Brick layout and stackup for a touch screen

• US 8,576,193 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2008
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Hotelling, Steve Porter
• Primary Examiner(s): Leiby, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US12/110,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20090314621A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,020 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184, 345/104, 341/33, 178 1801- 2004
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04107 Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes

Abstract

A touch sensor panel is disclosed having an array of co-planar single-layer touch sensors fabricated on a single side of a substrate. The sense (or drive) lines can be fabricated in a single strip as columnar or zig-zag patterns in a first orientation, and the drive (or sense) lines can be fabricated as rows of polygonal (e.g. brick-shaped or pentagonal) conductive areas in a second orientation. Each sense (or drive) line in the first orientation can be coupled to a separate metal trace in the border area of the touch sensor panel, and each polygonal area in the second orientation can also be coupled to a metal trace in the border area of the touch sensor panel. The metal traces can allow both the row and column lines to be routed to the same edge of the substrate for flex circuit attachment.

Claims

1. A capacitive touch sensor panel, comprising:

a plurality of sense lines formed on a single layer and supported on one side of a substrate;

a plurality of drive lines formed on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines, each of the plurality of drive lines formed along rows from a corresponding plurality of polygonal areas electrically coupled together by a plurality of traces routed to a plurality of bus lines including at least a first and second bus line, the plurality of sense lines formed of a plurality of columns, the plurality of sense lines and the plurality of drive lines forming an array of capacitive sensors;

the plurality of connecting traces routed adjacent to at least a first and second column of the polygonal areas, each column having at least a first and second polygonal area disposed in the same position in each column relative to the plurality of bus lines, the distance between the first polygonal area and the bus lines being different from the distance between the second polygonal area and the bus lines;

the plurality of connecting traces formed on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines;

a first connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the first polygonal area of the first column and a second connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the second polygonal area of the second column; and

a third connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the second polygonal area of the first column, and fourth connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the first polygonal area of the second column.

2. The touch sensor panel as recited in claim 1 wherein the traces are connected to the polygonal areas and the bus lines so as to interleave the polygonal areas.

3. The touch sensor panel of claim 1, the touch sensor panel integrated within a computing system.

4. The touch sensor panel of claim 3, computing system integrated within a mobile telephone.

5. The touch sensor panel of claim 3, the computing system integrated within a media player.

6. A method for improving a touch detection capability of a capacitive touch sensor panel having a plurality of drive lines and a plurality of sense lines formed on a same side of a single substrate, comprising:

forming the plurality of drive lines from a plurality of polygonal areas electrically coupled together by a plurality of traces routed to a plurality of bus lines including at least a first and second bus line;

forming the plurality of sense lines as a plurality of columns;

routing the plurality of connecting traces adjacent to the polygonal areas on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines;

routing the plurality of connecting traces adjacent to at least a first and second column of the polygonal areas, each column having at least a first and second polygonal area disposed in the same position in each column relative to the plurality of bus lines, the distance between the first polygonal area and the bus lines being different from the distance between the second polygonal area and the bus lines;

a first connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the first polygonal area of the first column and a second connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the second polygonal area of the second column; and

a third connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the second polygonal area of the first column, and fourth connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the first polygonal area of the second column.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising configuring the one or more ground guards for shunting near-field electric field lines.

8. A mobile telephone including a touch sensor panel, the touch sensor panel comprising:

a plurality of sense lines formed on a single layer and supported on one side of a substrate;

a plurality of drive lines formed on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines, each of the plurality of drive lines formed along rows from a corresponding plurality of polygonal areas electrically coupled together by a plurality of traces routed to a plurality of bus lines, including at least a first and second bus line, the plurality of sense lines formed of a plurality of columns, the plurality of sense lines and the plurality of drive lines forming an array of capacitive sensors;

the plurality of connecting traces routed adjacent to at least a first and second column of the polygonal areas, each column having at least a first and second polygonal area disposed in the same position in each column relative to the plurality of bus lines, the distance between the first polygonal area and the bus lines being different from the distance between the second polygonal area and the bus lines;

the plurality of connecting traces formed on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines;

a first connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the first polygonal area of the first column and a second connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the second polygonal area of the second column; and

a third connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the second polygonal area of the first column, and fourth connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the first polygonal area of the second column.

9. A media player including a touch sensor panel, the touch sensor panel comprising:

a plurality of sense lines formed on a single layer and supported on one side of a substrate;

a plurality of drive lines formed on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines, each of the plurality of drive lines formed along rows from a corresponding plurality of polygonal areas electrically coupled together by a plurality of traces routed to a plurality of bus lines, including at least a first and second bus line, the plurality of sense lines formed of a plurality of columns, the plurality of sense lines and the plurality of drive lines forming an array of capacitive sensors;

the plurality of connecting traces routed adjacent to at least a first and second column of the polygonal areas, each column having at least a first and second polygonal area disposed in the same position in each column relative to the plurality of bus lines, the distance between the first polygonal area and the bus lines being different from the distance between the second polygonal area and the bus lines;

the plurality of connecting traces formed on the same side of the substrate as the plurality of sense lines;

a first connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the first polygonal area of the first column and a second connecting trace coupling the first bus line to the second polygonal area of the second column; and

a third connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the second polygonal area of the first column, and fourth connecting trace coupling the second bus line to the first polygonal area of the second column.