Capacitive coupling reduction in touch sensor panels

• US 10,372,282 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2017
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Blondin, Christophe, Sauer, Christian M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kohlman, Christopher J
• Application Number:
  US15/829,763
• Publication Number:
  US 20180157354A1
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04107 Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes

Abstract

Touch sensor panel configurations and methods for improving touch sensitivity of some or all of the electrodes or portions of the touch sensor panel are disclosed. The touch sensor panel configurations can allow increased speed at which the panel can operate. In some examples, the performance of a given touch electrode can differ from the performance of another touch electrode due to differences in capacitance and/or resistance. The performance of the touch sensor panel can be limited by the touch electrode with the lowest performance relative to the other touch electrodes. The configurations and methods can increase the performance of the touch sensor panel by minimizing the capacitive coupling and/or resistance of touch electrodes. Examples of the disclosure can provide configurations of touch sensor panels and methods for improving optical uniformity of the panel.

Claims

1. A touch sensor panel comprising:

a plurality of touch electrodes, an area of two or more of the plurality of touch electrodes being the same;

one or more channels located between adjacent rows of the plurality of touch electrodes;

a plurality of routing traces located in the one or more channels and configured to electrically couple the plurality of touch electrodes to sense circuitry, the plurality of routing traces located on a same layer as the plurality of touch electrodes;

one or more dummy traces located on the same layer as the plurality of touch electrodes and the plurality of routing traces; and

a guard layer configured to capacitively couple to the one or more dummy traces, wherein;

the guard layer comprises a plurality of sections of conductive material separated by sections of gaps and is located on a different layer than the plurality of touch electrodes;

at least a portion of one of more sections of the conductive material overlaps at least a portion of one of the plurality of touch electrodes; and

the sections of gaps are configured to allow capacitive coupling between an object and the plurality of touch electrodes.

2. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein at least one routing trace includes a first section and a second section,

the first section electrically coupling the second section to the sense circuitry and oriented along a first direction, and

the second section electrically coupling the first section to a touch electrode and oriented along a second direction, different from the first direction.

3. The touch sensor panel of claim 2, wherein the second section intersects the first section at a non-orthogonal angle.

4. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein at least one routing trace includes a plurality of first sections and a plurality of second sections to form a stair-step pattern,

one or more of the plurality of first sections are oriented along a first direction, and

one or more of the plurality of second sections are oriented along a second direction, different from the first direction.

5. The touch sensor panel of claim 1,

wherein the one or more dummy traces are located between at least one of the plurality of touch electrodes and at least one of the plurality of routing traces,

wherein the one or more dummy traces include a first edge and a second edge, the first edge including a stair-step pattern.

6. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of touch electrodes includes a first plurality of touch electrodes and a second plurality of touch electrodes;

the plurality of routing traces includes a first set of routing traces and a second set of routing traces;

the first plurality of touch electrodes are capable of being electrically coupled to the sense circuitry via the first set of routing traces,

wherein the first set of routing traces includes a first routing trace and first other routing traces and the first plurality of touch electrodes includes a first touch electrode and first other touch electrodes, the first routing trace coupled to the first touch electrode and the first other routing traces coupled to the first other touch electrodes, the first plurality of touch electrodes capable of being electrically coupled to the sense circuitry via the first set of routing traces, and

wherein the first routing trace is routed around the first other routing traces and the first other routing traces are located closer to the sense circuitry than the first touch electrode; and

the second plurality of touch electrodes are capable of being electrically coupled to the sense circuitry via the second set of routing traces,

wherein the second set of routing traces includes a second routing trace and second other routing traces and the second plurality of touch electrodes includes a second touch electrode and second other touch electrodes, the second routing trace coupled to the second touch electrode and the second other routing traces coupled to the second other touch electrodes, the second plurality of touch electrodes capable of being electrically coupled to the sense circuitry via the second set of routing traces, and

wherein the second routing trace is routed around the second other routing traces and the second other routing traces are located closer to the sense circuitry than the second touch electrode.

7. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein the one or more dummy traces are electrically coupled to a voltage source or ground.

8. The touch sensor panel of claim 7, wherein the voltage source is the same AC voltage source that stimulates the plurality of touch electrodes.

9. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein:

one or more of the plurality of routing traces include a first section and a second section,

the first section configured for electrically coupling the second section to the sense circuitry and oriented along a first direction, and

the second section configured for electrically coupling the first section to at least one of the plurality of touch electrodes and oriented along a second direction,

wherein at least one of the one or more dummy traces is oriented along the first direction.

10. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more dummy traces includes a first section located between adjacent touch electrodes of a given row.

11. The touch sensor panel of claim 10, wherein the at least one of the one or more dummy traces includes a second section located between a first routing trace of the plurality of routing traces and a second routing trace of the plurality of routing traces, the first routing trace coupled to a first touch electrode of the plurality of touch electrodes and a second touch electrode of the plurality of touch electrodes, and

the first touch electrode adjacent to the second touch electrode.

12. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein the plurality of touch electrodes include a first row of touch electrodes and a second row of touch electrodes, the plurality of routing traces including a plurality of first routing traces and a plurality of second routing traces,

wherein the first row of touch electrodes are electrically coupled to the plurality of first routing traces,

wherein the second row of touch electrodes are electrically coupled to the plurality of second routing traces, and

wherein the plurality of first routing traces and the plurality of second routing traces are located in one of the one or more channels.

13. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, wherein:

the sense circuitry comprises;

first sense circuitry located on an edge of the touch sensor panel, and

second sense circuitry located on an opposite edge of the touch sensor panel;

a first row of the plurality of touch electrodes is coupled to the first sense circuitry via a first set of the plurality of routing traces along a channel; and

a second row of the plurality of touch electrodes is coupled to the second sense circuitry via a second set of the plurality of routing traces along the channel,

wherein the first row of the plurality of touch electrodes is adjacent to the second row of the plurality of touch electrodes.

14. A method of fabricating a touch sensor panel, the method comprising:

forming a plurality of touch electrodes, an area of two or more of the plurality of touch electrodes being the same;

forming one or more channels located between adjacent rows of the plurality of touch electrodes;

forming a plurality of routing traces in the one or more channels, the plurality of routing traces configured to electrically couple the plurality of touch electrodes to sense circuitry, the plurality of routing traces located on a same layer as the plurality of touch electrodes;

forming one or more dummy traces on the same layer; and

forming a guard layer, the guard layer configured to capacitively couple to the one or more dummy traces, wherein;

the guard layer comprises a plurality of sections of conductive material separated by sections of gaps and is located on a different layer than the plurality of touch electrodes;

at least a portion of one of more sections of the conductive material overlaps at least a portion of one of the plurality of touch electrodes; and

the sections of gaps are configured to allow capacitive coupling between an object and the plurality of touch electrodes.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more dummy traces are formed in the one or more channels.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

coupling the one or more dummy traces to a voltage source or ground.

17. A method for operating a touch sensor panel, the method comprising:

sensing a touch by sampling a plurality of touch electrodes, wherein two or more of the plurality of touch electrodes is sampled at a touch scanning frequency, the touch scanning frequency based on one or more properties of the two or more of the plurality of touch electrodes, wherein the one or more properties of the two or more of the plurality of touch electrodes are the same;

driving one or more dummy electrode sections that is in proximity to the one or more of the plurality of touch electrodes to reduce capacitive coupling;

driving a guard layer that is in proximity to the plurality of touch electrodes and the one or more dummy electrode sections to reduce capacitive coupling, wherein;

the guard layer comprises a plurality of sections of conductive material separated by sections of gaps and is located on a different layer than the plurality of touch electrodes;

at least a portion of one of more sections of the conductive material overlaps at least a portion of one of the plurality of touch electrodes; and

the sections of gaps are configured to allow capacitive coupling between an object and the plurality of touch electrodes; and

determining characteristics of the touch using sense circuitry.