Touch Screen Substrate and Method of Manufacturing a Touch Screen Substrate

• US 20110134060A1
• Filed: 10/21/2010
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kim, Tae-Gyun, Cha, Tae-Woon, Sung, Woo Yong
• Granted Patent: US 8,580,352 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• 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 screen substrate includes an insulation ball formed on a substrate having a first diameter, a sensing electrode formed on the substrate, and a conductive ball formed on the sensing electrode having a second diameter shorter than the first diameter. A cell gap spacer for maintaining a cell gap of a touch screen panel and a spacer for electrically connecting a lower substrate with an upper substrate of the touch screen panel may be formed via a single spraying process.

Claims

1. A touch screen substrate comprising:

a first spacer having a first dimension formed on a substrate;

a sensing electrode formed on the substrate; and

a second spacer in contact with the sensing electrode having a second dimension smaller than the first dimension.

2. The touch screen substrate of claim 1, wherein said first spacer is an insulating ball and said first dimension is a first diameter, and said second spacer is a conducting ball and said second dimension is a second diameter.

3. The touch screen substrate of claim 2, wherein the conductive ball is fixed on the substrate by a first hardener formed around a first point of contact with the sensing electrode, and

the insulation ball is fixed on the substrate by a second hardener formed around a second point of contact with the substrate.

4. The touch screen substrate of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of signal lines formed in a light blocking region which surrounds a light transmission region of the substrate; and

a pixel electrode separated from the sensing electrode, formed in the transmission region, that is electrically connected to the signal lines.

5. The touch screen substrate of claim 1, further comprising a common electrode extending from the sensing electrode and formed in a transmission region,

wherein the sensing electrode is formed in a light blocking region which surrounds a transmission region of the substrate.

6. The touch screen substrate of claim 1, wherein said first spacer is formed from a hardened photosensitive insulating ink and said first dimension is a first height, and said second spacer is formed from a hardened photosensitive conducting ink and said second dimension is a second height.

7. The touch screen substrate of claim 1, wherein said first and second spacers are formed from a hardened photosensitive insulating ink, wherein said first dimension is a first height and said second dimension is a second height, and the sensing electrode is formed on the second spacer.

8. A method of manufacturing a touch screen substrate, the method comprising:

forming a sensing electrode on a substrate;

spraying a first ink and a second ink on the substrate including the sensing electrode, the first ink including a first solvent and insulation balls having a first diameter, the second ink including a second solvent and conductive balls having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter; and

hardening the first and second inks on the substrate, to fix the insulation balls on the substrate and the conductive balls on the sensing electrode formed on the substrate.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first and second inks are sprayed from an assembly including a first print head filled with the first ink and a second print head filled with the second ink, and wherein the assembly moves over the substrate to spray the first and second inks.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein hardening the first and second inks sprayed on the substrate comprises:

partially hardening the first solvent of the first ink to form a first hardener around a first contact point between the insulation ball and the substrate; and

partially hardening the second solvent of the second ink to form a second hardener around a second contact point between the conductive ball and the sensing electrode.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the sensing electrode is formed in a light blocking region surrounding a light transmission region of the substrate, and further comprising forming a pixel electrode separated from the sensing electrode in the light transmission region.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the sensing electrode is formed in a light blocking region surrounding a light transmission of the substrate, and further comprising forming a common electrode connected to the sensing electrode in the light transmission region.

13. A method of manufacturing a touch screen substrate, the method comprising:

forming a sensing electrode on a substrate;

spraying a first ink and a second ink having a same amount of ink as the first ink on the light blocking region of the substrate;

irradiating light upon the first ink to form a first spacer having a first height and the second ink to form a second spacer having a second height lower than the first height, wherein an intensity of the light irradiated upon the first ink differs from an intensity of the light irradiated upon the second ink, wherein said second spacer makes contact with said sensing electrode.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first ink is a photo-sensitive insulator, and the second ink is a photo-sensitive conductor.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the first and second inks is a photo-sensitive insulator, and the sensing electrode is formed on the second spacer.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein irradiating the light upon the first and second inks comprises:

irradiating light having a first wavelength upon the first ink on the substrate during a first period; and

irradiating light having a second wavelength upon the second ink on the substrate during a second period.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first wavelength is substantially the same as the second wavelength, and the second period is shorter than the first period.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first wavelength is shorter than the second wavelength, and the first period is substantially the same as the second period.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the sensing electrode is formed in a light blocking region surrounding a light transmission region of the substrate, and further comprising

forming a pixel electrode separated from the sensing electrode in the light transmission region, and forming a sensor line connected to the sensing electrode spaced apart from the first spacer in the light blocking region.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the sensing electrode is formed in a light blocking region surrounding a light transmission region of the substrate, and further comprising

forming a common electrode connected to the sensing electrode on the substrate, wherein the common electrode includes a hole exposing the second spacer.