PAD FOR PREPARING CAPACITANCE TYPE TOUCH PANEL, METHOD OF PREPARING CAPACITANCE TYPE TOUCH PANEL USING THE SAME

AND TOUCH PANEL THEREBY

[Technical Field]

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel, a manufacturing method of a touch panel and a touch panel using the same, and more particularly, to a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel which prevents defects such as bubbles within a coupling surface when an adhesive layer is coupled, realizes a high-resolution touch panel, is manufactured by a simpler process than a conventional silver paste applying process and reduces manufacturing costs, a manufacturing method of a touch panel and a touch panel using the same. [Background Art]

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional capacitance type touch panel includes a window part which has a touch pad upper housing 50 having an upper dielectric member (insulation member) and a screening part 55 coupled to a circumference of the touch pad upper housing 50 to screen a silver paste electrode which will be coupled later; a lower panel part which includes a conductive material coating layer 20 coating a touch detecting part (window

part excluding the screening part) of the dielectric film 10 including PET, with a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), and a silver paste electrode part 30 that is coupled with a circumference of the conductive material coating layer 20 to transmit an electrical signal to a controller; and an adhesive layer (OCA) 40 which couples the window part (corresponding to an upper panel part) and the lower panel part.

The capacitance type touch panel described above should be transparent as a liquid crystal display (LCD) is additionally coupled to a lower part thereof. In a case of a touch panel of a laptop computer, the screening part may not be required as the touch panel does not need to be transparent. As the conventional capacitance type touch panel is added with a silver paste on the ITO layer, a high stepped portion is formed on the PET as shown in FIG. 1. Then, bubbles remain while the adhesive layer and the window part are coupled to each other to thereby cause frequent defects. Also, as an overall thickness of the touch panel is thick, it is difficult to manufacture a thin device.

Since the silver paste is used in forming electrodes, forming a minute pattern of electrodes has its own limitation and a high-resolution touch panel is hardly

manufactured .

[Disclosure]

[Technical Problem] Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel which prevents defects such as bubbles within a coupling surface when an adhesive layer is coupled, realizes a high-resolution touch panel, is easily manufactured by a simpler process and reduces manufacturing costs, a manufacturing method of a touch panel and a touch panel using the same.

[Technical Solution]

Additional aspects and advantages of the general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by providing a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel, the pad comprising a dielectric film which has an insulation resin in a thickness of 10 to 200μm; a conductive material coating layer which is formed

in a thickness of O.OOδμm to 0. lμm on an upper surface of the dielectric film; and a metal coating layer which is formed in a thickness of 0.01 to lOμm on a lower surface of the dielectric film. The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention are also achieved by providing a manufacturing method of a capacitance type touch panel, the manufacturing method comprising manufacturing a pad having a pattern by partly etching an upper surface and a lower surface of the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel; and coupling the upper surface of the pad having the pattern and a dielectric layer including an adhesive layer and an insulation resin. The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention are also achieved by providing a capacitance type touch panel which is manufactured by a manufacturing method of the capacitance type touch panel, the capacitance type touch panel comprising a pad which has a dielectric film having an insulation resin in a thickness of 10 to 200#m, a conductive material coating layer formed in a thickness of 0.005 to 0. lμm on an upper surface of the dielectric film and having a pattern and a metal coating layer which is formed in a thickness of 0.01 to lOμm on a lower

surface of the dielectric film and having a pattern; an adhesive layer which is coupled to the upper surface of the pad; and a dielectric layer touch pad which comprises an insulation resin and is coupled to the upper surface of the adhesive layer. [Advantageous Effects]

As described above, a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel, a manufacturing method of a touch panel and a touch panel using the same according to the present invention minimizes a stepped portion of an upper surface of a lower panel coupled with a lower part of an adhesive layer to minimize defects such as bubbles in a coupling surface when the adhesive layer is coupled, realizes a high-resolution touch panel by patterning a metal layer through photolithography, is easy to manufacture as the lower panel is manufactured by a simpler process without a silver paste print process and a guide forming process and reduces manufacturing costs. [Description Drawings]

The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional analog type capacitance type touch panel;

FIG. 2 illustrates a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel and a manufacturing method of a touch panel using the same according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the touch panel in FIG. 2 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Mode for Invention]

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like elements and repetitive descriptions will be avoided as necessary.

A pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel according to the present invention includes a dielectric film 100 which has an insulation resin in a thickness of 10 to 200μm, a conductive material coating layer 200 which is formed in a thickness of 0.005 to 0. ljum on an upper surface of the dielectric film 100 and a metal coating layer 300 which is formed in a thickness of

0.01 to lOμm on a lower surface of the dielectric film 100.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. That is, in the conventional art,

a dielectric film, e.g. a PET film which is coated with a conductive material coating layer such as ITO is supplied to a manufacturer. Then, the ITO film is annealed, and goes through a photolithography process including a PR application, exposure, development, etching and strip to form a pattern on the ITO layer, a guide process to setting a standard to form a silver paste pattern on the upper surface of the dielectric film having the ITO pattern and a silver paste printing based on the processed guide to thereby complete the lower panel. Meanwhile, the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel according to the present invention already includes a conductive material coating layer 200 including ITO in a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1/zm on the upper surface and the metal coating layer 300 in a thickness of 0.01 to 10/im on the lower surface thereof. If using the conventional silver paste, the pad does not require a curing process for the silver paste. Accordingly, the pad does not need to go through a film annealing process as a pre-treatment process to prevent the film from deforming during the curing process. Thus, the pattern is formed by a photolithography process on the upper and lower surfaces separately. Use of the pad for manufacturing the capacity touch panel according to the present invention may drastically reduce processes

and the number of equipment. The material of the metal coating layer may include various known metals, and preferably, copper or aluminum in consideration of easy manufacturing and conductivity. If the touch panel which uses the pad is coupled with LCD, the dielectric film and the conductive material include transparent materials. The metal coating layer 300 is removed during an etching process except for a circumference and a connection line provided in an outside of the circumference for transmitting an electrical signal from electrodes to the outside. As a touch panel of a laptop computer does not need to be transparent, the dielectric film and the conductive material may include opaque materials. The metal coating layer 300 may form various electrode patterns across a pad area and a pattern of a connection line exposed to the outside to thereby enhance sensitivity and accuracy of the touch panel.

If the touch panel is coupled with LCD, the dielectric film 100 preferably includes a transparent dielectric film having polyimide or polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), and the conductive material 200 includes a transparent conductive material having indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO) from a perspective of good properties and easy

manufacturing .

The metal coating layer 300 is preferably coated by deposition including a conventional vapor deposition or sputtering to have the thickness described above. The material of the metal coating layer 300 includes various known metals, and preferably, copper or aluminum in consideration of easy manufacturing and conductivity.

If the thickness of the metal coating layer 300, the conductive material coating layer 200, and particularly, the ITO layer is as described above, both sides of the pad may be etched at a time during an etching process to thereby reduce processes and be easy to manufacture. If the thickness of the dielectric film 100 is within the foregoing range, an electrical signal may be transmitted to a metal electrode even if the electrode having a patterned metal coating layer is disposed below the dielectric film 100 without connecting the electrode directly to the conductive material coating layer 200. Preferably, the thickness of the metal coating layer 300 is 0.5 to O.δμm. If the conductive material coating layer 200 includes ITO, the thickness of the ITO layer is 0.01 to 0.02/iffl to be etched at a time and to have good etching and patterning results. The thickness of the dielectric film 100 ranges from 50 to 75μm to properly receive signals.

Also, the present invention provides a manufacturing method of a capacitance type touch panel which uses the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel that may be applied to both a touch panel with a transmissive part and a touch panel without a transmissive part. The manufacturing method of the capacitance type touch panel comprises manufacturing a pad having a pattern by partly etching upper and lower surfaces of the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel; and coupling the upper surface of the pad having the pattern and a dielectric layer 500 or a coupling member of 500 and 550 including the adhesive layer 400 and insulation resin. The upper and lower surfaces of the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel may be etched at a time or separately. The upper and lower surfaces may be etched by various known partial etching methods as well as a conventional photolithography. Generally, the pattern of the conductive material coating layer is formed on a surface corresponding to a touch panel touching surface. If the touch panel includes the transmissive part, electrodes are formed to overlap only a circumference of the metal coating layer 300 (pattern as in FIG. 2 or 3 or pattern formed with a plurality of electrodes cut in a lengthwise direction) . If the touch panel does not include the

transmissive part, various patterns may be formed in a lower surface of the conductive material coating layer 200 to detect a touching position.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper surface of the pad having the pattern is coupled with the dielectric layer 500 or 500/550 including the adhesive layer 400 and insulation resin. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the panel which includes the transmissive part. If the touch panel does not include the transmissive part, it does not need a blocking part (screening part) 550.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, as the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel which has the transmissive part, the dielectric film includes a transparent dielectric film which includes polyimide or polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) , the conductive material includes a transparent conductive material such as ITO or IZO, and the metal coating layer is formed by deposition or sputtering. According to the manufacturing method of the capacitance type touch panel, the pattern is formed by partly etching the upper surface and the lower surface of the pad for manufacturing the capacitance type touch panel and the pad is manufactured by etching an inside of the circumference of the conductive material pattern remaining after the upper surface of the pad is etched, and the upper surface of the pad having the pattern is

coupled with the dielectric layer including the adhesive layer and the insulation resin.

Further, the present invention provides a capacitance type touch panel which is manufactured by the foregoing manufacturing method. The touch panel includes a pad which has a dielectric film having an insulation resin in a thickness of 10 to 200μm, a conductive material coating layer having a pattern and formed on the upper surface of the dielectric film in a thickness of 0.005 to 0. lμm, a metal coating layer having a pattern and formed on the lower surface of the dielectric film in a thickness of 0.01 to lOμm, an adhesive layer which is coupled to the upper surface of the pad and a dielectric layer touch pad which includes an insulation resin and is coupled with the upper surface of the adhesive layer.

The configuration of the touch panel is as shown in FIG. 3. An electrode in FIG. 3 may be integrated in a lengthwise direction, or plurally provided which is separated respectively. FIG. 3. illustrates the touch panel including the transmissive part and excludes a connection line from the electrode to the outside. Preferably, the conductive material (ITO) layer is a little bit larger than the transmissive part of the dielectric layer 500. The metal electrode may overlap the conductive material coating layer 200 while an end part

thereof may deviate from the conductive material coating layer 200, but not limited thereto. Alternatively, the metal electrode may have patterns more inwardly so as to completely overlap the conductive material coating layer 200. In this case also, the electrode is preferably blocked by the blocking layer 550. Thus, the blocking layer 550 blocks the electrode and the connection line connected to the electrode (the connection line may be formed by partly etching the metal coating layer) from the outside. As shown therein, the blocking layer may be provided on a lower part or upper part of the dielectric layer .

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents. [industrial Applicability]

As described above, a pad for manufacturing a capacitance type touch panel, a manufacturing method of a touch panel and a touch panel using the same according to the present invention minimizes a stepped portion of an upper surface of a lower panel coupled with a lower part

of an adhesive layer to minimize defects such as bubbles in a coupling surface when the adhesive layer is coupled, realizes a high-resolution touch panel by patterning a metal layer through photolithography, is easy to manufacture as the lower panel is manufactured by a simpler process without a silver paste print process and a guide forming process and reduces manufacturing costs.