Capacitive Touch Sensor Pattern Reducing Border Trace Area
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional capacitive touch panels require a larger border area due to the need for extensive border traces, which increases manufacturing costs when attempting to simplify the border area, as higher-level equipment upgrades are necessary to improve the width and space of Ag print.
Innovation Solution
A sensor pattern for capacitive touch screens is introduced, comprising unit blocks with specific configurations of sensor elements and trace patterns that reduce the number of border traces by using a parallel scheme in TX channels and an alternating scheme in RX channels, allowing for a smaller border area without increasing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If conventional border trace routing is used with multiple TX and RX channels, then complete touch sensing coverage is achieved, but border trace area increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The touch sensor array is divided into multiple unit blocks, where each unit block contains a specific arrangement of TX and RX sensor elements. This segmentation allows the border channel topology to be simplified in each local unit while maintaining overall coverage, reducing the total border trace area from 26 traces to 13 traces as demonstrated in the patent
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a conventional planar routing approach to a three-dimensional stacked architecture where TX and RX sensor elements are arranged in different layers. This dimensional change enables more efficient trace routing and reduces border area requirements by utilizing vertical space rather than horizontal expansion
2Area of stationary object
If higher level manufacturing equipment is upgraded to improve Ag print width and space, then border area simplification is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the topological parameters of the border channels by reconfiguring the sensor element arrangement and trace routing pattern. This parameter change achieves border area reduction through design optimization rather than manufacturing process upgrades, avoiding increased manufacturing costs
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of upgrading manufacturing equipment to achieve border simplification, the patent inverts the approach by designing a simplified border topology from the beginning that requires less sophisticated manufacturing equipment, thereby reducing both border area and manufacturing cost
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor pattern and a capacitive touch screen are provided. The sensor pattern comprises: a plurality of unit blocks, and a first unit block of the unit blocks comprises: a first 1st-type sensor element, a first 2nd-type sensor element, and a second 2nd-type sensor element. The first 1st-type sensor element is disposed on a first patterned layer, having a border trace, two parallel main traces, a bridge, a first cell, and a second cell, wherein the first and second cells are not aligned. The first 2nd-type sensor element is disposed on a second patterned layer, having a main trace and a sub-trace, wherein the main trace surrounds the first cell of the first 1st-type sensor element. The second 2nd-type sensor element is disposed on the second patterned layer, having a main trace and a sub-trace, wherein the main trace surrounds the second cell of the first 1st-type sensor element.