Abstract:
An electrode and an isolation layer of a touch device are the same color, so that a user of the touch device perceives a good visual effect without having to employ expensive optical adhesive and decorative films in the touch device. The front bezel design used in conventional touch devices can thus be abandoned. Further, simpler fabrication, higher yield rate, and lower cost are also achieved.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/212,202, filed Aug. 18, 2011, which claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 100116725, filed May 12, 2011, and included herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a flat surface touch device, and more particularly, to a flat surface touch device introducing good visual effects through an isolation layer and an electrode of the flat surface touch device having a same color to shield another electrode on a base plate of the flat surface touch device without using optical adhesives and decoration plates. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Conventional touch devices include resistive, capacitive, infrared, and sound-wave touch panels, where the resistive touch panel includes four-wire, five-wire, and six-wire touch panels. Conventionally, a full-planar visual effect can be achieved on a touch panel without using a front bezel by using highly-transparent optical adhesives to bind a decoration plate to the touch panel, where the decoration plate is utilized for shielding edges of the touch panel. 
         [0006]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which schematically illustrates a lateral view of a conventional analog matrix-type touch device  200  which may be utilized for four-wire/five-wire/six-wire/capacitive touch devices. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the analog matrix-type touch device  200  includes a decoration plate  210 , a dye  220 , a high-transparency optical adhesive  230 , and a body  100 . The decoration plate  210 , the dye  220 , and the optical adhesive  230  are utilized for achieving the full-planar visual effect. 
         [0007]    Please refer to  FIGS. 2-3 .  FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a vertical and transparent view of the body  100  shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a lateral and transparent view of the body  100  shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0008]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , at least a plurality of electrodes  110  are aligned in horizontal bars and a plurality of electrodes  120  are aligned in vertical bars on the body  100 . The plurality of electrodes  110  is orthogonal to the plurality of electrodes  120  in alignment. Moreover, a plurality of conductive wires  150  is disposed on a lateral side of the body  100  corresponding to the plurality of electrodes  110  and  120 , and is electrically coupled to the plurality of electrodes  110  and  120  for transmitting sense signals of the analog matrix-type touch device  200 . 
         [0009]      FIG. 3  shows the lateral side of the body  100  along a section line AMR_S shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the body  100  further includes base plates  160  and  165 , a plurality of separated electrodes  155 , a plurality of conductive wires  150  regarded as a plurality of second electrodes, an electrode  175 , a plurality of dot spacers  185 , and an adhesive layer  190 . The plurality of electrodes  155  and  175 , which are regarded as first electrodes, are utilized for generating a uniform electrical field on the analog matrix-type touch device  200 . The conductive wires  150  are utilized for transmitting signals. Therefore, higher conductivity is required by the conductive wires  150  than the plurality of electrodes  155  and  175 . 
         [0010]    Conventionally, the base plate  160  is transparent, so that as shown in  FIG. 2 , the conductive wires  150  and the isolation layer  180  are visible to a user of the analog matrix-type touch device  200 . Therefore, the full-planar visual effect cannot be fulfilled, since the user sees the conductive wires  150  at the edges of the analog matrix-type touch device  100 . 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    For overcoming the defect that the full-planar visual effect cannot be fulfilled on a conventional touch device, the present invention discloses a full-planar touch device as an improvement. 
         [0012]    The claimed invention discloses a flat surface touch device which comprises a first base plate, a transparent conductive film, a first electrode, a first isolation layer, a second electrode, a second isolation layer, an adhesive layer and a second base plate. The first base plate is a transparent base plate. The transparent conductive film is formed on a first side of the first base plate. The first electrode is formed on a first side of the transparent conductive film and electrically coupled to the transparent conductive film. The first isolation layer is formed on the first side of the transparent conductive film and a first side of the first electrode. The second electrode is formed on the first side of the first electrode. A color of the second electrode is different from a color of the first electrode. The second isolation layer is formed on a first side of the second electrode. A color of the first isolation layer is the same with the color of the first electrode. The adhesive layer disposed on a first side of the second isolation layer. The second base plate is formed on a first side of the adhesive layer. 
         [0013]    The claimed invention also discloses a flat surface touch device which comprises a first base plate, a transparent conductive film, a first isolation layer, a first electrode, a second electrode, a second isolation layer, an adhesive layer and a second base plate. The first base plate is a transparent base plate. The transparent conductive film is formed on a first side of the first base plate. The first isolation layer is formed on the first side of the first base plate and the first side of the transparent conductive layer. The first electrode is formed on the first side of the transparent conductive film and electrically coupled to the transparent conductive film. The second electrode is formed on a first side of the first electrode. A color of the second electrode is different from a color of the first electrode. The second isolation layer is formed on a first side of the second electrode. A color of the first isolation layer is the same with the color of the first electrode. The adhesive layer is disposed on a first side of the second isolation layer. The second base plate is disposed on a first side of the adhesive layer. 
         [0014]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a lateral view of a conventional analog matrix-type touch device. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a vertical and transparent view of the body shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  illustrates a lateral and transparent view of the body shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0018]      FIGS. 4-6  illustrate touch devices according to embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  illustrates a top and transparent view of the touch device shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]    The purpose of the present invention is to achieve the full-planar visual effect without using highly-transparent optical adhesives or front bezels, by directly utilizing a conductive film having a same color as an edge frame of a touch device, so that the conductive film and the edge frame are uniform in appearance. In the following embodiments of the present invention, internal structure of the body  100  is adapted, and the adaption of the body  100  will be introduced with the aid of lateral views along the section lines AMR_S or AMR_L shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0021]    Please refer to  FIG. 4 , which illustrates a side view of a touch device  300  according to a first embodiment of the present invention, where the side view is shown along the section line AMR_L shown in  FIG. 1  for introducing an inner structure of the touch device  300 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the touch device  300  includes base plates  310  and  380 , a conductive film  320 , a first electrode  330 , a plurality of isolation layers  340  and  360 , a second electrode  350 , and an adhesive layer  370 . The second electrode  350  may have a same effect and material as the conductive wires  150  shown in  FIG. 2 , and may also be implemented with metal conductive wires made of silver, copper, molybdenum, aluminum, and/or an alloy. A color of the first electrode  330  is different from a color of the second electrode  350 . The base plate  310  is a transparent plate. The conductive film  320  is a transparent film. Therefore, both the base plate  310  and the conductive film  320  are transparent to the user. 
         [0022]    In an embodiment of the present invention, materials of the base plate  310  may include glass, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Acrylic, Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), or Polycarbonate. Materials of the conductive film  320  may include metal oxides, such as Indium tin oxide (ITO), Indium zinc oxide (IZO), and Aluminum or zinc oxide (AZO), and may also include transparent conductive polymer film or transparent metal film. 
         [0023]    As can be seen from  FIG. 4 , the touch device  300  includes a transparent base plate  310 , a conductive film  320 , a first electrode  330 , an isolation layer  340 , a second electrode  350 , an isolation layer  360 , an adhesive layer  370 , and a base plate  380  from bottom to top, where a color of the first electrode  330  is the same as a color of the isolation layer  340 . As can be seen from  FIG. 4 , the conductive film  320  is formed on a top side of the base plate  310 ; the first electrode  330  is formed on a top side of the conductive film  320  and is electrically coupled to the conductive film  320 ; the isolation layer  340  is formed on a top side of the conductive layer  320  and a top side of the first electrode  330 ; the second electrode  350  is formed on a top side of the isolation layer  340  and the top side of the first electrode  330 ; and the isolation layer  360  is formed on the top side of the isolation layer  340  and a top side of the second electrode  350 . However, the top side of any element is described with respect to the touch device  300 . If the touch device  300  shown in  FIG. 4  is reversed, then the top side of the above-mentioned elements is changed to be a bottom side according to another embodiment of the present invention. For uniformity, the top side of the above-mentioned elements is regarded as a first side, and the bottom side of the above-mentioned elements is regarded as a second side throughout the description, and vice versa. 
         [0024]    As can be seen from  FIG. 4 , when line of sight of an observer passes through the transparent base plate  310  and the conductive film  320 , only the first electrode  330  and the isolation layer  340  having the same color will be visible, whereas the second electrode  350  is invisible. 
         [0025]    Please refer to  FIG. 5 , which illustrates a lateral and transparent view of a touch device  400  according to a second embodiment of the present invention, where the lateral and transparent view is shown along the section line AMR_L shown in  FIG. 2 , so as to illustrate the inner structure of the touch device  400  in detail. Difference between the touch devices  300  and  400  lies in a reversed order of printing the first electrode  330  and the isolation layer  340 ; in other words, on the first side (i.e., the top side) of the conductive film  320 , the touch device  400  at least includes the isolation layer  340 , the first electrode  330 , the second electrode  350 , the isolation layer  360 , the adhesive layer  370  and the base plate  380  in that order. Note that the first electrode  330  is also electrically coupled to the second electrode  350 . 
         [0026]    As can be seen from  FIG. 5 , since the first electrode  330  and the isolation layer  340  have the same color, the observer also observes the same color of both the first electrode  330  and the isolation layer  340 , and the second electrode  350  is invisible to the observer as well. 
         [0027]    In the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 4-5 , materials of the isolation layer  340  may be the same as or different from materials of the isolation layer  360  if necessary, i.e., colors of the materials of the isolation layers  340  and  360  may be the same or different. In certain embodiments of the present invention, the second electrode  350  may extend through the isolation layer  360 , or the second electrode  350  may also be partially disposed on the top side of the isolation layer  360 , i.e., the second electrode  350  is not limited to being disposed on a bottom side of the isolation layer  360  as shown in  FIGS. 4-5 . 
         [0028]    Please refer to  FIG. 6 , which illustrates a lateral and transparent view of a touch device  500  according to a third embodiment of the present invention, where the lateral and transparent view is formed corresponding to the section line AMR_H shown in  FIG. 2  for illustrating the inner structure of the touch device  500  in detail. On the first side of the conductive film  320 , the touch device  500  at least includes the isolation layer  340 , the second electrode  350 , a transparent conductive layer  510 , the isolation layer  360 , the adhesive layer  370 , and the base plate  380  in that order. The transparent conductive layer  510  is electrically coupled to the second electrode  350 . 
         [0029]    As can be seen from  FIG. 6 , since both the base plate  310  and the conductive film  320  are transparent to the vision of the observer, only the color of the isolation film  340  will be observed by the observer. 
         [0030]    Note that besides silver, copper, molybdenum, aluminum, and alloy, the second electrode  350  may also be implemented with other conductive metals to form embodiments of the present invention. Besides, the structures shown in  FIGS. 4-6  may be applied on various types of the resistive touch devices or capacitive touch devices, such as the four-wire, five-wire, six-wire, seven-wire, and eight-wire resistive touch devices, or the matrix-type resistive touch device. 
         [0031]    Numbers and arrangements of elements of the touch devices  300  and  400  may be changed to form embodiments of the present invention. For example, a number of the first electrode  330  or the transparent conductive layer  510  utilized in the touch devices  300 ,  400 , or  500  may be multiple, and a plurality of first electrodes  330  may be arranged in dots, in a line, in a quadrangle, or in any shape for utilizing the first electrode  330  or the transparent conductive layer  510  to perform a conducting function. 
         [0032]    Please refer to  FIG. 7 , which illustrates a top and transparent view of the touch device  300  shown in  FIG. 4 , where the top and transparent view is shown along the section line AMR_R of  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , a plurality of first electrodes  330  is arranged in dots. In another embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of first electrodes  330  shown in  FIG. 7  may be tightly connected to each other for forming a line-arranged electrode. 
         [0033]    In the above-mentioned embodiments, a hard coat may be disposed on a second side of the conductive film  320 , i.e. an opposite side of the first side of the conductive film  320 , for implementing a clear surface or an anti-glare surface. Since the process of the disposed hard coat may be applied on any conventional transparent base plate, no further description or diagram will be shown for brevity. 
         [0034]    The present invention discloses a plurality of full-planar touch devices. By using a same color for both an electrode and an isolation layer, good visual effects can be achieved for the user of the flat surface touch device of the present invention without using optical adhesives and decoration plates. The conventional front bezel is abandoned in the full-planar touch device of the present invention; therefore, simpler fabrication, higher yield, and lower cost of the touch device are introduced as a result. 
         [0035]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.