Touch Panel Electrode Pin Reduction via Merging
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Solution Overview
Problem
As touch panels increase in size, the number of pins required for signal transmission also increases, leading to higher production costs and reduced update rates, necessitating a reduction in the number of pins for touch detection.
Innovation Solution
A touch panel design that includes a substrate with touch areas and sub-touch areas, featuring a configuration of first, second, third, and fourth electrodes, where the third and fourth electrodes are disposed in a two-dimensional array to facilitate touch detection with reduced pin usage by allowing multiple electrodes to share pins.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the size of the touch panel increases, then the coverage area is improved, but the number of pins required for touch detection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple electrode functions by making the fourth electrode overlap with first, second, and third electrodes in the same touch area, allowing a single electrode structure to perform multiple detection functions and thereby reducing the total pin count required
Solution Approach 2:
The fourth electrode serves multiple functions by overlapping with different electrode types (first, second, and third electrodes) in the same touch area, enabling one electrode to participate in multiple detection channels and reducing the overall number of pins needed
2Reliability
If the number of pins is increased, then the touch detection capability is improved, but the production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple electrode functions are merged into the fourth electrode which overlaps with first, second, and third electrodes, reducing the number of separate pin connections needed while maintaining comprehensive touch detection capability across all touch areas
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a vertical layering dimension by having the fourth electrode overlap with multiple electrode types in the same planar touch area, utilizing the Z-axis (layer stacking) to reduce the X-Y plane pin count while maintaining detection coverage
3Adaptability or versatility
If the number of pins is increased, then the touch detection channels are improved, but the update rate is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The fourth electrode merges detection functions across multiple electrode types in the same touch area, reducing the total number of independent detection channels that need to be processed, thereby improving the update rate while maintaining adequate detection coverage
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts redundant detection functions by having the fourth electrode overlap with first, second, and third electrodes, removing the need for separate pin connections for each electrode type and reducing processing overhead
Data Source
AI summary
A touch panel including a substrate and a touch element is provided. The substrate has a first predetermined number of touch areas. Each of the touch areas has a second predetermined number of sub touch areas. The touch element includes a plurality of first electrodes, a plurality of second electrodes, a plurality of third electrodes and the first predetermined number of fourth electrodes. Multiple of the first electrodes arranged along a first direction and corresponding to different sub touch areas are electrically connected, multiple of the second electrodes arranged along a second direction and corresponding to different sub touch areas are electrically connected, and multiple of the third electrodes corresponding to different touch areas are electrically connected.