JP6625010B2 - Electrostatic capacity type electrode sheet - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a capacitance-type electrode sheet mounted on a projection-type capacitance-type touch panel device capable of detecting multiple points of a fingertip.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic devices such as mobile phones, smart devices (for example, tablet terminals and electronic book readers), and car navigation systems have advantages in that they can be operated intuitively and have excellent durability as a form of interface. A display device (touch panel device) having a touch panel function is mounted.

  The touch panel is a position input device that detects a touch by a pointer such as a finger or a stylus and specifies coordinates of the touch position. The detection method is a resistance film method consisting of an analog resistance film method and a matrix resistance film method, a capacitance method consisting of a surface capacitance method and a projection capacitance method, and an optical method consisting of an infrared scanning method and a retroreflection method. Method, surface acoustic wave method and ultrasonic method including plate wave method, and various kinds of methods have been put to practical use. In recent years, in particular, the demand for the projection-type capacitive touch panel has been expanding. .

By the way, for example, in the center console of an automobile, many mechanical switches such as a push button type and a dial knob type are mounted in order to change the in-vehicle environment and the driving environment during driving. However, when a driver who is unfamiliar with driving or a driver who drives a new car operates while driving, there is a tendency that the line of sight tends to turn from the front to the switch direction to check the position of the switch while driving, Accidents may occur.
In addition, such a mechanical switch has many components, and if the setting items related to the driving environment and the in-vehicle environment are diverse, the number of switches and the number of parts increase accordingly, resulting in an increase in manufacturing cost. there were.

  Therefore, a touch device using a three-dimensionally formed film-shaped capacitance sensor as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below is used as a switch for setting a driving environment and a vehicle environment in a center console of an automobile. Installation is being considered. By adopting such a touch device, it is possible to perform various settings by intuitive operation without breaking the driving posture even while driving, so that safety and convenience can be improved. Become.

JP 2010-267607 A

  By the way, in the capacitance sensor disclosed in Patent Document 1, diamond-shaped electrode patterns are alternately arranged in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively, and the metal wiring forming each pattern is similarly formed in the X direction or the Y direction. It is wired in a mesh along the direction.

  However, the extension direction of the capacitance sensor of Patent Document 1 is the same as that of the wiring pattern, and there is an extension allowable range for each type of metal used for the metal wiring. If the stretching process is performed beyond the range, there is a problem that the wiring pattern is partially disconnected.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a capacitance-type electrode sheet capable of suppressing disconnection of a wiring pattern generated at the time of stretching and improving shape workability of a touch device. It is intended to be.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides:
On an insulating substrate,
A first electrode pattern formed by a plurality of metal wires intersecting each other at a predetermined angle to form a plurality of grids is arranged in series at a predetermined interval along the first direction, and the pattern arranged in series is A plurality of first electrodes arranged in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction;
A second electrode pattern formed by a plurality of metal wires intersecting each other at a predetermined angle to form a plurality of grids is arranged in series at a predetermined interval along the second direction, and the pattern arranged in series Are alternately arranged with a plurality of second electrodes arranged in the first direction ,
In the capacitance type electrode sheet formed three-dimensionally by extending in the uniaxial direction with the first direction or the second direction being the extension direction A ,
When the capacitance type electrode sheet is stretched in the stretching direction A, the first electrode pattern and the first electrode pattern are stretched so that the stretching ratio from the state before stretching to the thin metal wire is improved. among the diagonal in the lattice of the second electrode pattern, the drawing direction a diagonal θ1 opposed to is formed to be larger than the diagonal θ2 facing the non-stretch direction B perpendicular to the drawing direction a A capacitive electrode sheet.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the capacitance type electrode sheet according to the first aspect, between the diagonal line L1 of the lattice 13c parallel to the extending direction A and the metal wiring forming the diagonal θ1. Is formed in a range of 45 ° <θ3 ≦ 80 °, which is a capacitance type electrode sheet.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the capacitance type electrode sheet according to the second aspect, the angle θ3 satisfies 60 ° ≦ θ3 ≦ 80 °. It is.

  According to the capacitance type electrode sheet of the present invention, when the metal sheet is stretched in the stretching direction A, the amount of stretching of the electrode sheet is improved as compared with the conventional case where the metal wiring is arranged in parallel with the stretching direction A. be able to. That is, when the electrode sheet is stretched in the uniaxial direction and deformed, the electrode sheet can be deformed more greatly, and the degree of freedom in designing a touch device on which the electrode sheet is mounted can be increased.

  Further, by forming the angle θ3 between the diagonal line L1 parallel to the stretching direction A in the lattice and the metal wiring forming the diagonal θ1 in the range of 60 ° ≦ θ3 ≦ 80 °, the extension amount of the electrode sheet is improved. Can be effectively enhanced.

(A) is a plan view of the electrode portion of the capacitance type electrode sheet according to the present invention as viewed from the back side, and (b) is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line AA of (a). It is the figure which showed typically the electrode pattern in which the vertical angle of the lattice was 45 degrees. 5 is a graph showing the results of measuring the stretching ratio of the capacitance type electrode sheet according to the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited by this embodiment, and other forms, examples, operation techniques, and the like that can be implemented by those skilled in the art based on this form are all included in the scope of the present invention. I do.

  In this specification, in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, when the terms “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right” are used to indicate directions or positions, the user may refer to the drawings as illustrated. When viewed from above, below, left, right matches.

  The capacitance-type electrode sheet 1 according to the present embodiment is, for example, a measuring instrument, a communication device, a home appliance, a tablet device, or other various electronic devices, a touch panel mounted on a center console of an automobile, or the like. These devices are mounted on such various devices (hereinafter collectively referred to as “touch devices”), and when the fingertip approaches, the capacitance of the electrodes in the vicinity changes, and the change is represented by the position coordinates from two rows of electrodes vertically and horizontally. This is a projection-type capacitance sheet-like electrode capable of detecting multiple points of the fingertip for detecting the fingertip.

First, the configuration of a capacitance-type electrode sheet (hereinafter, also simply referred to as an “electrode sheet”) 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The electrode sheet 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a rectangular shape in plan view, but the shape is not limited thereto. For example, a touch such as a square, a circle, an ellipse, and a polygon may be mounted. The shape is not particularly limited because it depends on the device.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the electrode sheet 1 includes a first electrode 13 and a second electrode 14 on a back surface (a surface facing an operation surface) of a sheet-like substrate 11. This is a configuration in which the electrode unit 12 made of If necessary, a protective layer (not shown) composed of a hard coat layer by painting or a protective film may be provided so as to cover each electrode for the purpose of protecting the electrode portion 12.

  The substrate 11 is a film-like material that can be processed into a predetermined shape by a film forming method (such as thermoforming, vacuum forming, pressure forming, or insert injection forming) such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), or polyimide (PI). It is formed of an insulating resin material. Whether or not the substrate 11 is translucent can be selected according to the use of the product. In addition, a first electrode 13 and a second electrode 14 as electrode portions 12 are formed on the back surface (the surface opposite to the surface operated by the fingertip, hereinafter referred to as “operation opposing surface”) 11 a of the substrate 11. Is done.

  The first electrode 13 uses a plurality of metal wirings 13b made of a conductive metal material such as Cu (copper) or Ag (silver), a halide thereof, or a Cu / Ag paste, for example, and uses a predetermined forming method (for example, plating). It has a plurality of first electrode patterns 13a formed on the operation facing surface 11a of the substrate 11 by a forming method, a rolling method, a screen printing method, a photolithographic etching method).

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the first electrode patterns 13a are arranged in series at predetermined intervals along the X direction (first direction), which is a vertical direction, and the patterns arranged in series are arranged in the X direction. Are arranged in the Y direction (second direction), which is a horizontal direction orthogonal to. In each first electrode pattern 13a, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of metal wirings 13b are arranged to cross each other at a predetermined angle, and a plurality of square (square or rhombic) lattices 13c are formed by the respective wirings 13b. . The two diagonal lines of the lattice 13c are parallel to the X direction or the Y direction.

  The second electrode 14 is formed by using a plurality of metal wirings 14b made of a conductive metal material such as Cu (copper) or Ag (silver) or a halide thereof, or a Cu / Ag paste, for example, and using a predetermined forming method (for example, plating). It has a plurality of second electrode patterns 14a formed on the operation facing surface 11a of the substrate 11 by a forming method, a rolling method, a screen printing method, a photolithographic etching method).

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the second electrode patterns 14a are arranged in series at predetermined intervals along the horizontal Y direction, and a plurality of the series arranged patterns are arranged in the X direction. . Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in each of the second electrode patterns 14a, a plurality of metal wirings 14b are arranged to cross each other at a predetermined angle, and a plurality of square (square or rhombic) lattices 14c are formed by the respective wirings 14b. . The two diagonal lines of the grating 14c are parallel to the X direction or the Y direction.

In the present embodiment, the pitch between the wirings in the first electrode pattern 13a and the second electrode pattern 14a is in the range of 100 to 500 μm, and the diameter of the metal wirings 13b and 14b is about several μm. Since the method resolution and the maximum value depend on the required resolution of the product, they are not limited to the numerical values shown.
As described above, in the electrode sheet 1 of the present invention, the first electrodes 13 and the second electrodes 14 are arranged such that respective electrode patterns are alternately arranged in a matrix as shown in FIG.

  Further, the electrode sheet 1 of the present invention can be used after being stretched in any direction (uniaxial direction) of the X direction or the Y direction and processed into a shape. Therefore, in the electrode sheet 1 of the present invention, among the diagonals of the lattices 13c and 14c, the diagonal θ1 facing the stretching direction A is orthogonal to the stretching direction A as shown in FIG. In the non-stretching direction B.

  For example, when the stretching direction A is the X direction, the diagonal θ1 facing the stretching direction A among the diagonals in the lattice 13c of the first electrode pattern 13a is the non-stretching direction B (Y direction) orthogonal to the stretching direction A. ). That is, the diagonal θ1 is formed in the range of 90 ° <θ1 ≦ 160 °.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a diagonal line L1 parallel to the stretching direction A in the lattice 13c (ie, in the stretching direction A in the lattice 13c), in order to improve the amount of stretching of the electrode sheet 1 when the electrode sheet 1 is stretched in the stretching direction A. An angle θ3 between a line connecting the opposing vertices 13d) and the metal wiring 14b forming the diagonal θ1 is in a range of 45 ° <θ3 ≦ 80 °, preferably in a range of 60 ° ≦ θ3 ≦ 80 °. When formed, the stretching ratio is improved and higher stretching can be achieved.

  The second electrode pattern 14a is formed so that the diagonal θ1 is larger than the diagonal θ2 in accordance with the direction of the stretching direction A, similarly to the first electrode pattern 13a. That is, the diagonal θ1 is formed in the range of 90 ° <θ1 ≦ 160 °.

  Further, the angle θ3 between the diagonal line L1 parallel to the extending direction A in the lattice 14c (that is, the line connecting the opposite vertexes 14d facing the extending direction A in the lattice 14c) and the metal wiring 14b forming the diagonal θ1 is When the film is formed in the range of 45 ° <θ3 ≦ 80 °, preferably in the range of 60 ° ≦ θ3 ≦ 80 °, the stretching ratio is improved and high stretching can be achieved.

  If the angle of θ3 exceeds 80 ° and approaches 90 °, it becomes difficult to form a pattern in a state where the quality performance of the substrate 11 is ensured. Therefore, the electrode pattern 13a is formed at an angle that does not substantially exceed 80 °. 14a is preferably manufactured.

Next, a method for forming the electrode section 12 will be described.
First, a plurality of first electrodes 13 extending as column electrodes in the vertical direction (X direction) of FIG. 1A are formed on the operation facing surface 11a of the substrate 11. Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, an insulating layer 15 is formed in a region where the second electrode 14 is to be formed, and extends on the insulating layer 15 in the horizontal direction (Y direction) of FIG. A plurality of second electrodes 14 are formed. The insulating layer 15 electrically insulates between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14, and is made of an insulating material such as an acrylic resin, a silicone resin, and an olefin. If necessary, a protective layer (not shown) may be provided so as to cover the electrode section 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 formed on the substrate 11 by the above-described forming method have their respective ends pulled out to the ends of the substrate 11 by the lead-out wiring section 16. Then, the wiring is connected to a control IC (control circuit) (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lead-out wiring part 16 is a wiring drawn out from each end of the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14, and is, for example, Ni (nickel), Nb (niobium), Cu (copper). , Mo (molybdenum), MAM (Mo / Al / Mo), APC (alloy containing Ag, Pd, and Cu) are formed by sputtering, and a predetermined pattern is formed on the end of the substrate 11 by etching. Form up to. Further, the wiring may be formed simultaneously with the metal wirings 13b and 14b at the time of forming the electrode.

  As described above, in order to maintain the accuracy as a position sensor, the electrode portion 12 is formed on the substrate 11 in an XY matrix in a state in which the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 formed of linear electrodes are electrically insulated. And when operated with a fingertip, it is possible to independently detect which X-direction electrode and which Y-direction electrode, not where on which electrode, and calculate the position from the intersection. .

Note that the electrode sheet 1 of the present embodiment has been described with a configuration in which the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 are formed together on the back surface 11a of the substrate 11 with the insulating layer 15 interposed therebetween. In addition to the configuration, the configuration is not particularly limited as long as it functions as an electrode sheet 11 that can be stretched in a uniaxial direction.
(Configuration Example 1)
A configuration in which a first electrode 13 is formed on one of the front and back surfaces of the substrate 11 and a second electrode 14 is formed on the other surface, and the surface of each electrode is covered with a protective layer.
(Configuration Example 2)
A configuration in which two substrates 11 are prepared, formed on the substrate 11 so that the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 face each other, and are formed facing each other with an insulating layer 15 interposed therebetween.
(Configuration example 3)
Two substrates 11 are prepared, a first electrode 13 is formed on the substrate surface of one substrate 11 and the electrode surface is covered with a protective layer, and a second electrode 14 is formed on the substrate surface of the other substrate 11. The electrode surface is covered with a protective layer and the top and bottom are overlapped.

[Example]
Next, a description will be given of a performance experiment for evaluating the stretching ratio of the capacitance-type electrode sheet 1 having the above-described configuration.
The following examples are merely examples and do not limit the present invention, and any appropriate design changes in light of the above and subsequent points are included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(Configuration of electrode sheet)
An electrode portion 12 was formed on a substrate 11 made of a polyethylene terephthalate film. The electrode material of the metal wirings 13b and 14b constituting the electrode portion 12 was formed by Cu (copper) plating with a thickness of 20 μm in Example 1, and formed of Cu (copper) foil with a thickness of 50 μm in Example 2. The size of the electrode sheet was 15 mm × 70 mm, and the pitch of the metal wiring was L / S100 μm / 100 μm.

  The stretching rate of the electrode material of Example 1 is set to 5%, and the stretching rate of the electrode material of Example 2 is set to 10%. The extension ratio of the electrode material indicates the elongation ratio of the wire when the metal wire 13b or 14b formed in a straight line is stretched from a state before the stretching to a break in the wire.

  The stretching direction A is the X direction. Both ends of the produced electrode sheet 1 on the stretching direction A side are sandwiched, and the tensile force is set to 100 MPa using a tensile tester (Tensilon RTC-1310A type manufactured by A & D). The film was stretched in the stretching direction A below.

  FIG. 3 is a graph in which the vertical axis represents the stretching ratio of the electrode sheet 1 manufactured under the above conditions, and the distance between the diagonal line L1 parallel to the stretching direction A in the lattice 13c (14c) and the metal wiring 13b (14b) forming the diagonal θ1. 5 is a graph in which the angle θ3 is plotted on the horizontal axis. In this graph, the solid line indicates the experimental result using the electrode material of Example 1, and the dashed line indicates the experimental result using the electrode material of Example 2.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in both Examples 1 and 2, the change in the stretching ratio was not so much changed until the angle θ3 was around 45 °, but it was confirmed that the stretching ratio gradually increased around 45 °. Was. Further, as the angle θ3 exceeded 60 ° and approached around 80 °, the elongation of the elongation became steep. That is, it has been proved that the extension amount of the metal wiring 13b (14b) is improved when the angle θ3 is 45 ° or more, and the extension amount can be further improved in the range of 60 ° to 80 °. Further, since the stretching ratio in the uniaxial direction was improved by the configuration of the electrode sheet 1 according to the present invention, partial disconnection of the metal wirings 13b and 14b constituting the first electrode pattern 13a and the second electrode pattern 14a was not confirmed. That is, it was confirmed that the effect of suppressing partial disconnection of the metal wirings 13b and 14b was obtained by making the angle θ1 larger than the angle θ2.

  As described above, in the electrode sheet 1 of the present embodiment, among the diagonals of the first electrode pattern 13a and the second electrode pattern 14a in the lattices 13c and 14c, the diagonal θ1 facing the stretching direction A is the stretching direction. It is formed so as to be larger than the diagonal θ2 facing the non-stretching direction B orthogonal to A.

  For this reason, when the electrode sheet 1 is stretched in the X direction or the Y direction, which is the stretching direction A, the amount of stretching of the electrode sheet 1 is smaller than when the metal wiring is arranged in parallel with the stretching direction A as in the related art. Can be improved. That is, when the electrode sheet 1 is stretched and deformed in the uniaxial direction, the electrode sheet 1 can be deformed more greatly, and the degree of freedom in designing a touch device on which the electrode sheet 1 is mounted can be increased.

  Further, the angle θ3 between the diagonal line L1 parallel to the stretching direction A in the lattice 13c (14c) and the metal wiring 13b forming the diagonal θ1 is set to 45 ° <θ3 ≦ 80 °, more preferably 60 ° ≦ θ3 ≦ By forming the electrode sheet in the range of 80 °, the effect of improving the amount of stretching of the electrode sheet can be more efficiently increased.

1: Capacitive electrode sheet (electrode sheet)
11: substrate 11a: back surface (operation opposing surface)
12 ... Electrode part
13: first electrode (13a: first electrode pattern, 13b: metal wiring, 13c: lattice, 13d: opposite vertex)
14: second electrode (14a: second electrode pattern, 14b: metal wiring, 14c: lattice, 14d: opposite vertex)
15 insulating layer 16 lead-out wiring part L1 diagonal line

Claims (3)

On an insulating substrate,
A first electrode pattern formed by a plurality of metal wires intersecting each other at a predetermined angle to form a plurality of grids is arranged in series at a predetermined interval along the first direction, and the pattern arranged in series is A plurality of first electrodes arranged in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction;
A second electrode pattern in which a plurality of metal wirings cross each other at a predetermined angle to form a plurality of grids is arranged in series at a predetermined interval along the second direction, and the pattern arranged in series. Are alternately arranged with a plurality of second electrodes arranged in the first direction ,
In the capacitance type electrode sheet formed three-dimensionally by extending in the uniaxial direction with the first direction or the second direction being the extension direction A ,
When the capacitance type electrode sheet is stretched in the stretching direction A, the first electrode pattern and the first electrode pattern are stretched so that the stretching ratio from the state before stretching to the thin metal wire is improved. among the diagonal in the lattice of the second electrode pattern, the drawing direction a diagonal θ1 opposed to is formed to be larger than the diagonal θ2 facing the non-stretch direction B perpendicular to the drawing direction a A capacitive electrode sheet. An angle θ3 between a diagonal line L1 of the lattice 13c parallel to the extending direction A and a metal wiring forming the diagonal θ1 is formed in a range of 45 ° <θ3 ≦ 80 °. Item 2. The capacitance type electrode sheet according to item 1. 3. The capacitance type electrode sheet according to claim 2, wherein the angle θ3 satisfies 60 ° ≦ θ3 ≦ 80 °.

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