CN104714700A - Reflective structure for optical touch - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a reflective structure for optical touch control, comprising a transparent substrate, a plurality of microstructures and a light-transmitting reflective film layer. The transparent substrate has a surface. The microstructure is disposed on the transparent substrate and exposes a portion of the surface to allow visible light to penetrate. The light-transmitting reflective film layer is disposed on the microstructure and covers at least a portion of the microstructure.

Description

Reflective structure for optical touch

technical field

The present invention relates to a reflective structure, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a reflective structure for optical touch control.

Background technique

A known optical touch structure is composed of a light-colored paper substrate and a plurality of black ink patterns printed on the light-colored paper substrate. When the infrared light emitted by the light pen illuminates the optical touch structure, the black ink pattern will absorb the infrared light, while the light-colored paper substrate will reflect and scatter the infrared light. The camera detects, thus forming an infrared light reflection image corresponding to the black ink pattern. When the light pen touches the optical touch structure and moves on the surface of the optical touch structure, the processor judges the position and movement of the touch point according to the change of the infrared light image captured by the infrared camera.

Because the light-colored paper substrate has a rough surface, the infrared light generated by the light pen can be reflected and scattered in multiple directions, so the infrared camera can easily capture reflected images. That is to say, the light pen can still read the position signal of the touch point even at a relatively large tilt angle. However, the light-colored paper substrate itself is non-transparent, which means it does not have light penetration, so this optical touch structure cannot be generally applied to common displays. Furthermore, even if an extremely thin light-colored paper substrate is used to achieve the light-transmitting effect, the light-colored paper substrate will not only reflect and scatter infrared light, but also reflect and scatter the light emitted by the display and the external ambient light, making the The image on the display has white fogging phenomenon, which reduces the contrast and clarity of the image.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides a reflective structure for optical touch, which reflects infrared light through a light-transmitting reflective film layer covering at least part of the microstructure. At the same time, the light-transmitting reflective film layer also has the nature of light transmission, so it can replace the aforementioned paper substrate . Furthermore, if the light-transmitting and reflective film layer is patterned to replace the original black ink pattern, the present invention can directly provide an optical touch structure without black ink pattern.

The reflective structure for optical touch control of the present invention includes a transparent base, a plurality of microstructures and a light-transmitting reflective film layer. The transparent substrate has a surface. These microstructures are configured on a transparent substrate, wherein the microstructures expose part of the surface to allow visible light to penetrate and increase the visible light transmittance of the entire optical touch structure. The light-transmitting reflective film layer is disposed on the microstructures and at least covers a part of the microstructures. When infrared light is incident on these microstructures, parts of these microstructures reflect infrared light through the light-transmitting reflective film layer. Since the light-transmitting reflective film layer is extremely thin, visible light can still partially penetrate, which can also increase the visible light transmittance of the overall optical touch structure.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the refractive index of the aforementioned microstructures is the same or similar to that of the transparent substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the aforementioned microstructures are integrally formed with the transparent substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the orthographic projection of each of the aforementioned microstructures on the transparent substrate includes a circle, an ellipse or a polygon.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned microstructures are arranged on the surface of the transparent substrate, and the microstructures are arranged in an array or in a non-array arrangement, wherein the pattern arranged in the array includes a circle or a polygon.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned microstructures are recessed on the surface of the transparent substrate, and the microstructures are arranged in an array or in a non-array arrangement, wherein the pattern arranged in the array includes a circle or a polygon.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the above-mentioned light-transmitting and reflecting film layer is less than or equal to 40 nanometers.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned light-transmitting and reflecting film layer completely covers the surfaces of these microstructures.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the above-mentioned infrared light is incident on a part of the microstructures covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer, the parts of these microstructures reflect the infrared light through the light-transmissive reflective film layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the infrared light is incident on the other part of the microstructures not covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer, the other part of the microstructures will scatter the infrared light.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned light-transmitting reflective film layer is a single-layer reflective film or a multi-layer reflective film.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned optical touch structure further includes a transparent protective layer covering the part of the surface of the transparent substrate exposed by the microstructures, the microstructures and the light-transmitting reflective film layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned transparent protective layer has a refractive index between that of air and that of the light-transmitting reflective film layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned optical touch structure includes a plurality of light absorbing portions disposed on the transparent protective layer and exposing part of the transparent protective layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the width of each of the aforementioned microstructures is between 10 micrometers and 100 micrometers.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the height of each of the aforementioned microstructures is between 5 microns and 50 microns.

Based on the above, since the reflective structure for optical touch of the present invention includes a transparent substrate, a microstructure, and a light-transmitting reflective film layer, when a touch element (such as an optical stylus) emits infrared light and irradiates the reflective structure for optical touch , the surface of the transparent substrate exposed by the microstructure can allow visible light to penetrate, and the microstructure covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer can reflect infrared light to the infrared camera in the touch element through the light-transmitting reflective film layer , and then the position of the touch point can be deduced. In addition, when the optical touch structure of the present invention is subsequently applied to a common display (such as a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display, or a plasma display), the setting of the transparent substrate can also allow most of the light of the display to pass through , and can avoid the situation where the image is obviously white and fogged. Therefore, the optical touch structure of the present invention has a wider range of applications.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch control according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1B to 1E are schematic partial top views of the microstructure of the reflective structure for optical touch control shown in FIG. 1A .

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B is a schematic perspective view of a single microstructure of the reflective structure for optical touch in FIG. 4A .

5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an optical touch structure composed of the reflective structure for optical touch and the light absorbing part of the present invention.

Explanation of reference signs

100a, 100b, 100c, 100d, 100e: reflective structures for optical touch

110: Transparent base

112: surface

120a, 120a1, 120a2, 120a3, 120a4, 120b, 120d: Microstructure

130a, 130b, 130c, 130d: light-transmitting reflective film layer

132c, 132d: reflective pattern

140: transparent protective layer

150: light absorbing part

L1: visible light

L2, L3, L4: infrared light

R: light

H: height

W: width

Detailed ways

FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch control according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1B to 1E are schematic partial top views of the microstructure of the reflective structure for optical touch control shown in FIG. 1A . Please refer to FIG. 1A first. In this embodiment, the reflective structure 100 a for optical touch includes a transparent substrate 110 , a plurality of microstructures 120 a and a light-transmitting reflective film layer 130 a. Transparent substrate 110 has surface 112 . The microstructures 120a are disposed on the transparent substrate 110, wherein the microstructures 120a expose part of the surface 112 to allow the visible light L1 to pass through. The light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a is disposed on the microstructures 120a and at least covers a part of the microstructures 120a. When the infrared light L2 is incident on the microstructures 120a, parts of the microstructures 120a reflect the infrared light L2 through the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a to become reflected infrared light L3. In practice, since the incident infrared light L2 is a beam with a wide width and the geometrical characteristics of the microstructure 120a, the reflected infrared light L3 is reflected in multiple directions. Therefore, although it is not explicitly shown in FIG. L3 is reflected toward the incident direction of the infrared light L2, resulting in the effect of retroreflection. Therefore, when the infrared camera (not shown) is installed next to the infrared light source (not shown), like a general light pen, even if the incident angle of the infrared light L2 changes, the infrared camera can still capture the reflection Infrared light L3, that is to say, no matter whether the light pen is perpendicular to the transparent substrate 110 or tilted to a relatively large angle, the reflected image of the infrared light can be captured.

In detail, the material of the transparent substrate 110 in this embodiment is, for example, glass, plastic, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) or other materials with high permeability. Preferably, the microstructures 120a are seamlessly connected to the transparent substrate 110 , that is, the microstructures 120a are integrally formed with the transparent substrate 110 , and the refractive index of the microstructures 120a is the same as that of the transparent substrate 110 . Of course, in other unillustrated embodiments, these microstructures 120a and the transparent substrate 110 can also be two independent structures, but the refractive index of these microstructures 120a must be the same or close to the refractive index of the transparent substrate 110. It still belongs to the applicable technical solution of the present invention, and does not depart from the intended protection scope of the present invention. Here, as shown in FIG. 1A , the microstructures 120 a of this embodiment are arc-shaped in a cross-sectional view.

More specifically, please refer to FIG. 1B, the shape of the orthographic projection of each microstructure 120a1 on the transparent substrate 110 is a polygon, such as a hexagon; or, please refer to FIG. 1C, each microstructure 120a2 on the transparent substrate 110 The shape of the orthographic projection on it is a regular hexagon; or, please refer to FIG. 1D, the shape of the orthographic projection of each microstructure 120a3 on the transparent substrate 110 is a circle; or, please refer to FIG. 1E, each microstructure The shape of the orthographic projection of 120a4 on the transparent substrate 110 is an ellipse, or other suitable shapes.

The shapes of the above-mentioned orthographic projections of the microstructures 120a1-120a4 on the transparent substrate 110 all belong to the applicable technical solutions of the present invention, and do not depart from the protection scope of the present invention. Generally, the width of the known black ink pattern is about 100 microns, so the width of each microstructure 120a used to replace the known black ink pattern in this embodiment should not exceed 100 microns, so as not to cause excessive light scattering Phenomenon. In addition, the aspect ratio of each microstructure 120a should not be too large, so as to facilitate the fabrication of the light-transmitting and reflecting film layer 130a, while avoiding excessive light scattering. Here, the aspect ratio of each microstructure 120a is set to not exceed 1/2. Preferably, the width W of each microstructure 120a is between 10 micrometers and 100 micrometers, and the height H of each microstructure 120a is between 5 micrometers and 50 micrometers.

As shown in FIG. 1A, these microstructures 120a are disposed on the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110, where the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110 is substantially a flat surface, and these microstructures 120a are arranged in an array or non-array and exposed If it is a flat surface (namely the surface 112 ), if it is arranged in an array, the pattern of the array arrangement can be, for example, a circle or a polygon, which is not limited here. The light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a completely covers the surface of these microstructures 120a, so when the infrared light L2 is incident on these microstructures 120a, these microstructures 120a can reflect the infrared light through the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a covered thereon L2 (ie, infrared light L3 in FIG. 1A ). Preferably, the thickness of the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a is less than or equal to 40 nanometers. In addition to having the ability to transmit light, it may also have the function of reflecting infrared light L2. It should be noted that although the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a shown in FIG. 1A is embodied as a single-layer reflective film, in other unillustrated embodiments, the light-transmissive reflective film layer can also be a multi-layer reflective film , all belong to the technical solutions that can be adopted in the present invention, and do not depart from the intended protection scope of the present invention.

In addition, the reflective structure 100a for optical touch control of this embodiment may further include a transparent protective layer 140, wherein the transparent protective layer 140 covers the part of the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110 exposed by these microstructures 120a, these microstructures 120a and the light-transmitting Reflective film layer 130a. Preferably, the refractive index of the transparent protective layer 140 is between the refractive index of air and the refractive index of the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a. If the refractive index is between 1 and 2, the overall optical touch reflective structure 100a can be improved. The transmittance of visible light L1.

Since the surface of the microstructure 120a configured on the transparent substrate 110 in this embodiment is completely covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a, and the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a has a strong reflection effect on the infrared light L2, and the transparent substrate 110 The reflection of infrared light L2 is weak. Therefore, when a touch element (such as an optical stylus, not shown) emits infrared light L2 to irradiate the optical touch structure 100a, the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110 exposed by these microstructures 120a can allow the visible light L1 to pass through. These microstructures 120a covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a can reflect the infrared light L2 to the infrared light camera in the touch element through the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130a, so as to replace the original light-colored paper substrate. Light reflection function. Since the visible light L1 can directly pass through the transparent protective layer 140 and the transparent substrate 110, when the reflective structure 100a for optical touch is subsequently installed in front of a display (not shown), for example, it can be an effective reflector of the infrared light L2. In addition, the arrangement of the transparent substrate 110 can also effectively maintain the light transmittance of the display, and can reduce the white fogging phenomenon of the image. Therefore, the reflective structure 100 a for optical touch control of this embodiment can have a wider range of applications.

It must be noted here that the following embodiments use the component numbers and part of the content of the previous embodiments, wherein the same numbers are used to denote the same or similar components, and descriptions of the same technical content are omitted. For the description of omitted parts, reference may be made to the foregoing embodiments, and the following embodiments will not be repeated.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 2, the reflective structure 100b for optical touch control of this embodiment is similar to the reflective structure 100a for optical touch control of FIG. The light reflective film layer 130b does not completely cover the microstructures 120b, but the microstructures 120b disposed on the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110 are arranged in an array and part of the surface 112 is exposed. More specifically, the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130b only directly covers a part of the microstructures 120b and the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110 between the microstructures 120b covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130b. In other words, the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130b exposes another part of these microstructures 120b, so when the infrared light L2 is incident on these microstructures 120b, the parts of these microstructures 120b covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130b can pass through the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130b to reflect infrared light L2 (that is, infrared light L3 in FIG. Infrared light L4).

Since the light-transmitting reflective film layer 130b of this embodiment can be regarded as a patterned light-transmitting reflective film layer, it can replace the known black ink pattern, and can also form an infrared light reflective pattern, so that the reflective structure 100b for optical touch can be used It directly becomes an optical touch structure without black ink patterns, and the overall visible light transmittance can also be improved.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 3 , the reflective structure 100c for optical touch control in this embodiment is similar to the reflective structure 100b for optical touch control in FIG. The light-reflecting film layer 130c is composed of a plurality of light-transmitting reflective patterns 132c, wherein the light-transmitting reflective patterns 132c are respectively disposed on the microstructures 120b and are not connected to each other. As shown in FIG. 3 , the light-transmitting and reflective patterns 132c are located on the arc-shaped top surfaces of the microstructures 120b.

FIG. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4B is a schematic perspective view of a single microstructure of the reflective structure for optical touch in FIG. 4A . Please refer to FIG. 4A, the reflective structure 100d for optical touch control of this embodiment is similar to the reflective structure 100c for optical touch control of FIG. The microstructures 120d are recessed on the surface 112 of the transparent substrate 110, and these microstructures 120d are arranged in an array or not arranged in an array and expose part of the surface 112. If it is arranged in an array, the pattern of the array arrangement can be, for example, a circle or polygons, without limitation. The light-transmitting and reflecting patterns 132d of the light-transmitting and reflecting film layer 130d are respectively disposed on the microstructures 120d and are not connected to each other. As shown in FIG. 4A , the light-transmitting and reflective patterns 132d are located in the arc-shaped concave surfaces of the microstructures 120d.

In more detail, please refer to FIG. 4B, each microstructure 120d is a concave corner cube (cornercube), which is a structure formed by three mutually perpendicular surfaces, which can make the incident light R reflected three times before following the original path. The direction returns, causing a retroreflection effect. Therefore, when the infrared camera (not shown) is installed next to the infrared light source (not shown), like a general light pen, even if the incident angle of the infrared light (such as the infrared light L2 in FIG. 2 ) changes, The infrared light camera can still capture reflected infrared light (such as infrared light L3 in FIG. 2 ), that is to say, no matter whether the light pen is perpendicular to the transparent substrate 110 or tilted to a considerable angle, the reflected image of infrared light can be captured. .

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective structure for optical touch according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 5 , the reflective structure 100 e for optical touch control in this embodiment is similar to the reflective structure 100 a for optical touch control in FIG. A plurality of light absorbing parts 150 , wherein the light absorbing part 150 is disposed on the transparent protective layer 140 and exposes part of the transparent protective layer 140 . Here, the light absorbing portion 150 can be regarded as a dark spot that does not reflect visible light or infrared light, and its material is, for example, black ink, but not limited thereto. When the touch element (such as an optical stylus, not shown) emits infrared light L2 to irradiate the reflective structure 100e for optical touch, both the visible light L1 and the infrared light L2 will be absorbed by the light absorbing part 150, thereby making the infrared light L2 produces a large reflectivity difference on the reflective structure 100e for optical touch control. In this way, when the reflective structure 100e for optical touch control is installed in front of, for example, a display (not shown), in addition to being an effective reflector of infrared light L2, it can also effectively maintain the light penetration of the display. efficiency, and can reduce the white fog of the image. Therefore, the reflective structure 100 e for optical touch control of this embodiment can have a wider range of applications.

To sum up, the reflective structure for optical touch of the present invention includes a transparent substrate, a microstructure, and a light-transmitting reflective film layer. At the same time, the surface of the transparent substrate exposed by the microstructure can allow visible light to penetrate, and the microstructure covered by the light-transmitting reflective film layer can reflect infrared light to the infrared light in the touch element through the light-transmitting reflective film layer camera, and then the position of the touch point can be deduced. In addition, when the reflective structure for optical touch control of the present invention is subsequently applied to a common display (such as a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display or a plasma display), the setting of the transparent substrate can also make most of the light of the display Penetration, and can avoid the situation of obvious white fogging of the image. Therefore, the reflective structure for optical touch control of the present invention has a wider range of applications.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in conjunction with the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the invention should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims (16)

1. an optical touch reflection configuration, comprising:

Transparent substrates, has surface;

Multiple microstructure, is configured in this transparent substrates, wherein this microstructure expose part this surface penetrate to allow visible ray; And

Printing opacity reflective coating, is configured in these microstructures, and at least covers a part for these microstructures.

2. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refractive index of these microstructures is identical with the refractive index of this transparent substrates or close.

3. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, is wherein one of the forming between these microstructures and this transparent substrates.

4. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, the shape of the wherein respectively orthogonal projection of this microstructure in this transparent substrates comprises circle, ellipse or polygon.

5. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein these micro-structure configuration in this transparent substrates this on the surface, and in array or non-array arrangement between these microstructures, and the figure of this arrayed comprises circle or polygon.

6. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein these microstructure indents are in this surface of this transparent substrates, and are array or non-array arrangement between these microstructures, and the figure of this arrayed comprises circle or polygon.

7. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of this printing opacity reflective coating is less than or equal to 40 nanometers.

8. optical touch reflection configuration, the wherein surface of this printing opacity reflective coating these microstructures completely coated as claimed in claim 1.

9. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein when infrared light is incident to these microstructures that this printing opacity reflective coating covers a part of, this part of these microstructures reflects this infrared light by this printing opacity reflective coating.

10. optical touch reflection configuration as claimed in claim 9, wherein not another part of these microstructures of covering by this printing opacity reflective coating, when this infrared light is incident to these microstructures, another part of these microstructures can this infrared light of scattering.

11. optical touch reflection configurations as claimed in claim 1, wherein this printing opacity reflective coating is individual layer reflectance coating or laminated reflective film.

12. optical touch reflection configurations as claimed in claim 1, also comprise:

Protective clear layer, cover this transparent substrates expose by these microstructures this surface of part, these microstructures and this printing opacity reflective coating.

13. optical touch reflection configurations as claimed in claim 12, wherein the refractive index of this protective clear layer is between the refractive index and the refractive index of this printing opacity reflective coating of air.

14. optical touch reflection configurations as claimed in claim 12, also comprise:

Multiple light absorption department, is configured on this protective clear layer, and exposes this protective clear layer of part.

15. optical touch reflection configurations as claimed in claim 1, wherein respectively the width of this microstructure between 10 microns to 100 microns.

16. optical touch reflection configurations as claimed in claim 1, wherein respectively the height of this microstructure between 5 microns to 50 microns.