Polarizer module, method of manufacturing the same and touch screen using the same

A polarizer module includes a polarizer substrate, an adhesive layer coated on the polarizer substrate, and a conductive layer embedded in the adhesive layer. The conductive layer includes a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern spaced apart from each other in the extending direction of the adhesive layer to form a sensing structure. The polarizer module can implement touch operation and output polarization light. A touch screen using the polarizer module is also provided.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a field of touch screen, and more particularly relates to a polarizer module, a method of manufacturing the polarizer module and a touch screen using the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The touch panel is a sensing device capable of receiving a touch input signal. The touch panel brings a new appearance for information exchange, which is a new appealing information interactive device. The development of touch panel technology has aroused widespread concern from information media on home and abroad; and the touch panel technology has become a booming high-tech industry in the optoelectronics.

Currently, an electronic product with touch control and displaying functions generally includes display screen and a touch panel added on the display screen. However, the touch panel, as an independent component from the display screen, needs to be ordered according to a size of the display screen when used in electronic product to achieve human-machine interaction, and then be assembled. There are mainly two different existed ways for the assembly of the touch panel and the display screen, i.e. a frame attach and a full attach. The frame attach is to attach the edge of the touch screen to the edge of the display screen, and the full attach is to attach an entire lower surface of the touch screen to an entire upper surface of the display screen.

The display screen, as an assembly module of polarizer, optical filter, liquid crystal module, and TFT and so on, has a great thickness. Simultaneously, the display screen and the touch panel are two independent components. During assembly of the electronic product, a complex assembly process is needed to assemble the display touch screen and the touch panel together. This further increases the thickness and the weight of the electronic products in the assembly of the touch display screen. Moreover, one more assembly process would cause an increase, of the probability of undesired products and the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Accordingly to this, the present disclosure is directed to a polarizer module, a method of manufacturing the polarizer module, and a touch screen using the polarizer module, which can reduce the thickness of the electronic devices.

A polarizer module includes a polarizer substrate, an adhesive layer coated on the polarizer substrate, and a conductive layer embedded in the adhesive layer. The conductive layer includes a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern spaced apart from each other in the extending direction of the adhesive layer to form a sensing structure.

A touch screen includes a TFT electrode, liquid crystal module, a common electrode, a filter module, and the polarizer module, which are laminated sequentially.

A method of manufacturing a polarizer module includes the steps:

providing a polarizer substrate;

coating an adhesive layer on the polarizer substrate; and

embedding a conductive layer in the adhesive layer, wherein the conductive layer comprises a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern spaced apart from each other in the extending direction of the coating layer to form a sensing structure.

The polarizer module of the touch screen can implement touch operation and output polarization light. As an indispensable component of the touch screen, the polarizer module enables the touch screen to have a touch function. There is no need to assembly a touch panel on the display screen, which can help to reduce the thickness of the electronic devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A polarizer module, a method of manufacturing the polarizer module, and a touch screen using the polarizer module are provided in the present disclosure, which can reduce the thickness of the electronic devices. The polarizer module can implement touch operation and output polarization light, thus it can enable the touch screen to have the function of touch and display.

Referring toFIG. 1, an embodiment of a touch screen100includes a lower polarizer10, a TFT electrode plate20, a liquid crystal module30, a common electrode40, a protective film50, a filter module60, and a polarizer module200, which are laminated sequentially.

The TFT electrode plate20includes a glass substrate24and a display electrode22located on the glass substrate24. The filter module60includes a glass layer66, a shielding resin62, and an optical filter64which are located on a surface of the glass layer66.

It should be understood that, when a backlight equipped to touch screen100is polarized light, such as OLED polarized light, only the polarizer modules200is needed while the lower polarizer10and the protective film50can be omitted.

In the illustrated embodiment, the structure and function of the lower polarizer10, the TFT electrode plate20, the liquid crystal module30, the common electrode40, the protective film50, and the filter module60can be similar to the products of the prior art, which will not be discussed in greater details.

The touch screen100can be direct lighting type or lateral lighting type liquid crystal display.

Referring toFIG. 2, the polarizer200includes a polarizer substrate210, an adhesive layer220, and a conductive layer230, laminated sequentially.

The polarizer substrate210is used to convert the incident light into polarized light. In the illustrated embodiment, the polarizer substrate210is an organic flexible substrate. A roll-to-roll process can be applied for mass production of the polarizer substrate210.

The adhesive layer220is coated on the polarizer substrate210. The adhesive layer220may have a lower hardness, which is conducive to patterning process.

Referring toFIG. 2andFIG. 3, the conductive layer230is embedded in the adhesive layer220. The conductive layer230includes a first conductive pattern232and a second conductive pattern234spaced apart from each other to form a sensing structure. The first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234are insulated to each other.

The first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234have single layer multi-point structure, i.e. at least two spaced second conductive patterns234are arranged on a side of each first conductive pattern232. The second conductive patterns234arranged on opposite sides of each first conductive pattern232are insulated to each other. The first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234are provided with a lead35extending to the edge of the adhesive layer220. The lead35can be a solid wire or a meshed wire.

In the illustrated embodiment, the adhesive layer220defines a first groove222adapted to the shape of the first conductive pattern232and a second groove224adapted to the shape of the second conductive pattern234by nanoimprint. The first conductive pattern232is received in the first groove222; the second conductive pattern234is received in the second groove224. Furthermore, the thickness of the first conductive pattern232is less than or equal to the depth of the first groove222; the thickness of the second conductive pattern234is less than or equal to the depth of the second groove224.

The first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234can be conductive meshes formed by a plurality of conductive wires34intersecting to each other, respectively. The shape of a grid cell formed by the conductive wires34can be regular or random. The conductive wires34can be formed by: imprinting the adhesive layer220to form grooves corresponding to the shape of the conductive patterns, and then filling a conductive material in the grooves. The conductive material can be selected from the group consisting of metal, carbon nanotube, graphene, organic conductive polymer, and ITO. Preferably, the conductive material is metal (such as nano-silver).

In an embodiment, the conductive wires34can be aligned with the mesh lines of a shielding matrix37of the optical filter64of the filter module60. In alternative embodiment, the conductive wires34can be not aligned with the mesh lines of a shielding matrix37. When the conductive wires34is not aligned with the mesh lines of the shielding matrix37, in order to guarantee the light transmittance of the filter module60and to further guarantee the color rendering of the touch screen100, the width of the conductive wires34is in the range of from 500 nm to 5 μm; which enable the conductive mesh to be visually transparent.

Referring toFIG. 4, in an embodiment, the conductive wires34of the first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234are aligned with the shielding resin or the ink of the filter module60, i.e. all projections of the conductive wires34on the plane of the shielding resin or the ink fall within the shielding resin or the ink exactly. The conductive wires34are shielded by the shielding resin or the ink, thus the light transmittance of the touch screen100is not affected. Furthermore, the width of the conductive wires34is not required to be visual transparency, as long as the width of the conductive wires34is less than that of the shielding resin or the ink.

Referring toFIG. 5a, in the first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234, the conductive meshes formed by the conductive wires34can he rectangular. Furthermore, each grid cell of each conductive mesh is aligned with a filtering grid cell of the shielding matrix37.

Referring toFIG. 5b, in the first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234, each grid cell of the conductive mesh formed by the conductive wires34is aligned with a plurality of filtering grid cells of the shielding matrix37.

Referring toFIG. 5bagain, in the illustrated embodiment, the conductive wires34of the conductive mesh are straight lines. Referring toFIGS. 5cand5d, in the illustrated embodiment, the conductive wires34are curved lines; i.e. the shape of grid cell of the conductive mesh can be regular or irregular, as long as the conductive wires34are shielded by the shielding resin or the ink.

The conductive layer230can be any conventional touch sensing types, such as single layer multi-point structure, double layer multi-point structure and so on.

Referring toFIG. 6atoFIG. 6c, the conductive layer230has a single layer multi-point structure. Referring toFIG. 10, an embodiment of method of manufacturing the polarizer module200includes steps of:

S120, an adhesive is coated on a surface of the polarizer substrate to form a adhesive layer220.

S130, a conductive layer is embedded in the adhesive layer, wherein the conductive layer comprises a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern spaced apart from each other in the extending direction of the coating layer to form a sensing structure.

Specifically, the adhesive layer220is imprinted by imprint mold23which are adapted to the shapes of the first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234respectively; and then the first groove222and the second groove224are obtained by curing. The imprint mold23is shaped as a comb. The adhesive can be UV-glue. The first groove222and the second groove224are filled with conductive material; then the conductive material is cured to form the first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234, respectively. The first conductive pattern232and the second conductive pattern234are spaced apart from each other to form the conductive layer230with a sensing structure.

Referring toFIG. 7andFIG. 8, in an alternative embodiment, the conductive layer230further includes a conductive bridge236crossing on the first conductive pattern232. The conductive bridge236and the first conductive pattern232are provided with an insulating layer238located therebetween. The conductive bridge236electrically interconnects two second conductive patterns234arranged on both sides of the first conductive pattern232, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the conductive bridge236is embedded in the adhesive layer220. The insulating layer238is a glue layer.

Referring toFIG. 9, the conductive bridge236is made of transparent conductive material, which can help to improve the light transmittance of the polarizer module200. In the illustrated embodiment, the conductive bridge236is formed by a plurality of conductive wires34intersecting to each other. Furthermore, the conductive bridge236is provided with a first conductive block36and a second conductive block36′ on both ends thereof, respectively. The surface areas of the first conductive block36and the second conductive block36′ are greater than that of the conductive bridge236; thus the contact surface between the conductive bridge236and the conductive pattern234is much greater, which can help to ensure the effectiveness of the electrical connection. Furthermore, the first conductive block36is electrically coupled to at least two conductive wires34of the corresponding second conductive patterns234, the second conductive block36′ is electrically coupled to at least two conductive wires34of the corresponding second conductive patterns234(If one of the conductive wires34is disconnected; the other can still be connected).

The conductive bridge236can also be formed by imprinting. For example, a meshed conductive bridge236can be formed by imprinting in one step. In an alternative embodiment, the conductive bridge236can be formed by: forming a plug hole of the conductive block by lithographic exposure, firstly; then a meshed groove is formed by imprinting; finally, the conductive material is filled in the meshed groove to form the meshed conductive bridge236and the conductive block.

The present disclosure also has the following advantages:

(1) the polarizer module of the present disclosure can implement touch operation and output polarization light at the same time. There is no need to assembly a touch screen on the display panel, which can help to reduce the thickness of the electronic devices and save the material and the assembly cost greatly.

(2) the conductive patterns of the present disclosure are formed by a plurality of meshes, the visual transparency can be obtained by controlling the width and the density of the line of the mesh. The material of the conductive patterns can be expanded from the conventional transparent material to various kinds of conductive material. When the conductive patterns are made of metal, the resistance can be reduced greatly, thus the power consumption of the touch screen can be further reduced.

(3) the conductive patterns can be formed by pattern etching (film forming —exposure—development—etching) in one step. Since all conductive patterns can be formed by imprinting in one step, which simplifies the manufacture procedure greatly. Furthermore, comparing with etching the whole conductive layer after the conductive layer is formed on the surface of the substrate, the conductive patterns is formed by filling conductive material to the groove after the pattern imprinting, which save conductive material greatly. Particularly, the cost is saved greatly when expensive conductive material is used, such as TIO.

(4) the lead of the conductive pattern is meshed, the conductive material is prone to retain in the groove when the conductive material is filled. Furthermore, when the nano-silver is sintered, the phenomenon of the breakage of the electrode lead due to the spread silver ball produced by an agglomeration effect is avoided.

It should be understood that the descriptions of the examples are specific and detailed, but those descriptions can't be used to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protective of the disclosure patent should be subject to the appended claims.