Micro-wire Electrodes for Touch Display Conductivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current touch-screen electrodes in display devices suffer from limited conductivity and transparency, particularly in large displays, leading to usability issues due to inadequate power supply to pixel elements and visual alignment problems between touch screen and display resolutions.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves arranging micro-wires exclusively over rows or columns of pixels in a display device, forming row and column electrodes that extend across all pixels in a given row or column, enhancing conductivity and contrast while maintaining transparency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If transparent conductive electrodes are used in touch screens, then transparency is improved, but electrical conductivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines transparent conductive oxide layers with metal micro-wire networks to create a composite electrode structure. The TCO layer provides transparency and basic conductivity, while the embedded metal micro-wires enhance electrical conductivity without significantly compromising transparency, thus resolving the contradiction between these two properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different materials with different properties to different locations within the electrode structure. Transparent conductive oxide is used as the base layer for overall transparency, while highly conductive metal micro-wires are embedded at specific locations to provide enhanced conductivity pathways, allowing each material to perform its optimal function.
2Illumination intensity
If transparent conductive electrodes are used, then transparency is improved, but power supply capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The composite structure of TCO layer plus metal micro-wire network provides both transparency and enhanced power supply capability. The metal micro-wires act as low-resistance pathways for power distribution across the touch screen, enabling adequate power supply to distant pixels while maintaining overall transparency.
Solution Approach 2:
The metal micro-wires serve as intermediary conductive pathways between the transparent conductive oxide layer and the pixel elements. They mediate the power distribution by providing low-resistance channels that supplement the TCO's power delivery capability without blocking light transmission.
3Reliability
If micro-wires are arranged in a grid pattern, then conductivity is improved, but visual alignment with pixels deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions metal micro-wires to align with pixel rows or columns rather than creating a dense grid. This localized arrangement provides sufficient conductivity along the pixel boundaries while avoiding visual interference with the pixel elements themselves, thus maintaining both conductivity and visual alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using a continuous grid pattern, the patent segments the micro-wire arrangement into discrete rows or columns that correspond to pixel boundaries. This segmentation reduces visual interference while maintaining conductivity along the segmented pathways where it is most needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of making a display device includes providing a display substrate having a first display substrate side, a second display substrate side opposed to the first display substrate side, and an array of pixels formed in rows and columns on or over the first display substrate side. A transparent dielectric layer is located over the display, the transparent dielectric layer having a row side and an opposed column side. Row electrodes are provided on the row side and column electrodes are provided on the column side. Each row electrode extends exclusively over all of the pixels in a row and each column electrode extends exclusively over all of the pixels in a column.