Trace border routing

• US 9,781,823 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2016
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Lyon, Benjamin B., Chang, Shih-Chang, Grunthaner, Martin Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): MA, CALVIN
• Application Number:
  US15/273,110
• Publication Number:
  US 20170013707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 376 Days
• Field of Search: 345173, 345174, 29846
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/2092 Details of a display terminals using a flat panel, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto suitable for both CRT and flat panel G09G5/003; specific for a CRT G09G1/165
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0242 Structural details of individual signal conductors, e.g. related to the skin effect
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0265 characterized by the lay-out of or details of the printed conductors, e.g. reinforced conductors, redundant conductors, conductors having different cross-sections
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0784 Uniform resistance, i.e. equalizing the resistance of a number of conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/09272 Layout details of angles or corners
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/09727 Varying width along a single conductor; Conductors or pads having different widths
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49155 Manufacturing circuit on or in base

Abstract

The border routing of conductive traces in devices, such as displays, touch sensor panels, and touch screens, to improve border area space usage, thereby reducing device size, and to reduce trace resistance, thereby improving device operation, is disclosed. The conductive traces can form a staggered stair-step configuration in the device border area, in which the average widths of the traces can be different from each other and each trace can have segments with different widths. The conductive traces can be coupled to an active area of the device to transmit signals to and from the active area in accordance with a device operation. The varying widths can help improve the border area space usage, reduce trace resistance, and reduce the differences in resistance between traces.

Claims

1. A display comprising:

an active area configured to display data;

a border area located outside of the active area, the border area including a first region and a second region;

a plurality of rows in the active area, each row forming at least a portion of one or more display pixels;

a connector in the second region of the border area; and

multiple routing traces in a plane disposed along a length of the plane, each routing trace electrically connected to one of the plurality of rows in the first region and configured to route a signal from the one of the plurality of rows to the connector,

the multiple routing traces including;

first and second routing traces located in the first and second regions, the first routing trace located closer to the active area than the second routing trace,

wherein the first routing trace includes one or more bends in the second region,

wherein a number of bends of the first routing trace in the second region is greater than a number of bends of other routing traces in the second region.

2. The display of claim 1, wherein resistances of the multiple routing traces match.

3. The display of claim 1, wherein the one or more bends of the first routing trace include sections with greater slope than one or more bends of the second routing trace.

4. The display of claim 3, wherein one of the multiple routing traces is located adjacent to and has one less bend than the first routing trace in the second region.

5. The display of claim 1, wherein a number of bends of the multiple routing traces decreases from the first routing trace to the second routing trace.

6. The display of claim 1, wherein the second routing trace has no bends in the second region.

7. The display of claim 1, wherein a length of the first routing trace in the second region is greater than a length of an adjacent routing trace in the second region.

8. The display of claim 1, wherein lengths of the multiple routing traces decrease from the first routing trace to the second routing trace.

9. The display of claim 1, wherein at least one bend of the first routing trace borders a third region, included in the second region, and further wherein at least a portion of a bend of an adjacent routing trace is located in the third region.

10. The display of claim 1, wherein each bend includes two straight sections intersecting at non-orthogonal angles.

11. The display of claim 1, wherein the first routing trace includes a first bend and a second bend, the second bend located closer to the connector and including a smaller angle than the first bend.

12. A touch sensor panel comprising:

an active area configured to display data;

a border area located outside of the active area, the border area including a first region and a second region;

multiple rows of touch pixels in the active area and configured to sense a touch or hover;

a connector in the first region of the border area; and

multiple routing traces in a plane disposed along a length of the plane, each routing trace electrically connected to one of the multiple rows of touch pixels in the first region and configured to route a signal from the one of the plurality of rows to the connector,

the multiple routing traces including;

first and second routing traces located in the first and second regions, the first routing trace located closer to the active area than the second routing trace,

wherein the first routing trace includes one or more bends in the second region,

wherein a number of bends of the first routing trace in the second region is greater than a number of bends of other routing traces in the second region.

13. The touch sensor panel of claim 12, wherein the one or more bends of the first routing trace include sections with greater slope than one or more bends of the second routing trace.

14. The touch sensor panel of claim 12, wherein the second routing trace has no bends in the second region.

15. The touch sensor panel of claim 12, wherein a length of the first routing trace in the second region is greater than a length of an adjacent routing trace in the second region.

16. The touch sensor panel of claim 12, wherein the first routing trace includes a first bend and a second bend, the second bend located closer to the connector and including a smaller angle than the first bend.

17. The touch sensor panel of claim 12, wherein the multiple routing traces are coupled to both sides of the touch sensor panel to drive the touch sensor panel from both sides to cause the touch sensor panel to sense the touch or hover.

18. A method of routing conductive traces in a border area of a device, the method comprising:

routing the conductive traces in a plane disposed along a length of the plane, each routing trace electrically connected to one or more touch pixels in a first region of the border area and configured to route a signal from the one or more touch pixels to the connector, the connector located in a second region of the border area,

the routing comprising;

locating first and second conductive traces in the first and second regions of the border area,

creating one or more bends in the first conductive traces in the second region of the border area, wherein a number of bends of the first routing trace in the second region is greater than a number of bends of other routing traces in the second region, and

locating the first conductive trace closer to an active area of the device than the second conductive trace.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

creating one or more bends in the second conductive trace.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

creating one or more straight conductive traces; and

locating the first routing trace closer to the active area of the device than the one or more straight conductive traces.