Touch screen and display device

Abstract

The present invention provides a touch screen and a display device, the touch screen comprises a substrate and a conductive layer; the conductive layer is arranged on the substrate, comprising a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer stacked up and down, an insulating layer is sandwiched between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer; the first conductive layer comprises a first touch electrode and a first electrode lead, the first electrode lead comprises an electrically connected first routing portion and a first overlapping portion, the second conductive layer comprises a second touch electrode, a second electrode lead and a first redundant electrode lead, the second electrode lead comprises an electrically connected second routing portion and a second binding portion; a plurality of conducting portions are arranged on the first overlapping portion, the first redundant electrode lead is indirectly connected to the first overlapping portion through the climbing of the conducting portion, thereby effectively reducing the resistance, and further reducing the reliability risk of the touch screen.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of display devices, and in particular relates to a touch screen and a display device. Background Art

[0002] At present, with the rapid development of display technology, touch screens have been widely used in various fields. Figure 1 As shown, the basic structure of the touch screen includes a substrate and a conductive layer arranged on the substrate, and the conductive layer includes a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer arranged in layers, and the two are electrically insulated by sandwiching an insulating layer, such as an OC (over coat protective adhesive layer) adhesive layer.

[0003] The touch screen is divided into a visible area and a non-visible area. The conductive layer is composed of touch electrodes and electrode leads, that is, the first conductive layer is composed of the first touch electrode and the first electrode lead, and the second conductive layer is composed of the second touch electrode and the second electrode lead. The touch electrode is arranged in the visible area, and the electrode lead is arranged in the non-visible area. A binding part is provided on the non-visible area. The electrode lead can be electrically connected to the driving device at the binding part through the lead of FPC (flexible circuit board) or other electrical connection structure to form a binding.

[0004] The touch electrodes of traditional ITO touch screens are made of ITO materials, and the electrode leads are made of metal materials. Generally, the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode are made in one process, and after setting an insulating layer, the first electrode lead and the second electrode lead are made in another process. Since the touch electrode and the electrode lead are set in different areas, the production of the electrode lead will not affect the production of a complete touch electrode pattern.

[0005] With the development of touch screen technology, touch screens in which touch electrodes and electrode leads are made of the same metal material have appeared, such as OGM (One Glass Metal) touch screens, i.e., metal grid integrated touch screens. Generally, the first touch electrode and the first electrode lead of an OGM touch screen are made using the same process, and the second touch electrode and the second electrode lead are made using the same process. The first touch electrode and the second touch electrode are two different layer structures, and an insulating layer is sandwiched between the two layers for electrical insulation. The touch electrodes and electrode leads on the same layer are designed using the same process, and the electrical connection reliability and stability are high.

[0006] However, the conventional plating process of the current OGM touch screen is: when manufacturing the first touch electrode and the first electrode lead, a whole surface of the metal film layer is first plated, and then the patterns of the first touch electrode and the first electrode lead are formed on the whole surface of the metal film layer by exposure and development, etc. Since the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode are in different layer structures, an insulating layer needs to be provided after the first touch electrode and the first electrode lead are manufactured to prevent the exposure and development process used when manufacturing the second touch electrode and the second electrode lead from damaging the patterns of the first touch electrode and the first electrode lead that have been manufactured well, especially to prevent the pattern of the first touch electrode from being damaged.

[0007] However, if the insulating layer covers all the first electrode leads, the first electrode leads will be completely insulated, and the first touch electrode cannot be electrically connected to the drive device through the first electrode leads and the leads of the FPC. In order to solve the above problem, some manufacturers currently design one or more processes to lead out the first electrode leads to connect to the drive device. Summary of the invention

[0008] The object of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the above-mentioned prior art and to provide a touch screen and a display device, which are intended to at least protect the first touch electrode pattern from being damaged when the second touch electrode and the second electrode lead are manufactured. At the same time, through the existing process, the first touch electrode and the drive device can be well electrically connected through the first electrode lead and the lead of the FPC without adding additional processes.

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention provides a touch screen.

[0010] The touch screen comprises a substrate and a conductive layer, wherein the conductive layer is arranged on the substrate and comprises a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer stacked up and down, and an insulating layer is sandwiched between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer; the touch screen is divided into a non-visible area and a visible area.

[0011] The first conductive layer includes a first touch electrode disposed in the visible area and a first electrode lead disposed in the non-visible area, the first electrode lead includes an electrically connected first electrode lead and a first lap portion, the first lap portion extends in a direction of a binding position connected to a driving device. The first touch electrode and the first electrode lead can be manufactured in one process.

[0012] The second conductive layer includes a second touch electrode arranged in the visible area, a second electrode lead and a first redundant electrode lead all arranged in the non-visible area, the second touch electrode, the second electrode lead and the first redundant electrode lead can be a one-time process, the second electrode lead includes a second electrode lead and a second binding portion electrically connected to each other, the second binding portion and the second electrode lead electrically conduct the second touch electrode with the driving device.

[0013] The second binding portion and the first redundant electrode lead both extend in a direction of a binding position connected to a driving device.

[0014] The first redundant electrode lead is electrically isolated from the second touch electrode and the second electrode lead.

[0015] The insulating layer sandwiched between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer covers at least all of the first touch electrodes, so that the first touch electrodes are insulated from the second touch electrodes. The first overlapping portion is at least partially not covered by the insulating layer, and the first redundant electrode lead and the first overlapping portion have at least a partial overlap in projection on the substrate, and an electrical connection with the first redundant electrode lead is achieved through a partial structure of the first overlapping portion not covered by the insulating layer.

[0016] A grid-shaped first touch electrode is provided on the first conductive layer, and the outer edge line of the grid is the first electrode lead; a grid-shaped second touch electrode is provided on the second conductive layer, and the outer edge line of the grid is the second electrode lead; in this way, the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are insulated and separated by the insulating layer, and the second touch electrode and the first touch electrode will generate mutual capacitance, thereby forming a capacitive touch screen.

[0017] In the actual production process, the first conductive layer is produced first, and in order to maintain the consistency of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode connected to the drive device through the electrode lead without deviation, it is necessary to not directly connect the first electrode lead to the drive device, and reserve a distance, that is, the first overlapping portion is not directly bound and connected to the drive device.

[0018] Then, an insulating layer is made, and the insulating layer at least covers the entire visible area to insulate the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode. At the same time, the insulating layer at least does not cover part of the first overlapping portion to reserve the overlapping with the first redundant electrode lead.

[0019] Then, a second conductive layer is formed, and the second touch electrode is connected to the driving device through the second electrode lead. The first overlapping portion is overlapped on the first redundant electrode lead through the part of the structure not covered by the insulating layer, so that the first electrode lead is electrically connected to the driving device.

[0020] Since the temperature is high during the coating process, after the first electrode lead on the first conductive layer is plated, when the first redundant electrode lead on the second conductive layer is plated, the first electrode lead has cooled down. When the two layers of electrode leads are stacked, the temperature difference is large. If the stacking area is large, based on the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, there will be serious problems of poor adhesion and even metal shedding. In order to improve the reliability of adhesion, some manufacturers use the method of setting another adhesive layer on the two layers of stacked electrode leads in the non-visible area that have been manufactured to improve the stability of adhesion. However, this method increases the production process and labor costs, and the effect is not very ideal, and there will still be a large number of poor adhesion phenomena.

[0021] In order to solve the problem of poor adhesion, the first overlap portion of the present invention includes a plurality of overlap legs arranged at intervals, and the overlap legs extend in the direction of the binding position. The design of the overlap legs arranged at intervals can reduce the stacking area of ​​the first redundant electrode lead and the first overlap portion, improve the stacking adhesion between the two layers of metal, and at the same time ensure that there are enough overlap sites with the first redundant electrode lead.

[0022] However, when the overlapping legs of the first overlapping portion overlap with the first redundant electrode lead, cracks are likely to appear on three edges of the overlapping legs.

[0023] In order to reduce the resistance between the first electrode lead and the driving device, after many experimental studies, it was found that one or more conducting parts are provided on the first overlapping part, and the first redundant electrode lead can be indirectly connected to the overlapping leg of the first overlapping part through the climbing of the conducting part. At this time, the number of cracks between the overlapping leg and the first redundant electrode lead will be greatly reduced, and even no cracks will appear. Therefore, the first overlapping part and the first redundant electrode lead are equivalent to adding multiple conducting channels through the conducting part, so that the resistance can be effectively reduced.

[0024] The present invention further provides a display device, which includes the above touch screen, a display module, and an adhesive layer for bonding the touch screen and the display module together.

[0025] Based on this structural design, in the technical solution of the present invention, since a first redundant electrode lead is provided on the second conductive layer, the first redundant electrode lead can be indirectly connected to the first overlapping portion through the climbing of the conductive portion. Therefore, a plurality of conductive channels can be added between the first overlapping portion and the first redundant electrode lead through the conductive portion, thereby effectively reducing the resistance and further reducing the reliability risk of the touch screen. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0027] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of an existing touch screen;

[0028] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a first conductive layer of a touch screen provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a second conductive layer of a touch screen provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 is a schematic top view of a stacked structure of a touch screen provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of overlapping a first overlapping portion of a touch electrode and a first redundant electrode lead of a touch screen provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 yes Figure 5 A schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of an embodiment along the SS direction;

[0033] Figure 7 yes Figure 5 A schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of another embodiment along the SS direction;

[0034] Figure 8 yes Figure 5 A schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of an embodiment along the AA direction;

[0035] Fig. 9 It is a schematic structural diagram of a first overlapping portion and a first redundant electrode lead of a touch electrode of a touch screen provided by another embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Description of Figure Numbers:

[0037] Label name Label name 1 First conductive layer 2 Second conductive layer 100 First electrode lead 110 First wiring department 120 First overlap 200 Second electrode lead 210 Second wiring section 220 First redundant electrode lead 230 Second binding part 300 Conductive part 222 crack 221 Lap leg 10 Non-visible area 20 Viewable area 21 First touch electrode 22 Second touch electrode 3 Insulation layer DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0039] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or indirectly on the other element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element.

[0040] It should also be noted that the directional terms such as left, right, up and down in the embodiments of the present invention are merely relative concepts or are based on the normal use status of the product and should not be considered as restrictive.

[0041] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to be used to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0042] In the description of the present invention, it is necessary to understand that the terms "length", "width", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside" and "outside" etc. indicating orientations or positional relationships are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0043] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0044] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0045] An embodiment of the present invention provides a touch screen.

[0046] See also Figures 2 to 4The touch screen includes a substrate (not shown) and a conductive layer (not marked), wherein the conductive layer is arranged on the substrate, including a first conductive layer 1 and a second conductive layer 2 stacked up and down, and an insulating layer 3 is sandwiched between the first conductive layer 1 and the second conductive layer 2; the touch screen is divided into a non-visible area 10 and a visible area 201.

[0047] See also Figure 2 As shown, the first conductive layer 1 includes a first touch electrode 21 arranged in the visible area 20 and a first electrode lead 100 arranged in the non-visible area 10. The first electrode lead 100 includes an electrically connected first routing portion 110 and a first overlapping portion 120. The first overlapping portion 120 extends toward a binding position connected to a driving device (not shown).

[0048] In an optional solution, the width of the first overlapping portion 120 is greater than the line width of the first routing portion 110 .

[0049] See also Figure 3 As shown, the second conductive layer 2 includes a second touch electrode 22, a second electrode lead 200 and a first redundant electrode lead 220. The second electrode lead 200 includes a second routing portion 210 and a second binding portion 230 that are electrically connected to each other. The second binding portion 230 and the first redundant electrode lead 220 both extend in the direction of the binding position connected to the driving device to be electrically connected to the driving device.

[0050] The second binding portion 210 and the second wiring portion 210 electrically connect the second touch electrode 22 to the driving device. The first redundant electrode lead 220 is electrically isolated from the second touch electrode 22 and the second electrode lead 200 .

[0051] In an optional solution, the line widths of the first redundant electrode lead 220 and the second binding portion 230 are greater than the line width of the second routing portion 210 .

[0052] In an optional solution, an end point of the first redundant electrode lead 220 in the direction of extending toward the binding position is closer to the binding position than the first overlapping portion 120 .

[0053] See also Figure 4 As shown, an insulating layer 3 is sandwiched between the first conductive layer 1 and the second conductive layer 2, and the insulating layer 3 at least covers all the first touch electrodes 21, so that the first touch electrodes 21 are insulated from the second touch electrodes 22. The first overlapping portion 120 is at least partially not covered by the insulating layer 3, and the first redundant electrode lead 220 and the area of ​​the first overlapping portion 120 not covered by the insulating layer 3 have at least a partial projection overlap on the substrate, and the electrical connection with the first redundant electrode lead 220 is achieved through the partial structure of the first overlapping portion 120 not covered by the insulating layer 3.

[0054] See also Figure 5As shown, the first overlap portion 120 includes a plurality of overlap legs 221 arranged at intervals, and the overlap legs 221 extend toward the binding position. By designing the overlap legs 221 arranged at intervals, the stacking area of ​​the first redundant electrode lead 220 and the first overlap portion 120 can be reduced, the stacking adhesion between the two layers of metal can be improved, and at the same time, sufficient overlap sites with the first redundant electrode lead 220 can be ensured.

[0055] See also Figure 6 As shown, when the overlapping leg 221 of the first overlapping portion 120 overlaps with the first redundant electrode lead 220, cracks 222 are likely to appear on the three edges of the overlapping leg 221 not covered by the insulating layer 3. The cracks 222 increase the resistance between the first electrode lead 100 and the driving device.

[0056] See also Figure 7-8 As shown, due to appearance requirements and actual production results at times, the overlapping legs 221 of the first overlapping portion 120 are often made into an inverted trapezoidal structure, resulting in that when the first redundant electrode lead 220 and the overlapping legs 221 of the first overlapping portion 120 overlap in an inverted step structure, cracks are more likely to form between the first overlapping portion 120 and the first redundant electrode lead 220, thereby causing the resistance between the first electrode lead 100 and the driving device to be particularly high, and the electrical performance of the touch screen is greatly reduced.

[0057] See also Figure 5 As shown, in order to reduce resistance, in this embodiment, one or more conducting parts 300 are provided on the first overlapping part 120 , and the first redundant electrode lead 220 can be indirectly connected to the overlapping leg 221 of the first overlapping part 120 through the climbing of the conducting part 300 .

[0058] In the selected solution, the conductive portion 300 and the projection of the bridging leg 221 on the substrate are arranged to intersect.

[0059] In the most preferred embodiment, Figure 5 As shown, the conductive portion 300 and the projection of the bridging leg 221 on the substrate are arranged to cross each other vertically.

[0060] In the selected solution, the conductive portion 300 is a structure that can enable the first redundant electrode lead 220 to climb gently.

[0061] In a preferred solution, the conductive portion 300 and the insulating layer 3 are made of the same insulating material and are completed in one process.

[0062] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the touch screen is specifically an OGM (On Glass Metal) touch screen. Of course, in this type of touch screen, this structural design can also be applied to other situations where the resistance at the climbing point is abnormal due to the metal step at the overlapped part. Usually, in addition to the substrate, the touch screen also includes sensors and driving devices, such as the chip of the touch screen.

[0063] Of course, in other embodiments, the conductive portion 300 of the OC rubber strip insulating material may be provided only on a portion of the overlapping legs 221, and the number and position of the conductive portion 300 are not limited here. Fig. 9 In another embodiment shown, a plurality of conductive portions 300 are provided on each overlapping leg 221, and the plurality of conductive portions 300 are arranged at intervals along the length direction of the overlapping leg 221, and electrical overlap between the overlapping leg 221 and the first redundant electrode lead 220 is formed in the interval area formed by the plurality of conductive portions 300 arranged at intervals, thereby further increasing the current conduction channel between the electrode leads.

[0064] In this embodiment, the conductive portion 300 may be specifically designed to be rectangular, and its length is preferably in the range of 30-100 um, so that a better current conduction effect can be obtained when the first overlapping portion 120 and the first redundant electrode lead 220 are overlapped. Of course, in other embodiments, the specific shape and size of the conductive portion 300 can be designed according to actual conditions, and are not limited here.

[0065] However, the present design is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, the first redundant electrode lead 220 and the second binding portion 230 both extend outward to the binding position. In other words, this arrangement can improve the consistency of the binding of the first electrode lead 100 and the second electrode lead 200 .

[0066] The present invention further proposes a display device, which includes a touch screen, a display module (not shown) and an adhesive layer (not shown) that bonds the touch screen and the display module together. The specific structure of the touch screen refers to the above-mentioned embodiment. Since the present display device adopts all the technical solutions of all the above-mentioned embodiments, it also has all the beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions of the above-mentioned embodiments, which will not be repeated here one by one.

[0067] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modification, equivalent substitution or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A touch screen, characterized in that: include: substrate; as well as, A conductive layer, the conductive layer being arranged on the substrate, comprising a first conductive layer (1) and a second conductive layer (2) stacked one above the other, an insulating layer (3) being sandwiched between the first conductive layer (1) and the second conductive layer (2); the touch screen being divided into a non-visible area (10) and a visible area (20); The first conductive layer (1) comprises a first touch electrode (21) arranged in the visible area (20) and a first electrode lead (100) arranged in the non-visible area (10), the first electrode lead (100) comprising an electrically connected first wiring portion (110) and a first lap portion (120), the width of the first lap portion (120) being greater than the line width of the first wiring portion (110); The second conductive layer (2) comprises a second touch electrode (22) arranged in the visible area (20), a second electrode lead (200) and a first redundant electrode lead (220) both arranged in the non-visible area (10), the second electrode lead (200) comprising a second routing portion (210) and a second binding portion (230) electrically connected to each other; The first redundant electrode lead (220) is electrically isolated from the second touch electrode (22) and the second electrode lead (200); The insulating layer (3) at least covers the first touch electrode (21); the first overlapping portion (120) is at least partially not covered by the insulating layer (3); the first redundant electrode lead (220) and the area of ​​the first overlapping portion (120) not covered by the insulating layer (3) at least partially overlap in projection on the substrate; and a partial structure of the first overlapping portion (120) not covered by the insulating layer (3) is electrically connected to the first redundant electrode lead (220).

2. The touch screen according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first overlapping portion (120) comprises a plurality of overlapping legs (221) arranged at intervals.

3. The touch screen according to claim 2, characterized in that: One or more conducting portions (300) are provided on the first overlapping portion (120).

4. The touch screen according to claim 3, characterized in that: The conducting portion (300) is a structure capable of achieving a gentle slope climbing of the first redundant electrode lead (220).

5. The touch screen according to claim 3, characterized in that: The conductive portion (300) and the projection of the overlapping legs (221) on the substrate are arranged crosswise.

6. The touch screen according to claim 3, characterized in that: The length of the conductive portion ranges from 30 to 100 um.

7. The touch screen according to claim 3, characterized in that: The conducting portion (300) and the insulating layer (3) are made of the same insulating material and are completed in one manufacturing process.

8. The touch screen according to claim 3, characterized in that: The plurality of conductive portions (300) are arranged at intervals along the length direction of the overlapping leg (221), and electrical overlap between the overlapping leg (221) and the first redundant electrode lead (220) is formed at the interval area formed by the plurality of conductive portions arranged at intervals.

9. The touch screen according to claim 3, characterized in that: The touch screen also includes a driving device, and the first redundant electrode lead (220) and the second binding portion (230) are both extended outwardly and electrically connected to the driving device.

10. A display device, characterized in that: The touch screen comprises the touch screen as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising a display module, and a bonding layer for bonding the touch screen and the display module together.

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