JPH07152487A - Touch panel and display element with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the number of switches per unit area and to make a malfunction of the touch panel and the work failure hard to occur by devising the pattern of electrodes so that a spacer located between a pair of bases with electrodes of the touch panel does not come into contact with the electrodes at the side of the base. CONSTITUTION:In the touch panel locating bases 1 and 5 with electrodes forming transparent electrodes 2 and 6 in a pair of stripe shape at intervals so that the electrodes surface are made opposite each other and the direction of the stripe of the electrodes 2 and 6 does not make parallel by arranging a spacer 3 between bases, a notched part 4 with the stripe electrodes 1 and 5 of the bases 1 and 5 notched in the recessed shape in the nearby area having no electrodes 2 and 6 of the bases 1 and 5. The spacer 3 is located at the part having no electrodes 1 and 5 surrounded by the notched part 4. Thus, the wide electrodes can be provided so that the electrode resistance can be made low and the number of switches per unit area can be increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a touch panel and a display device with a touch panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a touch panel, two electrode-formed substrates having transparent electrodes formed in stripes are arranged at intervals such that the electrode surfaces face each other, and the upper and lower electrodes are pushed by pressing the upper surface of the substrate. This is detected because they come into contact with each other or the interval becomes narrow. In order to prevent the electrodes of the upper and lower substrates from coming into contact with each other when they are not pressed, spacers are partially provided in a dotted or linear pattern between the pair of substrates with electrodes to control the substrate gap. It is being appreciated.
This spacer is usually provided at a portion where the electrodes are not opposed to each other except for the switch portion.

In such a touch panel, the number of switch parts has been increasing recently. When the number of switch portions was small, the distance between the stripe-shaped transparent electrode provided on the substrate and the adjacent electrode could be widened. Therefore, the spacer for keeping the space could be formed in the portion where the electrode does not exist.

However, the number of switch parts of the touch panel per unit area has increased, and it has become necessary to narrow the pitch of the electrodes. When the pitch of the electrodes is narrowed, the width of the electrodes and the width of the electrode gap between the adjacent electrodes are inevitably narrowed. Furthermore, since the resistance increases as the width of the electrodes becomes narrower, in order to suppress noise and detect many switches, it is desirable to make the width of the electrodes as wide as possible by narrowing the width of the electrode gap between adjacent electrodes. There is also a demand for.

[0005]

As described above, when the width of the electrode gap between the adjacent electrodes is narrowed, the spacer for holding the substrate gap is also formed on the electrode. The spacer is usually composed of particles and an adhesive for keeping the gap constant. Since the touch panel is premised on pressing the substrates, the space normally formed between the two substrates is not sealed. For this reason, after a lapse of time, moisture may intrude from the outside, the resistance of the spacer portion may decrease, and a current may flow to cause a malfunction.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a pair of stripe-shaped transparent electrodes-formed substrates with electrodes is provided with spacers between the substrates. In a touch panel in which the electrode surfaces are opposed to each other so that the directions of the electrode stripes are not parallel to each other and the electrodes are arranged with a space therebetween, a region where neither of the two striped electrodes of the two substrates exists The present invention is characterized in that a notched portion is formed by cutting out at least one of the striped electrodes of the substrate in a concave shape in the vicinity, and a spacer is arranged in a portion surrounded by the notched portion where the electrode does not exist. It provides a touch panel.

In addition, a notch is formed by cutting the striped electrodes of both substrates in a concave shape in the vicinity of a region where both striped electrodes of the two substrates do not exist. And a touch panel and a display element with the touch panel arranged in front of the display element.

In the present invention, the number of switches per unit area is adjusted by devising the electrode pattern so that the spacer disposed between the pair of electrode-attached substrates of the touch panel does not contact the electrodes on at least one substrate side. It is possible to increase the number of the touch panels and prevent malfunctions and malfunctions of the touch panel.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the basic configuration of the touch panel of the present invention, showing a state in which two substrates are stacked.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a first substrate such as glass or plastic, and 2A to 2D are In ₂ O _3- formed on the inner surface thereof.
Stripe electrodes such as SnO ₂ (ITO) and SnO ₂ , 3 for 2
Spacer for regulating the gap between the substrates, 4 is a notch formed in the striped electrodes 2A to 2D, 5 is a second substrate such as glass or plastic, and 6A to 6D are formed on the inner surface thereof. Striped electrodes such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ (ITO) and SnO ₂ are denoted by 7, and a switch portion DD formed at the intersection of the electrodes 2D and 6D.

The first substrate 1 side is shown by a solid line, and the second substrate 5 side is shown by a broken line. FIG. 2 is a front view showing only the first substrate 1 side of FIG. FIG. 3 shows the second substrate 5 of FIG.
It is the front view which showed only the side. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 8 indicates a notch formed in the electrodes 6A to 6D.

In the present invention, in the vicinity of a region where neither of the striped electrodes of the two substrates 1 and 5 exists, at least one striped electrode of one substrate is provided with a notch portion which is cut out in a concave shape. The spacer 3 is formed and is provided in a portion surrounded by the notch where the electrode does not exist. The example of this figure shows the most preferable example, and notches 4 and 8 are provided in both electrodes.

In the present invention, the substrate of the touch panel is In ₂ O ₃ -SnO ₂ (IT
O), SnO ₂ or another transparent electrode patterned in a stripe shape can be used. Usually, the substrates with electrodes may be arranged so as to oppose each other so that the transparent electrodes patterned in stripes on the two substrates are orthogonal to each other. The striped electrodes may cross each other at an angle of 60 °, for example. Further, one may be formed in an arc shape and the other may be formed in a radial shape, and the intersection of the two may form the switch unit.

As the striped electrode, a linear or grid electrode made of a low resistance material such as a metal such as chromium, nickel, or aluminum may be added to the striped transparent electrode.
Further, the terminal portions are provided at the end portions of the respective substrates in the examples of these figures, but conductive connections may be made between the substrates and concentrated on one substrate.

In the present invention, each intersection of the striped electrodes constitutes one switch. Normally, when the electrodes of the two substrates come into contact with each other by pressing the substrates, it is detected that the switch is turned on. Of course, it may be possible to detect that the gap between the two substrates is narrowed by pressing the substrates.

In the present invention, the spacer is arranged in the portion where the striped electrode does not exist, that is, in the portion surrounded by the four switch portions. For example, spacer 3 in Figure 1
The spacers are provided between the electrodes 2A and 2B of the substrate 1 and between the electrodes 6A and 6B of the substrate 5.

The periphery of the spacer 3 is cut out in a concave shape for both the electrodes 2A and 2B of the substrate 1,
A cutout portion is formed. Similarly, electrode 6 on substrate 5
Both A and 6B are notched in a concave shape. In this example, notches are formed in both electrodes, but the effect of the present invention can be obtained even if only the electrodes on one side of the substrate are used. However, it is more preferable to cut out both.

That is, if the notch is formed even in the electrode of only one of the substrates, the resistance between the electrodes of the two substrates does not decrease, and the malfunction is reduced. However, in this case, a resistance drop may occur between the adjacent electrodes, which may adversely affect it. Therefore, it is preferable to form the cutout portions in the electrodes of both substrates. However, if the shape of the touch panel is largely deviated from the square and the electrode width on one side may be narrowed, that is, the gap between adjacent electrodes may be wide, the electrode on that side may not be cut out. Also, malfunction can be prevented.

The width of the striped electrode with the adjacent electrode can be narrowed to about 20 to 30 μm even if it is narrow in view of productivity, so that it is usually set to about 20 to 200 μm. For this reason, the notch portion of the electrode may be cut to such an extent that the spacer does not contact the electrode at the time of forming a spacer to be described later, and thus the notch portion may be set to about 0.1 to 2 mm.

The spacers arranged between a pair of electrodes-equipped substrates of this touch panel are usually solids such as inorganic substances such as alumina and silica, resin particles, and fiber cuts such as glass fibers for controlling a constant substrate gap. It is formed of an adhesive containing particles of. In the present invention, since this spacer is arranged at a specific position, the formation on the substrate is performed by the printing method,
A dispenser method, a photolithography method or the like can be used.

The particles for the substrate gap contained in the spacer may be selected so that the diameter thereof is substantially equal to the desired substrate gap. Specifically, it may be about 5 to 200 μm. If it is possible to control the thickness to a substantially constant value by a photolithography method or the like, the particles for controlling the gap may be omitted.

As in the example of FIG. 1, this spacer is provided in a portion surrounded by the switch portion where no electrode exists. In this example, the outside of the switch portion is immediately drawn to the substrate end for the sake of clarity. Therefore, no spacer is arranged outside the switch section. However, in an actual product, a spacer may be further arranged outside the switch unit and before the peripheral seal. In the example of FIG. 1, a notch is formed so that the spacer can be arranged outside the switch portion.

On the outer side of the switch portion, since there is a wide area where there is no electrode on one side of the substrate, the spacer can be arranged away from the electrode. Therefore, for example, in the electrode 2A of FIG. 1, the left cutout can be eliminated.

The size of the spacer may be appropriately designed, but normally the diameter may be set to about 0.2 to 3 mm. Also, it is usually glued to one side of the board,
If the spacers are low in height (narrow substrate gap), high in elasticity, or high in elasticity, the substrates may be bonded to both substrates.

The substrate of the touch panel of the present invention can be freely selected from plastic, glass, or a composite thereof as described above. For example, the pitch of the touch panel switch is about 1 cm, and the thickness of the substrate pressed by the finger is
When a glass substrate of about 0.1 to 0.3 mm is used, the height of the spacer may be about 5 to 20 μm, and a plastic substrate having a thickness of about 0.1 to 0.3 mm is used as the substrate to be pressed with a finger. In this case, it may be about 10 to 50 μm.

Although this touch panel is not shown in the figure, the two substrates are sealed at the periphery with a sealing material. The seal usually has an opening through which air flows, at least partially.

The touch panel of the present invention may be used alone, or may be used as a display element with a touch panel in combination with a display element such as a liquid crystal display element or a CRT, and may be used as an input / output device using the touch panel. Good. In particular, when such a display element is combined, an electrode is formed on the substrate of the display element itself or on the surface of a polarizing plate or a protective plate arranged outside the display element, and this substrate or the like is attached to one of the touch panels. You may use it as a board | substrate of.

In addition, the present invention can be applied by adding a structure used for a known touch panel or display element within a range that does not impair the effects of the present invention.

[0029]

In the touch panel of the present invention, two spacers are provided between the pair of electrode-attached substrates of the touch panel.
In the vicinity of a region where both striped electrodes of one substrate do not exist, at least one striped electrode of one substrate is formed with a recessed notch, which is surrounded by this notch. It is placed in the part where the electrode does not exist.

As a result, the width of the striped electrode can be widened except for the cutout portion, so that the electrode resistance can be lowered. Therefore, it is possible to increase the number of switches per unit area (increase the definition).

Even if the resistance of the spacer surface is lowered by moisture in the air, insulation is maintained between at least one of the electrodes and the spacer. For this reason, a current flows between the upper and lower electrodes, and the malfunction detected when the switch section is turned on is greatly reduced.

[0032]

【Example】

Example 1 With a structure as shown in FIG. 1, a 0.2 mm thick polyester substrate with ITO is used as the substrate on the side to be pressed, and a 1.1 mm thick glass substrate with ITO is used on the other side. used. The striped electrodes had a pitch of 10 mm, and the gap between adjacent electrodes was 0.3 mm. As shown in Fig. 1, this electrode has 0.5φ cutouts (max.
mm bite) to form a region where a circular electrode does not exist.

Acrylic UV adhesive mixed with plastic particles having a diameter of 10 μm was screen-printed on the central portion of the region of the glass substrate where the electrodes were not present, and the diameter was about 0.35 mm and the height was 8.5 μm after pressure bonding. did. As the peripheral sealing material, an opening was partially formed and an epoxy adhesive was screen-printed.

Using this touch panel, 120 ° C, 90% R
An accelerated durability test was conducted for 240 hours under H at 1.8 atmospheric pressure.
As a comparative example, the first embodiment was carried out except that the electrodes were not cut out, that is, the striped electrodes had a smooth rectangular shape.
A touch panel having the same structure as that was prepared and tested.

As a result, in the touch panel of Example 1, the insulation resistance of all the switch parts during the test and after the test showed a value of MΩ or more, and the malfunction of the switch did not occur. On the other hand, in the touch panel of the comparative example, a part of the insulation resistance started to decrease from around 100 hours of the test, and a resistance value of several tens of KΩ appeared, causing malfunction.

Example 2 The electrode was cut out at the spacer portion only on the side of the plastic substrate where it is difficult to make the resistance low, and the resistance of the electrode on the side of the glass substrate was made low to widen the gap between the electrode and the adjacent electrode to 0.4 mm. Also in this configuration, the spacers were arranged so as not to touch the electrodes on both substrates. When this touch panel was subjected to the accelerated durability test with Example 1, no malfunction occurred as in Example 1.

Example 3 The electrode was cut out at the spacer portion only on the plastic substrate side, the electrode was not cut out on the glass substrate side, that is, the stripe electrode was made into a smooth rectangular shape, and the gap between adjacent electrodes was It was 0.3 mm as in Example 1. As a result, the spacer touched the electrodes on the glass substrate side, but did not touch the electrodes on the plastic substrate side. When this touch panel was subjected to an accelerated durability test with Example 1, it was harder to cause a malfunction as compared with the comparative example, but it may become unstable due to instability in distinguishing from some adjacent electrodes. It was

Example 4 A touch panel was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a glass substrate having a thickness of 0.2 mm was used instead of the plastic substrate of Example 1 and the particles for controlling the gap in the spacer were 10.5 μm. Created. This touch panel did not malfunction as in Example 1.

Example 5 A liquid crystal display device with a touch panel was manufactured by arranging the touch panels manufactured in Examples 1 to 4 on a dot display type liquid crystal display device in an overlapping manner.

[0040]

According to the touch panel of the present invention, a spacer arranged between a pair of electrode-attached substrates of the touch panel is arranged at a specific portion. At that time, a notch is formed by cutting out the stripe-shaped electrodes of at least one of the substrates in a concave shape in the vicinity of a region where neither of the stripe-shaped electrodes of the two substrates exists. A spacer is arranged in a portion surrounded by the cutout portion where the electrode does not exist.

As a result, the width of the striped electrodes of the touch panel can be made as wide as possible. And
The electrode is cut out only in the vicinity of the portion where the spacer is arranged. For this reason, the width of the electrode can be widened except for the cutout portion, so that the electrode resistance can be reduced. As a result, the pitch of the electrodes can be narrowed and the number of switches per unit area can be increased (definition can be increased).

Further, even if the resistance of the spacer surface is lowered due to moisture in the air during use, insulation is maintained between at least one of the electrodes and the spacer. For this reason, the resistance between the upper and lower electrodes is unlikely to decrease, and the malfunction that is erroneously detected as the switch section being turned on is greatly reduced. In particular, it is highly reliable because it is stable over a long period of time.

In addition to the above, the touch panel of the present invention can be applied in various ways within a range that does not impair the effects of the present invention. For example, a display element and a touch panel can be combined with a display element such as a liquid crystal display element or a CRT. It is possible to obtain an input / output device that also serves as.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a typical example of a touch panel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing only the first substrate 1 side of FIG.

3 is a front view showing only the second substrate 5 side of FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Substrate: 1, 5 Electrodes: 2A-2D, 6A-6D Spacer: 3 Notch: 4, 8 Switch: 7

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of stripe-shaped substrates with electrodes on which transparent electrodes are formed, spacers are arranged between the substrates so that the electrode surfaces face each other so that the stripe directions of the electrodes are not parallel to each other, and In a touch panel arranged with a space, a notch formed by cutting out the striped electrodes of at least one substrate in a concave shape in the vicinity of a region where both striped electrodes of two substrates do not exist. The touch panel is characterized in that a spacer is arranged in a portion surrounded by the cutout and where the electrode does not exist. 2. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein a notch portion is formed by notching the striped electrodes of both substrates in a concave shape in the vicinity of a region where both striped electrodes of both substrates do not exist. A touch panel characterized by being formed. 3. A display element with a touch panel, wherein the touch panel according to claim 1 or 2 is arranged in front of the display element.