TOUCH PANEL AND SCREEN INPUT TYPE LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20030043122A1
• Filed: 02/14/2001
• Published: 03/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Chiba Electronics Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.), Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Suzuki, Shigeki
• Granted Patent: US 6,529,188 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

The present invention is provided for preventing the occurrence of cracks on an upper resistance film 11 derived from the repeated push inputting manipulation so as to eliminate the erroneous operation of coordinates detection. To achieve such an object, an upper substrate 4A having the upper resistance film 11 formed on an inner surface of a soft film member and a lower substrate 4B having a lower resistance film 12 formed on an inner surface of a hard plate are laminated with each other while inserting dot spacers 90 in a gap defined between opposing surfaces of the respective resistance films 11, 12, an input inoperable region NR where the upper substrate 4A is bent toward the lower substrate 4B is provided to a periphery of an input region AR by the push inputting manipulation, and a stress attenuating member 100A which gradually decreases a height thereof from the seal region SL side to the input region AR side is provided to the input inoperative region NR.

Claims

1. A touch panel comprising:

an upper substrate having an upper resistance film formed on an inner surface of a soft film member,

a lower substrate having a lower resistance film formed on an inner surface of a hard plate,

a seal region for laminating said upper substrate and said lower substrate,

dot spacers disposed in a gap defined between opposing surfaces of said upper and lower resistance films,

an input region capable of obtaining a detection output which sets a contact position of said upper resistance film and said lower resistance film as a two-dimensional coordinates value when a push inputting manipulation is performed to push said upper substrate to said lower substrate, and

an input inoperable region where said upper substrate is bent toward said lower substrate side due to said push inputting manipulation in a periphery of said input region and in the inside of said seal region, wherein

said touch panel further includes a stress attenuating member which gradually decreases a height thereof from said seal region side to said input region side in said input inoperable region.

2. A touch panel according to claim 1, wherein said stress attenuating member is a set of a plurality of independent members which gradually decrease heights thereof from said seal region side to said input region side.

3. A touch panel according to claim 1, wherein said stress attenuating member is constituted by concentrically arranging a plurality of parallel continuous wall members about the center of said input region as a center and said continuous wall members gradually decrease heights thereof from said seal region side to said input region side.

4. A touch panel according to claim 1, wherein said stress attenuating member is made of a material equal to a material of said dot spacers or a protective film for coating a wiring.

5. A screen input type liquid crystal display device comprising:

a liquid crystal panel sandwiching a liquid crystal layer between a pair of substrates, and

a touch panel laminated to a screen of said liquid crystal panel, wherein said touch panel includes;

an upper substrate having an upper resistance film formed on an inner surface of a soft film member,

a lower substrate having a lower resistance film formed on an inner surface of a hard plate,

a seal region for laminating said upper substrate and said lower substrate,

dot spacers disposed in a gap defined between opposing surfaces of said upper and lower resistance films,

an input region capable of obtaining a detection output which sets a contact position of said upper resistance film and said lower resistance film as a two-dimensional coordinates value when a push inputting manipulation is performed to push said upper substrate to said lower substrate side, and

an input inoperable region where said upper substrate is bent toward said lower substrate side due to said push inputting manipulation in a periphery of said input region and in the inside of said seal region, and

said touch panel further including a stress attenuating member which gradually decreases a height thereof from said seal region side to said input region side in said input inoperable region.

6. A screen input type liquid crystal display device according to claim 5, wherein said stress attenuating member is a set of a plurality of independent members which decrease heights thereof from said seal region side to said input region side.

7. A screen input type liquid crystal display device according to claim 5, wherein said stress attenuating member is constituted by concentrically arranging a plurality of parallel continuous wall members about the center of said input region as a center and said continuous wall members gradually decrease heights thereof from said seal region side to said input region side.

8. A screen input type liquid crystal display device according to claim 5, wherein said stress attenuating member is made of a material equal to a material of said dot spacers or a protective film for coating a wiring.