WO2016123810A1

WO2016123810A1 - Capacitive touch screen and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2016123810A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/072453
Authority: WO
Inventors: 刘自鸿; 余晓军; 魏鹏; 邹翔; 周瑜; 陈鑫
Original assignee: 深圳市柔宇科技有限公司
Priority date: 2015-02-06
Filing date: 2015-02-06
Publication date: 2016-08-11
Also published as: CN105493014A; CN105493014B

Abstract

A capacitive touch screen (10), comprising a base material (12) and a conductive layer (14) arranged on said base material (12), the conductive layer (14) comprising a sensing area (20) positioned in the middle and a lead wire area (22) positioned at the edge. The lead wire area (22) comprises an inner side (32) nearest to the sensing area (20), an outer side (34) furthest from the sensing area (20), and a first side (36) and a second side (38) connecting the inner side (32) and the outer side (34) and arranged opposite to one another, the lead wire area (22) also comprising pins (39) extending from the inner side (32) toward the outer side (34). The lead wire area (22) also comprises a non-conductive area (40) positioned between the inner side (32) and the outer side (34) and extending from the first side (36) toward the second side (38), the non-conductive area (40) intersecting each pin (39). In a segmentation procedure, even if the segmentation position shifts, because of the arrangement of the non-conductive area (40), the pins (39) cannot short-circuit, resolving the problems described in the background to the invention and improving manufacturing yield.

Description

Capacitive touch screen and manufacturing method thereof

Technical field

The present invention relates to a touch screen, and more particularly to a capacitive touch screen and a method of fabricating the same.

Background technique

At present, the mainstream touch screen mainly comprises a protective cover, a glass or a film substrate, and a functional layer attached to the surface of the substrate for sensing the touch and connecting the outside, specifically comprising a sensing region formed in the middle of the surface of the substrate and having a shape formed at the edge of the substrate A lead area of multiple pins for connecting a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC). In the current mainstream manufacturing process, a plurality of the above functional layers are formed on the substrate by yellow lithography or screen printing, and then divided to obtain a plurality of touch screens. Under the above process, except for the pattern in the sensing region and the leads in the lead region, the conductive material is removed or not printed elsewhere on the substrate, that is, there is a gap between the lead regions, and the segmentation It is not easy to cause a short circuit.

Compared with the above mainstream processes, the laser process has the advantages of simple process and less chemical pollution, so the application is also increasingly widespread. During the laser process, a conductive layer is first disposed on the substrate, and then the laser is irradiated around the desired pattern and the leads to form the sensing region and the lead region. Under the laser process, unnecessary portions of the conductive layer are not completely removed, and the lead region is formed by cutting at one end away from the sensing region. When cutting, it is necessary to cut exactly at the end of the pin. However, in actual production, it is difficult to be completely accurate. If the split position is located at the end of the pin away from the side of the sensing area, a short circuit occurs between the pins due to the unremoved conductive portion; if it is biased toward the side of the sensing area, the edge of the substrate may be deformed after being divided, especially It is a film substrate. When the pitch of adjacent pins is relatively small, adjacent pins are likely to be short-circuited due to deformation of the substrate. Therefore, any situation will reduce the yield.

Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a capacitive touch screen that can solve the above technical problems and a method of fabricating the same.

A capacitive touch screen includes a substrate and a conductive layer disposed on the substrate, the conductive layer including a sensing region in the middle and a lead region at the edge. The lead region includes an inner side adjacent to the sensing region, an outer side away from the sensing region, and a first side and a second side connecting the opposite sides of the inner and outer sides, the lead region further including an outer side extending from the inner side to the outer side Pin. The lead region further includes a non-conductive region extending from the first side to the second side between the inner side and the outer side, the non-conductive region intersecting each of the pins.

A method of fabricating a capacitive touch screen, comprising: providing a substrate; disposing a conductive layer on the substrate; forming a sensing region in the middle of the conductive layer; and a lead region at an edge of the conductive layer; wherein the lead region includes An inner side of the sensing region, an outer side away from the sensing region, and a first side and a second side connecting the opposite inner and outer sides, the lead region further including a pin extending from the inner side to the outer side; A non-conductive region extending from the first side to the second side is formed between the inner side and the outer side of the region, the non-conductive region intersecting each of the leads; and the conductive layer and the substrate are divided along an outer side of the lead region.

Under the technical solution of the present invention, even if the split position is shifted during the splitting process, the pins cannot be short-circuited due to the arrangement of the non-conductive regions, which solves the problems described in the background art and improves the yield.

DRAWINGS

The following figures are used to describe various embodiments of the invention in detail in conjunction with the specific embodiments. It should be understood that the various elements of the present invention are not to be construed as a

1 is a flow chart of a method of fabricating a capacitive touch screen according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a side view showing the laser light irradiated on a conductive layer provided on a substrate according to the manufacturing method of FIG. 1.

3 is a plan view of a capacitive touch screen fabricated in accordance with the method of FIG. 1.

4 is a microscopic view showing a portion irradiated with and not irradiated in a partial region of the nanosilver film of FIG. 1.

5 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of a sensing region and a lead region on the capacitive touch screen of FIG. 3, in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

6 is an enlarged schematic view showing a portion of a sensing area and a lead area on a capacitive touch screen according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view showing a portion of a sensing area and a lead area on a capacitive touch screen according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to a plurality of embodiments and the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

The present invention provides a capacitive touch screen and a method of fabricating the same. In the following embodiments, a method of manufacturing a capacitive touch screen will be described first. However, in the description process, the structure of the capacitive touch screen is also mentioned to better The manufacturing method is described. Therefore, the description of the structure of the capacitive touch screen is not separately described in the present specification. The structure of the capacitive touch screen can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art according to the description of the manufacturing method.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 , which are flowcharts of a method for fabricating a capacitive touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention, including the following steps:

Step S10: Providing the substrate 12. The substrate 12 can be made of a transparent material, such as glass or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to facilitate the production of touch-enabled display screen modules or other applications requiring transparency. When the capacitive touch screen 10 is required to have flexibility, the optional PET is used to fabricate the substrate 12, which has the advantages of good light transmission and flexibility, and is easy to manufacture. In the present embodiment, the substrate 12 made of PET may have a thickness of about 0.01 to 0.5 millimeters (mm), preferably 0.015 to 0.2 mm, more preferably 0.1 mm, and the substrate in this thickness has a thickness. Good flexibility. Of course, the thickness of the substrate 12 may be other options as well as other non-transparent materials, such as metals.

Step S20: A conductive layer 14 is provided on the substrate 12. The conductive layer 14 may be a transparent conductive metal film having a nanometer dimension, including a film formed of a single metal, an alloy, a metal compound or any combination thereof in a nanometer dimension, such as a film including a nano wire, a film including a nano metal particle, The film including the nano metal mesh may of course be a graphene film, a carbon nanotube film, an organic conductive polymer film, an indium tin oxide (ITO) film or any combination thereof. In this embodiment, the conductive layer 14 is a transparent conductive nano-silver film, which is a film comprising a polymer matrix having nano-silver filaments, and the nano-silver filaments are uniformly distributed in the film to make the film transparent. And conductive features. The nanosilver film can be formed on the substrate 12 by coating, silk printing or spraying. The substrate 12 and the nanosilver film 14 disposed on one surface thereof constitute the basic elements of the capacitive touch screen 10. Preferably, the capacitive touch screen 10 further includes a protective layer 16 on the side of the substrate 12 facing away from the conductive layer 14, and the protective layer 16 may be fixed to the substrate 12 by a scratch-resistant material such as a polycarbonate material or the like.

Step S30: forming a sensing region 20 located in the middle of the conductive layer 14 and a lead region 22 at the edge of the conductive layer 14. In the present embodiment, the sensing region 20 and the lead region 22 are formed by a laser process. to make. Specifically, adjusting the parameters of the laser light 11 allows the laser light 11 to change the transparent conductive properties of the nanosilver film into a transparent and non-conductive manner without removing it. The laser parameters include pulse width, pulse flux, pulse energy, spot size, pulse repetition rate, and the like. In the case where the appropriate respective parameters described above are selected, after the laser 11 irradiates the nanosilver film, the nanosilver in the irradiated portion will change from conductive to non-conductive, and at the same time, the transparency of the irradiated portion hardly changes, and The exposed portion of the nanosilver film is hardly peeled off.

Since the above process is prior art, it will not be described here. It is essential that the definition of conductive and non-conductive is relative to the field of printed electronics, touch sensing or optoelectronics. For example, a square resistance of about 30 to 250 Ω/sq can be considered to be electrically conductive, and a square resistance of about 20 MΩ/sq can be considered to be non-conductive. However, it should be understood that in different fields, the conductive and non-conductive may be differently defined, and the above laser parameters are set according to specific application scenarios.

Referring to Fig. 4, it is shown in an enlarged manner that the portion of the conductive layer 14 is partially irradiated with the laser irradiation portion 24 and the portions thereof which are not irradiated with laser light. As shown in Fig. 4, it can be seen that the transparent characteristic and the conductive portion of the laser irradiated portion 24 are slightly changed after being placed 200 times larger. Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish the portion irradiated by the laser by the naked eye without any magnification tool. 24 and the portion not irradiated with the laser, which is verified in the actual product, that is, the laser irradiated portion 24 after being irradiated by the laser 11 is also transparent.

Please refer to FIG. 5 again, which is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of the sensing region 20 and the lead region 22 on the capacitive touch screen of FIG. The sensing region 20 has a pattern 26 for sensing a touch, and a row line 28 and a column line 29 drawn from the pattern 26, wherein the row line 28 and the column line 29 are both disposed on one side of the sensing region 20. The lead region 22 includes an inner side 32 proximate the sensing region 20, an outer side 34 remote from the sensing region 20, and an oppositely disposed first side 36 and second side 38 connecting the inner side 32 and the outer side 34. The lead region 22 has a plurality of pins 39 formed by laser irradiation lines, and the leads 39 are connected to corresponding row lines 28 and column lines 29. The pin 39 extends from the inner side 32 to the outer side 34, and in the present embodiment Extends in a straight line.

During the production process, the laser illuminates the conductive layer from the outer side 34 to the inner side 32 from the lead region 22 and directly enters the sensing region 22 such that the lead 39 and its corresponding row line 28 or column line 29 are generated at a time. In this way, in the process of manufacturing the entire capacitive touch screen, it is not necessary to separately complete the lead area and the sensing area of the touch screen by two processes, and only one laser process is needed, thereby improving the production efficiency.

Step S40: forming a non-conductive region 40 extending from the first side 36 to the second side 38 between the inner side 32 and the outer side 34 of the lead region 22. In the present embodiment, the non-conductive region 40 is a portion in which the nanosilver film is transparent and non-conductive after being irradiated by the laser beam 11 without being removed. A portion of the non-conductive region 40 is shown in FIG. 5. The non-conductive region 40 is a non-conductive line extending from the first side 36 to the second side 38 and intersects the pins and is perpendicular to each other. Preferably, the non-conductive region 40 is relatively close to the outer side 34 compared to the inner side 32, and the distance between the non-conductive region 40 and the outer side 34 is greater than the segmentation error. As such, each pin 39 can have a longer length to be connected to the FPC. It should be understood that the non-conductive region 40 is not limited to a wire, and may have a larger width, such as a rectangle; in addition, the non-conductive region 40 may also extend from the first side 36 to the second side 38 with each pin 39. The intersecting oblique directions, that is, are not perpendicular to each other, as shown in FIG. 6; alternatively, the non-conductive region 40 may also be a curve extending from the first side 36 to the second side 38, and is not limited to a straight line, as shown in FIG. .

Step S50: dividing the conductive layer 14 and the substrate 12 along the outer side 34 of the lead region 22. In this way, a plurality of independent touch screens 10 with touch sensing functions can be formed. During the segmentation process, if the segmentation position is located on the side of the outer side 34 away from the sensing region 20, the short-circuit phenomenon does not occur between the pins 39 due to the non-conductive region 40; if the segmentation position is biased toward the side of the sensing region 20, Since the distance between the non-conductive region 40 and the outer side 34 is greater than the division error, the offset position after the offset is not located on the side of the non-conductive region 40 close to the sensing region 20. in this way. Even if the substrate is deformed after the division, the situation described in the background art occurs, and the pins 39 are not disposed due to the non-conductive region 40. A short circuit occurs. Thus, the present invention solves the problems described in the background art by the arrangement of the non-conductive regions 40, improving the yield yield.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection of the present invention. Within the scope.

Claims

A capacitive touch screen includes a substrate and a conductive layer disposed on the substrate, the conductive layer including a sensing region in the middle and a lead region at the edge; the lead region includes an inner side adjacent to the sensing region, away from An outer side of the sensing region and a first side and a second side connecting the opposite inner and outer sides, the lead portion further comprising a pin extending from the inner side to the outer side; wherein the lead region further comprises a non-conductive region extending from the first side to the second side between the inner side and the outer side, the non-conductive area intersecting each of the pins.
The capacitive touch screen of claim 1 , wherein the conductive layer is one of a thin film comprising a metal having a nanometer dimension, a carbon nanotube film, a graphene film, an organic conductive polymer film, an ITO film, or any combination thereof .
The capacitive touch screen of claim 1 wherein the conductive layer comprises a nanosilver film.
The capacitive touch screen of claim 1 further comprising a protective layer on a side of the substrate opposite the conductive layer.
The capacitive touch screen of claim 1 wherein the non-conductive region is a non-conductive line extending from the first side to the second side.
The capacitive touch screen according to claim 5, wherein the non-conductive line is a straight line extending from the sixth side to the second side.
The capacitive touch screen of claim 6 wherein the non-conductive lines are perpendicular to the pins.
The capacitive touch screen of claim 5 wherein the non-conductive line is a curve extending from the first side to the second side.
A method for manufacturing a capacitive touch screen, comprising:

Providing a substrate;

Providing a conductive layer on the substrate;

Forming a sensing region intermediate the conductive layer and a lead region at an edge of the conductive layer; wherein the lead region includes an inner side adjacent to the sensing region, an outer side away from the sensing region, and a relative arrangement connecting the inner side and the outer side a first side and a second side, the lead region further comprising a pin extending from the inner side to the outer side;

Forming a non-conductive region extending from the first side to the second side between the inner side and the outer side of the lead region, the non-conductive region intersecting each of the pins;

The conductive layer and the substrate are divided along the outside of the lead region.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the step of disposing a conductive layer on the substrate comprises coating, silk-screening or spraying a thin film comprising a nano-scale metal on the substrate, carbon nanotubes One of a film, a graphene film, an organic conductive polymer film, an ITO film, or any combination thereof.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the step of disposing a conductive layer on the substrate comprises coating a nano-silver film on the substrate.
The method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of providing a protective layer on a side of the substrate opposite to the conductive layer after the step of providing the substrate.
The manufacturing method according to claim 9, wherein in the step of forming a sensing region located in the middle of the conductive layer and a lead region located at an edge of the conductive layer, the sensing region and the lead region are formed by a laser process .
The fabricating method according to claim 13, wherein in the step of forming a non-conductive region extending from the first side to the second side between the inner side and the outer side of the lead region, the non-conductive The zone is a non-conductive wire formed by a laser process.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the non-conductive wire is a straight line extending from the first side to the second side.
The fabricating method according to claim 15, wherein the non-conductive wire is perpendicular to each of the leads.
The method according to claim 16, wherein the non-conductive line is a curve extending from the first side to the second side.