Piezoelectric Touch Panel Dummy Layer for Tactile Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional touch panels cannot provide tactile feedback on touch strength or force, and their structure complicates display visibility due to the placement of a touch panel layer on top of the display layer.
Innovation Solution
A touch panel design incorporating a substrate with a transparent electrode and outer dummy layers made of piezoelectric material, which recognize touch pressure intensity and generate tactile feedback without a separate piezoelectric layer, allowing for thickness reduction and enhanced user experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a separate piezoelectric layer is added to provide tactile feedback, then tactile sense feedback capability is improved, but device complexity and thickness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the piezoelectric material directly into the dummy area of the touch panel substrate, combining the substrate structure with the piezoelectric function. This eliminates the need for a separate piezoelectric layer while maintaining tactile feedback capability, thus resolving the contradiction between improved adaptability and reduced device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The dummy area of the substrate is given dual functionality: it serves both as a structural boundary element and as a piezoelectric actuator for tactile feedback. This multi-functionality approach allows the same component to provide both structural support and haptic feedback, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining versatile functionality
2Adaptability or versatility
If a separate piezoelectric layer is added to provide tactile feedback, then tactile sense feedback capability is improved, but thickness increases
Solution Approach 1:
The piezoelectric material is integrated within the dummy area of the substrate itself, merging two previously separate components (substrate and piezoelectric layer) into a single unified structure. This integration eliminates the need for additional thickness from a separate piezoelectric layer while maintaining full tactile feedback functionality
3Measurement precision
If touch panel layer is placed at top end of display layer, then touch detection capability is improved, but display visibility is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the piezoelectric feedback function from the main display area and places it specifically in the dummy area surrounding the effective display region. This extraction allows the display layer to maintain full visibility in the effective area while the touch detection and feedback functions are concentrated in the boundary region, resolving the contradiction between touch detection capability and display visibility
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
The touch panel provides accurate tactile sense feedback, simulating textures and dynamic haptic effects, improving user experience by generating various vibration patterns and maintaining optical and electric reliability.
Implementation Method 1
the piezoelectric element has a property capable of converting a mechanical signal such as pressure into an electric signal
Implementation Method 2
the outer dummy layer generates an ultrasonic wave so that the substrate may vibrate
Data Source
AI summary
A touch panel according to the embodiment includes a substrate including an effective area and a dummy area surrounding the effective area; a transparent electrode on the substrate; and an outer dummy layer on the dummy area, wherein the outer dummy layer comprises a piezoelectric material.