TOUCH PANEL-EQUIPPED DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20120206395A1
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Published: 08/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Misaki, Katsunori
• Application Number:
  US13/502,193
• Publication Number:
  US 20120206395A1
• 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 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• 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

Abstract

A touch panel-equipped display device is provided that includes, on the front substrate of the display panel, touch electrodes that allow an exact touch location to be determined with simple structure. The device includes: a display panel (120) having a front substrate (1) and a back substrate (11) and having an image display region composed of a plurality of pixels; and a touch panel module (110) having touch electrodes (2) formed on an outer surface of the front substrate (1), wherein each of the touch electrodes (2) is formed of a metal material (6) disposed in a pattern that overlaps, when viewed in the thickness direction of the display panel (120), areas (7, 13) outside an opening of one of the pixels formed on at least one of the front substrate (1) and the back substrate (11).

Claims

1. A touch panel-equipped display device, comprising:

a display panel having a front substrate and a back substrate and having an image display region composed of a plurality of pixels; and

a touch panel module having touch electrodes formed on an outer surface of the front substrate,

wherein each of the touch electrodes is formed of a metal material disposed in a pattern that overlaps, when viewed in a thickness direction of the display panel, an area outside an opening of one of the pixels formed on at least one of the front substrate and the back substrate.

2. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a color filter layer having color regions provided for the respective pixels for color image display and a black region formed between adjacent ones of the color regions,

wherein the area outside the opening of each of the pixels is the black region.

3. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the area outside the opening of each of the pixels is an electrode line formed on at least one of the front substrate and the back substrate.

4. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch electrodes are formed in a grid with vertical and horizontal extensions.

5. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch electrodes are formed of the same material as traces that connect the touch electrodes with terminals formed on the front substrate.

6. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein a transparent conductive layer overlaps the metal material constituting the touch electrodes.

7. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein a floating electrode that is not electrically coupled with the touch electrodes is provided between adjacent ones of the touch electrodes, wherein the floating electrode is formed of a metal material disposed in a pattern that overlaps, when viewed in the thickness direction of the display panel, an area outside an opening of one of the pixels formed on at least one of the front substrate and the back substrate.

8. The touch panel-equipped display device according to claim 1, wherein the display panel is a liquid crystal panel.