Flexible Touch Panel Piezoelectric Bending State Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flexible touch panels lack effective mechanisms to sense bending and adapt operation modes based on the bending state, limiting their functionality and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A flexible touch panel with a layer of piezoelectric material between first and second electrodes, connected to a device that tracks changes in bending state by analyzing piezoelectric signals, allowing for determination of radii of curvature and user interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If flexible touch panels are made without bending sensing capability, then manufacturing is simpler and device complexity is reduced, but adaptability and user interaction capabilities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines capacitive touch sensing electrodes with piezoelectric force sensing layers into a single integrated sensor stack. The same electrode structure serves both capacitive touch detection and piezoelectric force detection functions, eliminating the need for separate sensing mechanisms and reducing overall device complexity while enabling bending state adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor stack is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: capacitive touch detection, piezoelectric force detection, and bending state sensing. This multi-functional approach allows the flexible touch panel to adapt to different operating modes (folded, unfolded, rolled) without requiring additional dedicated sensors for each function.
2Measurement precision
If flexible touch panels incorporate piezoelectric layers for force detection, then force sensing capability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the piezoelectric force sensing layer within the existing capacitive touch sensor stack, rather than adding it as a separate external component. This merging approach maintains force detection precision while reducing the overall complexity of the sensor architecture by sharing common structural elements and processing circuits.
3Adaptability or versatility
If flexible touch panels add bending sensing capability, then operating mode adaptability is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses piezoelectric material to convert mechanical bending stress directly into electrical signals for bending state detection. This eliminates the need for complex mechanical switches, Hall effect sensors, or other active sensing components that would consume additional power, thereby enabling operating mode adaptability with minimal energy overhead.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the flexible touch panel to detect bending states and switch between operating modes, enhancing user interaction capabilities and power management, while maintaining flexibility and durability.
Implementation Method 1
a layer of piezoelectric material arranged between a number of first electrodes and at least one second electrode
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus is described which includes a flexible touch panel (21). The flexible touch panel (21) includes a layer of piezoelectric material (9) arranged between a number of first electrodes (7, 8) and at least one second electrode (8, 14). The apparatus also includes a device (3) connected to the first electrodes (7, 8) and configured to determine one or more radii of curvature (R 1 , R 2 ) of the flexible touch panel (21) based on signals received from one or more of the first electrodes (7, 8).