Method and Equipment for Stabilizing Indium Tin Oxide Film

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer, comprising the following steps: soaking the screen-printed indium tin oxide film in water; air-drying the soaked indium tin oxide film; and laminating the air-dried indium tin oxide film onto indium tin oxide glass to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer. The method for stabilizing the indium tin oxide film provided by the present invention allows the indium tin oxide film to fully absorb moisture before being assembled onto indium tin oxide glass to form the indium tin oxide film layer of a touch display screen, so that its internal structure is stabilized, and then after air-drying, it is assembled to form the indium tin oxide film layer. This can fully prevent the indium tin oxide film layer from absorbing moisture or gas in the environment again during storage and transportation, and no longer cause quality problems such as poor surface flatness and internal short circuit of the touch screen due to water absorption.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of display screen production methods, and particularly to a method and device for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film. Background Art

[0002] Before use, the indium tin oxide film (ITO FILM) used in a resistive touch screen needs to be pre-shrunk to remove the moisture and / or gas contained in the ITO FILM substrate PET (Polyethylene terephthalate, a thermoplastic polyester), further adjust the atomic positions and molecular structures inside the substrate, and eliminate the physical stresses inside various materials and between various materials, so as to obtain more stable physical dimensions and chemical properties during subsequent production and processing and product use. Usually, the size of the pre-shrunk ITO FILM will be shortened by 1% to 1.5%.

[0003] However, when the touch screen made of ITO FILM is stored in humid air or during a reliability experiment, the trace impurities contained in the PET film layer will absorb the gas and moisture in the air and continuously hydrolyze some of the incompletely polymerized water molecular substances. These impurities, gas, moisture, and the substances generated after hydrolysis of the incompletely polymerized water molecules will re-polymerize, causing the size of the ITO FILM of the touch screen to increase, resulting in quality problems such as uneven surface and short circuit of the touch screen. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a method and device for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film for at least one of the above-mentioned problems.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer, including the following steps:

[0006] Soak the completed screen-printed indium tin oxide film in water;

[0007] Air-dry the soaked indium tin oxide film;

[0008] Attach the air-dried indium tin oxide film to indium tin oxide glass to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer.

[0009] In one embodiment, in the step of soaking the completed screen-printed indium tin oxide film in water, the soaking water temperature is 50 - 65 °C, and the soaking time is 40 - 60 minutes.

[0010] In one embodiment, the step of air-drying the soaked indium tin oxide film includes:

[0011] The indium tin oxide film is blown by a first air flow at a first inclination angle to obtain a primary indium tin oxide film;

[0012] The primary indium tin oxide film is blown by a second air flow at a second inclination angle to obtain a dried indium tin oxide film.

[0013] In one embodiment, the first inclination angle is 40 - 50°, and the second inclination angle is 40 - 50°; the temperature of the first air flow is 35°C - 40°C, and the temperature of the second air flow is 35°C - 40°C.

[0014] In one embodiment, both the first air flow and the second air flow are respectively provided by an air knife machine.

[0015] In one embodiment, in the step of attaching the dried indium tin oxide film to indium tin oxide glass, the attachment temperature is 65°C, the attachment time is 50 - 60 minutes, and the attachment pressure is 0.15 - 0.2 Mpa.

[0016] In a second aspect, the present invention application provides an indium tin oxide film layer stabilization treatment device for performing the indium tin oxide film layer stabilization treatment method described in the first aspect of the present invention application, including a water tank, a carrier assembly, an air knife machine, and an attachment assembly. The movement assembly is used to carry the indium tin oxide film to move between the water tank, the air knife machine, and the attachment assembly, and put the indium tin oxide film after silk screen printing into the water in the water tank for soaking;

[0017] The soaked indium tin oxide film is dried by the air knife machine;

[0018] The dried indium tin oxide film is attached to indium tin oxide glass through the attachment assembly to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer.

[0019] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present invention bring the following beneficial technical effects:

[0020] The indium tin oxide film stabilization treatment method provided by the present invention enables the indium tin oxide film to fully absorb moisture before being assembled onto indium tin oxide glass to form the indium tin oxide film layer of the touch display screen, so that its internal structure is stabilized, and then it is dried and assembled to form the indium tin oxide film layer. This can fully avoid the indium tin oxide film layer from absorbing moisture or gas in the environment during storage and transportation, and no longer cause quality problems such as poor surface flatness and internal short circuit of the touch screen due to water absorption.

[0021] The additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be given in the subsequent parts and will be understood in detail from the subsequent description, or will be understood through the specific implementation of the present invention. Description of the Drawings

[0022] Figure 1 This is a schematic flow chart of a method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film in an embodiment of the present invention application. Detailed implementation manners

[0023] To facilitate the understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be described more comprehensively below with reference to the relevant drawings. The possible embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described in the drawings herein. The embodiments described by referring to the drawings are exemplary and are used to make the understanding of the disclosure of the present invention more thorough and comprehensive, and cannot be construed as a limitation of the present invention. In addition, if the detailed description of the known technology is not necessary for the features of the present invention shown, these technical details may be omitted.

[0024] Those skilled in the relevant art can understand that unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical terms and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as the general understanding of those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. It should also be understood that terms such as those defined in a general dictionary should be understood to have a meaning consistent with the meaning in the prior art, and will not be interpreted with an idealized or overly formal meaning unless specifically defined as here.

[0025] Those skilled in the technical field of the present invention can understand that unless specifically stated, the singular forms "a", "an", "the" and "said" used herein may also include the plural forms. It should be further understood that the term "comprising" used in the specification of the present application means the presence of the described features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or their groups. It should be understood that the phrase "and / or" used herein includes all or any unit and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0026] The technical solution of the present invention and how this technical solution solves the above technical problems will be described in detail below with specific embodiments.

[0027] In a first aspect, the present invention application provides a method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer, as Figure 1 shown, specifically including the following steps:

[0028] S100: Immerse the indium tin oxide film after screen printing in water.

[0029] S200: Air-dry the immersed indium tin oxide film.

[0030] S300: Bond the air-dried indium tin oxide film to indium tin oxide glass to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer.

[0031] The indium tin oxide film stabilization treatment method provided by the present invention fully absorbs moisture before the indium tin oxide film is assembled onto indium tin oxide glass to form the indium tin oxide film layer of the touch display screen, stabilizes its internal structure, and then air-dries it before assembling to form the indium tin oxide film layer, which can fully avoid the indium tin oxide film layer from absorbing moisture or gas in the environment during storage and transportation, and no longer cause quality problems such as poor surface flatness and internal short circuit of the touch screen due to water absorption.

[0032] Optionally, in a specific implementation manner of an embodiment of the present invention application, in step S100 of immersing the indium tin oxide film after screen printing in water, the immersion water temperature is 50-65°C, and the immersion time is 40-60 minutes.

[0033] Optionally, in another specific implementation manner of an embodiment of the present invention application, the step of air-drying the immersed indium tin oxide film includes: blowing a first air flow at a first inclination angle towards the indium tin oxide film to obtain a first-stage indium tin oxide film. Blowing a second air flow at a second inclination angle towards the first-stage indium tin oxide film to obtain the air-dried indium tin oxide film.

[0034] Optionally, in combination with the above implementation manners, in another more specific implementation manner, the first inclination angle is 40-50°, and the second inclination angle is 40-50°; the temperature of the first air flow is 35°C-40°C, and the temperature of the second air flow is 35°C-40°C. Optionally, both the first air flow and the second air flow are respectively provided by an air knife machine. The air knife machine can be purchased from the market that provides relevant products.

[0035] Since there is a large amount of water overflow on the surface of the indium tin oxide film when it comes out of the water tank, it needs to be placed in a dust-free air knife machine to blow off the water, and the water is dried in two stages by air knives. A pair of narrow-slit high-pressure air nozzles are installed on the air knife machine. The upper air nozzle blows the water on one side surface of the indium tin oxide film, and the lower air nozzle blows the water on the other side surface.

[0036] First, use the first-stage air knife to blow off most of the water on the indium tin oxide film just taken out of the water tank. The blowing direction of the air knife nozzle can be at a 45-degree angle to the plane where the indium tin oxide film is located. The running direction of the indium tin oxide film on the conveyor roller of the air knife machine or the carrying component is the upwind direction. The air pressure of the upper air nozzle can be selected as 3.5 kPa, and the air pressure of the lower air nozzle can be selected as 2.5 kPa. The temperature of the air blown by the air knife is between 35°C and 40°C.

[0037] Then, use the second-stage air knife to completely blow off the remaining water on the surface of the indium tin oxide film. The blowing direction of the air knife nozzle is at a 45-degree angle to the plane where the indium tin oxide film is located. The moving direction of the indium tin oxide is the upwind direction. The air pressure of both the upper and lower air nozzles can be selected as 7 kPa. The temperature of the air blown by the air knife is between 35°C and 40°C.

[0038] Optionally, in the step of attaching the air-dried indium tin oxide film to the indium tin oxide glass provided in the embodiments of the present invention application, the attachment temperature is 65°C, the attachment time is 50 to 60 minutes, and the attachment pressure is 0.15 to 0.2 Mpa. The indium tin oxide film and the indium tin oxide glass are attached by using double-sided tape through a special laminating machine for touch screens. The specific laminating process conditions can be selected as: the laminating temperature is 65°C, the laminating time is 55 minutes, and the laminating pressure is 0.17 Mpa.

[0039] After high-temperature and high-humidity testing, the touch screen including the indium tin oxide film layer treated by the above method is stored at 60°C and 90% RH for 300 hours, and no short circuit or surface bulge deformation occurs. In addition, the touch screen is vertically stored at 85°C and 85% RH for 48H, and there is also no short circuit or surface bulge deformation.

[0040] Based on the same inventive concept, in the second aspect of the present invention application, a stabilization treatment device for indium tin oxide film layer is provided, which is used to perform the indium tin oxide film layer stabilization treatment method described in the first aspect of the present invention application. The stabilization treatment device includes a water tank, a carrier assembly, an air knife machine, and an attachment assembly. The moving assembly is used to carry the indium tin oxide film to move between the water tank, the air knife machine, and the attachment assembly, and immerse the indium tin oxide film after screen printing into the water in the water tank;

[0041] The soaked indium tin oxide film is air-dried by the air knife machine;

[0042] The air-dried indium tin oxide film is attached to the indium tin oxide glass through the attachment assembly to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer.

[0043] Since the water tank, the air knife machine, the carrier assembly, and the attachment assembly can all be purchased from the product sales markets in related fields respectively, and there is no specific improvement to each product in this application, the specific structures of each product are not listed, but this does not mean that the above-mentioned components cannot be realized.

[0044] Those skilled in the art of this technology can understand that the steps, measures, and solutions in the various operations, methods, and processes discussed in this application can be alternated, changed, combined, or deleted. Further, the other steps, measures, and solutions in the various operations, methods, and processes discussed in this application can also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted. Further, the steps, measures, and solutions in the prior art that are the same as those disclosed in this application can also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted.

[0045] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more.

[0046] In the description of this application, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms "installed", "connected" and "coupled" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the communication inside two components. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0047] It should be understood that although each step in the flowchart of the drawings is shown in sequence according to the indication of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise clearly stated in this document, the execution of these steps is not strictly restricted by order and may be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least a part of the steps in the flowchart of the drawings may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily executed at the same moment, but may be executed at different moments, and their execution order is not necessarily sequential, but may be executed alternately or in turn with at least a part of other steps or sub-steps or stages of other steps.

[0048] The above are only some embodiments of this application. It should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of this application, several improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements should also be regarded as the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer, characterized in that, It includes the following steps: Soak the indium tin oxide film after screen printing in water at a soaking water temperature of 50 to 65 °C for 40 to 60 minutes; Air-dry the soaked indium tin oxide film, including: blowing a first air flow at a first inclination angle onto the indium tin oxide film to obtain a primary indium tin oxide film; blowing a second air flow at a second inclination angle onto the primary indium tin oxide film to obtain the air-dried indium tin oxide film; Attach the air-dried indium tin oxide film to indium tin oxide glass to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer.

2. The method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer according to claim 1, wherein The first inclination angle is 40 to 50°, and the second inclination angle is 40 to 50°; the temperature of the first air flow is 35 °C to 40 °C, and the temperature of the second air flow is 35 °C to 40 °C.

3. The method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the first air flow and the second air flow are respectively provided by an air knife machine.

4. The method for stabilizing an indium tin oxide film layer according to claim 1, characterized in that In the step of attaching the air-dried indium tin oxide film to indium tin oxide glass, the attachment temperature is 65 °C, the attachment time is 50 to 60 minutes, and the attachment pressure is 0.15 to 0.2 Mpa.

5. An indium tin oxide film stabilization treatment device, characterized in that, Used to perform the indium tin oxide film layer stabilization treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, including a water tank, a carrier assembly, an air knife machine, and an attachment assembly. The carrier assembly is used to carry the indium tin oxide film to move between the water tank, the air knife machine, and the attachment assembly, and put the indium tin oxide film after screen printing into the water in the water tank for soaking; Air-dry the soaked indium tin oxide film through the air knife machine; Attach the air-dried indium tin oxide film to indium tin oxide glass through the attachment assembly to obtain an indium tin oxide film layer.

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