High resistivity metal fan out

• US 9,069,418 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2008
• Issued: 06/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Grunthaner, Martin Paul, Huang, Lili
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Prabodh M
• Application Number:
  US12/135,038
• Publication Number:
  US 20090303189A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,580 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184, 178 1801- 1806, 349/149, 349/150, 361/784, 361/803
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04107 Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04113 Peripheral electrode pattern in resistive digitisers, i.e. electrodes at the periphery of the resistive sheet are shaped in patterns enhancing linearity of induced field
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0289 having a matrix lay-out, i.e. having selectively interconnectable sets of X-conductors and Y-conductors in different planes
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0108 Transparent
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/24 Reinforcing the conductive pattern by solder coating H05K3/3457

Abstract

The formation of metal traces in the border areas of a touch sensor panel to provide improved reliability, better noise rejection, and lower manufacturing costs is disclosed. The metal traces can be coupled to rows on the touch sensor panel in an interleaved manner, so that any two successive rows can be coupled to metal traces in border areas on opposite sides of the touch sensor panel. In addition, by utilizing the full width available in the border areas in some embodiments, the metal traces can be formed from higher resistivity metal, which can reduce manufacturing costs and improve trace reliability. The wider traces can also provide better noise immunity from noise sources such as an LCD by providing a larger fixed-potential surface area and by more effectively coupling the drive lines to the fixed potential.

Claims

1. Conductive traces for routing a plurality of rows in a touch sensor panel to a single edge of the touch sensor panel, comprising:

a stackup of a first conductive material patterned into traces in a border area of the touch sensor panel, the traces configured such that the traces are electrically isolated from one another and occupy substantially a full area of the border area, wherein at least one trace has varying width along the length of the trace, and wherein the plurality of rows form at least a portion of a plurality of sensors.

2. The traces of claim 1, wherein the traces are coupled to every other row in an interleaved manner such that at least one trace is present along a full length of the border area.

3. The traces of claim 1, wherein the traces in any particular portion of the border area alongside a row have substantially the same width.

4. The traces of claim 1, wherein the first conductive material has a resistivity greater than about 0.4 ohms per square.

5. The traces of claim 1, wherein the first conductive material is Molybdenum/Niobium (Mo/Nb).

6. The traces of claim 1, wherein the first conductive material is a stackup of Molybdenum/Niobium (Mo/Nb), Aluminum Neodymium (Al/Nd) and Mo/Nb.

7. The traces of claim 1, the touch sensor panel incorporated within a computing system.

8. A touch sensor panel comprising:

a stackup of a first conductive material patterned into a plurality of traces in a border area of the touch sensor panel and routed to an edge of the touch sensor panel, the traces configured such that the traces are electrically isolated from one another and occupy substantially a full area of the border area, wherein at least one trace has varying width along the length of the trace; and

a second conductive material patterned to create a plurality of rows, each row coupled to a different trace, the rows forming least a portion of a plurality of sensors to be routed to the edge of the touch sensor panel.

9. A mobile telephone including a touch sensor panel, the touch sensor panel comprising:

a stackup of a first conductive material patterned into a plurality of traces in a border area of the touch sensor panel and routed to an edge of the touch sensor panel, the traces configured such that the traces are electrically isolated from one another and occupy substantially a full area of the border area, wherein at least one trace has varying width along the length of the trace; and

a second conductive material patterned to create a plurality of rows, each row coupled to a different trace, the rows forming at least a portion of a plurality of sensors to be routed to the edge of the touch sensor panel.

10. A digital media player including a touch sensor panel, the touch sensor panel comprising:

a stackup of a first conductive material patterned into a plurality of traces in a border area of the touch sensor panel and routed to an edge of the touch sensor panel, the traces configured such that the traces are electrically isolated from one another and occupy substantially a full area of the border area, wherein at least one trace has varying width along the length of the trace; and

a second conductive material patterned to create a plurality of rows, each row coupled to a different trace, the rows forming at least a portion of a plurality of sensors to be routed to the edge of the touch sensor panel.