TWM443890U - Touch electrode device - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch electrode device includes a substrate and at least one transparent electrode layer. The transparent electrode layer is disposed above a surface of the substrate. The transparent electrode layer includes a plurality of metal nanowires.

Description

M443890 V. New Description: [New Technology Field] [0001] This paper is about a touch electrode device, especially a flexible touch electrode device with a nanowire. [Prior Art] [0002] A touch display is an input/output device formed by combining sensing technology and display technology, and is commonly used in electronic devices such as portable and handheld electronic devices. • [0003] A capacitive touch panel is a commonly used touch panel that utilizes a capacitive coupling effect to detect a touch location. When the finger touches the surface of the capacitive touch panel, the capacitance at the corresponding position is changed, and the touch position is detected. [0004]

[0005] The first A diagram shows a top view of a conventional touch panel, and the first B diagram shows a cross-sectional view along section line 1B-1B' in the first A diagram. The first electrode 12 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 10, and the second electrode 14 is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 10. The first electrode 12 and the second electrode 14 may be substantially orthogonal to each other. The first electrode 12 and the second electrode 14 of the above conventional touch panel generally use indium tin oxide (I TO) as a transparent conductive material. The formation of indium tin oxide requires not only a complicated process but also an indium tin oxide material which is broken and cannot be electrically conductive when it is bent, so that it cannot be used to manufacture a flexible touch panel. [0006] In view of the complicated process of the conventional touch panel or the inability to manufacture a flexible touch panel, it is desirable to provide a novel touch electrode device for improving the disadvantages of the conventional touch panel. 10121627 制作编编& A〇101 Page 3 of 16 1012052778-0 M443890 [New Content] [0007] In view of the above, the present invention provides a touch electrode device that can be used to form a flexible touch. The electrode device can be directly exposed to development to simplify the process steps. According to the present creative embodiment, the touch electrode device includes a substrate and at least one transparent electrode layer. The transparent electrode layer is directly or indirectly disposed on the surface of the substrate, and the transparent electrode layer includes a plurality of nanowires. [Embodiment]

2A is a top view showing the touch electrode device 200 of the present embodiment.

The second B-picture shows a cross-sectional view of the second A-picture along section line 2-2', the drawing showing only the constituent elements associated with the embodiment. The touch electrode device 200 of the present embodiment mainly includes a substrate 21 and at least one transparent electrode layer 22, wherein the transparent electrode layer 22 can be directly disposed on a surface (for example, an upper surface) of the substrate 21. According to one of the features of the embodiment, the transparent electrode layer 22 contains a plurality of metal nanowires, such as silver metal wires, having an inner diameter of nanometers (ie, between several nanometers and hundreds of nanometers). ). The nanowire is fixed to the transparent electrode layer 22 by a plastic material such as a resin. Since the nanowire is very thin and can be observed by a human eye, the transparent electrode layer 22 composed of a nanowire has excellent light transmittance, and the overall thickness of the touch electrode device 200 is also lowered. Since the nanowires are distributed in a plane, the conductivity of the transparent electrode layer 22 composed of the nanowires is substantially equal in all directions of the plane. [0010] According to another feature of this embodiment, the transparent electrode layer 22 may further comprise a photosensitive material (e.g., acryl) which can be formed into a desired electrode pattern by an exposure development process. Compared with the pass 10121627# single number A0101 page 4 / a total of 16 pages 1012052778-0 [0011] M443890 'Because of the fact, the use of indium tin oxide (IT0) can be used to form the electrode layer process to make up the transparent electricity (4) 22 can directly perform the exposure process to simplify the process steps to reduce costs. = The features of the present embodiment described above, in the embodiment, the transparent electrode layer 22 containing the nanowire and the photosensitive material can be prepared in advance. ♦ When the touch control is performed, the surface electrode layer 22 is covered on the surface of the substrate 21 (4). The transparent 0 is placed in the exposure and developed, and the transparent electrode layer 22 having a desired shape is formed.

In the present embodiment, the substrate 21 comprises a flexible material such as polyester (

Polyester). Since the nanowire is very thin, when it is matched with the substrate 21, a flexible touch electrode device 2 can be formed. In contrast, indium tin oxide (IT0) is conventionally used as a transparent conductive material, and since indium tin oxide is easily broken, it is difficult to form a flexible touch electrode device, or its flexibility is much lower than that of the present embodiment (including The flexibility of the transparent conductive layer 22 of the nanowire). [0013] The second C-picture shows another cross-sectional structure of the touch electrode device 2, which further includes an insulating layer 23 disposed between the substrate 21 and the transparent conductive layer 22, and the transparent electrode layer 2 2 is indirectly disposed on the substrate. The surface of 21. In one embodiment, the insulating layer 23 may also comprise a photosensitive material which, by the exposure and development process, forms the desired shape on the substrate 21 together with the transparent electrode layer 22. The touch electrode device 200 shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C has a single-sided single-layer structure, that is, a single transparent electrode layer 22 is provided on a single surface of the substrate 21. However, the present embodiment also uses other structures such as a single-sided double-layered front or a double-sided structure. Figure 3A shows a top view of the touch electrode episode 300 of the single-sided double-layer structure, and the third B diagram shows the third A figure along the section line 3_3, 10121627# single number A0101, page 5/16 pages 1012052778 -0 M443890 Sectional view. Wherein, the first transparent electrode layer 22A and the second transparent electrode layer

22B is sequentially disposed on the same surface of the substrate 21, and the first transparent electrode layer 22A and the second transparent electrode layer 22B are electrically isolated by the insulating layer 23. The first/second transparent electrode layer 22A/22B may be made of a material containing a nanowire or the other may be a part of the transparent electrode layer 22A/22B (e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO)). [0015] FIG. 4A shows a top view of the touch electrode device 400 of the double-sided structure, and FIG. 4B shows a cross-sectional view of the fourth A picture taken along the section line 4-4. The first transparent electrode layer 22A and the second transparent electrode layer 22B are respectively disposed on opposite surfaces of the substrate 21. The first/second transparent electrode layer 22Α/22β may be made of a material containing a nanowire, or the partially transparent electrode layer 22A/22B may be made of another material (e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO)). [0016] Compared to the conventional touch electrodes, the touch electrode device 200/300/400 of the above embodiment uses the transparent electrode layer 22 containing a nanowire, and thus is flexible and easy to manufacture. The touch electrode device 200/300/400 of the above embodiment can be applied to various touch-related structures (especially capacitive touch structures), such as a touch panel or a touch display panel, to show the above advantages. A few examples will be given. [0017] FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view showing the touch display 3 to which the present embodiment is applied. For the sake of explanation, the drawings do not show all the components of the touch display 3. The touch display 3 shown in FIG. 5A is mainly formed by superimposing the display panel 3A and the touch panel 31. The display panel 3 〇〇 mainly includes a liquid crystal (ι) layer 31 and a color filter (CF) 32; the touch panel 310 mainly includes a polarizer 33 and a transparent electrode layer 22, wherein the transparent electrode layer 10121627 produces a single The number 22 is provided on the upper surface of the polarizer 33, and the polarizer 33 corresponds to the substrate 21 in the structure shown in the fourth A to the A0101 page 6/16 page 1012052778-0 M443890. The transparent electrode layer 22 shown in Fig. A may contain a single layer or a plurality of transparent electrode sublayers, such as the first transparent electrode layer 22A and the second transparent electrode layer 22B described above. The display panel 300 of the application embodiment may be a flexible display panel 300 (for example, a flexible display panel) and a flexible touch panel 310 for forming the flexible touch display 3. [0018] FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view showing the application of the present embodiment to another touch display 3'. Different from the fifth A diagram, the transparent electrode layer 22 of the application example shown in Fig. 5B is provided on the lower surface of the polarizer 33. [0019] In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 5B, the transparent electrode layer 22 is disposed on the upper surface of the color filter (CF) 32, and the color filter (CF) 32 is equivalent to the second A. The substrate 21 in the structure shown in the fourth to fourth drawings.

[0020] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the touch panel 5 to which the present embodiment is applied. In the present application embodiment, the first transparent electrode layer 22A, the insulating layer 23 and the second transparent electrode layer 22B are sequentially disposed on the lower surface of the cover glass 51, and the cover glass 51 corresponds to the second A to The substrate 21 in the structure shown in FIG. 4B can be a two-dimensional or three-dimensional contour, and is respectively applied to a two-dimensional or three-dimensional touch display. [0021] The various touch displays 3/3' /5 shown in the above fifth A to sixth figures only illustrate some applications of the touch electrode device 20 0/300/400 of the present creative embodiment, and are familiar with the technical field. The transparent electrode layer 22 of the present embodiment can also be applied to other flexible or non-flexible touch-related structures to replace the conventional electrode layer. [0022] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the patent application of the present invention, which is not limited to the creation of the patent number; Equivalent changes or modifications made in the spirit of the invention are intended to be included in the scope of the claims below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0023] The first A diagram shows a top view of a conventional touch panel. The first B diagram shows a cross-sectional view along the section line in the first A diagram. Figure 2A shows a top view of the touch electrode device of the present embodiment. Figure B is a cross-sectional view of the second A image taken along section line 2-2. The second C-picture shows another variation in the cross-sectional structure of the touch electrode device. Figure 3A shows a top view of the touch electrode device of another embodiment of the present invention. 〇 Figure 3B shows a cross-sectional view of the third A figure along the section line 3 - 3 '. 4A is a top view showing a touch electrode device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing the fourth A drawing along the face line 4-4. 5A to 5B show a cross section of the touch display using the embodiment.

Surface map. The sixth figure shows a cross-sectional view of the touch panel to which the present embodiment is applied. [Main component symbol description] [0024] 10 substrate 12 first electrode 14 second electrode 200 touch electrode device 300 touch electrode device 400 touch electrode device 10121627^^^^ A0101 page 8 / total 16 1012052778-0 M443890 21 substrate 22 transparent electrode layer 22A first transparent electrode layer 22B second transparent electrode layer 23 insulating layer 3 touch display 3, touch display 5 touch panel 300 display panel 310 touch panel 31 liquid crystal (LC) layer 32 color filter Light sheet (CF) 33 polarizer 51 cover glass

10121627# Single Number Delete 1 Page 9 / Total 16 Page 1012052778-0

Claims (1)

M443890 VI. Patent application scope: 1. A touch electrode device comprising: a substrate; and at least one transparent electrode layer disposed on a surface of the substrate, the transparent electrode layer comprising a plurality of nanowires. The touch electrode device of claim 1, further comprising an insulating layer disposed between the transparent electrode layer and the substrate. 3. The touch electrode device of claim 2, wherein the insulating layer comprises an insulating material. 4. The touch electrode device of claim 2, wherein the at least one transparent electrode layer comprises a first transparent electrode layer and a second transparent electrode layer, which are sequentially disposed on the same surface of the substrate; and the insulation The layer is disposed between the first transparent electrode layer and the second transparent electrode layer to be electrically isolated. 5. The touch electrode device of claim 1, wherein the at least one transparent electrode layer comprises a first transparent electrode layer and a second transparent electrode layer, respectively disposed on opposite surfaces of the substrate. 6. The touch electrode device of claim 1, wherein the nanowire comprises silver. 7. The touch electrode device of claim 1, wherein the inner diameter of the nanowire is between several nanometers and several hundred nanometers. 8. The touch electrode device of claim 1, wherein the transparent electrode layer further comprises a plastic material to fix the nanowires in the transparent electrode layer. The substrate of the touch electrode device of claim 1 is distributed in a plane. 10. The touch electrode device as described in claim 1 of the patent scope 1Q121627f, single number A0101, page 10/16 contains a flexible material. The touch electrode device of claim 1, wherein the transparent electrode layer further comprises a photosensitive material, such as the touch electrode device of claim 2, wherein the insulating layer further comprises a photosensitive material. . The touch electrode device according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the substrate &-polarized sheet' and the transparent electrode layer is provided on the upper surface or the lower surface of the polarized light #. _ The touch electrode device according to the first aspect of the patent application of the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the 包含美柘• includes a ... electrode layer -= -t* face. The touch electrode device of claim 2, wherein the substrate comprises a cover glass, and the at least one transparent electrode layer is disposed on a lower surface of the cover glass. The touch electrode device according to claim 15, wherein the transparent cough to the small transparent electrode layer comprises a first transparent electrode layer and a second transparent electric layer (four), = a transparent electrode layer of the art towel, the insulating layer and The second transparent electrode layer is sequentially disposed on the lower surface of the cover glass. Page 11 of 16 10121627^卓号 A0101 1012052778-0