Bent Area Touch Sensor Electrode Angles for Crack Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touch sensors in display devices face signal transmission disruptions due to cracking when bent, leading to electrical signal interruptions.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a touch sensor with first and second sensing electrodes on a substrate, featuring different angles in flat and bent areas to maintain signal transmission integrity, and a polarizing layer with absorption and transmission axes perpendicular to each other, allowing for improved signal transmission even with cracks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the touch sensor is bent to enable flexible display devices, then adaptability and versatility are improved, but cracks occur in the sensing electrodes leading to signal transmission disruption
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting patterns are designed with different orientations in different regions of the touch sensor. In the bent area, the connecting patterns are oriented at a first angle relative to the bending direction, while in the flat area, they are oriented at a second angle. This local variation in pattern orientation allows the sensing electrodes to accommodate bending stress without cracking, maintaining signal transmission integrity while enabling device flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing electrodes are divided into multiple segments connected by connecting patterns. These connecting patterns act as flexible joints that can deform during bending, preventing crack propagation across the entire electrode structure. The segmented design allows each segment to move independently, maintaining electrical connectivity even when the overall structure is bent.
2Manufacturing precision
If straight connecting patterns are used in bent areas, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the patterns crack under bending stress
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting patterns are designed with asymmetric orientations depending on their location. Patterns in bent areas are oriented at a different angle than those in flat areas, creating an asymmetric overall pattern design. This asymmetric orientation allows the patterns to follow the stress distribution during bending, preventing cracks while maintaining manufacturing precision through controlled angular variations.
Data Source
AI summary
A touch sensor includes: a substrate having a flat area and a bent area bent from the flat area; a plurality of first sensing electrodes on the substrate and extending in a first direction; and a plurality of second sensing electrodes on the substrate and extending in a second direction crossing the first direction. The first sensing electrodes include a plurality of first sensing patterns arranged in the first direction and a plurality of first connecting patterns respectively connecting adjacent ones of first sensing patterns to each other, and the second sensing electrodes include a plurality of second sensing patterns arranged in the second direction. A first angle between a first one of the first connecting patterns in the flat area and the first direction is different from a second angle between a second one of the first connecting patterns in the bent area and the first direction.