touch screen, the present invention provides a thinner touch-screen and display structure with fewer layers.
- A variety of techniques are usable to construct a touch screen device of the present invention. In various embodiments, the patterned first
micro-wire electrodes 22 are formed in a layer, such asfirst layer 20, unpatternedconductive layer 30, ordielectric layer 40, printed or transferred onto a layer, such as thesubstrate 10, unpatternedconductive layer 30, ordielectric layer 40, or laminated on thesubstrate 10 or other layer on thesubstrate 10. In other embodiments, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is laminated, coated, formed by evaporation, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition, or formed by atomic layer deposition on the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 orfirst layer 20 or on thesecond layer 50. Thedielectric layer 40 is laminated, coated, formed by evaporation, sputtering, or chemical vapor deposition, or formed by atomic layer deposition on the unpatternedconductive layer 30. The patterned secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are formed in a layer, such assecond layer 50 ordielectric layer 40, printed or transferred onto a layer, such as thesubstrate 10 ordielectric layer 40, or laminated on thesubstrate 10 or other layer on thesubstrate 10. - In an embodiment, unpatterned
conductive layer 30 ordielectric layer 40 is deposited by sputtering or deposition and patterned outside the touch-sensitive area 32 either with masks or by photolithographic processes. In an embodiment, conductive material is only deposited in the touch-sensitive area 32. Alternatively, conductive material is deposited over theentire substrate 10 and removed as needed, for example in peripheral regions of the touch screen outside the touch-sensitive area 32. In another embodiment, atomic layer deposition methods are used to form a transparent conductive layer, for example a patterned aluminum zinc oxide layer using methods known in the art. Patterning outside the touch-sensitive area 32 is accomplished, for example, by masking the deposition, using patterned deposition inhibitors, or by photolithographic processes. - In an embodiment, the
substrate 10 and thesurface 12 are provided instep 200, together with imprinting stamps. Thefirst layer 20 is provided on thesubstrate 10 andsurface 12 instep 205, for example by coating. The patterned firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 are formed by imprinting thefirst layer 20 with an imprinting stamp, curing thefirst layer 20 to form the first micro-channels that are filled with conductive ink. The conductive ink is cured to form first micro-wires 24 and optionalsecond gap micro-wires 56 located in the first micro-channels instep 210 orstep 280. The unpatternedconductive layer 30 is coated over the first micro-wires 24 instep 260 and theoptional dielectric layer 40 is optionally coated over the unpatternedconductive layer 30 instep 270. The patterned secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 are formed by coating and imprinting thesecond layer 50 with an imprinting stamp, curing thesecond layer 50 to form second micro-channels that are filled with conductive ink. The conductive ink is cured instep 250 to form the second micro-wires 54 and form thefirst gap micro-wires 26. - In other embodiments, imprinting methods are used to imprint first micro-channels in the
dielectric layer 40 or in the unpatternedconductive layer 30. Similarly, in other embodiments imprinting methods are used to imprint second micro-channels in thedielectric layer 40. - Printing methods are usable in other embodiments of the present invention. A conductive ink is printable, for example with a flexographic plate, on a
substrate 10 or other layer and cured to form micro-wires. Alternatively, a pattern of micro-wires is transferrable to thesubstrate 10 or other layer from another substrate. - In an alternative embodiment, micro-wires are formed by coating a flexographic substrate having a raised pattern corresponding to a desired micro-wire pattern with a conductive ink. The flexographic substrate is brought into contact with a layer surface to print the conductive ink onto the layer surface. In an optional step, the conductive ink is dried. Flexographic substrates are known in the flexographic printing arts.
- Transferred or printed micro-wires can be coated with curable material to form the
first layer 20 orsecond layer 50. Thefirst layer 20 orsecond layer 50 can also be thedielectric layer 40. In an embodiment, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 is thefirst layer 20. - In yet another embodiment, layer structures are laminated to another layer. For example, the
first layer 20 is made as a separate construction (for example as a layer of PET) including first micro-wires 24 and then laminated with an adhesive tosubstrate 10.Second layer 50 is made and similarly laminated. The unpatternedconductive layer 30 ordielectric layer 40 can be laminated onto their respective layers, together or separately. In another embodiment, a layer structure is formed on a temporary substrate with a temporary adhesive on a first side, the layer structure is permanently adhered to thesubstrate 10 or layer formed on thesubstrate 10 on a second side, and then the temporary substrate is removed from the first side, for example by peeling. - In various embodiments, the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 is laminated, coated, or deposited on the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. In an embodiment, atomic layer deposition is used to form the unpatternedconductive layer 30. In other embodiments, thedielectric layer 40 is laminated, coated, or deposited on the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. -
Dielectric layer 40 can be any of many known dielectric materials included polymers or oxides and are deposited or formed in any of a variety of known ways, including pattern-wise inkjet deposition, sputtering, or coating through a mask or blanket coated and patterned using known photo-lithographic methods. Such known photo-lithographic technology can include a photo-sensitive material that is optically patterned through a mask to cure the photo-sensitive material and removal of either the cured or the uncured material. - In an embodiment, unpatterned
conductive layer 30 is transparent and includes one or more of a variety of transparent conductive materials, for example organic conductive polymers such as Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) PEDOT: poly(styrene sulfonate) PSS, Poly(4,4-dioctylcyclopentadithiophene), and Polypyrrole (PPy), long-chain aliphatic amines (optionally ethoxylated) and amides, quaternary ammonium salts (such as, behentrimonium chloride or cocamidopropyl betaine), esters of phosphoric acid, polyethylene glycol esters, or polyols, polyaniline nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene, metals such as silver nanowires, and inorganic conductive oxides such as ITO, SnO2, In2O3, ZnO, Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), CdO, Ga2O3, V2O5. Deposition methods for conductive materials can include solvent or aqueous coating, printing by for example inkjet, gravure, offset litho, flexographic, or electro-photographic, lamination, evaporation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, atomic-layer deposition (ALD) or spatial-atomic-layer deposition (SALD). - In another embodiment, unpatterned
conductive layer 30 is an ionic conductor, a solid ionic conductor, an electrolyte, a solid electrolyte, or a conductive gel, as are known in the art. - In an embodiment, the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 has a thickness less than or equal to 50 nm, 100 nm, 200 nm, 500 nm, or 1 micron. In other embodiments, the unpatternedconductive layer 30 has a thickness less than or equal to 10 microns, 100 microns, 200 microns, 500 microns, or 1 mm. - According to various embodiments of the present invention, the
substrate 10 is any material on which a layer is formed. Thesubstrate 10 is a rigid or a flexible substrate made of, for example, a glass, metal, plastic, or polymer material, is transparent, and can have opposing substantially parallel and extensive surfaces. Thesubstrates 10 can include a dielectric material useful for capacitive touch screens and can have a wide variety of thicknesses, for example 10 microns, 50 microns, 100 microns, 1 mm, or more. In various embodiments of the present invention,substrates 10 are provided as a separate structure or are coated on another underlying substrate, for example by coating a polymer substrate layer on an underlying glass substrate. - In various embodiments the
substrate 10 is an element of other devices, for example the cover or substrate of a display or a substrate, cover, or dielectric layer of a touch screen. In an embodiment, thesubstrate 10 of the present invention is large enough for a user to directly interact therewith, for example using an implement such as a stylus or using a finger or hand. Methods are known in the art for providing suitable surfaces on which to coat or otherwise form layers. In a useful embodiment, thesubstrate 10 is substantially transparent, for example having a transparency of greater than 90%, 80% 70% or 50% in the visible range of electromagnetic radiation. - Electrically conductive micro-wires and methods of the present invention are useful for making electrical conductors and buses for transparent micro-wire electrodes and electrical conductors in general, for example as used in electrical buses. A variety of micro-wire patterns are used and the present invention is not limited to any one pattern. Micro-wires can be spaced apart, form separate electrical conductors, or intersect to form a mesh electrical conductor on, in, or above the
substrate 10. Micro-channels can be identical or have different sizes, aspect ratios, or shapes. Similarly, micro-wires can be identical or have different sizes, aspect ratios, or shapes. Micro-wires can be straight or curved. - A micro-channel is a groove, trench, or channel formed on or in a layer extending from the surface of the layer and having a cross-sectional width for example less than 20 microns, 10 microns, 5 microns, 4 microns, 3 microns, 2 microns, 1 micron, or 0.5 microns, or less. In an embodiment, the cross-sectional depth of a micro-channel is comparable to its width. Micro-channels can have a rectangular cross section. Other cross-sectional shapes, for example trapezoids, are known and are included in the present invention. The width or depth of a layer is measured in cross section. Micro-channels are not distinguished in the Figures from the micro-wires.
- Imprinted layers useful in the present invention can include a cured polymer material with cross-linking agents that are sensitive to heat or radiation, for example infra-red, visible light, or ultra-violet radiation. The polymer material is a curable material applied in a liquid form that hardens when the cross-linking agents are activated. When a molding device, such as an imprinting stamp having an inverse micro-channel structure is applied to liquid curable material and the cross-linking agents in the curable material are activated, the liquid curable material in the curable layer is hardened into a cured layer with imprinted micro-channels. The liquid curable materials can include a surfactant to assist in controlling coating. Materials, tools, and methods are known for embossing coated liquid curable materials to form cured layers.
- A cured layer is a layer of curable material that has been cured. For example, a cured layer is formed of a curable material coated or otherwise deposited on a layer surface to form a curable layer and then cured to form the cured layer. The coated curable material is considered herein to be a curable layer before it is cured and cured layer after it is cured. Similarly, a cured electrical conductor is an electrical conductor formed by locating a curable material in micro-channel and curing the curable material to form a micro-wire in a micro-channel. As used herein, curing refers to changing the properties of a material by processing the material in some fashion, for example by heating, drying, irradiating the material, or exposing the material to a chemical, energetic particles, gases, or liquids.
- The curable layer is deposited as a single layer in a single step using coating methods known in the art, such as curtain coating. In an alternative embodiment, the curable layer is deposited as multiple sub-layers using multi-layer deposition methods known in the art, such as multi-layer slot coating, repeated curtain coatings, or multi-layer extrusion coating. In yet another embodiment, the curable layer includes multiple sub-layers formed in different, separate steps, for example with a multi-layer extrusion, curtain coating, or slot coating machine as is known in the coating arts.
- Curable inks useful in the present invention are known and can include conductive inks having electrically conductive nano-particles, such as silver nano-particles. In an embodiment, the electrically conductive nano-particles are metallic or have an electrically conductive shell. The electrically conductive nano-particles can be silver, can be a silver alloy, or can include silver. In various embodiments, cured inks can include metal particles, for example nano-particles. The metal particles are sintered to form a metallic electrical conductor. The metal nano-particles are silver or a silver alloy or other metals, such as tin, tantalum, titanium, gold, copper, or aluminum, or alloys thereof. Cured inks can include light-absorbing materials such as carbon black, a dye, or a pigment.
- Curable inks provided in a liquid form are deposited or located in first or second micro-channels and cured, for example by heating or exposure to radiation such as infra-red radiation, visible light, or ultra-violet radiation. The curable ink hardens to form the cured ink that makes up first or second micro-wires 24, 54. For example, a curable conductive ink with conductive nano-particles are located within first or second micro-channels and cured by heating or sintering to agglomerate or weld the nano-particles together, thereby forming an electrically conductive first or second micro-wire 24, 54. Materials, tools, and methods are known for coating liquid curable inks to form micro-wires.
- In an embodiment, a curable ink can include conductive nano-particles in a liquid carrier (for example an aqueous solution including surfactants that reduce flocculation of metal particles, humectants, thickeners, adhesives or other active chemicals). The liquid carrier is located in micro-channels and heated or dried to remove liquid carrier or treated with hydrochloric acid, leaving a porous assemblage of conductive particles that are agglomerated or sintered to form a porous electrical conductor in a layer. Thus, in an embodiment, curable inks are processed to change their material compositions, for example conductive particles in a liquid carrier are not electrically conductive but after processing form an assemblage that is electrically conductive.
- Once deposited, the conductive inks are cured, for example by heating. The curing process drives out the liquid carrier and sinters the metal particles to form a metallic electrical conductor. Conductive inks are known in the art and are commercially available. In any of these cases, conductive inks or other conducting materials are conductive after they are cured and any needed processing completed. Deposited materials are not necessarily electrically conductive before patterning or before curing. As used herein, a conductive ink is a material that is electrically conductive after any final processing is completed and the conductive ink is not necessarily conductive at any other point in the micro-wire formation process.
- In various embodiments of the present invention, micro-channels or micro-wires have a width less than or equal to 10 microns, 5 microns, 4 microns, 3 microns, 2 microns, or 1 micron. In an example and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, each micro-wire is from 10 to 15 microns wide, from 5 to 10 microns wide, or from 5 microns to one micron wide. In some embodiments, micro-wires can fill micro-channels; in other embodiments micro-wires do not fill micro-channels. In an embodiment, the micro-wires are solid; in another embodiment, the micro-wires are porous.
- Micro-wires can be metal, for example silver, gold, aluminum, nickel, tungsten, titanium, tin, or copper or various metal alloys including, for example silver, gold, aluminum, nickel, tungsten, titanium, tin, or copper. Micro-wires can include a thin metal layer composed of highly conductive metals such as gold, silver, copper, or aluminum. Other conductive metals or materials are usable. Alternatively, micro-wires can include cured or sintered metal particles such as nickel, tungsten, silver, gold, titanium, or tin or alloys such as nickel, tungsten, silver, gold, titanium, or tin. Conductive inks are used to form micro-wires with pattern-wise deposition or pattern-wise formation followed by curing steps. Other materials or methods for forming micro-wires, such as curable ink powders including metallic nano-particles, are employed and are included in the present invention.
- Electrically conductive micro-wires of the present invention are operable by electrically connecting micro-wires through connection pads and electrical connectors to electrical circuits that provide electrical current to micro-wires and can control the electrical behavior of micro-wires. Electrically conductive micro-wires of the present invention are useful, for example in touch screens such as projected-capacitive touch screens that use transparent micro-wire electrodes and in displays. Electrically conductive micro-wires can be located in areas other than display areas, for example in the perimeter of the display area of a touch screen, where the display area is the area through which a user views a display.
- The second
micro-wire electrodes 52 including the second micro-wires 54 but excluding thefirst gap micro-wires 26 were prepared using a standard lithographic process. Microposit 1813 photoresist was spin-coated onto a 1000 Å thermally deposited aluminum layer coated on a 2.5 inch by 2.5 inch square 4 mil PET support. The photoresist was exposed to UV light through a chrome-on-quartz mask, developed, rinsed and dried. The film was then etched in PAN etch leaving a positive image having 10 μm wide aluminum micro-wires forming connected open right-angle-diamond electrodes, 1600 μm on diagonal. The periodic width of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 was 6.42 mm separated by 400 micron micro-wire breaks 64 in the second micro-wires 54 at intersections between the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52. The secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 were terminated with conductive rectangular pads to enable simple resistance measurements end-to-end. The pads at one end of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 also had conductive bus lines leading to additional pads at the edge of the support (the dielectric layer 40) to enable conventional 1 mm pitch edge connection with electrical test fixtures. The photoresist was removed with acetone and methanol baths and dried with nitrogen. The secondmicro-wire electrode 52 resistance was measured to be on the order of 450Ω from end-to-end and essentially infinite between nearest neighbor electrodes. - The first
micro-wire electrodes 22 including the first micro-wires 24 but excluding thesecond gap micro-wires 56 were prepared as were the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52, on a separate 4 mil PET support (substrate 10), and with the final addition of a transparent unpatternedconductive layer 30 formed on the lithographically patterned first micro-wires 24 by spin coating a solution of PEDOT/PSS at 3000 rpm and drying on a hotplate for 2 minutes at 110° C. Sheet resistance of the dried PEDOT/PSS coating on a section of bare PET support using a four-point probe was 8 MΩ/square. First electrode resistance was measured to be on the order of 450Ω from end-to-end with approximately 160 kΩ between nearest neighbor electrodes. Thus the ratio of shorting resistance to first electrode resistance in this inventive example was 356 to 1. - A functional touch-screen was fabricated from the prepared second and first
micro-wire electrodes micro-wire electrodes 52 ondielectric layer 40 using optically clear adhesive, OCA (Adhesives Research, ARClear 8154 Optically Clear Unsupported Transfer Adhesive) to form a coversheet (overcoat layer 70) of the touch-screen example. The secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 were oriented 90 degrees with respect to the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22 and offset such that the intersections of the diamonds were directly above the center of the diamonds of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. The uncoated side of thedielectric layer 40 was laminated to the exposed side of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 using the same optically clear adhesive. The dielectric thus includes both the OCA and the 4 milPET dielectric layer 40. - For the purpose of comparison, a control touch-screen representing an example of the prior art was prepared exactly as described above except the coating of PEDOT/PSS forming the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 was eliminated in the comparative example. - The measurement apparatus included two translation stages which were used to move a mechanical, artificial finger incrementally across the sample. The weight of the finger was used to provide a constant touch force and the tip of the artificial finger included a compliant, conductor loaded, polymer foam mounted on the end of a conductive rod. All but one first
micro-wire electrode 22 were held at ground while a voltage waveform including a controlled burst of sine waves (either 100 kHz or 1 MHz) was applied to one of the firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. All of the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 were held at ground and one was connected to a charge sensitive pre-amplifier (operational amplifier with capacitor feedback) which held the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 at ground and output a voltage proportional to the input charge. The output voltage from the sensing amplifier was sampled periodically at 20 MHz. Digital processing was used to synchronously (with respect to the driven waveform) rectify the sampled signal and compute an average (in phase) voltage. By spatially stepping the artificial finger across the sample in a spatial matrix of locations, the sensed voltages are mapped as a function of the artificial finger location. By inference, the response of a single repetitive unit at a single location is the same as the response at any other location (except for boundaries). By measuring a known conventional capacitor with the same instrument, the voltage reading is converted to effective capacitance readings. - The mutual no-touch capacitance for the inventive example was 1.8 times higher than the comparative example at either 100 kHz or 1 MHz. This increase illustrates the effective field-spreading characteristic of the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 in the inventive example at practical measurement frequencies and is usable to reduce the relative power consumption of a touch-sensor controller resulting in improved system efficiency. - To test touch sensitivity, the examples were scanned with a 10.4 mm diameter artificial finger in a matrix pattern centered at an intersection of the active second and first
micro-wire electrodes -
Touch-Sensitivity=−(C touch −C no— touch)/C no— touch - At 1 MHz the relative touch sensitivity was 42% for the inventive example and 50% for the comparative example. Thus, the touch signal in the inventive example was strong and differences between the inventive and comparative example small, demonstrating that the unpatterned
conductive layer 30 has minimal effect on the touch sensitivity while increasing the capacitance. The observed difference in touch sensitivity can be due in part or entirely to imperfections of the alignment of driver and sensor electrodes (first and secondmicro-wire electrodes 22, 52) in each example. - To test the shielding properties, connections to the second and first
micro-wire electrodes micro-wire electrodes conductive layer 30 in the inventive example. Indeed, the results showed a factor of 3 reductions in touch sensitivity at 1 MHz and complete elimination of touch signal at 100 kHz for the inventive example. This reduction in frequency response is an illustration of the time constant for charging or discharging the open areas of the unpatternedconductive layer 30 in the firstmicro-wire electrode 22. Touch sensitivity of the comparative example was unaffected, as expected. Thus the field spreading unpatternedconductive layer 30 in the inventive example exhibited highly effective shielding at practical frequencies with no deleterious effects due to electrical shorting between firstmicro-wire electrodes 22. Capacitance signal increased and little change in touch sensitivity was observed when driven and sensed in the intended configuration achieving a considerable improvement in overall system efficiency relative to the prior art example was demonstrated. - Methods and devices for forming and providing substrates and coating substrates are known in the photo-lithographic arts. Likewise, tools for laying out electrodes, conductive traces, and connectors are known in the electronics industry as are methods for manufacturing such electronic system elements. Hardware controllers for controlling touch screens and displays and software for managing display and touch screen systems are well known. These tools and methods are usefully employed to design, implement, construct, and operate the present invention. Methods, tools, and devices for operating capacitive touch screens are used with the present invention.
- In addition to the inventive and comparative examples described, a touch-screen structure of the present invention having a PEDOT/PSS unpatterned
conductive layer 30 was constructed using the imprinting techniques described and, in a separate sample, an unpatternedconductive layer 30 of AZO on etched first micro-wires 24 was formed using atomic-layer deposition methods. - The first or second
micro-wire electrodes micro-wire electrodes 22 and the secondmicro-wire electrodes 52 can be arranged orthogonally to each other. Alternatively, electrodes can be arranged using polar coordinates, in circles, or in other curvilinear patterns. Electrodes can have uniform spacing or widths. Alternatively, electrodes can have non-uniform spacing and variable widths. - The present invention is useful in a wide variety of electronic devices. Such devices can include, for example, photovoltaic devices, OLED displays and lighting, LCD displays, plasma displays, inorganic LED displays and lighting, electrophoretic displays, electrowetting displays, dimming mirrors, smart windows, transparent radio antennae, transparent heaters and other touch-screen devices such as capacitive touch screen devices.
- The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
-
- P direction
- D1 direction
- D2 direction
- 5 micro-wire electrode structure
- 10 substrate
- 11 touch surface
- 12 surface
- 20 first layer
- 22 first micro-wire electrode
- 24 first micro-wire
- 26 first gap micro-wires
- 30 unpatterned conductive layer
- 32 touch-sensitive area
- 36 dummy-wire area
- 40 dielectric layer
- 50 second layer
- 52 second micro-wire electrode
- 54 second micro-wire
- 56 second gap micro-wires
- 60 first electrode gap
- 62 second electrode gap
- 64 micro-wire breaks
- 70 overcoat layer
- 80 gap layer
- 100 display and touch-screen apparatus
- 110 display
- 120 touch screen
- 122 first transparent substrate
- 124 dielectric layer
- 126 second transparent substrate
- 128 touch pad area
- 130 first electrode
- 132 second electrode
- 134 wires
- 136 electrical bus connections
- 140 touch-screen controller
- 142 display controller
- 150 micro-wire
- 152 dummy micro-wires
- 156 micro-pattern
- 200 provide substrate surface step
- 205 provide first layer step
- 210 locate first micro-wires step
- 215 provide second layer step
- 220 locate second micro-wires step
- 225 provide gap layer step
- 230 locate gap micro-wires step
- 250 locate second micro-wires and first gap micro-wires step
- 260 provide unpatterned conductive layer step
- 270 locate dielectric layer step
- 280 locate first micro-wires and second gap micro-wires step
Claims (20)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/191,482 US20150242010A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-02-27 | Micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/032,213 US9304636B2 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2013-09-20 | Micro-wire touch screen with unpatterned conductive layer |
US14/167,134 US20150212537A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-01-29 | Micro-wire electrodes with equi-potential dummy micro-wires |
US14/191,482 US20150242010A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-02-27 | Micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20150242010A1 true US20150242010A1 (en) | 2015-08-27 |
Family
ID=51626589
Family Applications (5)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/032,213 Active 2033-12-31 US9304636B2 (en) | 2013-02-28 | 2013-09-20 | Micro-wire touch screen with unpatterned conductive layer |
US14/167,134 Abandoned US20150212537A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-01-29 | Micro-wire electrodes with equi-potential dummy micro-wires |
US14/167,175 Abandoned US20150212613A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-01-29 | Micro-wire electrodes with dummy micro-dots |
US14/191,482 Abandoned US20150242010A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-02-27 | Micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires |
US14/191,484 Abandoned US20150242025A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-02-27 | Making micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires |
Family Applications Before (3)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/032,213 Active 2033-12-31 US9304636B2 (en) | 2013-02-28 | 2013-09-20 | Micro-wire touch screen with unpatterned conductive layer |
US14/167,134 Abandoned US20150212537A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-01-29 | Micro-wire electrodes with equi-potential dummy micro-wires |
US14/167,175 Abandoned US20150212613A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-01-29 | Micro-wire electrodes with dummy micro-dots |
Family Applications After (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/191,484 Abandoned US20150242025A1 (en) | 2013-09-20 | 2014-02-27 | Making micro-wire electrode structure with single-layer dummy micro-wires |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (5) | US9304636B2 (en) |
TW (1) | TW201519050A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2015041878A1 (en) |
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN108762568A (en) * | 2018-05-31 | 2018-11-06 | 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 | Broken wire repair method, device and the household electrical appliance of touch screen |
EP3929709A1 (en) * | 2020-06-22 | 2021-12-29 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
US20220020824A1 (en) * | 2020-07-14 | 2022-01-20 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
WO2022095607A1 (en) * | 2020-11-06 | 2022-05-12 | 友达光电股份有限公司 | Touch device |
US11640219B2 (en) * | 2018-03-23 | 2023-05-02 | Hefei Xinsheng Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. | Touch element, touch substrate, display device and method of manufacturing touch substrate |
Families Citing this family (56)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9268446B2 (en) * | 2013-02-06 | 2016-02-23 | Nanchang O-Film Tech. Co., Ltd. | Monitor, touchscreen sensing module thereof, and method for manufacturing the touchscreen sensing module |
JP5865285B2 (en) * | 2013-03-27 | 2016-02-17 | 株式会社ジャパンディスプレイ | Display device with touch detection function and electronic device |
US20150090909A1 (en) * | 2013-09-30 | 2015-04-02 | Capella Microsystems (Taiwan), Inc. | Selectable view angle optical sensor |
KR102144478B1 (en) * | 2013-11-12 | 2020-08-14 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Touch panel and method of preparing touch panel |
KR102161743B1 (en) * | 2013-11-26 | 2020-10-06 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Touch sensing device and display device comprising the same |
US9372587B2 (en) * | 2013-11-26 | 2016-06-21 | Synaptics Incorporated | Methods and apparatus for arranging electrode layers and associated routing traces in a sensor device |
KR20150074350A (en) * | 2013-12-24 | 2015-07-02 | 삼성전기주식회사 | Touch panel and touchscreen apparatus including the same |
KR101849149B1 (en) * | 2014-01-16 | 2018-04-16 | 미쓰비시 세이시 가부시키가이샤 | Light-transmissive conductive material |
EP3126938B1 (en) * | 2014-03-31 | 2021-07-07 | LG Innotek Co., Ltd. | Touch panel for improving cross structure of sensing pattern |
TWI543685B (en) * | 2014-04-28 | 2016-07-21 | 旭德科技股份有限公司 | Substrate structure and manufacturing method thereof |
CN105094395A (en) * | 2014-05-04 | 2015-11-25 | 宸鸿科技(厦门)有限公司 | Touch control apparatus |
JP6427337B2 (en) * | 2014-05-16 | 2018-11-21 | 株式会社ジャパンディスプレイ | Display device and method of manufacturing the same |
JP2016024292A (en) | 2014-07-18 | 2016-02-08 | 株式会社ジャパンディスプレイ | Display device with sensor |
CN105278770A (en) * | 2014-07-25 | 2016-01-27 | 南京瀚宇彩欣科技有限责任公司 | Non-blocking touch handheld electronic device and outer touch cover |
US10061447B2 (en) * | 2014-07-31 | 2018-08-28 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Flexible transparent conductive coating and method of making thereof |
CN105549798A (en) * | 2014-10-30 | 2016-05-04 | 中强光电股份有限公司 | Touch projection screen and projection system using same |
CN104375728B (en) * | 2014-11-18 | 2017-06-06 | 业成光电(深圳)有限公司 | Capacitance type touch-control panel |
CN104461157B (en) * | 2014-12-25 | 2018-01-30 | 合肥鑫晟光电科技有限公司 | Preparation method, touch panel, touch-screen and the display device of touch panel |
KR102287368B1 (en) * | 2015-01-07 | 2021-08-06 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Touch panel |
CN107250960A (en) * | 2015-02-24 | 2017-10-13 | 夏普株式会社 | Display device with touch sensing |
CN104635992B (en) * | 2015-03-11 | 2017-07-04 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Contact panel and display device |
CN112068740B (en) * | 2015-04-24 | 2023-11-21 | Lg伊诺特有限公司 | Touch window and touch device |
US20170040114A1 (en) * | 2015-08-06 | 2017-02-09 | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Capacitor and manufacturing method therefor |
CN106502443B (en) * | 2015-09-08 | 2019-03-08 | 和鑫光电股份有限公司 | Touch control component and touch control display module |
CN105607270B (en) * | 2016-01-05 | 2018-08-03 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | A kind of display device and its 3 D displaying method |
CN106020527B (en) * | 2016-05-05 | 2019-01-29 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Electrode structure and preparation method thereof, touch panel and touch display unit |
WO2018017083A1 (en) * | 2016-07-20 | 2018-01-25 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Near infrared transparent display border with underlyng encoded pattern. |
KR102563741B1 (en) * | 2016-09-06 | 2023-08-08 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Display device |
CN106298860B (en) * | 2016-10-24 | 2019-04-12 | 上海天马微电子有限公司 | Organic light-emitting display panel and manufacturing method thereof |
CN108062187A (en) * | 2016-11-07 | 2018-05-22 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Touch-control structure and preparation method thereof and touch device |
KR20180074985A (en) | 2016-12-26 | 2018-07-04 | 엘지디스플레이 주식회사 | Display device with integrated touch screen |
KR20180079055A (en) * | 2016-12-30 | 2018-07-10 | 엘지디스플레이 주식회사 | Stretchable Touch Screen, Method for Manufacturing the Same, and Display Device Using the Same |
US10108285B1 (en) * | 2017-04-19 | 2018-10-23 | Superc-Touch Corporation | In-cell OLED touch display panel structure with high touch detection sensitivity and narrow border |
US10860157B2 (en) * | 2017-07-05 | 2020-12-08 | Sekisui Polymatech Co., Ltd. | Capacitive touch panel |
KR102424954B1 (en) | 2017-08-07 | 2022-07-26 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Input sensing unit and display device having the same |
US10585482B2 (en) * | 2017-09-27 | 2020-03-10 | Apple Inc. | Electronic device having a hybrid conductive coating for electrostatic haptics |
CN107765914B (en) * | 2017-10-11 | 2020-10-16 | 业成科技(成都)有限公司 | Touch panel structure |
JP2019079133A (en) * | 2017-10-20 | 2019-05-23 | 日本航空電子工業株式会社 | Touch panel |
KR102456333B1 (en) * | 2017-10-23 | 2022-10-19 | 엘지디스플레이 주식회사 | Touch display device and panel |
CA2985264A1 (en) * | 2017-11-14 | 2019-05-14 | Vuereal Inc. | Integration of touch and sensing |
FR3073648B1 (en) * | 2017-11-15 | 2021-05-07 | Isorg | DEVICE INTEGRATING AN IMAGE SENSOR AND A DISPLAY SCREEN |
KR102402040B1 (en) * | 2017-12-21 | 2022-05-26 | 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 | Electronic apparatus and method of manufacturing the same |
JP6998242B2 (en) * | 2018-03-08 | 2022-02-04 | ホシデン株式会社 | Resin laminate |
CN108415615B (en) * | 2018-04-28 | 2020-07-28 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Metal grid, touch screen and display device |
CN108563364B (en) * | 2018-04-28 | 2024-03-08 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Touch screen, manufacturing method thereof, touch display panel and display device |
CN109976568B (en) * | 2018-05-16 | 2022-01-18 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Touch panel, touch display panel and touch display device |
CN108845694B (en) * | 2018-06-06 | 2021-07-30 | 业成科技(成都)有限公司 | Metal grid touch module |
CN108919993A (en) * | 2018-06-21 | 2018-11-30 | 业成科技(成都)有限公司 | The metal grill touch control electrode of touch panel |
CN108920035B (en) * | 2018-06-30 | 2021-07-02 | 广州国显科技有限公司 | Touch panel and manufacturing method thereof |
US10734708B2 (en) * | 2018-07-11 | 2020-08-04 | Apple Inc. | Antennas formed from conductive display layers |
WO2020158151A1 (en) * | 2019-01-31 | 2020-08-06 | 株式会社村田製作所 | Multilayer wiring substrate |
CN110010668B (en) * | 2019-04-09 | 2021-07-27 | 武汉天马微电子有限公司 | Organic light emitting display panel and display device |
CN210984952U (en) * | 2019-12-06 | 2020-07-10 | 昇印光电(昆山)股份有限公司 | Transparent antenna |
KR20220020088A (en) * | 2020-08-11 | 2022-02-18 | 삼성전자주식회사 | electronic device |
US11651612B2 (en) * | 2020-09-14 | 2023-05-16 | Superc-Touch Corporation | Fingerprint sensing apparatus |
CN112713394A (en) * | 2020-12-20 | 2021-04-27 | 英特睿达(山东)电子科技有限公司 | Hybrid transparent antenna |
Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20130207911A1 (en) * | 2012-02-10 | 2013-08-15 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Mesh patterns for touch sensor electrodes |
US20130219679A1 (en) * | 2012-02-28 | 2013-08-29 | Ronald Steven Cok | Pattern-wise defining micro-wires with different heights |
US20140152580A1 (en) * | 2012-11-30 | 2014-06-05 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Mesh patterns for touch sensor electrodes |
Family Cites Families (12)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7339579B2 (en) * | 2003-12-15 | 2008-03-04 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Wiring harness and touch sensor incorporating same |
US7920129B2 (en) | 2007-01-03 | 2011-04-05 | Apple Inc. | Double-sided touch-sensitive panel with shield and drive combined layer |
US8284332B2 (en) * | 2008-08-01 | 2012-10-09 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Touch screen sensor with low visibility conductors |
JP2011513846A (en) | 2008-02-28 | 2011-04-28 | スリーエム イノベイティブ プロパティズ カンパニー | Touch screen sensor |
KR101432353B1 (en) * | 2008-08-01 | 2014-08-20 | 쓰리엠 이노베이티브 프로퍼티즈 컴파니 | Touch sensitive devices with composite electrodes |
KR100909265B1 (en) * | 2009-02-23 | 2009-07-27 | (주)이엔에이치테크 | Manufacturing method of electrostatic capacity type touch screen panel |
US20100328248A1 (en) | 2009-06-24 | 2010-12-30 | Ocular Lcd Inc. | Capacitive touch screen with reduced electrode trace resistance |
US20110007011A1 (en) | 2009-07-13 | 2011-01-13 | Ocular Lcd Inc. | Capacitive touch screen with a mesh electrode |
CN102063951B (en) | 2010-11-05 | 2013-07-03 | 苏州苏大维格光电科技股份有限公司 | Transparent conductive film and manufacturing method thereof |
KR20130051803A (en) | 2011-11-10 | 2013-05-21 | 삼성전기주식회사 | Touch panel |
WO2013069289A1 (en) * | 2011-11-11 | 2013-05-16 | パナソニック株式会社 | Touch-panel device |
US20140332256A1 (en) * | 2013-05-10 | 2014-11-13 | Ronald Steven Cok | Micro-wire electrode structure having non-linear gaps |
-
2013
- 2013-09-20 US US14/032,213 patent/US9304636B2/en active Active
-
2014
- 2014-01-29 US US14/167,134 patent/US20150212537A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2014-01-29 US US14/167,175 patent/US20150212613A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2014-02-27 US US14/191,482 patent/US20150242010A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2014-02-27 US US14/191,484 patent/US20150242025A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2014-09-08 WO PCT/US2014/054493 patent/WO2015041878A1/en active Application Filing
- 2014-09-19 TW TW103132527A patent/TW201519050A/en unknown
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20130207911A1 (en) * | 2012-02-10 | 2013-08-15 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Mesh patterns for touch sensor electrodes |
US20130219679A1 (en) * | 2012-02-28 | 2013-08-29 | Ronald Steven Cok | Pattern-wise defining micro-wires with different heights |
US20140152580A1 (en) * | 2012-11-30 | 2014-06-05 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Mesh patterns for touch sensor electrodes |
Cited By (8)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US11640219B2 (en) * | 2018-03-23 | 2023-05-02 | Hefei Xinsheng Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. | Touch element, touch substrate, display device and method of manufacturing touch substrate |
CN108762568A (en) * | 2018-05-31 | 2018-11-06 | 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 | Broken wire repair method, device and the household electrical appliance of touch screen |
EP3929709A1 (en) * | 2020-06-22 | 2021-12-29 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
US11402955B2 (en) | 2020-06-22 | 2022-08-02 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
US11747945B2 (en) | 2020-06-22 | 2023-09-05 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
US20220020824A1 (en) * | 2020-07-14 | 2022-01-20 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
US11600669B2 (en) * | 2020-07-14 | 2023-03-07 | Samsung Display Co., Ltd. | Electronic device |
WO2022095607A1 (en) * | 2020-11-06 | 2022-05-12 | 友达光电股份有限公司 | Touch device |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US9304636B2 (en) | 2016-04-05 |
US20150084907A1 (en) | 2015-03-26 |
US20150212613A1 (en) | 2015-07-30 |
US20150212537A1 (en) | 2015-07-30 |
TW201519050A (en) | 2015-05-16 |
US20150242025A1 (en) | 2015-08-27 |
WO2015041878A1 (en) | 2015-03-26 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US9304636B2 (en) | Micro-wire touch screen with unpatterned conductive layer | |
US10838559B2 (en) | Touch sensor electrode with patterned electrically isolated regions | |
TWI446229B (en) | Touch screen sensor | |
TWI447615B (en) | Touch screen sensor with low visibility conductors | |
US9417385B2 (en) | Imprinted multi-level micro-wire circuit structure method | |
US9101056B2 (en) | Imprinted bi-layer micro-structure method with bi-level stamp | |
US20150085456A1 (en) | Imprinted multi-level micro-wire circuit structure | |
US20150227230A1 (en) | Micro-wire touch screen with thin cover | |
US9465501B2 (en) | Multi-layer micro-wire substrate method | |
US9229260B2 (en) | Imprinted bi-layer micro-structure | |
US9448674B2 (en) | Making multi-layer micro-wire structure | |
US9513759B2 (en) | Multi-layer micro-wire structure | |
US8865292B2 (en) | Micro-channel structure for micro-wires | |
US9107316B2 (en) | Multi-layer micro-wire substrate structure | |
US9426885B2 (en) | Multi-layer micro-wire structure | |
US9282647B2 (en) | Method of making micro-channel structure for micro-wires | |
US9296013B2 (en) | Making multi-layer micro-wire structure | |
US20140262452A1 (en) | Embossed micro-structure with cured transfer material method | |
US20150181702A1 (en) | Micro-wire connection pad | |
US20140272313A1 (en) | Embossed micro-structure with cured transfer material |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, NEW YORK Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:COK, RONALD STEVEN;REEL/FRAME:032308/0329 Effective date: 20140226 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: BANK OF AMERICA N.A., AS AGENT, MASSACHUSETTS Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY;FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT LTD.;FPC INC.;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:032553/0152 Effective date: 20140319 Owner name: BARCLAYS BANK PLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT, NEW YO Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY;FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT LTD.;FPC INC.;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:032553/0398 Effective date: 20140319 Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT, Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY;FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT LTD.;FPC INC.;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:032552/0741 Effective date: 20140319 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: KODAK PORTUGUESA LIMITED, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK REALTY, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: FPC, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK AVIATION LEASING LLC, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK AMERICAS, LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: LASER PACIFIC MEDIA CORPORATION, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: QUALEX, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK PHILIPPINES, LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: CREO MANUFACTURING AMERICA LLC, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK (NEAR EAST), INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: NPEC, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: PAKON, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK IMAGING NETWORK, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:050239/0001 Effective date: 20190617 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: QUALEX, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK PHILIPPINES, LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK REALTY, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: PAKON, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK (NEAR EAST), INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK PORTUGUESA LIMITED, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: PFC, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK AVIATION LEASING LLC, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK IMAGING NETWORK, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: NPEC, INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: CREO MANUFACTURING AMERICA LLC, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: KODAK AMERICAS, LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: LASER PACIFIC MEDIA CORPORATION, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 Owner name: FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT;REEL/FRAME:049901/0001 Effective date: 20190617 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: LASER PACIFIC MEDIA CORPORATION, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: KODAK AMERICAS LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: FAR EAST DEVELOPMENT LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: QUALEX INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: KODAK PHILIPPINES LTD., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: KODAK (NEAR EAST) INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: FPC INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: NPEC INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 Owner name: KODAK REALTY INC., NEW YORK Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:BARCLAYS BANK PLC;REEL/FRAME:052773/0001 Effective date: 20170202 |