WO2010038957A2

WO2010038957A2 - Method for manufacturing a touch panel, and touch panel manufactured by same

Info

Publication number: WO2010038957A2
Application number: PCT/KR2009/005516
Authority: WO
Inventors: 박준영; 정주현; 김세현; 배상모
Original assignee: 신와전공 주식회사; 윈도우터치컴퍼니리미티드
Priority date: 2008-10-01
Filing date: 2009-09-28
Publication date: 2010-04-08
Also published as: WO2010038957A3; CN102171633A; KR100908101B1

Abstract

The method for manufacturing a touch panel comprises: a first step of etching both a metal coating layer and a transparent conductive material coating layer on an upper surface of a pad for manufacturing the touch panel, including an insulator layer made of an organic or inorganic insulator, the transparent conductive material coating layer formed on the insulator layer, and the metal coating layer formed on the transparent conductive material coating layer, to produce a pad having a pattern where either a metal conductive electrode pattern or a transparent conductive material electrode pattern fully remains; a second step of etching only the metal coating layer on the upper surface of the pad where the pattern is formed to produce a pad having the metal coating layer pattern where only the portion corresponding to the metal electrode pattern remains from the metal coating layer remaining in the first step; and a third step of i) coupling an adhesive layer and a dielectric layer made of an insulator onto the upper surface of the pad with the pattern, or ii) turning the upper side of another pad down with the pattern and coupling another pad onto the upper surface of the pad with the pattern in such a manner that the two pads are vertically spaced apart from each other. The touch panel of the present invention can be manufactured through processes simplified as compared to conventional processes where a silver paste is applied. Further, the present invention enables the pattern of transparent conductive material coating layer to be discriminated with the naked eye, and thus enables a function test and a visual test to be easily performed during the process, resulting in reductions in the defect ratio and in the manufacturing costs.

Description

Manufacturing method of touch panel and touch panel manufactured thereby

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a touch panel and a touch panel manufactured by the same, which can be manufactured by a simple uniform process than a process using a conventional silver paste, so that the pattern of the transparent conductive material coating layer can be visually identified. The present invention relates to a touch panel manufacturing method and a touch panel manufactured thereby, which can easily perform a functional test and a visual inspection during a process, thereby reducing a defective rate and reducing a manufacturing cost.

In the case of pads used in the manufacture of general touch panels, glass (especially in the case of a resistive film) coated with a transparent conductive material such as ITO or insulating resin (resistive film or capacitive type) in order to ensure light transmittance It is manufactured to be transparent using), according to a certain purpose, the material layer such as ITO is not evenly formed on the plate, but may be formed to have a certain pattern. In this case, in the case of the resistive method, such a pattern may be used to partition the touch space. In particular, in the case of the capacitive method, the transparent conductive material is panel-coated in a constant pattern as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 to obtain coordinate values. It can also form within.

In order to form such an ITO pattern, a conventional touch panel manufacturing method uses a photolithography process or the like to form an ITO pattern, and after forming such an ITO layer pattern, a general method for electrical connection between each pattern and the outside is performed. By using silver paste patterned by a method such as screen printing to produce a pad for manufacturing a touch panel, the pad prepared as described above is combined with a plurality of laminated layers to form a touch panel as shown in FIG. Done.

However, in the case of conducting wire formation using the silver paste, the thickness of the conducting wire becomes thick because there is a limit in applying the silver paste thinly, and a step difference occurs in the up and down direction, and the width of the conducting wire in the planar direction becomes wide. Therefore, the durability of the touch panel is reduced, and the density of devices is decreased. In the case of the silver paste process, a process of curing the silver paste after applying it at a high temperature is needed. In order to prevent deformation of the panel in the process also requires an annealing process is a complicated process, there is a problem that the cost increases.

In addition, it is difficult to visually identify the ITO pattern after forming the ITO pattern, so it is common practice to perform a functional test and an external appearance test after printing the silver paste. In such a case, the defect is immediately after the ITO patterning process. Since the silver paste printing process is performed even for the defective products, the cost is increased, and when the inspection is performed after the ITO patterning, it is difficult to visually identify the ITO pattern, which makes the inspection process difficult. There is a problem such as damage.

Therefore, the development of a touch panel manufacturing method that can be visually identified and easily inspected after ITO patterning without using a silver paste process is urgently needed.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention can be produced in a simple uniform process than the process of applying the conventional silver paste, it is possible to visually identify the pattern of the transparent conductive material coating layer, the functional inspection and visual inspection process It is an object of the present invention to provide a touch panel manufacturing method and a touch panel manufactured thereby, which can be easily carried out, which can reduce the defective rate and reduce the manufacturing cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention

In the manufacturing method of the touch panel,

An insulator layer made of a transparent organic insulator of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC), a transparent conductive material coating layer formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and formed on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer Providing a pad for manufacturing a touch panel including a metal coating layer;

Pattern forming step of etching the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer on the upper surface of the provided pad for manufacturing the pad to form a pad formed with a pattern leaving all parts corresponding to any one of the metal electrode pattern and the transparent conductive material electrode pattern ;

Etching only the metal coating layer on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed to manufacture a pad on which a metal coating layer pattern is formed leaving only a portion corresponding to the metal electrode pattern in the metal coating layer remaining in the pattern forming step; And,

i) bonding a dielectric layer composed of an adhesive layer and an insulator to an upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, or ii) inverting other pads having a pattern on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed to be spaced apart from each other vertically. Provided is a method of manufacturing a touch panel.

In addition, the present invention

In the capacitive touch panel,

Manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel,

A pad including an insulator layer, a transparent conductive material coating layer having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and a metal coating layer having a metal electrode pattern formed on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer; An adhesive layer bonded to an upper surface of the pad; And, Capacitive touch panel comprising a dielectric layer made of an insulator coupled to the upper surface of the adhesive layer

Also

In the resistive touch panel,

Manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel,

A bottom pad including an insulator layer, a transparent conductive material coating layer having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern formed on the top surface of the insulator layer, and a metal coating layer having a metal electrode pattern formed on the top surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer; A spacer film coupled to the top surface of the pad or a separation film layer coupled to the top edge; And an upper surface pad coupled to the upper surface of the spacer or the separation film layer, the upper surface pad having a laminated structure vertically opposite to the lower surface pad.

According to the touch panel manufacturing method of the present invention and the touch panel manufactured thereby, the high temperature curing process and the annealing process can be omitted as compared to the process using the conventional silver paste, so that the manufacturing can be made in a simpler process, and thus the manufacturing is easy. In addition, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the defect rate can be reduced due to the simplification of the process.

In addition, by patterning the metal layer through a photolithography method, it is possible to form finer conductors and to manufacture a compact device. Since wiring can be arranged at a narrow pitch, the display area can be minimized by minimizing the margin margin of the panel. It is possible to increase, to minimize the step to improve the durability, there is an effect that can implement a touch panel having a high resolution.

In particular, since the pattern of the transparent conductive material coating layer can be visually identified, the functional test and the visual inspection can be easily performed during the process immediately after the pattern of the transparent conductive material coating layer is formed, thereby reducing defect rate and manufacturing cost. In addition, since the metal electrode part and the lead wire part are made of a double layer of the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer, even if a breakage of the metal coating layer occurs, the breakage of the metal coating layer does not occur as a whole. There is an effect to increase.

1 is an exploded cross-sectional view of a conventional capacitive touch panel and a plan view of a pad for manufacturing a lowermost touch panel.

2 is a view schematically showing an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a touch panel of the present invention. (FIG. 2C shows a plan view.)

3 is a view schematically showing another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a touch panel of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a photograph taken for another embodiment of the touch panel manufacturing method of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: dielectric film, 20: ITO layer, 30: silver paste electrode, 35: lead wire

40: adhesive layer (OCA), 50: touch pad top housing, 55: screening unit

100: insulator layer, 200: transparent conductive material coating layer, 300: metal coating layer

400: adhesive layer, 500: dielectric layer (touch pad), 550: blocking layer,

600: separation film layer

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a touch panel, the method of manufacturing a touch panel, comprising an insulator layer made of an organic insulator or an inorganic insulator, a transparent conductive material coating layer formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and the transparent conductive material coating layer On the upper surface of the pad for manufacturing a touch panel including a metal coating layer formed on the upper surface, the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer are etched to form a pattern leaving all portions corresponding to any one of the metal electrode pattern and the transparent conductive material electrode pattern. A first step of manufacturing a pad; A second step of manufacturing a pad on which a metal coating layer pattern is formed leaving only a portion corresponding to the metal electrode pattern in the metal coating layer remaining in the first step by etching only the metal coating layer on the upper surface of the patterned pad; And i) bonding a dielectric layer made of an adhesive layer and an insulator to an upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, or ii) inverting another pad having a pattern on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, to be spaced apart from each other vertically, and then bonding. It is configured to include.

Specific embodiments thereof are as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

Previously, in the case of the conventional touch panel, i) in the dielectric film (organic insulator) in the case of the capacitance method, for example in PET film, ii) glass (inorganic insulator) in the case of the resistive film method ) Or a dielectric film (organic insulator), which is coated on its upper surface with a transparent conductive material coating layer such as ITO, IZO or ATO, and supplied to the producer, which is then used for annealing the ITO film and forming a pattern for the ITO layer. Photolithography process including PR coating, exposure, development, etching, strip, etc., Guide processing for setting a standard to form a silver paste pattern on the upper surface of the ITO pattern, Silver paste printing based on the processed guide and the The lower panel as shown in FIG. 1 is completed through a process such as a high temperature curing process for silver paste curing, and other laminated layers as shown. In combination with the touch panel is prepared.

However, in the manufacturing method of the touch panel of the present invention, an insulator layer made of an organic insulator or an inorganic insulator, a transparent conductive material coating layer formed on the upper surface of the insulator layer, and a metal formed on the upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer Since a pad for manufacturing a touch panel including a coating layer is applied, the pad to be supplied includes a transparent conductive material coating layer including ITO on the upper surface of the insulator layer, and a metal coating layer is already formed on the upper surface of the insulator layer. In the case of use, the above-described guide process, the curing process for curing the silver paste, and the like are not necessary separately, and therefore, the annealing process, which is a pretreatment process for preventing the film deformation during curing, is also unnecessary.

The pad for manufacturing a touch panel provided as described above is as shown in FIG. 2 (a) and FIG. 3 (a), and the touch pad manufacturing pad is touched through the manufacturing method described above. It is formed as a contact panel of the panel.

In addition, the pad for manufacturing the touch panel is subjected to etching on the two layers on the upper surface through a patterning process such as a photolithography process on the two layers on the upper surface (transparent conductive material coating layer and the metal coating layer) at the same time. Pattern forming work will be performed. The pattern formed as described above corresponds to a metal electrode pattern (a portion formed by a conventional silver paste printing process, substantially a metal electrode portion connected to a transparent conductive material such as ITO, and a rib line portion connecting the metal electrode signal to the outside). ) And a transparent conductive material electrode pattern (corresponding to a portion where a conventional ITO pattern is formed). Only the ITO electrode, which is the part that needs to ensure light transmittance, is left in the first step, leaving the part (pattern) corresponding to the union of the metal electrode (including the lead wire part) and the part corresponding to the transparent conductive material electrode part because it must be electrically connected to each other. The part of is to remove the metal coating layer located on the upper part through two steps to ensure the light transmittance The. Therefore, after the etching process in the first step, the etching state of the transparent conductive material coating layer such as ITO becomes the same shape as the etching state of the metal coating layer, so that the etching pattern can be checked with the naked eye. It can be clearly identified with the naked eye, so that the inspection process can be performed in the intermediate process, and then, in the second step, the portion corresponding to the light transmitting part is etched to secure the light transmitting part in the second step. The portion corresponding to the metal electrode (including the lead wire portion) maintains the two-layer structure of the ITO and the metal layer coated on the upper surface thereof. Details of this are as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

In this case, the etching of the first step may be performed by sequentially etching the two layers, or etching the metal on the uppermost surface first and then etching the transparent conductive material. In the case of proceeding sequentially, the etching in the step of etching the metal first may be performed by the etching process of the second step. Simultaneous etching of such a metal coating layer and a transparent conductive material coating layer may be performed in a variety of known manners, preferably through FeCl 3 aqueous solution, the etching of only the metal coating layer of the second step using NaOH aqueous solution It can be etched.

Preferably, when the touch panel is used in combination with an LCD or the like, the insulator layer 100 is a transparent material as an organic insulator or an inorganic insulator, and the organic insulator is more preferably polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Or a transparent or opaque organic insulator comprising polycarbonate (PC) or made of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC), and the inorganic insulator is more preferably made of glass. In addition, the transparent conductive material of the transparent conductive material coating layer 200 is preferably a transparent conductive material containing ITO or IZO or made of ITO or IZO in terms of excellent properties and ease of manufacture.

In addition, the metal coating layer 300 may correspond to a variety of known metals as the material, preferably copper or aluminum in consideration of ease of manufacture and electrical conductivity. In addition, various known methods may be applied to the formation of such a metal coating layer, and in order to be coated with a thin thickness, it is preferable that the coating is performed through deposition or sputtering including conventional vapor deposition. .

In addition, the insulator layer, the transparent conductive material coating layer and the metal coating layer is made of 10 to 1000 ㎛ in the case of an organic insulator for the durability of the panel, ease of manufacturing during etching of each layer, minimizing the step, The case is made of 100 to 3000 ㎛, the transparent conductive material coating layer is made of 0.005 to 0.1 ㎛, the metal coating layer is preferably made of 0.01 to 10 ㎛, the metal coating layer 300 and the transparent conductive material coating layer ( 200) (particularly ITO) may be easy to manufacture in the etching process when the thickness is formed as described above, having a thickness in the above range reduces the process and facilitates manufacturing, and the thickness of the insulator layer 100 is Durability can be ensured in the said range. More preferably, the metal coating layer 300 has a thickness of 0.5 to 0.6 μm, and when the transparent conductive material coating layer 200 is ITO, the thickness of the ITO layer is 0.01 to 0.02 μm. The thickness of the insulator layer 100 is 50 to 175 μm when the insulator layer is an organic insulator, and is easy to assemble with the device and to manufacture a compact size device.

For such pattern forming etching, a conventional photolithography method (repetition of processes such as PR coating, exposure, development, etching, and peeling as shown in FIG. 4 as a specific example), or other various partial etching methods known in the art Can be applied.

Since the touch panel includes a resistive film type and a capacitive type, the method of manufacturing the touch panel includes: i) a dielectric layer 500 including an adhesive layer 400 and an insulator on an upper surface of a pad on which the pattern is formed. Or 500/550 combination), or ii) inverting other pads having a pattern on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, and spaced apart from each other vertically.

That is, in the case of the capacitive type, as shown in FIG. 2, the agent for coupling the

insulator layer

500 or 500/550 made of the adhesive layer 400 and the insulator to the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed. Perform step i) in step 3.

In addition, in the case of a capacitive touch panel manufacturing panel, as shown in the drawings, in the method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel, the above-mentioned pad for manufacturing a capacitive touch panel is made of poly A transparent dielectric film comprising mid or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC), the transparent conductive material is a transparent conductive material including ITO or IZO, and the metal coating layer is aluminum formed by deposition or sputtering or The upper surface of the pad for manufacturing the capacitive touch panel as copper is partially etched to form a pattern.

In the case of manufacturing a resistive touch panel, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a third step of inverting other pads having the pattern on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed and being spaced apart from each other vertically is combined. It can be prepared by performing ii). The separation of the two pads formed with the opposite pattern may be configured to include a separation film layer at the edge as shown, or may be configured by arranging spacers in a space at a constant price.

In addition, the present invention provides a capacitive touch panel and a resistive touch panel manufactured by the manufacturing method as described above, which is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel as described above, the structure is first In the case of the capacitive touch panel, the capacitive touch panel is a touch panel manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel (in the third step i). The structure of the capacitive touch panel is (a) (preferably 10). An insulator layer 100 having a thickness of about 3000 μm, and a transparent conductive material coating layer 200 having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern (preferably formed to a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 μm) on an upper surface of the insulator layer 100. ), And a metal nose having a metal electrode pattern (preferably including a lead line 35) formed on the top surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer 200 (preferably formed to a thickness of 0.01 to 10 μm). A

dielectric layer

500 or 500/550 binder consisting of a pad consisting of a coating layer 300, (b) an adhesive layer 400 bonded to an upper surface of the pad, and (c) an insulator bonded to an upper surface of the adhesive layer 400. It is configured to include). In addition, preferably, the insulator layer 100 is made of 10 to 1000 μm in the case of an organic insulator, and of 100 to 3000 μm in the case of an inorganic insulator.

A specific example of this may correspond to an assembly in which these are assembled in step (d) of FIG. 2.

Next, in the case of the resistive film type touch panel, the touch panel manufactured by the method of manufacturing the touch panel (in the third step ii), the structure of which is (a) (preferably Is an insulator layer 100 having a thickness of 10 to 3000 μm, and a transparent conductive material coating layer having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern (preferably formed to a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 μm) on an upper surface of the insulator layer 100. A lower surface pad (200) and a metal coating layer 300 having a metal electrode pattern (preferably formed to a thickness of 0.01 to 10 μm) on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer 200, (b) the pad Separating film layer 600 is bonded to the upper surface of the spacer or upper edge and (c) is bonded to the upper surface of the spacer or separation film layer 600, (preferably having a thickness of 10 to 3000 ㎛ ) Clause The soft conductive layer 100, the transparent conductive material coating layer 200 having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern (preferably formed to a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 ㎛) on the lower surface of the insulator layer 100, and the transparent conductive material coating layer The upper surface of the 200 is formed of a metal coating layer 300 (preferably formed with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 ㎛) and the metal electrode pattern is formed including a top pad having a laminated structure that is vertically symmetrical with the bottom pad Lose. In addition, preferably, the insulator layer 100 is made of 10 to 1000 μm in the case of an organic insulator, and of 100 to 3000 μm in the case of an inorganic insulator.

A specific example of this may correspond to an assembly in which they are assembled in step (d) of FIG. 3.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below. Changes are also included within the scope of the invention.

According to the touch panel manufacturing method of the present invention and the touch panel manufactured thereby, the high temperature curing process and the annealing process can be omitted compared to the process using the conventional silver paste, so that the manufacturing can be made in a simpler process, and thus the manufacturing is easy. In addition, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the defect rate can be reduced due to the simplification of the process.

In particular, since the pattern of the transparent conductive material coating layer can be visually identified, the functional test and the visual inspection can be easily performed during the process immediately after the pattern of the transparent conductive material coating layer is formed, thereby reducing defect rate and manufacturing cost. In addition, since the metal electrode part and the lead wire part are made of a double layer of the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer, even when the metal coating layer is disconnected, there is no disconnection as a whole. There is an effect to increase.

Claims

In the manufacturing method of the touch panel,

An insulator layer made of a transparent organic insulator of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC), a transparent conductive material coating layer formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and formed on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer Providing a pad for manufacturing a touch panel including a metal coating layer;

Pattern forming step of etching the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer on the upper surface of the provided pad for manufacturing the pad to form a pad formed with a pattern leaving all parts corresponding to any one of the metal electrode pattern and the transparent conductive material electrode pattern ;

Etching only the metal coating layer on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed to manufacture a pad on which a metal coating layer pattern is formed leaving only a portion corresponding to the metal electrode pattern in the metal coating layer remaining in the pattern forming step; And,

i) bonding a dielectric layer composed of an adhesive layer and an insulator to an upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, or ii) inverting other pads having a pattern on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed to be spaced apart from each other vertically. Method of manufacturing a touch panel characterized in that.
A pad including an insulator layer, a transparent conductive material coating layer having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and a metal coating layer having a metal electrode pattern formed on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer;

An adhesive layer bonded to an upper surface of the pad; And,

A dielectric layer made of an insulator bonded to an upper surface of the adhesive layer

Including,

The pad may include an insulator layer made of a transparent organic insulator of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC), a transparent conductive material coating layer formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and the transparent conductive material coating layer By preparing a pad for manufacturing a touch panel including a metal coating layer formed on an upper surface of the pad, the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer are etched from the upper surface of the provided pad for manufacturing the touch panel, thereby selecting any one of a metal electrode pattern and a transparent conductive material electrode pattern. Manufacturing a pad having a pattern leaving all parts corresponding to one, and etching only a metal coating layer on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, leaving only a portion corresponding to the metal electrode pattern among the metal coating layers remaining on the pad on which the pattern is formed. Characterized in that the pad is formed with a metal coating layer pattern Capacitive touch panel according to.
A bottom pad including an insulator layer, a transparent conductive material coating layer having a transparent conductive material electrode pattern formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer, and a metal coating layer having a metal electrode pattern formed on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer;

A spacer film coupled to the top surface of the bottom pad or a separation film layer coupled to the top edge; And,

An upper surface pad coupled to an upper surface of the spacer or separation film layer and having a laminated structure that is vertically symmetrical with the lower surface pad;

Including,

The bottom pad or the top pad may include an insulator layer made of a transparent organic insulator of polyimide, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or polycarbonate (PC), a transparent conductive material coating layer formed on the top surface of the insulator layer, and By preparing a pad for manufacturing a touch panel including a metal coating layer formed on an upper surface of the transparent conductive material coating layer, the metal electrode pattern and the transparent conductive material are etched by etching both the metal coating layer and the transparent conductive material coating layer on the upper surface of the provided touch panel manufacturing pad. Manufacturing a pad having a pattern leaving all parts corresponding to any one of the electrode patterns, and etching only the metal coating layer on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, corresponding to the metal electrode pattern among the metal coating layer remaining on the pad on which the pattern is formed. The metal coating layer pattern that left only the part Resistive touch panel, characterized in that the pad.