Method of fabricating capacitive touch switch panel
First Claim
1. A method of fabricating a capacitive touch switch panel comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming conductive touch pads on one major surface of a rigid dielectric panel;
(b) forming pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads and conductive leads extending to said conductive pads on one of two opposite major surfaces of a flexible synthetic resin sheet; and
(c) bonding the second of the said two opposite surfaces of said flexible synthetic resin sheet to the opposite major surface of said rigid dielectric panel with each of said pairs of conductive pads in registered alignment with a respective one of said conductive touch pads.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved technique for the manufacture of capacitive touch switch panel assemblies, utilized to control appliances and the like, provides simplified construction and manufacture. The technique involves the formation of conductive touch pads on one major surface of a dielectric panel and the formation of pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads and conductive lead members to the conductive pads on a separate flexible synthetic resin sheet. The synthetic resin is bonded to the opposite major surface of the dielectric panel with each pair of conductive pads on the synthetic resin sheet in registry with a corresponding touch pad on the one major surface of the dielectric panel. The synthetic resin sheet includes a portion having a conductive lead pattern formed thereon which is not bonded to the dielectric panel; this portion serves as a flexible connector for connection of the touch panel to a circuit board or the like. In one embodiment, the conductive lead pattern includes an interconnection pattern for circuit elements such as integrated circuits or display elements mounted on the synthetic resin sheet or the dielectric panel. The conductive lead pattern on the synthetic resin sheet may be a single-layer or a multi-layer pattern and the conductor may be formed from a single material or different materials having predetermined resistive characteristics whereby external resistors to the capacitive touch switches and/or circuit elements may be eliminated from the circuit.
88 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of fabricating a capacitive touch switch panel comprising the steps of:
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(a) forming conductive touch pads on one major surface of a rigid dielectric panel; (b) forming pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads and conductive leads extending to said conductive pads on one of two opposite major surfaces of a flexible synthetic resin sheet; and (c) bonding the second of the said two opposite surfaces of said flexible synthetic resin sheet to the opposite major surface of said rigid dielectric panel with each of said pairs of conductive pads in registered alignment with a respective one of said conductive touch pads. - 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)
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26. A method of fabricating a capacitive touch switch panel assembly comprising the steps of:
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(a) forming conductive touch pads on one major surface of a rigid dielectric panel; (b) forming pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads and conductive leads extending to said conductive pads on a major surface of a flexible synthetic resin sheet; (c) cutting said flexible sheet essentially to the shape of said dielectric panel leaving an extra flexible extension portion, said extension portion having at least some of said conductive leads formed thereon; (d) bonding said flexible sheet to the opposite major surface of said rigid dielectric panel with each of said pairs of spaced-apart conductive pads in registration with a respective one of said conductive touch pads; (e) mounting said rigid dielectric panel and a circuit board in fixed relation with respect to each other; and (f) connecting the conductive leads formed on said flexible extension portion to respective conductors located on said printed circuit board. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification