Touch module, manufacturing method thereof and touch display device

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a touch module, a manufacturing method thereof, and a touch display device. The touch module comprises a substrate, and an array of touch units arranged on the substrate. Each touch unit comprises a first touch electrode extending along a first direction, and two second touch electrodes arranged on both sides of the first touch electrode along a second direction. The first direction and the second direction intersect. Each touch unit further comprises a bridge region between the two second touch electrodes, a boundary region between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrodes, and a main body region inside at least one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrodes. The bridge region, the boundary region, and the main body region each comprise a cutting opening.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of display, and in particular, to a touch module, a manufacturing method thereof, and a touch display device. BACKGROUND

[0002] OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display devices have advantages of lightness, good flexibility, high color gamut, wide field of view, fast response speed, low power consumption, and high resolution, and have become a research hotspot in the field of display in recent years. On Cell touch panel is one of the key technologies for reducing the thickness and improving the flexibility of flexible OLED display screens. Compared with ITO transparent electrodes, the driving electrode (Tx) and the sensing electrode (Rx) in the touch module adopt metal mesh electrode materials, which have advantages of low resistance, lightness, and high sensitivity. SUMMARY

[0003] The present disclosure provides a touch module, a manufacturing method thereof, and a touch display device. In each touch sensing unit, the bridge area, the boundary area, and the main body area all include cutting openings, eliminating the Mura phenomenon (or, cloud phenomenon) caused by the bridge area and the boundary area.

[0004] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a touch module is provided. The touch module includes: a substrate; an array of touch units arranged on the substrate, each touch unit including a first touch electrode extending along a first direction and two second touch electrodes arranged on both sides of the first touch electrode along a second direction, the first direction and the second direction intersecting; wherein the touch unit further includes: a bridge area between the two second touch electrodes, a boundary area between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode, and a main body area inside at least one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode; the bridge area, the boundary area, and the main body area all include cutting openings.

[0005] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode include a metal mesh; the cutting openings in the bridge area, the boundary area, and the main body area have substantially the same distribution density.

[0006] Optionally, in some embodiments, the distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridge area is about 0.9-1.1 times the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main body area.

[0007] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the area of the bridge area to the area of the touch unit is in the range of about 1 / 10000-1 / 500.

[0008] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the number of sub-pixels covered by the bridging area to the number of sub-pixels covered by the touch unit is approximately 3 × 10⁻⁶. -4 ~4×10 -3 Within the range.

[0009] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first dimension of the bridging region in the first direction is greater than the second dimension of the bridging region in the second direction.

[0010] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the second dimension to the first dimension is in the range of about 0.3 to 1.

[0011] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a touch display device is provided. The touch display device includes a display panel and a touch module as described in any of the above embodiments, the touch module being disposed on the light-emitting surface of the display panel.

[0012] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode comprise a metal mesh; the cut openings in the bridging region, the boundary region, and the main body region have substantially the same distribution density.

[0013] Optionally, in some embodiments, the distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region is about 0.9 to 1.1 times that of the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main body region.

[0014] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the area of ​​the bridging region to the area of ​​the touch unit is in the range of about 1 / 10000 to 1 / 500.

[0015] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the number of sub-pixels covered by the bridging area to the number of sub-pixels covered by the touch unit is approximately 3 × 10⁻⁶. -4 ~4×10 -3 Within the range.

[0016] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first dimension of the bridging region in the first direction is greater than the second dimension of the bridging region in the second direction.

[0017] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the second dimension to the first dimension is in the range of about 0.3 to 1.

[0018] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for manufacturing a touch module is provided. The method includes: providing a substrate; arranging an array of touch units on the substrate, each touch unit including a first touch electrode extending along a first direction and two second touch electrodes arranged on either side of the first touch electrode along a second direction, the first and second directions intersecting; the touch unit further including: a bridging region located between the two second touch electrodes, a boundary region located between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrodes, and a main body region located inside at least one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode; and forming cutting openings in the bridging region, the boundary region, and the main body region. Attached Figure Description

[0019] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0020] Figure 1 The basic structure of the touch unit is shown;

[0021] Figure 2 This illustrates the basic structure of another touch unit;

[0022] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0023] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch unit according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0025] Figures 6A-6E A schematic diagram of the metal mesh structure is shown;

[0026] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0027] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch unit according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0028] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the bridging area of ​​a touch unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0029] Figure 10A schematic diagram of the bridging structure of the touch unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0030] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0031] Figure 12 Optical simulation results of a touch module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are shown; and

[0032] Figure 13 A flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0034] A touch module and its manufacturing method, as well as a touch display device, are disclosed. In each touch sensing unit, the bridging area, the boundary area, and the main body area all include cut openings, eliminating the Mura phenomenon (or cloud-like pattern) caused by the bridging area and the boundary area.

[0035] The inventors discovered that during the manufacturing process of a touch display device, when the touch module and a display module such as an OLED backplane are stacked together, the OLED touch display device has metal meshes with different patterns, which can lead to optical Mura phenomena (e.g., dot-like, line-like, and block-like Mura in the dark state, and brightness differences at different azimuth angles in the bright state).

[0036] A touch unit typically consists of two adjacent emitter electrode patterns and two adjacent sensor electrode patterns, with the emitter electrode patterns and sensor electrode patterns each occupying roughly half the area. For example... Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in a touch unit 100 of a touch module, the bridging point of the transmitting electrode (Tx) or sensing electrode (Rx) is defined as the bridging region 10, the boundary between the transmitting electrode and the sensing electrode is defined as the boundary region 20, and the other areas are the main regions 30 of the transmitting electrode or sensing electrode. If there are defects in the bridging distance of the bridging region 10 and the pattern design of the metal mesh, it will lead to more severe dot-like or blocky murras.

[0037] exist Figure 1 and Figure 2In the touch unit 100 shown, the bridging area, indicated by the dashed box 10, is composed of a Tx connection portion and an Rx connection portion. The Tx connection portion connects adjacent transmitting electrode patterns (Tx) inside the touch unit 100, and the Rx connection portion connects adjacent sensing electrode patterns (Rx) inside the touch unit 100. The Tx connection portion and the Rx connection portion form a stacked structure.

[0038] exist Figure 4 and Figure 5 In the touch unit 202 shown, the bridging area is the portion indicated by the dashed box 205, and is composed of the connection portion of the first touch electrode 203 and the connection portion of the second touch electrode 204. The connection portion of the second touch electrode 204 can be as follows: Figure 9 The bridge 209 shown. The connection portion of the first touch electrode 203 and the bridge 209 form a stacked structure.

[0039] In some embodiments, the connection portion of the first touch electrode 203 in the bridging region may include one or more conductive patterns, and the connection portion of the second touch electrode 204 in the bridging region (e.g., bridging 209) may also include one or more conductive patterns.

[0040] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a touch module is provided. Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of a touch module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3 As shown, the touch module 200 includes: a substrate 201; and an array of touch units 202 disposed on the substrate 201. Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the touch unit 202 includes a first touch electrode 203 extending along a first direction X and two second touch electrodes 204 arranged on both sides of the first touch electrode 203 along a second direction Y, wherein the first direction X and the second direction Y intersect; wherein, the touch unit 202 further includes: a bridging region 205 located between the two second touch electrodes 204, a boundary region 206 located between the first touch electrode 203 and the second touch electrodes 204, and a main body region 207 located inside at least one of the first touch electrode 203 and the second touch electrode 204; the bridging region 205, the boundary region 206, and the main body region 207 all include a cutting opening 208.

[0041] According to embodiments of this disclosure, in each touch sensing unit, the bridging area, boundary area, and main body area all include cutouts. Therefore, when the touch module is used in a touch display device, the Mura phenomenon (or clouding) caused by the bridging area, boundary area, and main body area is eliminated.

[0042] Therefore, this disclosure also provides a design method for FMLOC (Flexible Multi-Layer On Cell). The bridging region, boundary region, and main body region of Tx and Rx within a complete FMLOC cycle are designed such that in each touch sensing unit, the bridging region, boundary region, and main body region all include cut-out openings. This results in an optimized design of the touch unit, where the mura caused by the FMLOC-OLED stacking is significantly reduced.

[0043] This disclosure can also be applied to other types of multilayer on-cell structures and devices, particularly metal mesh on-cell touch structures. Figures 6A-6E The layered metal mesh shown is formed by a repeating grid pattern. The on-cell touch structure is arranged on the display panel, so the grid pattern can be selected according to the specific arrangement of the sub-pixel units in the display panel.

[0044] In embodiments of this disclosure, the first touch electrode 203 can be a transmitting electrode (Tx) or a sensing electrode (Rx). The second touch electrode 204 can be a sensing electrode (Rx) or a transmitting electrode (Tx). For example, in one embodiment, the first touch electrode 203 is a transmitting electrode (Tx), and the second touch electrode 204 is a sensing electrode (Rx). In another embodiment, the first touch electrode 203 is a sensing electrode (Rx), and the second touch electrode 204 is a transmitting electrode (Tx).

[0045] Alternatively, in some embodiments, such as Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, the first touch electrode 203 and the second touch electrode 204 include a metal mesh 220; the bridging region 205, the boundary region 206, and the cut openings 208 in the main body region 207 have substantially the same distribution density.

[0046] In the context of this disclosure, the “distribution density” of cut openings in a metal mesh refers to the ratio of the number of cut openings in a repeating cell to the number of mesh patterns in that repeating cell in a given direction. For example, if 20 out of 100 metal wires extending in a certain direction have breaks, then the “distribution density” of cut openings in that direction is 20%. In some embodiments, the “distribution density” of cut openings in all directions is equal.

[0047] Optionally, in some embodiments, the distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region is approximately 0.9 to 1.1 times that of the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main body region. "Approximately" refers to a value within the allowable range of process and measurement errors, and is not strictly defined by a limit.

[0048] In practical implementation, the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main region can be used as a benchmark. By adjusting the distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region, the distribution density of cutting openings in each region in all directions can be made to be substantially the same. This can further eliminate the Mura phenomenon.

[0049] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the area of ​​the bridging region to the area of ​​the touch unit is in the range of about 1 / 10000 to 1 / 500. In the context of this disclosure, "about" means a value within the allowable range of process and measurement errors, and is not strictly limited to a limit.

[0050] In a touch unit, the size of the bridging region determines the size of the touch electrodes. Therefore, the design of the bridging region affects the coupling capacitance between the touch electrodes. Specifically, the smaller the area of ​​the bridging region, the larger the coupling capacitance. However, an excessively small bridging region can lead to increased resistance and increased touch sensitivity, resulting in crosstalk. Therefore, this disclosure provides the area ratio of the bridging region relative to the touch unit.

[0051] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the number of sub-pixels covered by the bridging area to the number of sub-pixels covered by the touch unit is approximately 3 × 10⁻⁶. -4 ~4×10 -3 Within the range.

[0052] For example, the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the touch unit is 135*90, and the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the bridging area can be between 2*2 and 9*6.

[0053] Alternatively, in some embodiments, such as Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the first dimension of the bridging region 205 in the first direction X is greater than the second dimension of the bridging region 205 in the second direction Y.

[0054] like Figure 9 As shown, the bridging region 205 has an elongated shape. That is, for a given bridging region area, the aspect ratio of the bridging region is reduced. The aspect ratio is the ratio of the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the distance between the two second touch electrodes 204 to the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the bridging region in the second direction Y. Those skilled in the art will understand that the edges of the first and second touch electrodes can have a polygonal, stepped, straight, curved, or irregular shape, etc.

[0055] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the second dimension to the first dimension is in the range of about 0.3 to 1.

[0056] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of the bridging structure of a touch unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In some embodiments, such as Figure 10 As shown, two second touch electrodes 204 are connected to each other via a through-hole 210 and a bridge 209, wherein the through-hole 210 penetrates an insulating layer (or, passivation layer) 211. Those skilled in the art will understand that the bridge 209 spans the bridging region, and the material of the bridge 209 may be a metal or a conductive metal oxide.

[0057] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a touch display device is provided. Figure 11 A schematic diagram of a touch display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 11 As shown, the touch display device 300 includes a display panel 301 and a touch module 200 as described in any of the above embodiments, wherein the touch module 200 is arranged on the light-emitting surface of the display panel 301.

[0058] The touch display device provided in this embodiment has the same advantages as the touch module described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0059] Alternatively, in some embodiments, such as Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, the first touch electrode 203 and the second touch electrode 204 include a metal mesh 220; the bridging region 205, the boundary region 206, and the cut openings 208 in the main body region 207 have substantially the same distribution density.

[0060] Optionally, in some embodiments, the distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region is about 0.9 to 1.1 times that of the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main body region.

[0061] In practical implementation, the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main region can be used as a benchmark. By adjusting the distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region, the distribution density of cutting openings in each region in all directions can be made to be substantially the same. This can further eliminate the Mura phenomenon.

[0062] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the area of ​​the bridging region to the area of ​​the touch unit is in the range of about 1 / 10000 to 1 / 500.

[0063] In a touch unit, the size of the bridging region determines the size of the touch electrodes. Therefore, the design of the bridging region affects the coupling capacitance between the touch electrodes. Specifically, the smaller the area of ​​the bridging region, the larger the coupling capacitance. However, an excessively small bridging region can lead to increased resistance and increased touch sensitivity, resulting in crosstalk. Therefore, this disclosure provides the area ratio of the bridging region relative to the touch unit.

[0064] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the number of sub-pixels covered by the bridging area to the number of sub-pixels covered by the touch unit is approximately 3 × 10⁻⁶. -4 ~4×10 -3 Within the range.

[0065] For example, the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the touch unit is 135*90, and the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the bridging area can be between 2*2 and 9*6.

[0066] Alternatively, in some embodiments, such as Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the first dimension of the bridging region 205 in the first direction X is greater than the second dimension of the bridging region 205 in the second direction Y.

[0067] like Figure 9 As shown, the bridging region 205 has an elongated shape. That is, for a given bridging region area, the aspect ratio of the bridging region is reduced. The aspect ratio is the ratio of the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the distance between the two second touch electrodes 204 to the number of sub-pixels corresponding to the bridging region in the second direction Y. Those skilled in the art will understand that the edges of the first and second touch electrodes can have a polygonal, stepped, straight, curved, or irregular shape, etc.

[0068] Optionally, in some embodiments, the ratio of the second dimension to the first dimension is in the range of about 0.3 to 1.

[0069] Embodiments of this disclosure further provide simulation results of the capacitance, sensitivity, and optical properties of the touch unit. (As shown in the original text) Figure 7 The touch unit shown has a capacitance of 0.56pF and a sensitivity of 4.56%. (As shown...) Figure 8 The touch unit shown has a capacitance of 0.505pF and a sensitivity of 5.02%. Figure 12 It shows the result of, as Figure 7 and Figure 8 The optical simulation results of the touch module composed of the touch units shown are presented. It can be seen that the Mura phenomenon is significantly suppressed using the touch module provided in this disclosure.

[0070] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a method for manufacturing a touch module is provided. Figure 13A flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The method includes: S11 providing a substrate; S12 arranging an array of touch units on the substrate, each touch unit including a first touch electrode extending along a first direction and two second touch electrodes arranged on both sides of the first touch electrode along a second direction, the first and second directions intersecting; the touch unit further including: a bridging region located between the two second touch electrodes, a boundary region located between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrodes, and a main body region located inside at least one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode; and S13 forming cutting openings in the bridging region, the boundary region, and the main body region.

[0071] According to embodiments of this disclosure, in each touch sensing unit, the bridging area, boundary area, and main body area all include cutouts. Therefore, when the touch module is used in a touch display device, the Mura phenomenon (or clouding) caused by the bridging area, boundary area, and main body area is eliminated.

[0072] Those skilled in the art will understand that the cutting opening in this disclosure is essentially a slit, and that the cutting opening can be formed on the first and second touch electrodes using processes such as photolithography and sawing. Furthermore, the cutting opening and the slit between the first and second touch electrodes can be formed simultaneously in the same process step.

[0073] In the description of this disclosure, the terms "upper" and "lower" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing this disclosure and are not intended to require this disclosure to be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limiting this disclosure.

[0074] In the description of this specification, references to terms such as "one embodiment," "another embodiment," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this disclosure. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Moreover, those skilled in the art can combine and integrate the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, as well as the features of different embodiments or examples, without contradiction. Additionally, it should be noted that in this specification, 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 number of indicated technical features.

[0075] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this disclosure, but the scope of protection of this disclosure is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this disclosure should be included within the scope of protection of this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of this disclosure should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A touch module, comprising: Substrate; An array of touch units arranged on the substrate, wherein each touch unit includes a first touch electrode extending along a first direction and two second touch electrodes arranged on both sides of the first touch electrode along a second direction, the first direction and the second direction intersecting; The touch unit further includes: a bridging region located between the two second touch electrodes, a boundary region located between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode, and a main body region located inside at least one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode; The touch unit further includes a plurality of cut openings discretely distributed in the bridging area, the boundary area, and the main body area, and at least a portion of the plurality of cut openings are located in the bridging area and the boundary area and do not serve as the boundary between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode.

2. The touch module as described in claim 1, wherein, The first touch electrode and the second touch electrode include a metal mesh; the cut openings in the bridging region, the boundary region, and the main body region have substantially the same distribution density.

3. The touch module as described in claim 2, wherein, The distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region is 0.9 to 1.1 times that of the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main body region.

4. The touch module as described in any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The ratio of the area of ​​the bridging area to the area of ​​the touch unit is in the range of 1 / 10000 to 1 / 500.

5. The touch module as described in any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The ratio of the number of sub-pixels covered by the bridging area to the number of sub-pixels covered by the touch unit is 3×10. -4 ~4×10 -3 Within the range.

6. The touch module as described in any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The first dimension of the bridging region in the first direction is greater than the second dimension of the bridging region in the second direction.

7. The touch module as described in claim 6, wherein, The ratio of the second dimension to the first dimension is in the range of 0.3 to 1.

8. A touch display device, comprising: The display panel and the touch module as described in claim 1, wherein the touch module is disposed on the light-emitting surface of the display panel.

9. The touch display device as claimed in claim 8, wherein, The first touch electrode and the second touch electrode include a metal mesh; the cut openings in the bridging region, the boundary region, and the main body region have substantially the same distribution density.

10. The touch display device as claimed in claim 9, wherein, The distribution density of the cutting openings in the bridging region is 0.9 to 1.1 times that of the distribution density of the cutting openings in the main body region.

11. The touch display device according to any one of claims 8-10, wherein, The ratio of the area of ​​the bridging area to the area of ​​the touch unit is in the range of 1 / 10000 to 1 / 500.

12. The touch display device according to any one of claims 8-10, wherein, The ratio of the number of sub-pixels covered by the bridging area to the number of sub-pixels covered by the touch unit is 3×10. -4 ~4×10 -3 Within the range.

13. The touch display device according to any one of claims 8-10, wherein, The first dimension of the bridging region in the first direction is greater than the second dimension of the bridging region in the second direction.

14. The touch display device as claimed in claim 13, wherein, The ratio of the second dimension to the first dimension is in the range of 0.3 to 1.

15. A method for manufacturing a touch module, comprising: Provide substrates; An array of touch units is arranged on the substrate, each touch unit including a first touch electrode extending along a first direction and two second touch electrodes arranged on both sides of the first touch electrode along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction intersect. The touch unit further includes: a bridging region located between the two second touch electrodes, a boundary region located between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode, and a main body region located inside at least one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode; as well as Multiple cutting openings are formed in the bridging area, the boundary area, and the main body area. The plurality of cutting openings are discretely distributed within the bridging area, the boundary area, and the main body area, and at least a portion of the plurality of cutting openings are located within the bridging area and the boundary area and do not serve as the boundary between the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode.

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