JP2003280818A - Touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a touch panel in which a difference between the coordinates of a depressing position and the position coordinates of information is hardly caused, and an input area can effectively be utilized. <P>SOLUTION: This touch panel is characterized in that it is provided with upper and lower substrates on which a pair of transparent electrodes are disposed and a plurality of dot spacers disposed in the input area of one of those substrates, and the upper and lower substrates are stuck with a sealing agent. The input area of the substrate is provided with an analog input area A and a plurality of digital input areas D, and the analog input are A is disposed at the central part of the input area of the substrate, and the plurality of digital input areas D are disposed at the outer peripheral part of the input area of the substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device such as a car navigation system, which is arranged on a screen of a liquid crystal display, and a user directly presses a display screen of information with a finger or a pen according to an instruction on the screen to see data. The present invention relates to a touch panel that is typed, has a beautiful screen, and has excellent durability and wear resistance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A touch panel as an input switch integrated with a display device is used by being arranged on the display surface of the display device. In the touch panel, an upper substrate composed of a micro glass plate and a transparent electrode formed on the lower surface thereof and a lower substrate composed of a glass plate and a transparent electrode formed on the upper surface thereof are transparent electrodes with a predetermined space therebetween. They are arranged so that they face each other, and are attached with a sealant. Further, dot spacers are arranged in a matrix on the transparent electrode of the lower substrate.

In this touch panel, when the upper portion of the upper substrate is pressed with an input pen or a finger, the upper substrate is bent and the transparent electrode of the upper substrate comes into contact with the transparent electrode of the lower substrate at the pressing point. Then, the coordinates of the contact point are detected by measuring the electric resistance, and the input information is read. Figure 2
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining such a touch panel in the related art. Hereinafter, a conventional touch panel will be described with reference to the drawings.

2A and 2B are views showing a touch panel 10 in which the upper and lower substrates 1 and 2 are adhered with a sealant 6. FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a plan view of FIG. 2A. It is an AA sectional view. As shown in FIG. 2, the touch panel 10 is
The upper substrate 1 and the lower substrate 2 are arranged with a sealant 6 so that the transparent electrodes 3 and 4 face each other, and the peripheral portions of the upper and lower substrates 1 and 2 maintain a constant interval of about 8 to 12 μm. As described above, the sealant 6 is applied. An epoxy resin adhesive or the like is selected as the sealing agent 6, and 1-2.
It is formed with a width in the range of 5 mm. Further, a spacer member such as a plastic ball or a fiber glass having a required size is dispersed in the sealing agent 6, and the spacer member holds the upper substrate 1 and the lower substrate 2 at a required distance. Has a role to play.

The lower substrate 2 is made of a soda glass plate having a thickness of 1.1 mm, and the transparent electrode 4 is formed on the soda glass plate.
And the leading electrode 8 electrically connected to the transparent electrode 4.
a and 8b are formed. The routing electrode 8a,
The other end of 8b is put together on one side of the lower substrate 2 and connected to the end of the connector 9. The transparent electrode 4 is formed by patterning an ITO film having a thickness of about 50 Å to 4000 Å by sputtering or CVD and etching. In addition, the routing electrodes 8a and 8b
Print a silver paste film with a thickness of 1 to 20 μm.
It is formed by baking at 0 ° C. for about 60 minutes.

Further, dot spacers 5 are arranged in a matrix on the surface of the transparent electrode 4. The dot spacer 5 has a circular shape with a size of about 30 to 40 μm, and the height from the substrate is set to about 7 to 12 μm. Further, the distance between the centers of the dot spacers 5 is set to about 4 to 5 mm. The dot spacers 5 are formed by printing an epoxy resin-based ultraviolet curable resin in a matrix and irradiating ultraviolet rays to cure the resin.

The upper substrate 1 is made of a micro glass plate having a thickness of 0.2 mm, and like the lower substrate 2, the transparent electrodes 3,
The routing electrodes 7a and 7b are formed. As the micro glass used as the upper substrate 1, borosilicate glass or the like can be given as an example.

The conventional touch panel 10 described above is used.
Is pressed by the hand or an input means such as an input pen, and any one point of the transparent electrodes 3 of the upper substrate 1 comes into contact with the transparent electrode 4 of the lower substrate 2 so that both transparent electrodes are Mutually energized. As a result, the control device is configured to read the voltage value changed by the resistance value at that position and read the position coordinates according to the change in the potential difference. As described above, the touch panel 10 of the conventional example has the entire input area formed of analog input areas.

[0009]

However, in the touch panel using two glass substrates as in the conventional example, the rigidity of the glass upper substrate 1 on the side which presses the surface with the fingertip or the input pen is large, and the input is performed. Depending on the place, the coordinates of the pressed position may not match the coordinates of the input information to be read. That is, when the pressing position of the input pen approaches the sealant 6, the thickness of the sealant 6,
Due to the influence of the lead-out electrodes 7a and 7b formed in the vicinity of the inner periphery of the sealant 6, the input load increases, and there is a region where the transparent electrodes 3 and 4 do not come into contact with each other even when pressed. Be stable.

FIG. 3 shows the touch panel 10 of the above-mentioned conventional example.
FIG. 7 is a schematic enlarged view for explaining an input state with a fingertip or an input pen. As shown in FIG. 3, even if the input pen is linearly moved along the inner peripheral side surface 6a of the sealant 6 as shown by the broken line T, the movement trajectory of the input pen meanders as shown by the solid line S. There was a problem that the input information was read like it was. Therefore, when using the entire input area as an analog input area as in the conventional example,
Defective products occurred, resulting in high costs. As a countermeasure against this, it is conceivable to provide an erroneous input prevention frame (not shown) along the inner circumference of the sealant 6, but in this case, the usable input area becomes small and the input area is effectively made effective. There was a problem that it could not be used.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a touch panel capable of effectively utilizing an input area, in which a difference between a coordinate of a pressed position and a position coordinate of input information hardly occurs. Aim to achieve.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a touch panel according to a first aspect of the present invention is a touch panel including a pair of transparent electrodes, an upper substrate and a lower substrate, and one of the substrates. In a touch panel having a plurality of dot spacers arranged in a region, the upper and lower substrates being adhered with a sealant, the input region has an analog input region and a digital input region, the analog A touch panel, wherein an input area is arranged in a central portion of the input area, and the digital input area is arranged so as to surround the analog input area.

Further, the touch panel according to the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the digital input area has a plurality of input areas.

The touch panel according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the upper substrate is a micro glass plate and the lower substrate is a glass plate.

[0015]

1 shows a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch panel according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same components as those of the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The touch panel according to the present embodiment is different from the conventional example in that it has two types of input areas, an analog input area and a digital input area, and other basic configurations are the same as the conventional example. . Therefore, the description of the basic configuration of the touch panel is omitted. Hereinafter, the input area of the touch panel in this embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the touch panel 20 in this embodiment has an analog input area A and a digital input area D as input areas of the substrate. The analog input area A consists of one area and is arranged in the center of the input area of the substrate. On the other hand, the digital input area D is composed of a plurality of areas and is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the input area of the substrate so as to surround the analog input area A.

The analog input area A is an area in which a character, a picture or the like can be input using an input pen. On the other hand, the digital input area D is an area for selecting input conditions and the like. For example, the function of selecting the thickness of a line to be input in an analog input area such as a thick line, a middle line, and a thin line is allocated to each digital input area D, and the thickness of this line is displayed by an icon. .
By pressing the digital input area D displayed by this icon, the thickness of the line drawn in the analog input area A can be selected. In addition to this, it is possible to allocate a function of selecting a line type such as a solid line, a broken line, and a chain line.

By arranging the analog input area A in the central portion where the input load is stable in this way, the difference between the coordinates of the pressed position and the position coordinates of the input information to be read becomes extremely small. Input accuracy is improved. As a result, it is possible to obtain a touch panel that is easy to input and has a good writing quality.

Further, by arranging a plurality of digital input areas D so as to surround the analog input area A, it is possible to effectively use an area where the input load is large and the input is unstable in the conventional example. In this digital input area D, when the area is pressed, if there is contact with the transparent electrodes 3 and 4 at some part of the area, it can be recognized that this area is selected. Therefore, the input near the inner circumference of the sealant 6 is stable, and it is not necessary to provide an erroneous input prevention frame. As a result, the effective input area can be widened and a touch panel with a narrow frame can be obtained.

As described above, according to the touch panel of the present embodiment, stable input is possible in the entire input area, and the touch panel is less likely to cause a difference between the coordinates of the pressed position and the position coordinates of the input information. Can be realized. Further, it is possible to provide a touch panel having a narrow frame, which has a wide effective input area and is easy to input and has a good writing quality.

In this embodiment, borosilicate glass is used as an example of the material of the upper substrate 1, and the lower substrate 2 is used.
Although soda glass has been described as an example of the above material, the material is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained when other material having high rigidity is used.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which a plurality of digital areas are provided has been described, but it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if it is used as one area.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, by disposing the analog input area in the central portion of the input area where the input load is stable, the difference between the coordinate of the pressed position and the position coordinate of the input information can be obtained. It is possible to provide a touch panel that is less likely to occur, is easy to input, and has a good writing quality. Further, by arranging the digital input area on the outer peripheral portion of the input area of the substrate so as to surround the analog input area, the input area can be effectively used and a touch panel with a narrow frame can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 shows a touch panel according to the prior art, and FIG.
2A is a plan view, and FIG. 2B is A- in FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic enlarged view for explaining an input state by a fingertip or an input pen on a touch panel of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Upper substrate 2 Lower substrate 3 transparent electrodes 4 transparent electrodes 5 dot spacer 6 Sealant 6a Side wall of sealing agent 7a, 7b routing electrodes 8a, 8b routing electrodes 9 connectors 10, 20 touch panel A analog input area D Digital input area

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B068 AA04 AA21 AA22 AA32 BB04                       BB05 BB06 BC07 DE00                 5B087 AA02 AB01 AC00 BC33 CC36                       CC37

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An upper and lower substrate having a pair of transparent electrodes,
A touch panel having a plurality of dot spacers arranged in an input region of one of the substrates, wherein the upper and lower substrates are attached with a sealant, wherein the input region of the substrate is an analog input region and a digital input. A region, the analog input region is arranged in a central portion of the input region of the substrate, and the digital input region is arranged in an outer peripheral portion of the input region of the substrate so as to surround the analog input region. The touch panel that is characterized by. 2. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the digital input area has a plurality of input areas. 3. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the upper substrate is a micro glass plate, and the lower substrate is a glass plate.