US20140306930A1 - Touch panel, touch display panel, and touch sensing method - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch panel including first electrode bands, second electrode bands, and a transparent dielectric material is provided. The first electrode bands are disposed on a first substrate and extended in a first direction, wherein each of the first electrodes has a plurality of first silts in the form of enclosed configuration. The second electrode bands are disposed on a second substrate, facing to the first electrode bands, and extended in a second direction interlacing the first direction. Each second electrode band is partially exposed by the first silts. The transparent dielectric material is disposed between the first electrode bands and the second electrode bands to provide a changeable gap.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
• This is a continuation application of and claims the priority benefit of a prior application Ser. No. 13/025,166, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, now allowed. The prior application Ser. No. 13/025,166 claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 99104800, filed on Feb. 12, 2010. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention
• The invention is related to a touch panel, and particularly, to a touch panel capable of performing various touch sensing functions.
• 2. Description of Related Art
• At present, the touch panels can be generally classified into resistive, capacitive, optical, acoustic, and electromagnetic touch panels, wherein the resistive touch panels and the capacitive touch panels are most common.
• In a resistive touch panel, the touch sensing principle is based on that two independent conductive layers contact with each other by a pressure of a single pressing point so that the two independent conductive layers are electrically connected. A sensing signal is generated at the pressing point of the resistive touch panel and a coordinate of the pressing point on the touch panel is determined according to the sensing signal. In a capacitive touch panel, the sensing principle is based on that an electric field is formed in a touch sensing electrode so that a slight change of a capacitance is generated in the touch sensing electrode when a conductive element such as a finger of a user contacts the touch sensing electrode, and a coordinate of the contacting point on the touch panel is determined according to the change of the capacitance.
• The capacitive touch panel is commonly advantageous in facilitating a hand writing function and a multi touch function. Nevertheless, a restriction of the capacitive touch panel is that the user can only use the conductive element to operate the capacitive touch panel. Therefore, the user can not operate the capacitive touch panel when wearing a glove or by using a non conductive material such as a common plastic touch pen. The resistive touch panel is commonly advantageous in facilitating the operation by various materials. However, the restriction of the resistive touch panel is that it fails to have a multi touch function.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• The invention is directed to a touch panel having various touch sensing functions through modifying the patterns of the electrode bands.
• The invention provides a touch panel including first electrode bands, second electrode bands, and a transparent dielectric material. The first electrode bands are disposed on a first substrate, and extended in a first direction, wherein each of the first electrode bands has a plurality of first silts in the formed of enclosed configuration. The second electrode bands are disposed on a second substrate, facing to the first electrode bands, and extended in a second direction interlacing the first direction. Each second electrode band is partially exposed by the first silts. The transparent dielectric material is disposed between the first electrode bands and the second electrode bands to provide a changeable gap.
• In view of the above, the electrode bands extended in two different directions are interlacing disposed and facing to one another so as to be served as the touch sensing electrodes in the invention. In addition, the electrode bands which are extended in one direction and adjacent to the user at the operation side are configured with a plurality of slits to expose the electrode bands extended in the other direction. Thereby, the touch panel and the touch display panel both have the resistive touch sensing function and the capacitive touch sensing function. Accordingly, the user can operate the touch panel and the touch display panel through any material.
• In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
• FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to another embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to further another embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 6 illustrates a touch display panel according to an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 7 illustrates a touch display panel according to another embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
• FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 1, atouch panel100 includes afirst substrate110, asecond substrate120, a plurality offirst electrode bands130, a plurality ofsecond electrode bands140, and a transparentdielectric material150. Thefirst electrode bands130 are disposed on thefirst substrate110, while thesecond electrode bands140 are disposed on thesecond substrate120. Thefirst electrode bands130 are disposed facing to thesecond electrode bands140. The transparentdielectric material150 is disposed between thefirst electrode bands130 and thesecond electrode bands140 so that a gap G is formed between thefirst substrate110 and thesecond substrate120. For facilitating the changeable gap G, the transparentdielectric material150 does not have a fixed shape, and can be made of a flexible material, such as air, silicon gel, silicon oil, or the like.
• In addition, thetouch panel100 can selectively include a plurality ofinsulating spacers160. Theinsulating spacers160 are disposed between thefirst electrode bands130 and thesecond electrode bands140. In an embodiment, a height of theinsulating spacers160 is about 3 μm to 4 μm and the gap G is substantially larger than the height of theinsulating spacers160 when thetouch panel100 is not pressed.FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 1 andFIG. 2 together, each of thefirst electrode bands130 is extended in a first direction D1 and has a plurality of enclosedslits132. Each of thesecond electrode bands140 is extended in a second direction D2. When thefirst electrode bands130 and thesecond electrode bands140 are disposed facing to each other, theslits132 partially expose a portion of each of thesecond electrode bands140 overlapped with thefirst electrode bands130. In the present embodiment, each of theslits132 is extended in the first direction D1 to simultaneously expose a plurality of thesecond electrode bands140.
• In thefirst substrate110 of the present embodiment, the user can directly press thefirst substrate110 to electrically connect onefirst electrode band130 to the correspondingsecond electrode band140 so that the resistive touch function is achieved. In addition, theslits132 of thefirst electrode bands130 expose a portion of each of thesecond electrode bands140 and a parasitic capacitance is formed between the two electrode bands. When the user performs the touch operation through a finger or a conductive material, the capacitance formed between thefirst electrode bands130 and thesecond electrode bands140 can be changed so that thetouch panel100 can determine the touch operation of the user. Accordingly, thetouch panel100 also has a capacitive touch sensing function, wherein the capacitive touch sensing function can be a self-capacitive sensing function or a mutual-capacitive touch sensing function.
• In addition to the capacitive touch sensing method, thetouch panel100 of the present embodiment further performs the resistive touch sensing process. In thetouch panel100, two ends of each of theelectrode bands130 and140 are respectively connected to a driving chip (not shown), and the resistive touch sensing process includes the steps described as follows. First, a first voltage variation is formed in thefirst electrode bands130 simultaneously and thesecond electrode bands140 are used for performing the sensing step. Subsequently, a second voltage variation is formed in thesecond electrode bands140 simultaneously and thefirst electrode bands130 are used for performing the sensing step.
• In a real circumstance, one ends of thefirst electrode bands130 are electrically connected and the other ends of thefirst electrode bands130 are electrically connected through the circuit processing of the driving chip (not shown). Similarly, one ends of thesecond electrode bands140 are electrically connected and the other ends of thesecond electrode bands140 are electrically connected as well as through the circuit processing of the driving chip (not shown). Accordingly, the required voltages are not input to theelectrode bands130 and140 one by one, and the driving method of thetouch panel100 can be performed by the known driving method of the four-wire resistive touch panel.
• Nevertheless, the resistive touch sensing process depicted above merely accomplishes the single point touch function. If the multi touch function is required, the following steps are performed. First, a voltage variation is formed in thefirst electrode bands130 sequentially and thesecond electrode bands140 are used for performing the sensing step. Thereafter, the voltage variation is aimed in thesecond electrode bands140 sequentially and thefirst electrode bands130 are used for performing the sensing step. In other words, to facilitate the multi touch function by performing the resistive touch sensing process, thefirst electrode bands130 of thetouch panel100 have the voltage variation asynchronously. Therefore, thetouch panel100 determines the position of the touch point based on the time thesecond electrode bands140 receiving the touch signal. Thesecond electrode bands140 similarly have the voltage variation asynchronously. Thetouch panel100 thus determines the position of the touch point based on the time thefirst electrode bands130 receiving the touch signal.
• As a whole, the touch panel has the advantages of both the resistive touch sensing function and the capacitive touch sensing function. The user can use various materials to operate thetouch panel100 by performing the resistive touch sensing process so as to increase the convenience of usage. In addition, the damage caused by multiple times of contacting thefirst substrate110 and thesecond substrate120 are prevented. Therefore, the lifetime of thetouch panel100 is increased. Furthermore, thefirst electrode bands130 and thesecond electrode bands140 of thetouch panel100 are band-like to provide the multi touch function to further broaden the application. It is noted that thetouch panel100 can select one of the above-mentioned capacitive touch sensing processes and one of the aforesaid resistive touch sensing processes to perform the touch sensing method. Therefore, the capacitive touch sensing process adopted in the present embodiment is not restricted in the self capacitance mode or the mutual capacitance mode, and the resistive touch sensing process is not restricted in the single point mode or the multi point mode.
• Referring toFIG. 2 continuously, theelectrode bands130 and140 of thetouch panel100 are required electrically connecting with the driving chip (not shown) to perform the abovementioned touch sensing method. Therefore, thetouch panel100 further includes a plurality offirst transmission lines172, a plurality ofsecond transmission lines174, a plurality oftransmission lines176, a plurality offourth transmission lines178, and a plurality ofpads180 connected to the transmission lines. Each of thefirst transmission lines172 and corresponding one of thesecond transmission lines174 are respectively connected to two opposite ends of onefirst electrode band130. Similarly, each of thethird transmission lines176 and corresponding one of thefourth transmission lines178 are respectively connected to two opposite ends of onesecond electrode band140.
• The connection between thetransmission lines172˜178 and thepads180 are not limited in the invention. For simplified the description, the portion of thepads180 connected to thefirst electrode bands130 are named first pads and the other portion of thepads180 connected to thesecond electrode bands140 are named second pads. In an embodiment, the first pads of thepads180 are disposed on thefirst substrate110, and the second pads of thepads180 are disposed on thesecond substrate120. Therefore, thefirst transmission lines172 and thesecond transmission lines174 are directly connected to thepads180 disposed on thefirst substrate110. Similarly, thethird transmission lines176 and thefourth transmission lines178 are directly connected to thepads180 disposed on thesecond substrate120.
• In another embodiment, allpads180 including the first pads and the second pads are disposed on thesecond substrate120. Herein, the cross-section view of the touch panel can be shown inFIG. 3 according to another embodiment. The touch panel200 further includes a plurality ofconductive spacers290 for connecting thefirst transmission lines172 and thesecond transmission lines174 disposed on thefirst substrate110 to thecorresponding pads180 disposed on thesecond substrate120. Theconductive spacers290 are disposed between thefirst substrate110 and thesecond substrate120.
• FIG. 4 andFIG. 5 are schematic top views of touch panels according to further another two embodiments of the invention. Referring toFIG. 4, in thetouch panel300, thefirst slits332 of thefirst electrode bands330 are extended in the extending direction of thesecond electrode bands140, i.e. the second direction D2. Theslits332 are enclosed, and the disposition of theslits332 makes thesecond electrode bands140 be partially exposed in the top view diagram.
• Referring toFIG. 5, thefirst electrode bands130 of the touch panel400 have the enclosedfirst slits132 and thesecond electrode bands440 have the enclosed second slits442. Namely, theelectrode bands130 and440 extending in different directions both have slits in the present embodiment, wherein the extending direction of thefirst silts132 is parallel to the extending direction of thefirst electrode bands130 and the extending direction of thesecond slits442 is parallel to thesecond electrode bands440. It is noted that thesecond slits442 of thesecond electrode bands440 are provided to reduce the coupled capacitance between thefirst electrode bands130 and thesecond electrode bands440 so as to reduce the burden of the driving chip. However, if the capacitance loading ability of the driving chip is increased, thesecond electrode bands440 can be replaced by thesecond electrodes140 mentioned in the aforesaid embodiments which are configured without the slits.
• Specifically, thetouch panel300 can have the resistive touch sensing function and the capacitive touch sensing function by exposing the second electrode bands140(440) through the design of the slits. However, the sensitivity of the capacitive touch sensing function is determined to the exposed area of the electrode, so that the disposition location, the size, and the patterns of the slits are adjusted according to the requirement of the products and are not particularly restricted.
• FIG. 6 andFIG. 7 illustrate touch display panels according to two embodiments of the invention. Referring toFIG. 6 first, atouch display panel500 includes aflat display panel510, afirst substrate520, a plurality offirst electrode bands530, a plurality ofsecond electrode bands540, and a transparentdielectric material550. Theflat display panel510 can be a liquid crystal display panel, a plasma display panel, an organic electro-luminescence display panel, or an electronic paper display panel. Theflat display panel510 includes anupper substrate512, abottom substrate514, and adisplay medium516 disposed between theupper substrate512 and thebottom substrate514.
• Thesecond electrode bands540 are directly disposed on a surface of theupper substrate512 of theflat display panel510 away from thedisplay medium516 so as to accomplish the combination of the touch panel and the display panel. In the present embodiment, thefirst electrode bands530 can be thefirst electrode bands130 or thefirst electrode bands330 depicted in the aforementioned embodiments, and thesecond electrode bands540 can be thesecond electrode bands140 or thesecond electrode bands440 as shown in the foregoing embodiments. Furthermore, the transparentdielectric material550 includes air, silicon gel, silicon oil, or the like which is a non-rigid material. Therefore, thetouch display panel500 can adopt the aforesaid touch sensing method to facilitate the resistive touch sensing function, the capacitive touch sensing function, and the multi touch function.
• In other embodiments, referring toFIG. 7, atouch display panel600 is foiled by connecting aflat display panel610 and atouch panel620 through anadhesion layer630. Herein, thetouch panel620 can be selected from the touch panel200, thetouch panel300, or the touch panel400 of the aforesaid embodiments. Namely, thetouch panel620 and thedisplay panel610 are combined by being directly adhered together, or by fabricating a part of the elements of thetouch panel620 on one substrate of thedisplay panel610.
• In summary, the electrode bands extended in two different directions are interlacing disposed and facing to one another so as to be served as the touch sensing electrodes in the invention. In addition, the electrode bands of one direction are adjacent to the user at the operation side and are configured with a plurality of enclosed slits to expose the electrode bands of the other direction. Therefore, the touch panel and the touch display panel of the invention have both the resistive touch sensing function and the capacitive touch sensing function. In addition, the electrode bands are disposed in array so that the multi touch function can be achieved by performing the resistive touch sensing process or the capacitive touch sensing process.
• Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.

Claims (9)

What is claimed is:

1. A touch panel, comprising:

a substrate;

a plurality of first electrodes, disposed on the substrate and extended in a first direction;

a dielectric material, disposed on the first electrodes; and

a plurality of second electrodes, disposed on the dielectric material and extended in a second direction intersected with the first direction, wherein each of the second electrodes has a plurality of first openings in the form of enclosed configuration wherein the first electrodes are partially exposed by the first openings.

2. The touch panel according toclaim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of first transmission lines, connected with a plurality of first ends of the first electrodes;

a plurality of second transmission lines, connected with a plurality of second ends of the first electrodes wherein the first ends are opposite to the second ends;

a plurality of third transmission lines, connected with a plurality of third ends of the second electrodes; and

a plurality of fourth transmission lines, connected with a plurality of fourth ends of the second electrodes wherein the third ends are opposite to the fourth ends.

3. The touch panel according toclaim 2, further comprising a plurality of first pads and a plurality of second pads, wherein the first pads are electrically connected to the first transmission lines and the second transmission lines and the second pads are electrically connected to the third transmission lines and the fourth transmission lines.

4. The touch panel according toclaim 3, wherein the first pads and the second pads are disposed on the substrate.

5. The touch panel according toclaim 3, wherein the first pads and the second pads are disposed on the substrate with different level.

6. The touch panel according toclaim 1, wherein the first electrodes comprise a plurality of second openings in the form of enclosed configuration.

7. The touch panel according toclaim 1, wherein the first electrodes are solid electrodes.

8. The touch panel according toclaim 1, wherein the substrate is an upper substrate of a display.

9. A touch display panel, comprising:

a display panel, comprising:

an upper substrate;

a bottom substrate, disposed corresponding to the upper substrate; and

a display medium, disposed between the upper substrate and the bottom substrate; and

a touch panel, comprising:

a substrate, disposed on the upper substrate of the display panel;

a plurality of first electrodes, disposed on the substrate and extended in a first direction;

a dielectric material, disposed on the first electrodes; and

a plurality of second electrodes, disposed on the dielectric material and extended in a second direction intersected with the first direction, wherein each of the second electrodes has a plurality of first openings in the form of enclosed configuration wherein the first electrodes are partially exposed by the first openings.

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