CN102566111A - Touch control type display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a touch display panel (touch panel), comprising: a first substrate; a second substrate disposed opposite the first substrate, wherein a thickness of the first substrate or the second substrate is less than or equal to 0.30 millimeters (mm); a liquid crystal layer arranged between the first substrate and the second substrate; and a touch sensing component directly formed on the surface of the second substrate far away from the liquid crystal layer, wherein the touch sensing component comprises a patterned transparent conductive layer.

Description

Touch Display Panel

【Technical field】

The present invention relates to a display panel, and in particular to a touch display panel.

【Background technique】

With the rapid advancement of science and technology, the application of consumer electronic products is becoming more and more diversified. Among many current electronic products, in addition to being light, thin, short and small, many portable electronic products (such as personal A digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA) or mobile phone) has widely used a touch panel (touch panel).

The traditional touch display panel is made separately from the touch panel and the display panel, and then the touch panel and the display panel are assembled together, and the touch panel can be divided into resistive and capacitive , ultrasonic (Surface Acoustic Wave) and optical (Optics) and other four, of which capacitive can be divided into surface capacitive (Surface Capacitive) and projected capacitive (Projective Capacitive) two.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a cross-sectional view of an existing capacitive touch display panel. The capacitive touch display panel 10 includes a liquid crystal display panel 20 and a touch panel 40 disposed on the liquid crystal display panel 20 . The liquid crystal display panel 20 includes a thin film transistor substrate 21, a liquid crystal layer 23 and a color filter substrate 25, and the touch panel 40 includes a substrate 41, a metal layer 43. Insulation layer 45, indium tin oxide (ITO) layer (ITO) 47, protective layer 49 and other layers, since the substrate 41 of the touch panel 40 has a certain thickness, the thickness and weight of the touch panel cannot be reduced. Furthermore, when the light passes through the adhesive layer, it will cause reflection, which increases the reflectivity of the touch display panel, thereby affecting the quality of light penetration. In addition, when the liquid crystal display panel 20 and the touch panel 40 are bonded together, there will also be alignment problems.

Therefore, the industry urgently needs to develop a touch display panel, which can solve the above problems, and can reduce the thickness and weight of the display panel, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the manufacturing cost.

【Content of invention】

The present invention provides a touch display panel (touch panel), comprising: a first substrate; a second substrate arranged relative to the first substrate, wherein the thickness of the first substrate or the second substrate is less than or equal to 0.3 mm ( mm); a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; and a touch sensing element (touch sensor), directly (directly) formed on a surface of the second substrate away from the liquid crystal layer, wherein The touch sensing component includes a patterned transparent conducting layer.

In order to make the above-mentioned and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the preferred embodiments are listed below, together with the accompanying drawings, and are described in detail as follows:

【Description of drawings】

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for illustrating a conventional touch display panel.

2A-2D are a series of cross-sectional views for illustrating a touch display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A-3B are a series of cross-sectional views for illustrating the structure of the touch sensing device of the present invention.

[Description of main component symbols]

10～Touch display panel;

20 ~ liquid crystal display panel;

21～Thin film transistor substrate;

23 ~ liquid crystal layer;

25～color filter substrate;

30～adhesive layer;

40～touch panel;

41 ~ substrate;

43 ~ metal layer;

45 ~ insulating layer;

47～indium tin oxide layer;

49 ~ protective layer;

200～touch display panel;

210～the first substrate;

210a - a thinned first substrate;

220～liquid crystal layer;

230～second substrate;

230a - a thinned second substrate;

232 ~ surface;

240～touch sensing components;

241～patterned transparent conductive layer;

241a～plane patterned transparent conductive layer;

241b～bridge patterned transparent conductive layer;

243～metal layer;

243a～plane metal layer;

243b ~ bridging metal layer;

245～dielectric layer;

247 ~ protective layer.

【Detailed ways】

The following specifically cites the embodiments of the present invention, and describes them in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the same symbols used in the drawings or descriptions represent the same or similar parts, and in the drawings, the shape or shape of the embodiments Yes, the thickness can be expanded and marked with simplification or convenience. Furthermore, parts of components in the drawings will be described separately. It should be noted that components not shown or described in the drawings are shapes known to those skilled in the art. In addition, specific The above-mentioned embodiments are only used to disclose specific methods used in the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 2A , which shows a cross-sectional view of a touch-sensitive display panel 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch display panel 200 includes a first 210, a second substrate 230, a liquid crystal layer 220 and a touch sensing element (touch sensor) 240, wherein the second substrate 230 is arranged relative to the first substrate 210; the liquid crystal layer 220 is disposed between the first substrate 210 and the second substrate 230 . The main feature of the present invention is that the touch sensing element 240 is directly formed on a surface 232 of the second substrate 230 away from the liquid crystal layer 220, wherein the touch sensing element 240 includes a patterned transparent conductive layer (patterned transparent conducting layer).

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first substrate 210 is a thin film transistor substrate, and the second substrate 230 is a color filter substrate. In another embodiment, the first substrate 210 is a color filter substrate, and the second substrate 230 is a thin film transistor substrate.

The thin film transistor substrate includes a sub-substrate and an array layer (not shown in the figure), and the sub-substrate includes glass, quartz, plastic, resin or other suitable materials, and a commonly used sub-substrate is, for example, glass. The array layer includes a thin film transistor structure, pixel electrodes, scan lines and data lines and other pixel control structures (not shown in the figure).

A color filter and a black matrix (blackmatrix, BM) (not shown in the figure) are included between the color filter substrate and the liquid crystal layer 220, wherein the color filter includes a red filter, a blue filter and a green filter. The light sheet, while the black matrix (BM) is between various color filters.

It should be noted that the thickness of the first substrate 210 and the second substrate 230 in FIG. 2A is about 0.50 millimeters (mm), and the total thickness of the two substrates will determine the thickness of the overall touch panel (the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 220 The thickness is about 2-5 μm (micrometer), which is relatively much smaller than the first substrate 210 and the second substrate 230), therefore, the thickness of the touch display panel will be limited (limited) to the total of the first substrate 210 and the second substrate 230. combined thickness.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the first substrate 210 or the second substrate 230 in Fig. 2A of this pattern can be adjusted. Please refer to Figs. 2B-2D of this pattern. The substrate 210a or the thinned second substrate 230a, wherein the thinning step is, for example, a physical method (such as a grinding method) or a chemical method (such as an etching method).

A thinned first substrate 210 a is provided in FIG. 2B , the thickness of which is less than or equal to 0.30 millimeters (mm), preferably about 0.15˜0.30 millimeters (mm).

A thinned second substrate 230 a is provided in FIG. 2C , the thickness of which is less than or equal to 0.30 millimeters (mm), preferably about 0.15˜0.30 millimeters (mm).

In FIG. 2D , a thinned first substrate 210 a and a thinned second substrate 230 a are provided simultaneously, and the thickness thereof is less than or equal to 0.30 millimeters (mm), preferably about 0.15˜0.30 millimeters (mm).

In this way, the thickness of the touch panel 200 as shown in FIGS. 2B-2D can be reduced to about 0.80-0.30 mm, meeting the requirement of being thinner and lighter.

Please refer to FIG. 3A , which shows a cross-sectional view of a touch sensing component 240 formed on a second substrate 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the touch sensing component 240 includes a patterned transparent conductive layer 241 and a metal layer 243 . The dielectric layer 245 and the protective layer 247, wherein the patterned transparent conductive layer 241 includes a planar patterned transparent conductive layer 241a and a bridge patterned transparent conductive layer 241b.

The forming steps in FIG. 3A are as follows. Firstly, the transparent conductive layer is formed by a deposition process, and then the planar patterned transparent conductive layer 241a is formed by a patterning process. Afterwards, a metal layer 243 is formed on the outer side of the planar patterned transparent conductive layer 241 a by using a deposition process. Next, a dielectric layer 245 is formed between the planar patterned transparent conductive layers 241a. A bridge patterned transparent conductive layer 241b is then formed between the planar patterned transparent conductive layers 241a to be connected through a deposition process. Finally, a protection layer 247 is deposited to protect each component in the touch sensing component 240 so as to prevent each component from being polluted by external moisture or dust.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 3B , which shows a cross-sectional view of a touch sensor 240 formed on a second substrate 230 according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the touch sensor component 240 includes a patterned transparent conductive layer 241 , a metal layer 243 , a dielectric layer 245 and a passivation layer 247 , wherein the metal layer 243 includes a planar metal layer 243 a and a bridge metal layer 243 b.

The forming steps of FIG. 3B are as follows. Firstly, a deposition process is used to form a transparent conductive layer, and then a patterned transparent conductive layer 241 is formed through a patterning process. Afterwards, a dielectric layer 245 is formed between the patterned transparent conductive layers 241 by a deposition process. Next, a planar metal layer 243a is formed on the outer side of the patterned transparent conductive layer 241a, and a bridging metal layer 243b is formed between the patterned transparent conductive layers 241 to be connected. Finally, a protection layer 247 is deposited to protect each component in the touch sensing component, so as to prevent each component from being polluted by external moisture or dust.

It should be noted that the difference between FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B is that FIG. 3A uses a bridge patterned transparent conductive layer 241b to electrically connect the planar patterned transparent conductive layer 241a to be connected, while FIG. 3B uses a bridged metal layer 243b to electrically connect The patterned transparent conductive layer 241 to be connected.

The above patterning process is achieved through photolithography, which includes photoresist coating, soft baking, mask alignment, exposure, post-exposure Post-exposure, developing photoresist and hard baking are well known in the art and will not be repeated here.

The material of the patterned transparent conductive layer 241 of the present invention includes indium tin oxide (indium tinoxide, ITO), indium zinc oxide (indium zinc oxide, IZO), cadmium tin oxide (cadmium tinoxide, CTO), aluminum zinc oxide (aluminum zinc oxide) , AZO), indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), zinc oxide (zinc oxide), cadmium oxide (cadmium oxide, CdO), hafnium oxide (hafnium oxide, HfO), indium gallium zinc oxide (indium gallium zinc oxide , InGaZnO), indium gallium zinc magnesium oxide (InGaZnMgO), indium gallium magnesium oxide (InGaMgO) or indium gallium aluminum oxide (InGaAlO).

In a preferred embodiment, since the indium tin oxide (ITO) layer has a transmittance greater than 90% in visible light, the indium tin oxide layer is used as the material of the transparent conductive layer.

In addition, the patterned transparent conductive layer 241 in this case may be in an independent matrix or a staggered matrix structure. In one embodiment, the touch sensing component of the present invention includes a layer of ITO transparent conductive matrix, which is a kind of independent-matrix sense elements. In another embodiment, the touch sensing component of the present invention includes two layers of mutually isolated horizontal (column) and vertical (column) ITO transparent conductive layers to form an interlaced matrix, which is an interlaced matrix sensing unit (Intersection-matrix ofrow and column sense elements).

The patterned transparent conductive layer 241 of the touch sensing element 240 is directly formed on the second substrate 230 by a deposition method, and the deposition method includes chemical vapor deposition (chemical vapor deposition, CVD) or physical vapor deposition (physical vapor deposition). deposition, PVD).

In a preferred embodiment, the transparent conductive layer can be directly deposited on the second substrate 230 by physical vapor deposition (such as sputtering), and then patterned to form a patterned transparent conductive layer. Layer 241.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 1 again. In the prior art, the touch panel 20 and the display panel 40 are assembled together through the adhesive layer 30, that is, the substrate 41 of the display panel 40 has a certain thickness, and the combination of the two panels requires additional Auxiliary of the adhesive layer 30.

It should be noted that, compared with the prior art, the present invention directly integrates the touch sensing component 240 on the second substrate 230, which not only reduces the substrate thickness of the existing touch panel (such as the substrate 41 in FIG. 1 ), And no adhesive layer (such as the adhesive layer 30 of FIG. 1 ) is required. In addition, when the patterned transparent conductive layer of the present invention is used as an electrode (for example, when an alternating current (AC) is passed through), a self-frequency will be generated, and this self-frequency will not be affected by the lower liquid crystal display panel (by the first substrate 210, the liquid crystal layer 220 and the second substrate 230), therefore, the patterned transparent conductive layer 241 of the present invention can not only serve as an electrode, but also play the role of a signal shielding layer (shielding layer).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the manufacturing process of the touch panel of the present invention can first form the touch sensing element 240 as shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B on the second substrate 230, and then the second substrate 230 flip (flip), and then sequentially form a black matrix (BM) and color filters, and then set and assemble the second substrate 230 and the first substrate 210 opposite to each other, so that the liquid crystal layer 220 is filled into the first substrate 210 and the first substrate 210. between the second substrates 230 . In this embodiment, after the second substrate 230 and the first substrate 210 are assembled, that is, before the liquid crystal layer 220 is filled, the first substrate 210 may be thinned to obtain a thinned first substrate 210a. Existing photolithography is used in the above process steps, which is also well known to those skilled in the art, and will not be repeated here. In another embodiment of the present invention, the second substrate 230 and the first substrate 210 can also be arranged and assembled first, and then the single-sided substrate or double-sided substrate can be thinned, thereby obtaining a thinned first substrate 210a and the second substrate 230a, the touch sensing element 240 is directly formed on the thinned second substrate 230a. It should be noted that, in the process of manufacturing the touch panel, the first substrate 210 or the second substrate 230 can be thinned according to the needs of practical applications, so as to obtain a thinned first substrate 210a or a thinned The second substrate 230a (see FIGS. 2B-2D ).

The touch display panel 200 of the present invention can continue to perform subsequent processes, for example, including forming a polarizer on the touch sensing element, and forming a cover glass on the polarizer. Other components can also be formed on or under the touch-sensitive display panel 200 according to the requirements of the actual manufacturing process.

In the present invention, the touch sensing component 240 is directly integrated on the second substrate 230. This design can also be called an on-cell touch panel on the display component. During operation, the user can use fingers or Touching the outer surface of the touch sensing component 240 with a stylus or the like causes the patterned transparent conductive layer 241 to be induced to cause a change in capacitance to generate a sensing signal. The generated sensing signal can be sent to the signal processing circuit to locate the position of the touch.

It should be noted that the touch display panel of the prior art is manufactured separately from the touch panel and the display panel, and then the touch panel and the display panel are assembled together, and an adhesive layer (such as double-sided tape or However, when light passes through different media (such as the adhesive layer or the glass substrate of the touch panel), partial reflection will occur, resulting in an increase in the reflectivity of the overall component.

Compared with the prior art, the touch sensing component 240 (with the patterned transparent conductive layer 241 inside) of the present invention is directly formed on the second substrate 230, therefore, the reflectivity of the touch display panel can be reduced, and the Transmittance, so as to improve the optical display quality of the touch display panel.

In summary, since the touch display panel of the present invention does not need an additional substrate (such as glass) for the touch panel, the thickness and weight of the overall touch display panel can be reduced, especially the thin film transistor substrate can be reduced. Alternatively, the thickness of the color filter substrate is reduced to less than or equal to 0.3 millimeters (mm), so as to achieve the goal of thinness, and also reduce the process complexity and cost of the touch panel.

The touch display panel of the present invention can be applied to a liquid crystal display (LCD), such as an in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS LCD) or a fringe field switching liquid crystal display (FFS LCD).

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with several preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field may make arbitrary changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the scope of the appended patent application.

Claims (15)

1. touch control display panel comprises:

One first substrate;

One second substrate, with respect to this first substrate setting, wherein the thickness of this first substrate or this second substrate is less than or equal to 0.30 millimeter (mm);

One liquid crystal layer is arranged between this first substrate and this second substrate; And

One touch-control sensing assembly (touch sensor); Directly (directly) is formed on the surface away from this liquid crystal layer of this second substrate, and wherein this touch-control sensing assembly comprises a patterned transparent conductive layer (patterned transparent conducting layer).

2. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the thickness of this first substrate is about 0.15～0.30 millimeter (mm).

3. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the thickness of this second substrate is about 0.15～0.30 millimeter (mm).

4. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the thickness of this first substrate and this second substrate respectively is about 0.15～0.30 millimeter (mm).

5. touch control display panel according to claim 1; It is characterized in that, the material of this patterned transparent conductive layer comprise tin indium oxide (indium tin oxide, ITO), indium zinc oxide (indium zinc oxide; IZO), cadmium tin (cadmium tin oxide; CTO), aluminum zinc oxide (aluminum zinc oxide, AZO), tin indium oxide zinc (indium tin zinc oxide, ITZO), zinc paste (zinc oxide), cadmium oxide (cadmium oxide; CdO), hafnia (hafnium oxide; HfO), indium oxide gallium zinc (indium gallium zinc oxide, InGaZnO), indium oxide gallium zinc-magnesium (indium gallium zinc magnesium oxide, InGaZnMgO), indium oxide gallium magnesium (indium gallium magnesium oxide; InGaMgO) or indium oxide gallium aluminium (indium gallium aluminum oxide, InGaAlO).

6. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, this touch-control sensing assembly still comprises a metal level, a dielectric layer and a protective seam.

7. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that this patterned transparent conductive layer comprises the structure of independent matrix or alternate matrix.

8. touch control display panel according to claim 7; It is characterized in that; Having between this patterned transparent conductive layer of alternate matrix structure, is as electric connection through a bridge joint (bridge) patterned transparent conductive layer or a bridge joint (bridge) metal level.

9. touch control display panel according to claim 1; It is characterized in that this patterned transparent conductive layer system of this touch-control sensing assembly directly is formed on this surface away from this liquid crystal layer of this second substrate through a deposition manufacture process (deposition process).

10. touch control display panel according to claim 9 is characterized in that, this deposition manufacture process comprise chemical vapour deposition technique (chemical vapor deposition, CVD) or physical vaporous deposition (physical vapor deposition, PVD).

11. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, between this second substrate and this liquid crystal layer, still comprises a colored filter and a black matrix".

12. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, this first substrate is a thin film transistor base plate, and this second substrate is a colored optical filtering substrates.

13. touch control display panel according to claim 1 is characterized in that, this first substrate is a colored optical filtering substrates, and second substrate is a thin film transistor base plate.

14. touch control display panel according to claim 1 still comprises:

One polaroid (polarizer) is formed on this touch-control sensing assembly; And

One glass (cover glass) is formed on this polaroid.

15. touch control display panel according to claim 1; It is characterized in that; This touch control display panel system is applied to plane switching liquid crystal display (in-plane switching, IPS LCD) or fringe field switch LCD (fringe field switching, FFS LCD).

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