TOUCH SCREEN PANEL AND FABRICATION METHOD THEREOF

• US 20120146922A1
• Filed: 05/24/2011
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kang, Sung-Ku, Lee, Kyu-Taek, Jeon, Byeong-Kyu
• Granted Patent: US 8,922,505 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04111 Cross over in capacitive digitiser, i.e. details of structures for connecting electrodes of the sensing pattern where the connections cross each other, e.g. bridge structures comprising an insulating layer, or vias through substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49117 Conductor or circuit manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49155 Manufacturing circuit on or in base

Abstract

A flexible and very thin touch screen panel is implemented by forming sensing patterns as touch sensors on a first surface of a flexible thin glass substrate and by forming a supporting film on a second surface of the glass surface. A method of fabricating a touch screen panel for securing the strength of a unit cell touch screen panel includes forming sensing patterns as touch sensors in every unit cell touch screen panel on a mother glass substrate, etching the glass substrate in the thickness direction, forming a supporting film under the glass substrate, and by cutting the glass substrate and the supporting film cell by cell using dual cutting.

Claims

1. A touch screen panel comprising:

a glass substrate comprising an active area and a non-active area positioned outside of the active area;

sensing patterns at the active area on a first surface of the glass substrate;

sensing lines at the non-active area on the first surface of the glass substrate and coupled to the sensing patterns; and

a supporting film on a second surface of the glass substrate.

2. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the glass substrate has a thickness of 25 μ

m to 50 μ

m.

3. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting film comprises a transparent resin.

4. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 3, wherein the transparent resin comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polyester (PET), polyether surfone (PES), triacetyl cellulose (TAC), and cycle-olefin polymer (COP).

5. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 3, wherein the supporting film has a thickness of 25 μ

m to 125 μ

m.

6. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a first transparent adhesive layer between the second surface of the glass substrate and the supporting film.

7. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first transparent adhesive layer comprises a super view resin (SVR) or an optically clear adhesive (OCA).

8. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first transparent adhesive layer has a thickness of 5 μ

m to 30 μ

m.

9. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a window substrate attached to the first surface of the glass substrate.

10. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 9, wherein the window substrate comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), acryl, and polyester (PET).

11. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a second transparent adhesive layer between the first surface of the glass substrate and a window substrate.

12. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second transparent adhesive layer has a thickness of 50 μ

m to 200 μ

m.

13. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second transparent adhesive layer comprises a super view resin (SVR) or an optically clear adhesive (OCA).

14. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the sensing patterns comprises:

first sensing cells coupled to each other in a first direction;

first connecting lines for coupling adjacent ones of the first sensing cells to each other;

second sensing cells coupled to each other in a second direction; and

second connecting lines for coupling adjacent ones of the second sensing cells to each other.

15. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 14, further comprising insulating layers at crossing regions between the first connecting lines and the second connecting lines.

16. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a black matrix at the non-active area on the first surface of the glass substrate.

17. A method of fabricating a touch screen panel comprising:

forming touch screen panels on a first surface of a mother glass substrate, the touch screen panels being at respective cell unit areas on the mother glass substrate;

forming a protecting layer on the first surface of the mother glass substrate and the touch screen panels;

spraying an etchant onto a second surface of the mother glass substrate to etch the mother glass substrate into a thinned mother glass substrate;

attaching a supporting film on the second surface of the thinned mother glass substrate;

removing a part of the protecting layer corresponding to boundary regions of the respective cell unit areas;

spraying an etchant onto a part of the thinned mother glass substrate exposed by removing the part of the protecting layer to cut the thinned mother glass substrate; and

cutting the supporting film that is exposed by cutting the thinned mother glass substrate and removing the protecting layer.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the thinned mother glass substrate has a thickness of 25 μ

m to 50 μ

m.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the supporting film comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polyester (PET), polyether surfone (PES), triacetyl cellulose (TAC), and cycle-olefin polymer (COP).

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the supporting film has a thickness of 25 μ

m to 125 μ

m.

21. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the supporting film is cut using laser.

22. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the attachment of the supporting film to the second surface of the thinned mother glass substrate further comprises disposing a first transparent adhesive layer between the second surface of the thinned mother glass substrate and the supporting film.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein the first transparent adhesive layer has a thickness of 5 μ

m to 30 μ

m.

24. The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising attaching a window substrate to the touch screen panels beings at respective cell unit areas.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the window substrate comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), acryl, and polyester (PET).

26. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the attachment of the window substrate to the touch screen panels further comprises disposing a second transparent adhesive layer between the first surface of the thinned mother glass substrate and the window substrate.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26, wherein the second transparent adhesive layer has a thickness of 50 μ

m to 200 μ

m.

28. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the protecting layer comprises an attachable and detachable film or paste.