KR20160031294A - Touch Panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The touch panel of the present invention includes a substrate and a transparent electrode formed on the substrate and sensing an input signal. The transparent electrode includes a touch formed by a polygonal mesh structure having a width in the first direction and a width in the second direction different from each other. Panel.
There is an effect of solving the problem that the light transmittance of the display device is lowered by applying the electrode pattern with a polygonal mesh structure having a width in the first direction and a width in the second direction. The total length of the electrode of the mesh structure is shorter than when the electrode is made, and the line resistance can be reduced.

Description

The touch panel {Touch Panel}

The present invention relates to a touch panel, and more particularly, to a touch panel, in which a structure of a transparent electrode formed on a touch panel is formed in a polygonal mesh structure having a width in a first direction and a width in a second direction, .

The touch panel is a transparent switch panel that can control the device by directly pressing the position where the picture is displayed. The touch panel is installed in a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LED), a field emission display (FED) or a plasma display panel (PDP) Which is a type of an input device for inputting predetermined information. In addition to mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet PCs, these touch panels are deeply embedded in our daily lives, such as electronic map devices, automatic teller machines, and automatic ticket issuing machines such as theaters.

In the input method of the touch panel, when the user touches the screen, the resistance film type which recognizes the horizontal and vertical coordinates by detecting the change in the current and resistance caused by the electrical contact or pressure, recognizes the pressure, When the finger touches the screen and the electrons flowing on the liquid crystal are dragged to the touch point, the sensor at the corner of the touch screen senses it and the capacitive method is used to discriminate the input.

The electrostatic capacitive touch screen provides a touch-sensitive feel and supports multi-touch. It is more durable than the resistive touch screen and is suitable for realizing high resolution. It is also the most commonly used touch screen method because of its simple principle and its low cost of manufacture. The electromagnetic induction method uses a digitizer sensor substrate including a plurality of coils. When the user moves the pen, the pen is driven by an AC signal to generate a magnetic field that vibrates. The vibrating magnetic field induces a signal to the coil, To detect the position of the pen. Conventionally, the electrode of the touch sensor is formed of indium tin oxide (ITO). Recently, a technique of forming a mesh structure has been invented.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0072141 discloses a mesh structure in which fine patterns of electrodes are repeated in a rectangular, rhombic, circular or elliptic shape. However, such a mesh structure hinders a pixel composed of RGB (red, green, blue) of a display device such as a Liqiud Crystal display (LED), thereby causing a problem of lowering the transmittance of light generated from the liquid crystal display device Lt; / RTI >

Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0072141

It is an object of the present invention to solve the problem of reducing a light transmittance of a liquid crystal display by reducing an overlapped portion between an electrode pattern formed in a touch panel and a liquid crystal display device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch panel including a substrate and a transparent electrode formed on the substrate and sensing an input signal, the transparent electrode having a polygonal structure having a width in a first direction and a width in a second direction different from each other The touch panel may be a touch panel.

The transparent electrode may be in the form of a hexagonal or octagonal shape.

The transparent electrode may be a touch electrode for sensing a touch input signal or a pen electrode for sensing a pen input signal.

One side of the transparent electrode may be formed so as not to cover pixels formed on a liquid crystal panel provided below the substrate.

The pixel may be formed by grouping three pixels that emit red, green, and blue.

The line width of the transparent electrode may be equal to or less than an interval between the pixel and the pixel in the pixel.

The transparent electrode may be a hexagonal mesh structure having a plurality of rows.

The rows may be spaced apart at predetermined intervals.

The spacing may be an integer multiple of the pixel height.

The transparent electrode may be formed of one selected from the group consisting of ITO (indium tin oxide), IZO (indium zinc oxide), copper oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, Type metal.

The present invention has the effect of solving the problem of lowering the light transmittance of a liquid crystal display device by applying a hexagonal electrode pattern formed in a mesh structure to the touch panel.

In addition, by applying the electrode pattern to the hexagonal shape, the total length of the electrode having the mesh structure becomes shorter than when the electrode pattern is applied to the diamond shape, thereby reducing the line resistance.

1 (a) is a plan view schematically showing a touch panel having electrodes of a mesh structure according to a conventional example,
1 (b) is a plan view schematically showing a mesh structure of a diamond-like pattern according to a conventional example,
FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing a liquid crystal display device in which a mesh structure of a diamond-like pattern according to a conventional example is shown,
3 (a) is a plan view schematically showing a touch panel having electrodes of a mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3
3 (b) is a plan view schematically showing a transparent electrode of a polygonal mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention,
4 (a) is a plan view schematically showing another touch panel having an electrode of a mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention,
4 (b) is a plan view schematically showing a transparent electrode of a polygonal mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention,
5 is a plan view schematically showing a transparent electrode having a polygonal mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention,
6 is a plan view schematically showing a transparent electrode having a polygonal mesh structure according to another embodiment of the present invention,
7 is a plan view schematically showing a transparent electrode having a polygonal mesh structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a plan view schematically showing a liquid crystal display device to which a transparent electrode of a polygonal mesh structure is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The above-described objects, technical features and effect of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.

In the description of the embodiments, it is to be understood that each layer (film), area, pattern or structure may be referred to as being "on" or "under" Quot; includes all that is formed directly or through another layer. The criteria for top / bottom or bottom / bottom of each layer are described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view schematically illustrating a touch panel having electrodes of a mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (b) is a schematic view of a mesh structure of a diamond- FIG. 1 (a), when the electrode for touch input of the touch panel is formed in a mesh structure, the mesh structure can be implemented in various patterns. Referring to FIG. 1 (b) As shown in FIG. 3C, the diamond-like mesh structure 130 is generally implemented.

2 is a plan view schematically showing a liquid crystal display device in which a mesh structure of a diamond-like pattern according to a conventional example is shown. 2, when a pattern of the transparent electrode 120 formed in a mesh structure is realized by the diamond-like mesh structure 130, a liquid crystal display (LCD) A problem arises in that the pattern of the transparent electrode 120 covers the pixels 150 of the liquid crystal display 140 and the light transmittance of the liquid crystal display 140 is lowered .

FIG. 3 (a) is a plan view schematically illustrating a touch panel having electrodes of a mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 (b) schematically shows a mesh structure of a hexagonal pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention Fig. 3 (a) and 3 (b), a touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate 210 and a transparent electrode 220 formed on the substrate 210 and sensing an input signal. The transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed of polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 having different widths in the first and second directions.

When the transparent electrode 120 formed of the diamond-like mesh structure 130 is transformed into the polygonal mesh structure 230 or 231 of the present invention, the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are more transparent than the diamond- The length of the electrodes 220 and 221 may be shortened to reduce the line resistance. Since the lengths of the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are shortened when the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed in the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 as compared with the diamond shaped mesh structure 130, The material used for forming the electrodes 220 and 221 may be used less and the manufacturing cost may be reduced. At this time, in forming the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231, the length of each side of the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 is preset at the time of manufacture, and the length of each side is not limited.

Meanwhile, the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 may be a touch electrode for sensing a touch input signal or a pen electrode for sensing a pen input signal. The transparent electrode 220 shown in FIG. 3 (a) represents a touch electrode for sensing a touch input signal. Such a touch electrode is an electrode for input through a constant voltage method. FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view schematically showing another touch panel having an electrode of a mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 (b) Fig. The transparent electrode 221 shown in Figs. 4 (a) and 4 (b) represents a pen electrode for sensing a pen input signal. The pen electrode is an electrode for sensing an input by an electromagnetic induction method.

Although a touch electrode for sensing a touch input signal and a pen electrode for sensing a pen input signal may be formed on the respective substrates 210 as shown in Fig. 3 (a) and Fig. 4 (a) The electrode and the pen electrode may be formed on one substrate 210 at the same time. When the touch electrode and the pen electrode are simultaneously formed on one substrate 210, both the constant voltage method and the electromagnetic induction method can be used. The present invention is not limited to the case where the touch electrode and the pen electrode are formed on the respective substrates or the case where the touch electrode and the pen electrode are formed on one substrate at the same time, The transparent electrodes 220 and 221 can be realized as the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231, respectively.

5 is a plan view schematically illustrating a transparent electrode having a polygonal mesh structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the polygonal mesh structure 230 of the present invention is formed such that the width a of the mesh structure 230 in the first direction is different from the width b of the second direction. The polygonal mesh structure 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 has a hexagonal shape as a basic shape, and the width a in the first direction is longer than the width b in the second direction.

6 is a plan view schematically illustrating a transparent electrode having a polygonal mesh structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. The polygonal mesh structure 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6 has an octagonal shape as a basic shape, and the width a in the first direction is longer than the width b in the second direction.

7 is a plan view schematically illustrating a transparent electrode having a polygonal mesh structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. The polygonal mesh structure 230 according to another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 7 has a hexagonal shape as a basic shape but has a different shape from the mesh structure shown in FIG. As described above, the polygonal mesh structure 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be variously implemented in the form of polygons, and the shape of the polygons is not limited.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) 240 is generally disposed under the substrate 210 on which the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed. Among liquid crystal displays (LCDs) 240, a liquid crystal is injected between two thin glass plates as an intermediate of solid and liquid to change the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules by voltage difference between electrodes on the upper and lower glass plates, Which is a kind of optical switch that displays numbers or images. Recently, a widely used TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor - Liquid Crystal Display) is composed of a lower plate on which a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode are arranged, a color filter for displaying color and a top plate composed of a common electrode, Liquid crystal. When a voltage is applied to the gate of the TFT constituting the pixel to turn the transistor into the turn - on state, the image voltage can be inputted to the liquid crystal.

In order to display the color of the TFT-LCD, a transparent electrode is formed on a liquid crystal display (LCD) constituting one pixel by grouping three pixels which emit RGB (red, green, blue) The transparent electrode 120 which is the mesh structure 130 covers a pixel of a liquid crystal display (LCD) 140 and thus has a problem of lowering the transmittance of a liquid crystal display (LCD) . However, the polygonal mesh structure 230 and 231 of the present invention can be formed between the pixels 250 so that the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed on the liquid crystal display (LCD) The problem of covering the pixel 250 can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to solve the problem of lowering the transmittance of the liquid crystal display (LCD) 240.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing a liquid crystal display device in which a mesh structure of a diamond-like pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed. FIG. 8 is a cross- 1 is a plan view schematically showing the device. 2 and FIG. 8, the conventional diamond-like mesh structure 130 has a structure in which the diamond-like mesh structure 130 is disposed at a position of the pixel 150 of a liquid crystal display (LCD) . However, the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 of the present invention can be formed by connecting one side of the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 to the pixel 250 of the liquid crystal display (LCD) As shown in Fig. The probability that a portion overlapping the pixel 250 of a liquid crystal display (LCD) 240 occurs when the transparent electrode 120 is a hexagonal mesh structure 230 or 231 than when the transparent electrode 120 is a diamond-like mesh structure 130 .

In order to form the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 as polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 so as not to block the pixels 250 of the liquid crystal display (LCD), the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 The polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 are formed so that the sides of the substrate 210 are smaller than the distances between the RGB pixels 251, 252 and 253, which are pixels 250 formed on a liquid crystal display (LCD) The length of the line width of the line width should be short. The line widths of the polygonal mesh structures 230 and 231 are preferably equal to or less than the spacing between the RGB pixels 251, 252 and 253 and the RGB pixels 251, 252 and 253 in the pixel 250.

The touch panel including the transparent electrodes 320 and 321 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a touch window formed integrally with the display device 240 and may include at least one transparent electrode 220 and 221 The substrate can be omitted. In detail, at least one transparent electrode 220, 221 may be formed on one surface of the display device 240. [ At least one transparent electrode 220, 221 may be formed on one surface of the first substrate or the second substrate of the display device 240. When the display device 240 is a liquid crystal display (LCD), the display device 240 includes a first substrate including a thin film transistor (TFT) and a pixel electrode, 2 substrate may be formed in a structure in which the liquid crystal layer is interposed therebetween.

The display device 240 may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) having a color filter on transistor (COT) structure in which a thin film transistor, a color filter, and a black matrix are formed on a first substrate and a second substrate is adhered to the first substrate with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. Device (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display). Also, the display device 240 may be an organic light emitting diode (OLED). At this time, the display device 240 is formed with a thin film transistor on the first substrate, and an organic light emitting element in contact with the thin film transistor is formed. The organic light emitting device may further include a second substrate serving as an encapsulation substrate for encapsulation. At this time, at least one transparent electrode 220, 221 may be formed on the upper surface of the substrate.

In another touch panel, transparent electrodes 220 and 221 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be formed on the upper surface of the display device. In addition, a wiring electrode connected to the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 may be formed, an insulating layer may be formed to expose the transparent electrodes 220 and 221, and a bridge electrode may be further formed. A cover substrate may be disposed on the display device 240 with an adhesive layer therebetween. At this time, a polarizing plate may be disposed between the display device 240 and the cover substrate.

In another touch panel including the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a first transparent electrode and a first wiring electrode are formed between a first substrate and a second substrate, And the second wiring electrode may be formed on the touch substrate. The touch substrate may be disposed on the display device 240 including the first substrate and the second substrate. The first transparent electrode and the first wiring electrode are disposed inside the display device 240, and the outer side of the display device 240 The second transparent electrode and the second wiring electrode may be disposed. At this time, the first transparent electrode and the first wiring electrode may be formed on the upper surface of the first substrate or the rear surface of the second substrate. An adhesive layer may be formed between the touch substrate and the display device 240, You may.

However, the structure in which the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed is not limited to this, and the first transparent electrode and the first wiring electrode are disposed inside the display device 240, The structure in which the electrode and the second wiring electrode are disposed is sufficient. In this case, when the display device 240 is a liquid crystal display (LCD), when the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed on the upper surface of the first substrate, the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are thin- Film Transistor) or a pixel electrode. When the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed on the back surface of the second substrate, a color filter layer may be formed on the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 or transparent electrodes 220 and 221 may be formed on the color filter layer. When the display device 240 is an organic light emitting diode (OLED), if the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 are formed on the upper surface of the first substrate 220, Thin Film Transistor) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED).

The line width of the mesh structures 230 and 231 may be 0.1 占 퐉 to 10 占 퐉. The line portions of the mesh structures 230 and 231 having a line width of 0.1 mu m or less may not be possible in the manufacturing process. The pattern of the transparent electrodes 200 and 221 can be made invisible when the line width is 10 mu m or less. The line width of the mesh structures 230 and 231 is preferably 0.5 μm to 7 μm, and more preferably 1 μm to 3.5 μm.

It is preferable that the line width of the hexagonal mesh structures 230 and 231 is 5 탆 or less. In addition, the width of the hexagonal mesh structures 230 and 231 It is preferable that the hexagonal mesh structures 230 and 231 form a plurality of rows of transparent electrodes 220 and 221. In this case, Preferably, the plurality of rows are spaced apart by a predetermined interval, and the spaced distance is an integral multiple of the height of the pixel 250.

At this time, the transparent electrodes 220 and 221 may be formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), copper oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, And nanowires, photosensitive nanowire films, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). (Ag), molybdenum (Mo), gold (Au), titanium (Ti), and the like. (Ti) and at least one of the alloys thereof.

The touch window may be a flexible touch window. Accordingly, the touch device device including the touch screen device may be a flexible touch device device and can be bent and bent by a user. Such a touch window can be applied not only to a touch device such as a mobile terminal but also to a car navigation system and can be variously applied in a vehicle. The touch window can also be applied to a PND (Personal Navigation Display), a dashboard, a CID (Center Informarion Display) . It is apparent that the above-mentioned touch window is not limited to this embodiment and can be applied to various electronic products.

Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the embodiments described above are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive.

110: substrate 120: transparent electrode
130: Diamond-like mesh structure 140: Liquid crystal display
150: pixel 151: red (R)
152: green (G) 153: blue (B)
210: substrate 220, 221: transparent electrode
230, 231: mesh structure 240: display device
250: Pixel 251: Red (R)
252: green (G) 253: blue (B)

Claims (10)

Board; And
A transparent electrode formed on the substrate and sensing an input signal;
/ RTI >
Wherein the transparent electrode has a polygonal mesh structure having a width in the first direction and a width in the second direction different from each other.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the transparent electrode has a hexagonal mesh structure.
The method according to claim 1,
The transparent electrode
A touch electrode for sensing a touch input signal or a pen electrode for sensing a pen input signal.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein one side of the polygonal mesh structure is formed so as not to cover pixels formed on a liquid crystal display device provided below the substrate.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the pixel is formed by binding three pixels of red, green, and blue colors.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a line width of the polygonal mesh structure is equal to or less than an interval between pixels and pixels in the pixel.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the polygonal mesh structure of the transparent electrode comprises a plurality of rows.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the column is spaced apart at a preset interval.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the interval is an integral multiple of the pixel height.
The method according to claim 1,
The transparent electrode may be formed of one selected from the group consisting of ITO (indium tin oxide), IZO (indium zinc oxide), copper oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, Type metal. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 11. < / RTI >

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