Plastic substrate for information devices and method for making same
First Claim
1. An interactive information device comprising:
- at least one rigid, transparent substrate formed from a polymer material;
a first transparent, electrically conductive layer supported by a surface of said rigid substrate;
a flexible transparent substrate at least partially aligned with said rigid substrate, said flexible substrate having a surface which faces said surface of said rigid substrate, and a second transparent, electrically conductive layer on said surface of said flexible substrate;
said flexible substrate being spaced from said rigid substrate to provide a gap between said conductive layers;
a plurality of insulating spacer members on at least one of said electrically conductive layers whereby said flexible substrate may be flexed by pressing to engage said electrically conductive layers between said spacer members; and
wherein said rigid substrate comprises a cyclic olefin copolymer.
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Abstract
An interactive information device for use as a touch panel, touch screen, digitizer panel, or pen-input device, or as a substrate for an information display device such as a liquid crystal display, incorporates a transparent, rigid substrate formed from cyclic olefin copolymer which is lightweight, dimensionally stable, stiff, durable and abrasion, break and flex resistant. The interactive information device includes a first, transparent, electrically conductive layer supported by the rigid substrate, a flexible, transparent substrate at least partially aligned with the rigid substrate and having a second, transparent, electrically conductive layer on a surface thereof, the second conductive layer being spaced from the first conductive layer. A plurality of transparent insulating spacer members/dots are positioned on one or both of the conductive layers to allow the conductive layers to engage when the flexible substrate is pressed. A method for forming such an interactive information device is also disclosed.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. An interactive information device comprising:
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at least one rigid, transparent substrate formed from a polymer material;
a first transparent, electrically conductive layer supported by a surface of said rigid substrate;
a flexible transparent substrate at least partially aligned with said rigid substrate, said flexible substrate having a surface which faces said surface of said rigid substrate, and a second transparent, electrically conductive layer on said surface of said flexible substrate;
said flexible substrate being spaced from said rigid substrate to provide a gap between said conductive layers;
a plurality of insulating spacer members on at least one of said electrically conductive layers whereby said flexible substrate may be flexed by pressing to engage said electrically conductive layers between said spacer members; and
wherein said rigid substrate comprises a cyclic olefin copolymer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. An interactive information device comprising:
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at least one rigid, transparent, conductively coated, plastic substrate having a transparent, electrically conductive coating on a surface thereof;
a flexible transparent substrate at least partially aligned with said surface of said rigid substrate and having a transparent, electrically conductive coating on a surface which faces said surface of said rigid substrate, said flexible substrate being spaced from said rigid substrate to provide a gap between said conductive coatings on said respective substrates;
a plurality of insulating spacer members on said electrically conductive coating on at least one of said substrates whereby said flexible substrate may be flexed by pressing to engage said electrically conductive coatings between spacer members; and
wherein said plastic substrate comprises a cyclic olefin copolymer. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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42. A method for making an interactive information device comprising:
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providing a rigid, transparent substrate formed from a polymeric material comprising a cyclic olefin copolymer;
providing a first transparent, electrically conductive layer supported by a surface of said rigid substrate;
providing a first flexible, transparent substrate having a second transparent electrically conductive layer on a surface thereof;
providing plurality of insulating spacer members on at least one of said first and second electrically conductive layers; and
securing said first flexible substrate to said rigid substrate such that said first and second electrically conductive layers on said respective substrates are at least partially aligned with one another and spaced from one another by a gap in which said spacer members are positioned whereby said flexible substrate may be flexed by pressing to engage said conductive layers. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. In an information display selected from the group consisting of a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, a field emission display, an electroluminescent display, an electrochromic display and a cathode ray tube display, the improvement comprising:
a rigid substrate formed from cyclic olefin copolymer polymeric material. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
Specification