Touch panel-including illuminator and reflective liquid-crystal display device

• US 20020180711A1
• Filed: 04/15/2002
• Published: 12/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
• Inventors: Umemoto, Seiji, Kinoshita, Ryoji, Nakano, Yuuki, Kishioka, Hiroaki, Sakaitani, Waka
• Granted Patent: US 6,891,530 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0036 2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0061 to provide homogeneous light output intensity
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

A touch panel-including illuminator having: a light pipe made of a transparent plate-like material having an upper surface, a lower surface and at least one incidence side surface, the upper surface being provided with light output means through which light incident on the incidence side surface is made to emerge from the lower surface; a light source disposed on the incidence side surface of the light pipe; an adhesive layer; and a touch panel bonded to the upper surface of the light pipe through the adhesive layer; wherein the light output means are constituted by fine grooves which are disposed discontinuously, each of which is made of a concave portion, and each of which is shaped like an approximate triangle in section; and wherein each of the fine grooves has an optical path changing slope and a steep slope. There is also provided a reflective liquid-crystal display device having a touch panel-including illuminator defined above, and a reflective liquid-crystal display panel disposed on the lower surface side of the light pipe in the touch panel-including illuminator.

Claims

1. A touch panel-including illuminator comprising:

a light pipe made of a transparent plate-like material having an upper surface, a lower surface and at least one incidence side surface, said upper surface being provided with light output means through which light incident on said incidence side surface is made to emerge from said lower surface;

a light source disposed on said incidence side surface of said light pipe;

a transparent adhesive layer; and

a transparent touch panel including an input position detecting mechanism and bonded to an outer side of said upper surface of said light pipe through said transparent adhesive layer;

wherein said light output means are constituted by fine grooves which are disposed discontinuously, each of which is made of a concave portion having a length of not larger than 250 μ

m and a depth of not larger than 50 μ

m and not larger than ⅕

as large as the length, and each of which is shaped like an approximate triangle in section;

wherein each of said fine grooves has an optical path changing slope inclined at an angle ranging from 35 to 48 degrees to said lower surface of said light pipe, and a steep slope inclined at an angle of not lower than 60 degrees to said lower surface of said light pipe so as to face said optical path changing slope; and

wherein said fine grooves are disposed so that said optical path changing slopes face said light source so as to be able to receive light incident on said incidence side surface of said light pipe from said light source.

2. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein an area occupied by said light output means is not larger than ⅛

as large as an area of said upper surface of said light pipe.

3. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said light pipe is formed so that the inclination angle of each of said optical path changing slopes to said lower surface of said light pipe is in a range of from 38 to 45 degrees.

4. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said light pipe is formed so that said fine grooves constituting said light output means are disposed discontinuously and at random.

5. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said light pipe is formed so that said fine grooves constituting said light output means are disposed more densely as said fine grooves become farther from said light source.

6. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said light pipe is formed so that said fine grooves constituting said light output means are disposed more densely as said fine grooves become nearer to each of opposite side end surfaces on the basis of said incidence side surface of said light pipe.

7. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein:

said light source disposed on said incidence side surface of said light pipe is a linear light source; and

said fine grooves constituting said light output means are disposed in parallel to said linear light source in terms of said optical path changing slopes of said fine grooves.

8. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein:

said light source disposed on said incidence side surface of said light pipe is a point light source; and

said fine grooves constituting said light output means are disposed concentrically with said point light source as its virtual center.

9. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said touch panel includes an input side transparent base material provided with a transparent electrode, and a pressure-receiving side transparent base material provided with a transparent electrode, said two transparent base materials being disposed through a gap so that said respective transparent electrodes of said two transparent base materials face each other.

10. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 9, wherein said input side base material which is one of members constituting said touch panel is made of a transparent film and a transparent electrode formed on the transparent film.

11. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 9, wherein said pressure-receiving side base material which is one of members constituting said touch panel is made of a support base material with an in-plane retardation of not larger than 20 nm and a transparent electrode formed on said support base material.

12. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 9, wherein said pressure-receiving side base material which is one of members constituting said touch panel is made of a support base material with a thicknesswise retardation of not larger than 50 nm and a transparent electrode formed on said support base material.

13. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 9, wherein said touch panel further includes an anti-reflection layer as its outermost surface.

14. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive layer through which said light pipe and said touch panel are bonded to each other is a tacky layer.

15. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said fine grooves constituting said light output means in said upper surface of said light pipe are not filled with said adhesive layer through which said light pipe and said touch panel are bonded to each other.

16. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive layer through which said light pipe and said touch panel are bonded to each other has a lower refractive index than that of said light pipe by a refractive index difference of not smaller than 0.02.

17. A touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, wherein said adhesive layer through which said light pipe and said touch panel are bonded to each other has a storage elastic modulus of not smaller than 5×

10⁴ N/m² at 20°

C.

18. A reflective liquid-crystal display device comprising a touch panel-including illuminator according to claim 1, and a reflective liquid-crystal display panel disposed on a lower surface side of a light pipe in said touch panel-including illuminator.