Oblique Bridge Unit Design for Touch Panel Stress Dispersion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch panels are prone to breakage when bending due to concentrated stress on the bridge unit, leading to touch failure.
Innovation Solution
The touch panel design features obliquely arranged bridge units between second touch electrode patterns, which extend the bending line and disperse stress, along with a connection portion that shortens the metal bridge length and avoids signal crosstalk by being insulated from the first touch electrode pattern.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the bridge unit is arranged perpendicular to the second direction electrode (conventional design), then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the bridge unit is prone to breakage when the touch panel bends due to concentrated stress
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge unit is designed with an asymmetric structure where one end is wider than the other end. The wider end is located at the position farther from the bending direction, while the narrower end is closer to the bending direction. This asymmetric design allows the bridge unit to better distribute bending stress, reducing the likelihood of breakage while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The bridge unit employs local quality variation by having different widths at different positions along its length. The width of the bridge unit changes gradually from one end to the other, creating a gradient structure that optimizes stress distribution. This local variation in geometry allows the bridge unit to withstand bending forces more effectively without requiring a complete redesign of the entire touch panel structure.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the metal bridge length is increased to connect adjacent second touch units, then the connection is more stable, but the metal bridge reflects more light causing visual interference
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge unit uses an asymmetric width design where the width varies along the length of the bridge. This asymmetric structure reduces the overall reflective surface area of the metal bridge while maintaining structural integrity and connection stability. The narrower portion of the bridge unit contributes less to light reflection, thereby reducing visual interference.
3Strength
If the bridge unit is made wider to increase structural strength, then the connection between second touch units is more robust, but the stress concentration during bending increases leading to easier breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge unit implements local quality variation by having different widths at different positions. The width is larger at the end farther from the bending direction to provide structural strength, while the width is smaller at the end closer to the bending direction to reduce stress concentration. This gradient width design optimizes both strength and stress distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric width design of the bridge unit allows it to have greater width at the non-bending end for strength, and smaller width at the bending end for stress reduction. This asymmetric configuration resolves the contradiction between needing structural strength and avoiding stress concentration during bending.
Data Source
AI summary
A touch panel includes a plurality of first touch electrode patterns including a plurality of first touch units and a connection unit connecting two adjacent first touch units. The touch panel further includes a plurality of second touch electrode patterns insulated from and intersected with the first touch electrode patterns, and the second touch electrode patterns includes a plurality of second touch units and a bridge unit connecting two adjacent second touch units, and a plurality of bridge units are arranged along a preset direction and an intersection angle between the preset direction and the second direction is greater than 0° and less than 90°.