Touch panel member, touch panel, and touch panel display device

• US 9,971,433 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2016
• Issued: 05/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ando, Takeshi, Nakamura, Hideyuki, Suzuki, Shigekazu, Yamada, Satoru, Toyooka, Kentarou
• Primary Examiner(s): Mishler, Robin
• Application Number:
  US15/015,107
• Publication Number:
  US 20160274688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2255/10 on synthetic resin layer or on natural or synthetic rubber layer
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2255/20 Inorganic coating
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2255/205 Metallic coating
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2255/26 Polymeric coating
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2264/102 Oxide or hydroxide
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/412 Transparent
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/418 Refractive
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2457/208 Touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/08 of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/36 comprising polyesters
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 3/08 characterised by added members at particular parts layer formed of separate pieces of material which are juxtaposed side-by-side B32B3/14, B32B3/18
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 7/12 using interposed adhesives or interposed materials with bonding properties
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 9/045 of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/115 Multilayers
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/14 Protective coatings, e.g. hard coatings
• 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

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel member that is excellent in terms of suppression of visibility of a transparent electrode and has low total reflection for visible light, and a touch panel and a touch panel display device having the touch panel member.

The touch panel member of the present invention comprises, in order, at least a transparent substrate, a transparent electrode, and a protective layer provided so as to cover the transparent electrode, the protective layer comprising three or more layers having different refractive indices, all of the different refractive index layers of the protective layer satisfying a specific expression, and the protective layer satisfying another specific expression.

Claims

1. A touch panel member comprising, in order, at least

a transparent substrate,

a transparent electrode, and

a protective layer provided so as to cover the transparent electrode,

the protective layer comprising three or more layers having different refractive indices,

all of the different refractive index layers of the protective layer satisfying Expression 1,

and the protective layer satisfying Expression 2 and Expression 3 below,

0<

n(x)−

n(x+1)≤

0.20 

 

(1)

|n(electrode)−

n(1)|≤

0.20 

 

(2)

0.20≤

n(1)−

n(N) 

 

(3)

wherein in the expressions, among the different refractive index layers in the protective layer, the layer that is closest to the transparent electrode is designated as the 1st layer, then the 2nd layer, and so on, and the layer that is farthest from the transparent substrate is designated as the Nth layer, the refractive index of an ath layer of the protective layer is defined as n(a), a denotes an integer satisfying 1≤

a≤

N, x denotes an integer satisfying 1≤

x≤

N−

1, and the refractive index of the transparent electrode is defined as n(electrode), wherein all of the 1st layer to the N-1th layer in the protective layer are layers comprising an inorganic material and an organic material, a pencil hardness of the Nth layer of the protective layer is a hardness of 2H or higher, and a film thickness of each of the 1st layer to the Nth layer in the protective layer is 0.02 to 5 μ

m.

2. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the face of the transparent substrate on which the transparent electrode is provided and the side face of the transparent electrode form a taper angle of 2°

to 80°

.

3. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the transparent electrode has a refractive index of at least 1.76 but no greater than 2.30.

4. The touch panel member according to claim 3, wherein the transparent electrode has a refractive index of at least 1.86 but no greater than 2.20.

5. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the transparent electrode comprises indium tin oxide or indium zinc oxide.

6. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein all of the 1st layer to the Nth layer in the protective layer comprise a polymer.

7. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein all of the 1st layer to the N-1th layer in the protective layer are layers comprising a compound selected from the group consisting of a titanoxane, a zirconoxane, a titanoxane-zirconoxane condensation product, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and a titanium-zirconium composite oxide.

8. The touch panel member according to claim 7, wherein with regard to the 1st layer to the N-1th layer in the protective layer, the content of the compound selected from the group consisting of a titanoxane, a zirconoxane, a titanoxane-zirconoxane condensation product, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, and a titanium-zirconium composite oxide decreases as the layer number increases.

9. The touch panel member according to claim 7, wherein all of the 1st layer to the N-1th layer in the protective layer are layers comprising titanium oxide particles, zirconium oxide particles, and/or titanium-zirconium composite oxide particles.

10. A touch panel comprising the touch panel member according to claim 1.

11. A touch panel display device comprising the touch panel member according to claim 1.

12. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein all of the 1st layer to the Nth layer in the protective layer comprise an acrylic resin.

13. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein all of the 1st layer to the Nth layer in the protective layer comprise the same polymer.

14. The touch panel member according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer comprises four or more layers having different refractive indices.