Touch panel member, touch panel, and touch panel display device

• US 10,452,209 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2016
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ando, Takeshi, Nakamura, Hideyuki, Suzuki, Shigekazu, Yamada, Satoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Mercedes, Dismery
• Application Number:
  US15/046,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20160274695A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,342 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/111 using layers comprising organic materials
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/113 using inorganic layer materials only
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/115 Multilayers
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/14 Protective coatings, e.g. hard coatings
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133 Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements arrangements or circuits for control of liquid crystal elements in a matrix, not structurally associated with these elements G09G3/36
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133502 Antiglare, refractive index matching layers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133565 inside the LC elements, i.e. between the cell substrates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/85 Arrangements for extracting light from the devices
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/858 comprising refractive means, e.g. lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/879 comprising refractive means, e.g. lenses

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel member that is excellent in terms of suppression of visibility of a transparent electrode and has low total reflection for visible light, and a touch panel and a touch panel display device having the touch panel member.

The touch panel member of the present invention comprises, in order, at least a transparent substrate, a transparent electrode, and a protective layer provided so as to cover the transparent electrode and having a thickness of 0.04 to 10 μm, at least part of the protective layer having a refractive index that decreases continuously from the transparent substrate side toward the side opposite to the transparent substrate, and the protective layer satisfying specific expressions.

Claims

1. A touch panel member comprising, in order, at least

a transparent substrate,

a transparent electrode, and

a protective layer provided so as to cover the transparent electrode and having a thickness of 0.04 to 10 μ

m,

the protective layer being a single-layered structure, the protective layer having a refractive index that decreases continuously from a first surface of the protective layer to a second surface opposite to the first surface, the refractive index of the protective layer is the refractive index within the protective layer,

wherein the protective layer is a layer comprising a compound selected from the group consisting of a titanoxane, a zirconoxane, a titanoxane-zirconoxane condensation product, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and a titanium-zirconium composite oxide, the compound is dispersed along an entire thickness direction of the protective layer, a content of the compound decreases from the first surface of the protective layer to the second surface opposite to the first surface, and the first surface faces the transparent substrate, and

the protective layer satisfying Expression 1 and Expression 2 below,

|n(electrode)−

n(protect-electrode)|≤

0.2 

 

(1)

0.2≤

n(protect-electrode)−

n(protect-surface) 

 

(2)

wherein in the expressions, the refractive index of the transparent electrode is defined as n(electrode), the refractive index of an interface on the transparent electrode side of the protective layer is defined as n(protect-electrode), and the refractive index of an interface, on the side opposite to the transparent substrate, of the protective layer is defined as n(protect-surface).

2. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer satisfies Expression 3 below,

0≤

Δ

n≤

0.15 

 

(3)

wherein in the expression, Δ

n denotes the amount of change in the refractive index of the protective layer from a given position of the protective layer to a position moved by 20 nm in the transparent substrate direction along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the transparent substrate on which the transparent electrode is provided.

3. The touch panel member according to claim 2, wherein Δ

n is greater than 0 but less than 0.15.

4. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein a taper angle formed between the plane of the transparent substrate on which the transparent electrode is provided and a side face of the transparent electrode is 2°

to 80°

.

5. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the refractive index of the transparent electrode is at least 1.76 but no greater than 2.30.

6. The touch panel member according to claim 5, wherein the refractive index of the transparent electrode is at least 1.86 but no greater than 2.20.

7. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein it further comprises an adjacent layer that is in contact with the interface, on the side opposite to the transparent substrate, of the protective layer,

the protective layer and the adjacent layer satisfying Expression 4 below,

|n(protect-surface)−

n(adjacent)|≤

0.2 

 

(4)

wherein in the expression, the refractive index of the adjacent layer is defined as n(adjacent).

8. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer further comprises an organic material.

9. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer is a layer comprising titanium oxide particles, zirconium oxide particles, and/or titanium-zirconium composite oxide particles.

10. A touch panel comprising the touch panel member according to claim 1.

11. A touch panel display device comprising the touch panel member according to claim 1.

12. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein a region where the refractive index decreases continuously has a thickness of at least 20 nm in a thickness direction of the protective layer.

13. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein a pencil hardness of the protective layer is a hardness of B or higher.