Attaching electrical components using non-conductive adhesive

• US 9,588,552 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2013
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sentons, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sentons, Inc.
• Inventors: Hsieh, Yenyu, Sheng, Samuel W., Shih, Shih-Ming, Nelson, Robert G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Arendt, Paisley L
• Application Number:
  US14/024,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20150070597A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,273 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04182 Filtering of noise external to the device and not generated by digitiser components
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/043 using propagating acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/4913 Assembling to base an electrical component, e.g., capacitor, etc.

Abstract

A touch input device is disclosed. The touch input device includes a touch input medium configured to receive a touch input. The touch input device includes a conductive trace coupled to the touch input medium. The touch input device also includes a transducer electrically coupled to the conductive trace and coupled to the touch input medium via a non-conductive adhesive.

Claims

1. A touch input device, comprising:

a touch input medium configured to receive a touch input;

a first conductive trace coupled to the touch input medium, wherein the first conductive trace forms a first electrical connection pad on the touch input medium;

a second conductive trace coupled to the touch input medium, wherein the second conductive trace forms a second electrical connection pad on the touch input medium; and

a transducer electrically coupled to the first conductive trace and the second conductive trace and coupled to the touch input medium via a non-conductive adhesive, wherein

the first electrical connection pad includes a first plurality of void areas between segments of the first conductive trace, and the non-conductive adhesive in each of the first plurality of void areas of the first electrical connection pad couples a first connection terminal on the transducer to the touch input medium through the first plurality of void areas of the first electrical connection pad, and

the second electrical connection pad includes a second plurality of void areas between segments of the second conductive trace, and the non-conductive adhesive in each of the second plurality of void areas of the second electrical connection pad couples a second connection terminal on the transducer to the touch input medium through the second plurality of void areas of the second electrical connection pad;

wherein a conductive adhesive is not utilized in coupling the first connection terminal on the transducer or the second connection terminal on the transducer to the touch input medium.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the touch input medium is a metal.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the touch input medium covers an electronic display.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the touch input includes a human finger touch input.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive trace includes a silver trace.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive trace is coupled to a colored epoxy coupled to a surface of the touch input medium and the colored epoxy renders at least a portion of the touch input medium non-transparent.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive trace has been printed.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive trace has been formed at least in part by etching.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive trace is electrically connected to a cable connector.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of void areas includes a first void area that is partially enclosed by at least a portion of the segments of the first conductive trace forming sidewalls with an opening that allows the non-conductive adhesive to flow out of the first void area.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of void areas is partially enclosed by at least a portion of the segments of the first conductive trace forming sidewalls containing the non-conductive adhesive.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the transducer is a piezoelectric transducer.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the transducer is configured to transmit a mechanical vibration through the touch input medium via the non-conductive adhesive.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the transducer is configured to detect a mechanical vibration on the touch input medium via the non-conductive adhesive.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the non-conductive adhesive is a low viscosity non-conductive epoxy.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more of the non-conductive adhesive included in each of the first plurality of void areas exhibit a displacement flowed shape.

17. The device of claim 1, further comprising a processor configured to process a disturbed active signal, compare the processed signal with a reference signal and determine a location of a touch input on the touch input medium based on the comparison, wherein the disturbed active signal is a detected version of an active signal that was disturbed by the touch input, and the active signal including a pseudorandom binary sequence is propagated by the transducer through the touch input medium.