TOUCH PANEL SUBSTRATE AND ELECTRO-OPTICAL DEVICE

• US 20140198268A1
• Filed: 07/24/2012
• Published: 07/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sugita, Yasuhiro, Kida, Kazutoshi, Yamagishi, Shinji, Yashiro, Yuhji, Ogawa, Hiroyuki
• Granted Patent: US 9,292,143 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 349/12
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

A sensor electrode (31) provided between an insulating substrate (21) and a counter electrode (27) is electrically connected to a grid-shaped metal bridge (35) via an insulating layer.

Claims

1. A touch panel substrate that is used as one of a pair of substrates between which an electro-optic element is sandwiched and that is provided with a position detecting electrode which detects, according to a change in capacitance, a position given by coordinates indicating an object to be detected, the touch panel substrate comprising:

an insulating substrate;

an electro-optic element driving electrode which applies an electric field to the electro-optic element; and

the position detecting electrode, the position detecting electrode being provided between the insulating substrate and the electro-optic element driving electrode and being insulated from the electro-optic element driving electrode,

the position detecting electrode including at least a plurality of first electrodes which are arranged along a first direction and each of which is made up of a transparent electrode,

the first electrodes at least being electrically connected to a grid of metal wires via an insulating layer.

2. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 1, wherein the metal wires serve also as a light blocking layer.

3. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 1, wherein the metal wires are sandwiched between the position detecting electrode and the electro-optic element driving electrode.

4. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 3, further comprising an organic insulating layer sandwiched as an insulating layer at least either between the metal wires and the position detecting electrode or between the metal wires and the electro-optic element driving electrode.

5. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the position detecting electrode further includes a plurality of second electrodes arranged along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and insulated from the first electrodes, the plurality of second electrodes each being made up of a transparent electrode; and

the first electrodes and the second electrodes are formed in a same plane.

6. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 5, wherein:

in the plane in which the first electrodes and the second electrodes are formed, at least the first electrodes are in an isolated pattern in which the first electrodes are isolated from each other along a direction intersecting a direction along which the other electrodes are arranged; and

the metal wires make bridge connections between at least the first electrodes of the first electrodes and the second electrodes in such a way as to bridge between the at least first electrodes along the direction intersecting the direction along which the other electrodes are arranged.

7. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 6, wherein the metal wires make bridge connections between each separate one of the electrodes and another via at least one contact hole formed in an insulating layer sandwiched between the metal wires and electrodes connected via the metal wires.

8. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 7, wherein the contact holes are formed at branch line parts of the metal wires, the branch line parts intersecting trunk lines connecting electrodes connected via the metal wires.

9. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 7, wherein two or more of the contact holes are provided for each electrode.

10. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 7, wherein:

in the plane in which the first electrodes and the second electrodes are formed, the second electrodes are connected to each other via transparent connecting wires;

the first electrodes and the second electrodes are each electrically connected to the metal wires via the contact holes; and

the metal wires have disconnections between the contact holes provided for the first electrodes and contact holes provided for the second electrodes, so that no electricity travels between the first electrodes and the second electrodes.

11. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 10, wherein the second electrodes are provided with the contact holes at electrode edge parts connected to each other via the connecting wires.

12. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 10, wherein:

the metal wires have at least one disconnecting line which divides the metal wires into a plurality of metal wiring parts, the at least one disconnecting line being between the contact holes provided for the first electrodes and contact holes provided for the second electrodes; and

the metal wires have metal wiring parts which are divided by the at least one disconnecting line between the contact holes provided for the first electrodes and the contact holes provided for the second electrodes and which are not electrically connected to the position detecting electrode.

13. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the position detecting electrode includes only the plurality of first electrodes;

an insulating layer is provided between the metal wires and the first electrodes;

the first electrodes are each electrically connected to the metal wires via at least one contact hole formed in the insulating layer; and

the metal wires have disconnections between at least one contact hole, which is provided for one of any adjacent two of the first electrodes, and another at least one contact hole, which is provided for the other of the any adjacent two of the first electrodes, so that no electricity travels between the any adjacent two of the first electrodes.

14. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 12, wherein those metal wiring parts which are not connected to the position detecting electrode are electrically connected to the electro-optic element driving electrode.

15. The touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 1, wherein the metal wires have outer peripheral parts which serve as connecting parts with the other one of the pair of substrates and which are electrically disconnected from the position detecting electrode, and the electro-optic element driving electrode is electrically connected to the outer peripheral parts of the metal wires.

16. An electro-optic device comprising:

an electro-optic element; and

a pair of substrates between which the electro-optic element is sandwiched,

one of the pair of substrates being a touch panel substrate as set forth in claim 1.