WO2010058929A2

WO2010058929A2 - Pad for fabricating touch panel, method for fabricating touch panel using the same, and touch panel fabricated by the same

Info

Publication number: WO2010058929A2
Application number: PCT/KR2009/006705
Authority: WO
Inventors: 박준영; 정주현; 김세현; 배상모
Original assignee: 신와전공 주식회사
Priority date: 2008-11-18
Filing date: 2009-11-16
Publication date: 2010-05-27
Also published as: KR100908102B1; CN102282531A; WO2010058929A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pad for fabricating a touch panel, a method for fabricating the touch panel using the same, and the touch panel fabricated by the same. The pad comprises: an insulation layer made of organic and inorganic insulators, a conductive coating layer formed on the upper surface of the insulation layer, a metallic coating layer formed on an upper surface of the conductive coating layer, and a metallic protection coating layer formed on the surface of the metallic coating layer. As a result, the invention enables the production of the resistive touch panel through a fabrication process simpler than a conventional fabrication process using a silver paste. Therefore, the touch panel can be easily fabricated and the fabrication cost can be reduced. In addition, a compact device can be fabricated by forming finer conducting wires. In particular, the step difference can be minimized in a capacitive touch panel so that defects such as bubbles in a bonding plane can be prevented in the bonding of an adhesive layer. Furthermore, the invention: enables the production of a touch panel having high resolution, allows long lasting of the metallic coating layer by preventing the corrosion of the metallic coating layer, and is able to prevent the reduction of durability of the touch panel resulting from corrosion by reducing the corrosion after fabricating the device.

Description

Touch panel manufacturing pad, touch panel manufacturing method using same and touch panel manufactured by the same

The present invention relates to a pad for manufacturing a touch panel, a method for manufacturing a touch panel using the same, and a touch panel manufactured by the same, which can be manufactured by a simpler process than a conventional silver paste process, thereby facilitating manufacturing and reducing manufacturing costs. In addition to the reduction, finer wire formation is possible, making it possible to manufacture a compact device.In particular, in the case of a capacitive touch panel, minimizing the level difference prevents defects such as bubbles in the mating surface when bonding the adhesive layer. Touch panel with high resolution can be implemented, and it can be stored for a long time by preventing corrosion of metal coating layer, and it can reduce the corrosion even after fabrication of the device to prevent durability reduction due to corrosion. It relates to a manufacturing method and a touch panel manufactured thereby.

In the case of a pad used for manufacturing a general touch panel, it is made of glass coated with ITO (for resistive type) or insulating resin (for capacitive type). In general, silver paste is used for electrical connection.

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.

That is, in the case of the resistive film type, when the step height is large, the separation distance between the upper plate and the lower plate increases, thereby increasing the amount of warpage of the panel, thereby deteriorating durability, and generating a Newton ring. As shown in FIG. 1, the panel includes a screening part that is coupled to the upper surface of the touch pad upper housing 50 made of an upper dielectric (insulator) and the lower edge thereof to cover the silver paste electrode. 55) and a portion of the window that is to be touch-sensitive (a portion of the window that is not a screening portion) is coated with a transparent conductive material such as ITO on the upper portion of the dielectric film 10 made of PET bonded to the lower portion thereof. The conductive paste coating layer 20 and the silver paste electrode unit 30 coupled to the edge thereof to transmit the electrical signal to the controller. The lower panel portion and the adhesive layer (OCA) 40 for coupling the window portion (corresponding to the upper panel portion) and the lower panel portion are laminated and bonded as shown in the figure. The touch panel of the type is required to be transparent because the LCD is additionally coupled to the bottom thereof, and in addition to the touch pad of the notebook, the screen is not required to be transparent. In the case of the conventional capacitive touch panel, since a silver paste is added to the upper portion of the ITO layer, a layer having a high step is formed on the PET as shown. Therefore, bubbles remain in the process of bonding the adhesive layer and the window portion, there is a problem that often causes a defect, there is a difficulty in manufacturing a thin device by increasing the overall height of the touch panel.

In addition, in forming the electrode, since the silver paste is used, there is a limit in finely decorating the electrode pattern, which makes it difficult to manufacture a touch panel having a high resolution.

In order to solve the problems as described above, the present invention can be manufactured in a simpler process than the conventional process to apply the silver paste, to facilitate the manufacturing, to reduce the manufacturing cost, it is possible to form a finer wire It is possible to manufacture a compact device, improve durability by minimizing step, and in particular, in case of capacitive touch panel, minimizing such step prevents defects such as bubbles in the mating surface when bonding the adhesive layer, and high resolution. The touch panel can be implemented, can be stored for a long time by preventing the corrosion of the metal coating layer, the touch panel manufacturing pad that can prevent the reduction of durability life due to corrosion by reducing the corrosion even after fabrication of the device, a touch panel manufacturing method using the same and It is an object to provide a touch panel manufactured thereby.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention

An insulator layer made of an organic insulator or an inorganic insulator;

A conductive material coating layer formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer;

A metal coating layer formed on an upper surface of the conductive material coating layer; And,

It provides a touch panel manufacturing pad comprising a metal protective coating layer formed on the upper surface of the metal coating layer.

In addition, the present invention

In the manufacturing method of the touch panel,

And partially etching the metal coating layer, the conductive material coating layer, or the metal protective coating layer on the upper surface of the pad for manufacturing the touch panel to form a pad having a pattern of the metal coating layer, the conductive material coating layer, or the metal protective coating layer. It provides a method for manufacturing a touch panel.

Finally, the present invention

In a touch panel including a touch pad,

The touch pad is manufactured by the method of manufacturing the touch panel, and provides a touch panel comprising a pad having a pattern of a metal coating layer, a conductive material coating layer, or a metal protective coating layer.

According to the touch panel manufacturing pad of the present invention, the touch panel manufacturing method using the same and the touch panel manufactured by the same, the high temperature curing process and the annealing process can be omitted as compared to the process using the conventional silver paste, it is manufactured in a simpler process It is possible to facilitate the manufacturing, to reduce the manufacturing cost and to obtain the effect of reducing the defective rate according 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 the durability by minimizing the step, and in particular in the case of capacitive touch panels, through the minimization of the step to prevent defects such as bubbles in the bonding surface when the adhesive layer is bonded, and the metal layer photolithography method Through the patterning through it can realize a touch panel having a high resolution, it can be stored for a long time by preventing the corrosion of the metal coating layer, it is possible to prevent the reduction of durability life due to corrosion by reducing the corrosion even after fabrication of the device.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional analog type capacitive touch panel.

2 is a view schematically showing an embodiment of the case of the capacitive touch panel of the touch panel manufacturing pad and a touch panel manufacturing method using the same of the present invention.

3 is a view schematically showing an embodiment of the case of the resistive touch panel of the touch panel manufacturing pad and a touch panel manufacturing method using the same of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the touch panel of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 from the front.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: dielectric film 20: ITO layer

30: silver paste electrode 40: adhesive layer (OCA)

50: touch pad top housing 55: screening unit

100: insulator layer 200: conductive material coating layer

300: metal coating layer 350: metal protective coating layer

400: adhesive layer 500: dielectric layer (touch pad)

550: barrier 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 pad for manufacturing a touch panel, the insulator layer (100) made of an organic insulator or an inorganic insulator; A conductive material coating layer 200 formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer 100; A metal coating layer 300 formed on an upper surface of the conductive material coating layer 200; And a metal protective coating layer 350 formed on an upper surface of the metal coating layer.

Specific embodiments thereof are as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. That is, for example, in the case of a conventional touch panel, i) in the case of a capacitance method, in a dielectric film (organic insulator), for example in a PET film, and ii) in the case of a resistive method, in the case of a glass (inorganic insulator), When the material is supplied to the producer by coating a conductive material coating layer, for example, ITO, IZO or ATO on the upper surface, it is applied to the ITO film annealing, PR coating for pattern formation on the ITO layer, exposure, development, etching, strip, etc. Photolithography process, including a guide processing for holding a standard to form a silver paste pattern on the upper surface formed with the ITO pattern, silver paste printing based on the processed guide and a high temperature curing process for curing the silver paste Through the process to complete the lower panel as shown in Figure 1, in the case of the pad for manufacturing a touch panel of the present invention, the pad supplied in accordance with the present invention is insulated Since the conductive material coating layer including ITO on the upper surface of the body layer, the metal coating layer on the upper surface thereof, and the metal protective coating layer on the upper surface thereof to prevent oxidation due to exposure to the air in the air is already formed. In the case of using the silver face, 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 film deformation during the curing, is also unnecessary. Since the process is completed by forming a pattern directly by each or a separate photolithography process for the three layers of the upper surface, when using the touch panel manufacturing pad of the present invention, the process can be greatly shortened and the number of equipment to be provided It can be seen that it can be greatly reduced.

When the touch panel manufactured by using the touch panel manufactured by using the same is used in combination with the LCD, the display panel such as the lower LCD must be seen, so that the dielectric film and the conductive material are made of a transparent material, and a metal coating layer and In the future etching process, the metal protective coating layer is located at the edge part and the outer part of the device (lead wire part), leaving only the connecting wire for transmitting electrical signals from the electrodes and wires to the outside, and having a light transmitting property like the touch panel of the notebook PC. If not necessary, the dielectric film and the conductive material may be made of an opaque material, and a double layer consisting of a metal coating layer or a metal coating layer and a metal protective coating layer may be used as a whole pad to increase the sensitivity and accuracy of the touch panel in an etching process in the future. Different electrode patterns in the area Line and can form a pattern of the portion connecting the ITO region) and the connecting line (lead) is drawn out therefrom.

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 conductive material of the conductive material coating layer 200 is a transparent material, more preferably it is 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 metal protective coating layer 350 may be applied to a variety of well-known corrosion-resistant materials as the material, preferably a pattern can be formed, and like the metal coating layer or separately can be etched, so that the metal is good, More preferably, since the metal coating layer needs to perform a function of protecting the metal coating layer, the metal itself has a high corrosion resistance compared to the metal coating layer or a metal that can serve as a sacrificial electrode (ie, used in the metal coating layer). Metals with a standard reduction potential lower than that of the metals used). As a specific example of this, if the metal coating layer is copper (if the corrosion resistance itself is good) or aluminum or zinc or tin (if applied as a sacrificial electrode), silver or zinc if the metal coating layer is aluminum Or comment. In addition, various known methods may be applied to the formation of such a metal protective coating layer, and in order to be coated with a thin thickness, the coating may be preferably performed through deposition or sputtering including conventional vapor deposition. Do.

The pad for manufacturing a touch panel formed as described above is as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3A, and specific examples thereof. The pad for manufacturing a touch panel is a touch panel through a manufacturing method described below. It is formed of a contact panel.

In addition, the insulator layer, the conductive material coating layer and the metal coating layer is made of 10 to 1000 ㎛ in the case of an organic insulator, in the case of an inorganic insulator for durability of the panel, ease of manufacturing during etching of each layer, minimizing the step Is made of 100 to 3000 ㎛, the conductive material coating layer is made of 0.005 to 0.1 ㎛, the metal coating layer is made of 0.01 to 10 ㎛, the metal protective coating layer is preferably made of 0.005 to 10 ㎛, As the metal coating layer 300 and the conductive material coating layer 200, in particular, when the thickness of the ITO is formed may be easy in the etching process has a thickness in the above range to reduce the process and facilitate the production, The thickness of the insulator layer 100 can ensure durability if it is in the said range. More preferably, the thickness of the metal coating layer 300 is 0.5 to 0.6 ㎛, the thickness of the metal protective coating layer 350 is 0.1 to 0.4 ㎛, the thickness of the ITO layer when the conductive material coating layer 200 is ITO Is in a range of 0.01 to 0.02 μm and has excellent etching and pattern forming properties. The thickness of the insulator layer 100 is 50 to 175 μm when the insulator layer is an organic insulator. Good for compact size device manufacturing.

The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a touch panel including a resistive film type and a capacitive type using the pad for manufacturing the touch panel, which is the metal coating layer or the conductive material coating layer or the upper surface of the pad for manufacturing the touch panel described above. Partially etching the metal protective coating layer to prepare a pad having a pattern of the metal coating layer, the conductive material coating layer, or the metal protective coating layer. This is applicable to both a touch panel having a light transmitting portion and a touch panel not having a light transmitting portion. In the manufacturing method of the touch panel, the conductive material coating layer, the metal coating layer, and the metal protective coating layer are formed on the upper surface of the above-described pad for manufacturing the touch panel. The first step (i.e., (a) the conductive material coating layer, the metal coating layer and the metal protective coating layer at the same time by etching each or partially together to form a pad with a metal pattern, by etching the photolithography method to form a pattern, Thereafter, the metal coating layer and the metal protective coating layer are etched by the photolithography method each or together for pattern formation, or (b) the metal coating layer and the metal protective coating layer are etched by the photolithography method each or together for pattern formation, Afterwards, to form a pattern again, Pattern forming method such as etching the conductive material coating layer, wherein the pattern of the metal coating layer and the pattern of the metal protective coating layer may be the same (whole double layer), may be different from each other, or the metal protective coating layer may be completely removed. Pads may be fabricated.) And i) bonding the adhesive layer 400 and the dielectric layer 500 or a combination of 500/550 made of an insulating resin to an upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed, or ii) the pattern is formed. And a second step of inverting the other pads having the pattern formed on the top surface of the pads and spaced apart from each other.

That is, the metal coating layer and the metal protective coating layer formed on the uppermost surface of the pad for manufacturing the touch panel of the present invention described above may be partially etched to leave only the patterns corresponding to the electrodes and the wires. This is shown as a specific example in step (b) of FIG. 2 or step (b) of FIG. 3 (in this case, the final pad is manufactured in a form in which the metal protective coating layer is completely removed, and in this case, Accordingly, the metal protective coating layer having the same pattern as the metal coating layer may be formed on the upper surface of the metal coating layer, and thus may form a double layer, and the metal protective coating layer having a different pattern from the metal coating layer may be partially formed to form a double layer. May be.)

In addition, as described above, the conductive material exposed to the surface may be further etched according to the etching of the metal coating layer to further form a pattern of the conductive material coating layer. Thus, the metal pattern may be formed after the first step process. And partially etching the conductive material coating layer on the upper surface of the formed pad, thereby preparing a pad having a metal pattern and a pattern of the conductive material coating layer. This is as shown in the specific example in step (c) of Figure 2 or (c) of FIG. This is not an essential process, and if the pattern formation of the conductive material coating layer is not required separately, this may be omitted. As described above, the conductive material coating layer may also be etched together to form a pattern thereof when the metal coating layer is etched. .

Separate etching of the metal coating layer, the metal protective coating layer and the conductive material coating layer may be performed in a variety of known manners, and specific examples thereof may include aluminum, the metal coating layer is copper, and the conductive material coating layer is ITO. Etching of copper and aluminum may be etched using NaOH aqueous solution, and ITO may be separately etched by etching with FeCl ₃ aqueous solution. For this partial etching, a conventional photolithography method or other various partial etching methods may be applied, and the pattern formed here generally corresponds to the surface on which the touch panel is touched in the case of a conductive material coating layer. To form the shape of the conductive material coating layer to the surface corresponds to this, in the case of the metal coating layer having only a transmissive portion to form an electrode on top of the conductive material coating layer only (for example with FIGS. 2 to 4 2 to 4, the electrode shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 are broken in the longitudinal direction and formed into a plurality of electrodes). When the electrode does not have a light-transmitting part, a touch position can be detected on the upper surface of the conductive material coating layer. The pattern can be formed in the form.

As described above, in the case of the capacitive type, the pad having the pattern formed thereon is an

insulator layer

500 or 500 made of an adhesive layer 400 and an insulating resin on the upper surface of the pad on which the pattern is formed. / 550) is performed. 2 and 4 illustrate the case of having a light transmitting unit, otherwise, the blocking unit (screening unit) 550 as shown in the drawing becomes unnecessary and can be combined in a form except for this.

In addition, in the case of a capacitive touch panel manufacturing panel having a light-transmitting part, as shown in the drawings, a method of manufacturing a capacitive touch panel, the dielectric as the pad for manufacturing the capacitive touch panel described above. The film is a transparent dielectric film comprising polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC), the conductive material is a transparent conductive material including ITO or IZO, and the metal coating layer is formed by deposition or sputtering Aluminum or copper, and the metal protective coating layer is zinc (for the aluminum metal coating layer) or aluminum (for the copper metal coating layer) formed by deposition or sputtering, and partially etched the upper surface of the pad for manufacturing the capacitive touch panel. To form.

In the case of manufacturing a resistive touch panel, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a second 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 performed. It can be prepared by performing the. 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 touch panel manufactured by the manufacturing method as described above, which is a touch panel comprising a touch pad, the touch pad is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel described above with a metal coating layer Or a pad having a pattern of a conductive material coating layer or a metal protective coating layer formed thereon. This includes a capacitive touch panel and a resistive touch panel as described above, which are manufactured by the method of manufacturing a touch panel as described above, the structure of which is first capacitive In the capacitive touch panel, the insulator layer 100 having a thickness of 10 to 3000 μm is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel indicated by i) in the second step, and is formed on the upper surface of the insulator layer 100. A conductive material coating layer 200 having a pattern formed thereon with a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 μm, and a metal coating layer 300 having a pattern formed thereon with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 μm formed on the top surface of the conductive material coating layer 200 (here In addition, a pad made of a metal protective coating layer 350 may be further present on the upper surface of the metal coating layer), an adhesive layer 400 bonded to the upper surface of the pad, and the adhesive layer It may be configured to include a dielectric layer (500 or 500/550 combination) made of an insulating resin coupled to the upper surface of the (400). The conductive material coating layer 200 may be subjected to an etching step or may be omitted. 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.

This is as shown in the specific embodiment in Figure 4, the electrode in Figure 4 may be of integral length in the longitudinal direction, it can be composed of a plurality of electrodes separated into several. In the case shown in the drawing, a touch panel having a light transmitting portion is a schematic diagram in which the connection line from the electrode to the outside is omitted. Here, the conductive material (ITO) layer preferably has a structure slightly larger than the light transmitting portion of the insulator layer 500, the metal electrode may be disposed on the conductive material (ITO) layer as shown.

Through this, the blocking layer serves to cover the electrode and the lead wires connected to the electrodes (of course, the lead wires may be formed through partial etching of the metal coating layer). The blocking layer may be treated on the lower part of the insulator layer as shown, or may be treated on the upper part thereof.

Next, in the case of the resistive film method, in the resistive touch panel, the insulator layer 100 having a thickness of 10 to 3000 μm is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the touch panel indicated by ii) of the second step. A conductive material coating layer 200 having a pattern formed on the top surface of the insulator layer 100 with a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 μm, and a pattern having a thickness of 0.01 to 10 μm formed on the top surface of the conductive material coating layer 200. A lower surface pad formed of the formed metal coating layer 300 (in addition, a metal protective coating layer 350 may be further present on the upper surface of the metal coating layer), a separation film layer 600 bonded to the upper edge of the pad, and The insulator layer 100 is bonded to the upper surface of the separation film layer 600 and manufactured by the method for manufacturing a touch panel, which is indicated by ii) of the second step, and has a thickness of 10 to 3000 μm, wherein the insulation A conductive material coating layer 200 having a pattern formed on the bottom surface of the layer 100 with a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 μm, and a metal having a pattern formed on the bottom surface of the conductive material coating layer 200 with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 μm It may be configured to include a top pad made of a coating layer 300 (in addition, a metal protective coating layer 350 may be further present on the top surface of the metal coating layer). The conductive material coating layer 200 may be subjected to an etching step or may be omitted. 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.

Claims

An insulator layer made of an organic insulator or an inorganic insulator;

A conductive material coating layer formed on an upper surface of the insulator layer;

A metal coating layer formed on an upper surface of the conductive material coating layer; And,

Pad for manufacturing a touch panel comprising a metal protective coating layer formed on the upper surface of the metal coating layer.
The method of claim 1,

The metal protective coating layer is a pad for manufacturing a touch panel, characterized in that the metal coating layer.
The method of claim 1,

The organic insulator is a transparent or opaque organic insulator made of polyimide or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polycarbonate (PC),

The inorganic insulator is a transparent inorganic insulator made of glass,

The conductive material is a transparent conductive material consisting of ITO or IZO,

The metal coating layer is copper or aluminum,

The metal protective coating layer is silver or aluminum or zinc or tin when the metal coating layer is copper, the pad for manufacturing a touch panel, characterized in that the silver or zinc or tin when the metal coating layer is aluminum.
In the manufacturing method of the touch panel,

The pattern of the metal coating layer or the conductive material coating layer or the metal protective coating layer is formed by partially etching the metal coating layer or the conductive material coating layer or the metal protective coating layer on the upper surface of the pad for manufacturing the touch panel of claim 1. Method of manufacturing a touch panel comprising the step of manufacturing a pad.
In a touch panel including a touch pad,

The touch panel is manufactured by the method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 4, wherein the touch pad comprises a pad formed with a pattern of a metal coating layer, a conductive material coating layer or a metal protective coating layer.