Multi-Touch Resistive Touch Panel and Detecting Method

• US 20100110039A1
• Filed: 10/29/2009
• Published: 05/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wintek Corporation
• Original Assignee: Wintek Corporation
• Inventors: Li, Jian-Feng
• Granted Patent: US 8,319,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• 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 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

A multi-touch resistive touch panel including a first substrate, a second substrate and a spacing element is provided. The spacing element is disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate has a first transparent electrode, two first conductive electrodes and two second conductive electrodes, wherein the first conductive electrodes are disposed at two boundaries of the first transparent electrode in parallel, and the second conductive electrode are disposed at another two boundaries of the first transparent electrode in parallel and perpendicular to the first conductive electrodes. The second substrate has many second transparent electrodes disposed on a surface of the second substrate facing the first transparent electrode and arranged in a first axial direction, and the second transparent electrodes themselves are extended in a second axial direction perpendicular to the first axial direction.

Claims

1. A multi-touch resistive touch panel, comprising:

a first substrate having a first transparent electrode, two first conductive electrodes and two second conductive electrodes, wherein the two first conductive electrodes are disposed at two boundaries of the first transparent electrode, and the two second conductive electrodes are disposed at another two boundaries of the first transparent electrode and are perpendicular to the two first conductive electrodes;

a second substrate having a plurality of second transparent electrodes, wherein the second transparent electrodes are disposed on a surface of the second substrate facing the first transparent electrode and arranged in a first axial direction, and the second transparent electrodes themselves are extended in a second axial direction perpendicular to the first axial direction; and

a spacing element disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

2. The touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising a control module connected to the first substrate and the second substrate, whereby

in a multi-touch mode, the control module drives the two first conductive electrodes or the two second conductive electrodes as a first signal detecting end, determines the positions in the first axial direction according to the contact positions between the second transparent electrodes and the control module, and determines the positions in the second axial direction by detecting the resistances at the touch ends of the second transparent electrodes;

and

in a single-touch mode, the control module enables the second transparent electrodes to be serially connected as a second signal detecting end, and further alternately drives the two first conductive electrodes and the two second conductive electrodes to form electric fields of two different directions so as to obtain the position.

3. The touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the control module comprises:

a determination unit, determining whether the touch panel is in the single-touch mode or the multi-touch mode;

a switching unit, driving of the two first conductive electrodes or the two second conductive electrodes as the first signal detecting end in the multi-touch mode;

a voltage output unit, providing a voltage to the second transparent electrodes in the multi-touch mode;

a storage unit, storing a plurality of data of predetermined resistances for the multi-touch mode;

a processing unit, determining the positions in the first axial direction according to the contact positions on the second transparent electrodes which generate signals in the multi-touch mode, determining the positions in the second axial direction according to the relationships between the resistances at the touch ends of the second transparent electrodes and the predetermined resistances; and

a register unit, sequentially storing the position data of the touch points in the multi-touch mode.

4. The touch panel according to claim 3, wherein in the single-touch mode:

the switching unit further enables the second transparent electrodes to be serially connected as the second signal detecting end;

the voltage output unit further alternately provides a voltage to the two first conductive electrodes and the two second conductive electrodes; and

the processing unit further obtains the position in the first axial direction according to the voltage detected at the second signal detecting end when the two first conductive electrodes are electrified, and obtains the position in the second axial direction according to the voltage detected at the second signal detecting end when the two second conductive electrodes are electrified.

5. The touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the resistance at the touch end of each second transparent electrode is greater than the resistance at the first signal detecting end.

6. The touch panel according to claim 5, wherein the resistance at the touch end of each second transparent electrode is ten times higher than the resistance at the first signal detecting end.

7. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein each of the second transparent electrodes has a plurality of transparent blocks being serially connected to each other without overlapping.

8. The touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the shapes of the transparent blocks comprise triangle, square, bar, diamond-shape, polygon, circle, ellipse and star.

9. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate further comprises a first transparent base, the second substrate further comprises a second transparent base.

10. The touch panel according to claim 9, wherein the first transparent base and the second transparent base are made of glass, acrylic or engineering plastic.

11. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the first transparent electrode is made of a transparent conductive material.

12. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the second transparent electrodes are made of a transparent conductive material.

13. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the spacing element is made of glass, plastics, polymer or oxide.

14. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the spacing element comprises a height of 20˜

200 μ

m.

15. A detecting method of resistive touch panel, comprising:

a. determining a touch mode of a touch panel, and proceeding to step b if the touch mode is determined as a multi-touch mode;

b. driving two first conductive electrodes or two second conductive electrodes of a first substrate of the touch panel as a first signal detecting end;

c. sequentially detecting a plurality of second transparent electrodes of a second substrate facing the first substrate, obtaining the positions in a first axial direction which the second transparent electrodes are arranged according to the contact positions on the second transparent electrodes which generate signals detected by the first signal detecting end, and measuring the resistances at the touch ends of the second transparent electrodes which generate signals so as to obtain the positions in a second axial direction which the second transparent electrodes are extended;

d. in the step a, serially connecting the second transparent electrodes as a second signal detecting end if the touch mode is determined as a single-touch mode;

e. providing a voltage to the two first conductive electrodes, and obtaining the position of a single touch point in the first axial direction according to the voltage detected at the second signal detecting end; and

f. providing a voltage to the two second conductive electrodes, and obtaining the position of the single touch point in the second axial direction according to the voltage detected at the second signal detecting end.

16. The detecting method according to claim 15, wherein in the step c, the positions of the touch points, once obtained, are stored in a register unit.