KR20110002546A - Touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

It relates to a touch panel of the present invention. The touch panel includes a top plate, a bottom plate, and a spacer. The upper plate and the lower plate are disposed up and down to face each other, and transparent electrodes are formed on the upper plate and the lower plate, respectively. The spacer is disposed between the top plate and the bottom plate so that the top plate and the bottom plate are spaced apart from each other. The upper plate and the lower plate include a viewing area and a switch area spaced apart from the viewing area. A protruding electrode pattern is formed on at least one of a lower surface of the upper plate and an upper surface of the lower plate corresponding to the switch region. Protruding electrode patterns are formed in the portion corresponding to the membrane switch of the touch panel so that the upper and lower plates can operate at a lower operating pressure in the portion, thereby improving the ease of use of the touch panel and making the membrane switch smaller. .

Description

Touch Panel {Touch Panel}

The present invention relates to a touch panel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a touch panel having a structure with improved operating pressure.

Touch panels are widely used as input devices for various electronic devices.

The touch panel is mainly configured and used together with an image display device such as a flat panel display, and it is common to operate by touching a specific point of the touch panel with a finger or a pen. Such a touch panel is typically a resistive type consisting of two resistive sheets arranged so as to be insulated by dot spacers and to be in contact with each other by being pressed. Various types of touch panels are known, such as capacitive type, ultrasonic type, optical (infrared) sensor type, and electromagnetic induction type.

Among the various touch panels, the resistive touch panel is widely used as an input device such as a mobile phone, an electronic notebook, a PDA, a portable PC, in combination with a liquid crystal display device, and is different in thin, small, light weight, and power consumption. It is known to have advantages over. In addition, the resistive touch panel has a matrix method and an analog method according to a detection method, and the analog method uses a 4-wire resistive film method, a 5-wire resistive film method, and an 8-wire resistive film depending on the wiring of electrodes for detecting touch points. Method and the like.

The resistive touch panel has an upper plate and a lower plate on which transparent electrodes are formed, respectively. For example, the upper and lower plates of the touch panel may be implemented in the form of a conductive film formed by sputtering ITO or the like on a transparent plastic film such as a PET film to form a transparent electrode.

When used with a device such as a mobile phone, the touch panel corresponds to a view area (also called an "active area") where the part is formed transparent so that the user can see the screen of the display device under the touch panel. It is usually formed to be.

On the other hand, recently, a switch in the form of a button necessary for a function such as a mobile phone is provided in a portion other than the viewing area, and such a switch is called a membrane switch. In this case, the upper plate and the lower plate of the touch panel are not formed to be limited to the viewing area, but are formed to simultaneously cover the region where the viewing area and the membrane switch are formed, and the upper plate at the portion corresponding to the membrane switch, similar to the portion corresponding to the viewing area. The lower plate and the lower plate face each other at a predetermined interval and a dot spacer is formed on the lower plate.

An image such as an icon indicating a function corresponding to the membrane switch may be displayed on an upper surface of the upper plate corresponding to the membrane switch, and for example, an image representing a call button of a mobile phone may be displayed.

When the user presses a portion corresponding to the membrane switch, when the upper and lower plates of the portion come into contact with each other, a function corresponding to the membrane switch may be performed by outputting a corresponding signal.

In this case, the part where the membrane switch is formed and the upper plate of the viewing area are formed of the same material, but since the membrane switch is generally formed to be much smaller than the viewing area of the touch panel, a relatively large operating pressure is required to operate the membrane switch. There was a problem.

In addition, since the operating pressure of the membrane switch of the touch panel is large, it is inconvenient for a user to press the membrane switch, and there is a problem that damage to the upper plate of the membrane switch part may occur due to repeated use.

The present invention was created to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel having a structure in which the operating pressure in the switch portion is improved.

Touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes an upper plate and a lower plate, and a spacer. The upper plate and the lower plate are disposed up and down to face each other, and transparent electrodes are formed on the upper plate and the lower plate, respectively. The spacer is disposed between the top plate and the bottom plate so that the top plate and the bottom plate are spaced apart from each other. The upper plate and the lower plate include a viewing area and a switch area spaced apart from the viewing area. A protruding electrode pattern is formed on at least one of a lower surface of the upper plate and an upper surface of the lower plate corresponding to the switch region.

A dot spacer and a protruding electrode pattern may be formed on an upper surface of the lower plate corresponding to the switch region, and the height of the protruding electrode pattern may be higher than the height of the dot spacer.

The upper plate and the lower plate may include a plurality of switch regions, and the plurality of switch regions may be divided by the spacers.

According to the present invention, the protruding electrode pattern is formed in a portion corresponding to the membrane switch of the touch panel, so that the upper and lower plates can operate at a lower operating pressure in the portion, thereby improving the convenience of use of the touch panel and providing a membrane switch. It can be designed smaller.

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

In the drawings, the thickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc., are exaggerated for clarity. Like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the specification. When a part, such as a layer or plate, is said to be "above" or "below" another part, this includes not only the other part "just above" or "just below" but also another part in the middle. . On the contrary, when a part is “just above” or “just below” another part, there is no other part in the middle.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an upper plate 101 and a lower plate 103 disposed up and down to face each other.

Although not specifically illustrated in the drawing, transparent electrodes are formed on the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103, respectively.

For example, each of the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 may be formed by forming a transparent electrode on a substrate formed of an electrically insulating transparent material. Specifically, the upper plate 101 may be formed by patterning a transparent conductive film on a lower surface of a substrate formed of an electrically insulating transparent material such as a stretchable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film or thin glass, and then forming an electrode. Similarly, the lower plate 103 may be formed by patterning a transparent conductive film on an upper surface of a substrate formed of an electrically insulating transparent material such as a stretchable PET film or thin glass, and then forming an electrode. In this case, the transparent conductive film may be formed of a transparent material having electrical conductivity such as indium tin oxide (ITO), and the electrode may be formed of silver. In addition, the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 of the touch panel may be formed by any method known in the art.

In addition, a dot spacer 111 may be formed on the lower plate 103. The dot spacer 111 performs a function of maintaining an appropriate gap between the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103. The dot spacer 111 may be formed of a polymer material having elasticity, and may be formed by a method such as screen printing.

In addition, a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 300 for applying an electrical signal to the electrodes of the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 may be inserted in a state sandwiched between the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103. FPC 300, the top plate 101 for implementing the function of the touch panel. And since the structure and operation of the lower plate 103 is apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs, more detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Meanwhile, the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a spacer 105 disposed between the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103.

Referring to FIG. 2, a spacer 105 is disposed between the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 along the circumference of the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103. That is, when the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 has a rectangular shape, the spacer 105 has a rectangular annular shape with an empty center.

Spacer 105 is a double-sided tape, double-sided adhesive, silver paste (silver paste). And an electrically insulating material having adhesiveness such as an insulating paste. The spacer 105 may be formed by a plurality of printing processes.

The upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 include a viewing area 201 and a switch area 203. Here, the viewing area 201 is an area corresponding to a screen of a display device such as a mobile phone under the touch panel (also referred to as an "active area"), and the switch area 203 is used by the touch panel separately from the viewing area. It refers to the area that acts as a switch (also called a "membrane switch") to perform the function of the equipment (for example, a mobile phone).

The viewing area 201 is transparently formed as a portion corresponding to a screen of a display such as a mobile phone on which a touch panel is mounted, and the switch area 203 is spaced apart from the viewing area 201 and is required for a function of a mobile phone or the like. This part is equivalent to.

The switch region 203 may be formed in a plurality outside the viewing area 201 as shown in the figure. However, the position and number of the switch regions 203 are not limited to those shown in the drawings and may be variously changed.

In this case, the portion of the spacer 105 corresponding to the viewing area 201 and the portion corresponding to the switch area 203 are formed through the empty space.

The protruding electrode pattern 301 may be formed on at least one of the lower surface of the upper plate 101 and the upper surface of the lower plate 103 corresponding to the switch region 203. Although the drawing shows that the protruding electrode pattern 301 is formed only on the upper surface of the lower plate 103, the protruding electrode pattern may be formed only on the lower surface of the upper plate 101 or the upper surface and the upper plate 101 of the lower plate 103. It may be formed on the lower surface at the same time.

The protruding electrode pattern 301 may be formed of a metal material having electrical conductivity, for example, may be implemented in a silver pattern.

A dot spacer 303 may also be formed on the upper surface of the lower plate 103 corresponding to the switch region 203, and the height of the protruding electrode pattern 301 may be higher than that of the dot spacer 303. Can be.

As the protruding electrode pattern 301 is formed on the upper surface of the lower plate 103, when the user presses the upper plate 101 corresponding to the switch area 201, the protruding electrode pattern before the upper plate 101 contacts the lower plate 103. By contacting 301 first, even if a smaller operating pressure is applied, the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 may be electrically connected to implement a desired switch function. Therefore, the operating pressure of the switch region is reduced, so that the convenience of use of the touch panel can be improved and further, the operating pressure can be designed to be small, so that the design margin of the switch can be made even smaller. In particular, by forming the protruding electrode pattern 301 to be higher than the dot spacer 303, the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 can be electrically connected by a smaller operating pressure.

Meanwhile, the upper plate 101 and the lower plate 103 may include a plurality of switch regions 203, and the plurality of switch regions 203 may be divided by the spacers 105. That is, as shown in the figure, a plurality of switch regions 203 spaced apart from each other in which switches with respective functions are formed may be provided, and the switch regions 203 may be divided by the spacers 105. have. However, the number and positions of the switch regions 203 are not limited to those shown in the drawings and may be variously changed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is recognized that the present invention is easily changed and equivalent by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Includes all changes and modifications to the scope of the matter.

1 is a perspective view of a touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an exploded perspective view of a touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1.

Claims (3)

It is disposed up and down to face each other, the upper plate and the lower plate formed with transparent electrodes, respectively, and A spacer disposed between the upper plate and the lower plate such that the upper plate and the lower plate are spaced apart from each other; The upper plate and the lower plate includes a viewing area and a switch area spaced apart from the viewing area, And a protruding electrode pattern formed on at least one of a lower surface of the upper plate and an upper surface of the lower plate corresponding to the switch region. In claim 1, A dot spacer and a protruding electrode pattern are respectively formed on an upper surface of the lower plate corresponding to the switch region. And a height of the protruding electrode pattern is higher than that of the dot spacer. The method of claim 1 or 2, The upper plate and the lower plate includes a plurality of switch regions, And the plurality of switch regions are divided by the spacers.

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