Electroconductive Sheet Mesh Terminal Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional touch panels with metal thin wire electrodes suffer from reduced visibility due to thick electrode terminals that shield light in the sensing region, leading to darkened areas and impaired display quality, especially as panel sizes increase.
Innovation Solution
The development of electroconductive sheets with electrode patterns and terminals made of metal thin wires, featuring high transmittance and aperture ratios, with the terminals designed to minimize light shielding by using frame or mesh shapes with specific line widths and pitches, ensuring visibility is maintained.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If thick electrode terminals are used to ensure high electroconductivity, then electrical conductivity is improved, but light transmission is blocked causing darkened areas and reduced visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode terminal is designed with a mesh structure comprising multiple metal thin wires arranged in a grid pattern, creating porous/open spaces that allow light to pass through while maintaining electrical conductivity through the interconnected wire network
Solution Approach 2:
The solid electrode terminal is segmented into multiple metal thin wires arranged in a mesh pattern, dividing the continuous conductive path into discrete wire elements that collectively provide both conductivity and optical transparency
2Area of stationary object
If the touch panel size is increased to meet display requirements, then display area is improved, but response speed becomes slow due to large resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameter from conventional ITO to metal thin wire, which has significantly lower resistivity, enabling fast response speeds even in large-sized touch panels by reducing the electrical resistance across the extended electrode area
3Reliability
If metal thin wire is used to lower surface resistance, then electroconductivity is improved, but visibility is impaired by the wire structure
Solution Approach 1:
The metal thin wire is configured in a mesh structure with controlled wire diameter and spacing, creating a porous configuration that maintains low surface resistance while allowing sufficient light transmission through the gaps between wires
Solution Approach 2:
The wire diameter and mesh density are optimized to provide different local properties: sufficient wire thickness for conductivity while maintaining adequate spacing for optical transparency, achieving both electrical and optical performance requirements
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides an electroconductive sheet and a touch panel which do not impair visibility in a vicinity of an electrode terminal in a sensing region. In an electroconductive sheet which has an electrode pattern constructed of a metal thin wire and an electrode terminal that is electrically connected to an end of the electrode pattern, a transmittance of the electrode pattern is 83% or more, and when the transmittance of the electrode pattern is represented by a %, a transmittance of the electrode terminal is controlled to be (a-20)% or more and (a-3)% or less.