1. Field of the Invention
The instant disclosure relates to an input device and method of manufacturing the same; in particular, to a touch member and method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Touch panels are widely implemented in electronic devices as the user interface technology advances, for example, mobile phones, navigation systems, tablets, personal digital assistant (PDA), industrial control panel and the like. According to different transmitting media, touch member is generally categorized as resistive, capacitive, optical and sonic sensors. The resistive or capacitive sensors are commonly used in conventional touch devices. For capacitive sensors, when an object contacts the panel, the capacitance between the object and a conductive layer changes accordingly. A touch control processor undergoes calculation of electrical current variation and obtains the location of the contact spot.
Curved outline has been widely introduced to the electronic devices. However, touch members are restricted to flat panel due to technical issues. For instance, conventional conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) is prone to break after bending. The electronic devices with non-flat morphology, for example, mouse, joystick and case of display device, require deformable touch members to provide a different input option.
The object of the instant disclosure is to provide a method of manufacturing a deformable touch member and utilize a specialized transparent conductive material to enhance the flexibility. The method of manufacturing the deformable touch member includes steps of: firstly, a substrate is provided. The plate like substrate has at least one planar electrode area and at least one planar circuit area, which enclose the electrode area. A first conductive material, which is constituted of carbon nanotubes, is applied partially to the electrode area to form a transparent electrode layer. Subsequently, a second conductive material is applied to a portion of the circuit area to form a circuit layer, which electrically couples to the transparent electrode layer. Finally, the substrate is shaped to form deformable and stereoscopic transparent electrodes.
According to one exemplary embodiment of the instant disclosure, a touch member is provided, which includes a plate like substrate, stereoscopic transparent electrodes and a circuit layer. The substrate includes an electrode area and a circuit area. The stereoscopic transparent electrodes include transparent electrode layer formed on the electrode area. The transparent electrode layer is made of transparent conductive material constituted of carbon nanotubes. The circuit layer is formed on the circuit area and electrically couples to the transparent electrode layer.
In summary, the touch member is highly flexible in shape as well as chemically stable and the method of manufacturing the same provides a high yield rate and simplified fabrication process.
In order to further understand the instant disclosure, the following embodiments are provided along with illustrations to facilitate the appreciation of the instant disclosure; however, the appended drawings are merely provided for reference and illustration, without any intention to be used for limiting the scope of the instant disclosure.
The aforementioned illustrations and following detailed descriptions are exemplary for the purpose of further explaining the scope of the instant disclosure. Other objectives and advantages related to the instant disclosure will be illustrated in the subsequent descriptions and appended drawings.
The instant disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a deformable or stereoscopic touch member.
Referring to
Step S101: providing a plate like substrate 100 having at least one planar electrode area 110 and at least one planar circuit area 120 arranged on the surface 101 thereof.
Step S103: applying a first conductive material to a portion of the electrode area 110 to form a transparent electrode layer 200. The first conductive material is constituted of carbon nanotubes.
Step S105: partially applying a second conductive material to the circuit area 120 to form a circuit layer 300. The circuit layer 300 and transparent electrode layer 200 are electrically coupled.
Step S107: shaping the substrate 100 to form a deformable or stereoscopic transparent electrode 201.
The method of manufacturing the touch member is further described hereinafter. Please refer to
The substrate 100 is made of insulating and visually transparent materials. In addition, the material is thermoplastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyethersulfone (PES), polyimide (PI), epoxy and the like. In the instant embodiment, the bottom plane 103 may be the primary contact face and upon the contact of an object, electrostatic capacitance is generated between the transparent electrode 201 on the top plane 102 and the bottom plane 103. Additionally, the thickness of the substrate 100 ranges from 50 to 700 micrometers (μm) and the preferable thickness is 125 μm or 188 μm.
Please refer to
In the instant embodiment, the first conductive material is coated onto the electrode area 110 of the substrate 100 to form a transparent electrode layer 200. The transparent electrode layer 200 preferably measure 10 to 500 nm in thickness to allow desired transparency and resistance distribution. The preferred thickness provides higher accuracy and sharpness of the touch member 1a as well as the device using the same. It is worth mentioned that in the instant embodiment, the first conductive material only coats the portion of the electrode area 110 to form the patterned transparent electrode layer 200. The first conductive material may coat on the surface 101 by screen printing, sputtering, lithographing, inkjet printing or the like for the formation of the patterned transparent electrode layer 200. Conventional coating methods well known to those skilled in the art may be employed to form the electrode layer and the instant disclosure is not limited thereto.
Attention is now invited to
Then the second conductive material is applied to a portion of the circuit area 120 to form the circuit layer 300. The circuit layer 300 electrically couples to the transparent electrode layer 200. The second conductive material exhibits electrical conductance and ductility such as conductive paste, silver paste, and the resin paint containing conductive particles. In the instant embodiment, the second conductive is a non-transparent conductive paste yet the second conductive material may be transparent in another embodiment. Attention is now invited to
The circuit layer 300 electrically couples to the transparent electrode layer 200. More specifically, the circuit layer 300 and transparent electrode layer 200 are disposed on the top plane 102. One end of the circuit layer 300 connects the transparent electrode layer 200 and leads there-from. Alternatively, the circuit layer 300 may overlap a portion of the transparent electrode layer 200 and lead there-from. As shown in
Note that in another embodiment, the formation of the transparent electrode layer 200 and circuit layer 300 may carry out at the same time. That is to say the first and second conductive materials respectively coat the transparent electrode layer 200 and circuit layer 300 simultaneously. For example, a pattern may be printed on the top plane 102 by a printing roller covering a portion of the top plane 102. Then a coating roller is used to coat the first conductive material on the electrode area 110 and the second conductive material on the circuit area 120.
Attention is now invited to
For example, the substrate 100 can be shaped by cold pressing supplemented by vacuum. Specifically, the substrate 100 is positioned in a male die which has a plurality of air vents. The air is drawn out of the mold from the air vents to create a vacuum condition inside the mold. Meanwhile, the substrate 100 fittingly abuts the male die as the air is drawn then being shaped into desired configuration.
Alternatively, the substrate 100 can be shaped only by a portion thereof. For example, the thermoforming can be performed at certain region of the transparent electrode layer 200 to form the stereoscopic transparent electrode 201. On the other hand, the circuit layer 300 of the circuit area 120 remains flat. Furthermore, the stereoscopic transparent electrode 201 may be configured to a great variety of shapes including the combination of curved and planar faces having different orientations and the configuration thereof is not limited thereto.
For different applications, the substrate 100 may be divided into at least two electrodes 201 based on the position of the electrode area 110. The circuit layers 300, 301 are led out from each of the transparent electrode 201 respectively. Specifically, the substrate 100 is valley folded by approximately 90° from the centre of the electrode area 110. The transparent electrode layer 200 on the top plane 102 is also 90° inwardly bent. Moreover, according to the desired shape of the substrate 100, the composition of the first conductive material varies. Thus, the transparent electrode layer 200 is split along the valley fold to form two separate transparent electrodes 201 and the circuit layers 300, 301 are let independently from each of the electrodes 201.
In summary, as shown in
Attention is now invited to
According to the embodiment, the touch members 1a, 1b are made of a first conductive material constituted of carbon nanotubes to form the transparent electrode layer 200. The first conductive material is pliable after fabrication so to allow the transparent electrode layer 200 on the electrode area 110 for configuring to deformable or stereoscopic transparent electrode 201 by shaping the substrate 100. Hence the touch members 1a, 1b are flexible and highly applicable to various applications. The method of manufacturing the touch members 1a, 1b includes the formation of the transparent electrode layer 200 on the electrode area 110 of the substrate 100, followed by the formation of the circuit layer 300 on the circuit area 120 of the substrate 100 and finally the shaping of the substrate 100 to configure the deformable or stereoscopic transparent electrode 201. The process is simplified, the yield rate is promoted at the same time and more applications may utilize the touch member.
The descriptions illustrated supra set forth simply the preferred embodiments of the instant disclosure; however, the characteristics of the instant disclosure are by no means restricted thereto. All changes, alternations, or modifications conveniently considered by those skilled in the art are deemed to be encompassed within the scope of the instant disclosure delineated by the following claims.