Flexible touch screen panel and method of manufacturing the same

• US 9,582,087 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2013
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2012
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Edouard, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yeung, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US13/792,452
• Publication Number:
  US 20140145977A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• 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

Abstract

There is provided a flexible touch screen panel capable of being bent or folded. The flexible touch screen panel includes a film substrate and sensing electrodes formed in an active area of at least one surface of the film substrate. The film substrate is divided into a plurality regions so that elongation ratios differ between regions of the film substrate. Also provided is a method of manufacturing a flexible touch screen panel including providing a supporting substrate including a plurality of distinct regions, coating a plurality of film materials onto the supporting substrate, the distinct regions of the supporting substrate being coated with different film materials, hardening the film materials to form a film substrate, forming touch sensing patterns including sensing electrodes on the film substrate, and separating the supporting substrate and the film substrate from each other.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a flexible touch screen panel, comprising:

providing a supporting substrate, a plurality of distinct regions of the supporting substrate being distinguished from each other;

coating a plurality of film materials onto the supporting substrate, the distinct regions of the supporting substrate being coated with correspondingly distinct sets of one or more film materials, the coated film materials forming a continuous layer covering adjacent regions on the supporting substrate, the regions of at least a single layer of film materials being distinct from each other;

hardening the film materials to form a film substrate;

forming touch sensing patterns including sensing electrodes on the film substrate; and

separating the supporting substrate and the film substrate from each other, the flexible touch screen panel comprising;

a predetermined central region that is referred to as a first region and regions provided on at least one side of the first region that are referred to as second regions,

the providing step further comprising identifying distinct regions of the supporting substrate that correspond to the first region and the second regions of the flexible touch screen,

the coating step further comprising coating the first region and the second regions of the supporting substrate with different film materials,

the hardening step further comprising forming a film substrate having a first region corresponding to the first region of the supporting substrate and second regions corresponding to the second regions of the supporting substrate, the second regions of the film substrate having a hardness that is greater than that of the first region of the film substrate, the flexible touch screen panel further comprising;

third regions between the first region and the second regions,

the providing step further comprising identifying third regions of the supporting substrate corresponding to the third regions of the flexible touch screen,

the coating step further comprising coating the third regions of the supporting substrate with a film material that is different from the film materials used to coat the first region of the supporting substrate and the second regions of the supporting substrate,

the hardening step further comprising forming a film substrate having third regions corresponding to the third regions of the supporting substrate, and

the third regions of the film substrate being formed of a polymer film material that is harder than the film material forming the first region of the film substrate and softer than the film material forming the second regions of the film substrate.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, the coating step further comprising coating the distinct regions of the supporting substrate with different film materials using a multi slit coater.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, the first region being coated with at least one selected from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyurethane, and

the second regions being coated with at least one film material selected from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyimide, and polyethersulfone.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprised of:

the film material used to coat the third regions of the supporting substrate comprising a polymer film material, and

the third regions of the film substrate having a hardness gradient such that hardness of the film substrate gradually increases from a low extreme on the side of the first region of the film substrate to a high extreme on the sides of the second regions of the film substrate.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, the coating step further comprised of:

coating the third regions of the supporting substrate with a film material in which the concentration of one of a hardener and a photoinitiator gradually increases from a low extreme on the side of the first region of the supporting substrate to a high extreme on the sides of the second regions of the supporting substrate, and

the hardening step being accomplished by means selected from thermal means and ultraviolet light exposure.