Touch panel and display device using the same

• US 8,248,381 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2008
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Tsinghua University
• Original Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Tsinghua University
• Inventors: Jiang, Kai-Li, Liu, Liang, Fan, Shou-Shan
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimeshkumar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bowman, Mary Ellen
• Application Number:
  US12/286,189
• Publication Number:
  US 20090153511A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,422 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 524/496, 257/222, 349/12, 313/336, 428/339
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes

Abstract

A touch panel includes a substrate, a transparent conductive layer, and at least two electrodes. The transparent conductive layer is disposed on the substrate. The at least two electrodes is separately disposed, and electrically connected with the transparent conductive layer. At least one of the electrodes includes a carbon nanotube layer. Further a display device using the above-described touch panel is also included.

Claims

1. A touch panel comprising:

a substrate;

a transparent conductive layer disposed on the substrate; and

at least two electrodes electrically connected with the transparent conductive layer,

wherein at least one electrode comprises a first carbon nanotube layer, the first carbon nanotube layer comprises a plurality of carbon nanotube films directly stacked on each other, each of the plurality of carbon nanotube films comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes arranged along a primary direction, and the transparent conductive layer comprises unfunctionalized carbon nanotubes.

2. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of carbon nanotubes in each of the plurality of carbon nanotube films are parallel to a surface thereof.

3. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein a thickness of each of the plurality of carbon nanotube films is in the approximate range from 0.5 nanometers to 100 microns, and a width thereof is in the approximate range from 1 micron to 10 millimeters.

4. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of carbon nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of single-walled carbon nanotubes, double-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and any combination thereof.

5. The touch panel as claimed in claim 4, wherein diameters of the single-walled carbon nanotubes, the double-walled carbon nanotubes, and the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are respectively in the approximate range from 0.5 to 50 nanometers, 1 to 50 nanometers, and 1.5 to 50 nanometers.

6. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two electrodes are separately disposed on a surface of the transparent conductive layer.

7. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a transparent protective layer disposed on the transparent conductive layer, and the material of the transparent protective layer being selected from the group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, benzocyclobutenes, polyester film, and polyethylene terephthalate.

8. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, quartz, diamond, transparent flexible material, and any combination thereof.

9. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a shielding layer disposed on the substrate, and the material of the shielding layer being selected from the group consisting of indium tin oxides, antimony tin oxides, and carbon nanotube films.

10. The touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transparent conductive layer comprises a second carbon nanotube layer.

15. The touch panel as claimed in claim 10, wherein the second carbon nanotube layer comprises a plurality of ordered and successive carbon nanotube segments, the plurality of ordered and successive carbon nanotube segments are joined end to end by the van der Waals attractive force and comprise a plurality of carbon nanotubes primarily oriented along a same direction.

16. The touch panel as claimed in claim 15, wherein the transparent conductive layer consists of the second carbon nanotube layer, and the second carbon nanotube layer consists of the plurality of carbon nanotubes.

11. A display device comprising:

a touch panel comprising

a substrate,

a transparent conductive layer disposed on the substrate, and

at least two electrodes electrically connected with the transparent conductive layer, at least one electrodes comprising a first carbon nanotube layer; and

a display element adjacent to the touch panel,

wherein the first carbon nanotube layer comprises a plurality of carbon nanotube films directly stacked on each other, each of the plurality of carbon nanotube films comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes arranged along a primary direction, and the transparent conductive layer comprises a second carbon nanotube layer comprising unfunctionalized carbon nanotubes.

12. The display device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a first controller configured for controlling the touch panel, a central processing unit, and a second controller configured for controlling the display element;

the first controller, the central processing unit, and the second controller being electrically connected with each other;

the display element being connected to the second controller, and the touch panel being connected to the first controller.

13. The display device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the touch panel is spaced from the display element for a distance or installed on the display element.

14. The display device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a passivation layer disposed on a surface of the touch panel.

17. A touch panel comprising:

a substrate;

a transparent conductive layer disposed on the substrate; and

at least two electrodes electrically connected with the transparent conductive layer,

wherein at least one electrode comprises a first carbon nanotube layer, the transparent conductive layer comprises a second carbon nanotube layer, and the transparent conductive layer comprises a plurality of unfunctionalized carbon nanotubes.

18. The touch panel as claimed in claim 17, wherein the second conductive layer consists of the carbon nanotube layer, and the carbon nanotube layer consists of the plurality of carbon nanotubes primarily oriented along a same direction.