Touch Sensor Multi-Layer Electrode Visual Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch sensors integrated into display devices suffer from degraded image quality due to visually recognizable sensing electrodes, which affect both image clarity and color perception.
Innovation Solution
A touch sensor design featuring a multi-layered structure with first and second electrode layers at different levels, separated by an insulating interlayer, incorporating dummy electrodes and holes to reduce electrode recognition and parasitic capacitance, while maintaining conductivity and sensitivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensing electrodes are formed using conventional single-layer structures, then electrical conductivity is achieved, but image quality is degraded due to visual recognition of electrodes
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing electrode is divided into two separate layers (first sensing electrode layer and second sensing electrode layer) with an insulating interlayer in between. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized independently - the first layer provides electrical conductivity while the second layer is designed with holes to reduce visual recognition, thus resolving the contradiction between conductivity and image quality
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves from a single-layer two-dimensional structure to a multi-layer three-dimensional structure. By adding the vertical dimension with stacked electrode layers and an insulating interlayer, the patent achieves both electrical functionality and optical performance that cannot be obtained in a single plane
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sensing electrodes are made thinner to improve optical properties, then image quality improves, but touch sensitivity and conductivity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making a single thin electrode layer, the patent segments the electrode into two layers. The first layer can be thin for optical performance, while the second layer compensates for conductivity and sensitivity. The combined effect of both layers maintains electrical performance without requiring any single layer to be thick
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges two separate electrode layers to achieve the electrical performance of a thick electrode while maintaining the optical properties of thin electrodes. The combined structure of first and second sensing electrode layers provides sufficient conductivity and sensitivity while each individual layer remains thin enough for good optical transmission
3Object-affected harmful factors
If dummy electrodes are added to fill spaces between sensing electrodes, then electrode recognition is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dummy electrodes are segmented and placed only in specific spaces between sensing electrodes rather than creating a continuous layer. This selective placement reduces electrode recognition by filling gaps that would otherwise be visible, while minimizing the addition of structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The dummy electrodes are designed to copy or match the pattern and appearance of the sensing electrodes. This allows them to blend in visually and reduce overall electrode recognition without requiring a fundamentally different or more complex structure
Data Source
AI summary
A touch sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base layer, a first electrode layer including first dummy electrodes and first sensing electrodes including first holes therein arranged on a top surface of the base layer, the first sensing electrodes, an insulating interlayer formed on the base layer and covering the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer including second dummy electrodes and second sensing electrodes including second holes therein arranged on a top surface of the insulating interlayer. An electrode visual recognition can be suppressed by an overlapping arrangement of the holes and the electrode patterns.