Abstract:
The present disclosure relates to an input interface and particularly to a novel touch panel which includes a plurality of first axial electrodes and a plurality of second axial electrodes. Each of the first axial electrodes is extended in a first direction. Each of the first axial electrodes includes a plurality of first inductive electrodes, a plurality of second inductive electrodes, and a plurality of first connecting lines. The first inductive electrodes and the second inductive electrodes are disposed alternatively along a first direction. Each of the first connecting lines is disposed between the first inductive electrodes and the second inductive electrodes. Each of the second axial electrodes is extended in a second direction. Each of the second axial electrodes has a plurality of hollow areas arranged along the second direction, and each of the first inductive electrodes is disposed within said hollow areas.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This Application claims the benefit of the People&#39;s Republic of China Application No. 201110355623.7, filed on Oct. 27, 2011. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to an input interface and more particularly to a touch panel. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     In recent years, more and more products having a touch function integrated with a display to form a touch display panel have been made available, some of which include mobile phone, navigator system, tablet PC, PDA and laptop PC. At present, a number of touch panel techniques are available and common techniques in portable small-sized electronic devices include resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels among others, whose operation principle is to use transparent inductive electrodes for detecting voltage or capacitive changes in touch point positions and use linkage lines connecting various transparent inductive electrodes in different axial directions for transmitting signals back and finishing the orientation. 
     In touch panel technology, designs of inductive electrodes are of many kinds. Wherein one type of electrodes employs an inductive pad of diamond pattern to line up the various inductive electrodes in the same axial direction by means of the linkage lines. Also, the electrode design of mutually vertical stripe patterns is adopted to form an inductive area by taking, advantage of overlapped area. 
     However, regular stripe arrangements of the inductive electrodes are likely to cause drawbacks of the visual effects while being collocated with the display panel. In other words, patterns of the touch panel can he designed so as to influence normal display effect of the display panel. Further, in regular stripe arrangements, the condition will become even worse, especially When the pattern of the strip inductive electrodes and the strip color area of the display panel are mutually parallel in an arrangement. Therefore, there is a need to improve the design of the electrode shapes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a touch panel that sets a partial area of one axial electrode in an empty structure of another axial electrode, and reduces the influence caused by fine strip patterns of various axial electrodes over the exterior quality, thereby improving the exterior quality of the touch panel. 
     In view of the foregoing purpose, another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a touch panel that includes a plurality of first axial electrodes and a plurality of second axial electrodes. The first axial electrodes are extended towards a first direction. The first axial electrodes include a plurality of first inductive electrodes, plurality of second inductive electrodes, and plurality of first linkage lines. The first inductive electrodes and the second inductive electrodes are set alternatively along a first direction, while the first linkage lines are respectively set between the adjacent first inductive electrodes and the adjacent second inductive. electrodes, and electrically connected to the first inductive electrodes and the second inductive electrodes in the same wire of the first axial electrodes. The second axial electrodes are extended toward a second direction. The second axial electrodes posses a plurality of empty spaces aligned along the second direction where the various first inductive electrodes are set. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For those skilled in the art to understand the present disclosure, numerous embodiments are described below, annexing drawings to minutely illustrate the matters of the present disclosure and the purpose thereof. 
         FIGS. 1-4  illustrate diagrams of a touch panel in an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIGS. 5-8  illustrate diagrams of a touch panel in another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Certain vocabularies and phrases are used for pointing out specific components in the present specification and the subsequent patent applications. The belonged field possesses the same components possibly described by the manufacturers with the different nouns and usually understood by the learners. The specification and its subsequent patent applications do not take the name diversity as the method of distinguishing the components, but take the functional variety as the distinguishing benchmark. The “include” mentioned in the whole specification and the subsequent request articles is an open phrase, and therefore is accounted for “includes but not restricted to”. Moreover, in order to make the ordinary technicians acquainted with the technical field belonging to this disclosure more explicitly, the following context particularly cites several favorable embodiments of this invention coupled with the attached schema for explicitly illustrating the constituent contents of this disclosure. Please note that the schema only takes the illustration as the objective and does not make the drawings according to the original dimensions. In addition, the terms such as “the first” and “the second” used in the context, are only used for distinguishing the different components, and not restricted to the generation order. 
       FIGS. 1-4  illustrate a touch panel in an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4  are the top views, and  FIG. 2  is the schematic diagram of  FIG. 1  partially amplified, and  FIG. 3  is the cross-sectional schematic diagram of A-A′ hatching lines in  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 4  is the schematic diagram of the simplified transparent areas in  FIG. 1 . In order to make the illustrations easy, various schemas of the present disclosure are shown only for demonstrations and to understand the disclosure more easily, wherein detailed proportions can be modulated according to the design requirements. As shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a touch panel  100  includes a substrate  190 , a plurality of first axial electrodes  110 , and a plurality of second axial electrodes  120 . The substrate  190  can include hard substrates such as glass substrates, ceramic substrates or flexible substrates such as plastic substrates and other substrates formed by other suitable materials. The first axial electrodes  110  are disposed on the substrate  190  and extended toward a first direction Y. The first set of axial electrodes  110  include a plurality of first inductive electrodes  111 , a plurality of second inductive electrodes  112 , and a plurality of the first linkage lines  119 . The first inductive electrodes  111  and the second inductive electrodes  112  are set alternatively along the first direction Y, whereas the first linkage lines  119  are respectively set between the adjacent first inductive electrodes  111  and between the adjacent second inductive electrodes  112 , being electrically connected to the first inductive electrodes  111  and the second inductive electrodes  112  in the same wire of the first axial electrodes  110 . The second axial electrodes  120  are disposed on the substrate  190  and extended toward a second direction X. The second axial electrodes  120  possess a plurality of empty spaces  120 H aliped along the second direction X. where the first inductive electrodes  111  are set. Moreover, the second axial electrodes  120  further include a plurality of third inductive electrodes  121  set along the second direction X and a plurality of second linkage lines  129  that are respectively set between the third inductive electrodes  121  and electrically connected to the third inductive electrodes  121  in the same wire of the second axial electrodes  120 . 
     Further, the adjacent third inductive electrodes  121  in the second direction X are electrically linked together by means of two second linkage lines  129  that can promote the reliability of the touch panel  100 . Moreover, the various third inductive electrodes  121  in the present embodiment can include an electrode-crossing pattern and possess an extension direction an extension direction D 2 , an extension direction D 3  and an extension direction D 4 . And these extension directions are not paralleled to or perpendicular to the first direction Y and the second direction X. Therefore, even if the electrode-crossing pattern of the third inductive electrodes  121  still possesses the fine strip portion, the extension direction of this fine strip pattern is not paralleled to or perpendicular to the first direction Y and the second direction X and thus, will not influence over the exterior quality of the touch panel. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, first axial electrodes  110  and third inductive electrodes  121  can be formed by same conductive material. The foregoing conductive materials can include transparent conductive materials such as  110 ,  170  and AZO or other suitable non-transparent conductive materials such as silver, aluminum, copper, magnesium and molybdenum, and composite layer or the alloy composed of such materials, but is not limited thereto. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first inductive electrodes  111  are set between two adjacent third inductive electrodes  121  in the second direction X, and the first inductive electrodes  111  are set between two adjacent second inductive electrodes  112  in the first direction Y More explicitly, central points of the first inductive electrodes  111  and the second inductive electrodes  112  of the various first axial electrodes  110  are situated in the same straight line, and central points of the various first inductive electrodes  111  and two adjacent third inductive electrodes  121  are situated in the same straight line, but this configuration is not limited only to this in any manner and all other possible arrangements are also possible. In other words, density of the inductive electrodes can be increased by means of the pattern design of the inductive electrodes, which can improve the touch resolution and sensibility. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a touch panel  100  can further include a plurality of first conductive lines  160 A and a plurality of second conductive lines  160 B, which are respectively in the electrical connection with the first axial electrodes  110  and the second axial electrodes  120 . The first conductive lines  160 A, the second conductive lines  1608 , and second linkage lines  129  can be formed by same conductive material so as to reduce the manufacturing process. The foregoing conductive materials can include transparent conductive materials such as ITO, IZO and AZO or other suitable non-transparent conductive materials such as silver, aluminum, copper, magnesium and molybdenum, and composite layer or the alloy composed of such materials, but this configuration is not limited only to this in any manner and all other possible arrangements are also possible. In addition, as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the touch panel  100  in the present embodiment can further include an insulation layer  170  and a cover layer  180 . The insulating layer  170  is set between various first linkage lines  119  and between various second linkage lines  129 . Which is used for preventing mutual interference between the signals. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first linkage lines  119  and the third inductive electrodes  121  can be formed first by same conductive material on the substrate  190 , and then the insulation layer can he formed next, and therefore the first linkage lines  119  can be set between the substrate  190  and a first side  171  of the insulation layer  170 , whereas the second linkage lines  129  can he set on a second side  172  of the insulation layer  170 . In an embodiment, the second linkage lines  129  can first be formed on the substrate  190 , after which the insulation layer  170  be formed, and finally the first linkage lines  119  can be formed in sequence, thereby setting the second linkage lines  129  between the substrate  190  and the first side  171  of the insulation layer  170 . The first linkage lines  119  can also be set on the second side  172  of the insulation layer  170 . In addition, the cover layer  180  set on the substrate  190  is used for covering the first axial electrodes  110 , the second axial electrodes  120 , and the insulation layer  170 . Materials of the insulation layer  170  and the cover layer  180  can respectively include the inorganic materials such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride, and the organic materials such as acrylic resin, polyimide or other suitable materials. 
       FIGS. 5-8  illustrate a touch panel in another embodiment of the present disclosure, Wherein  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 8  are the top views,  FIG. 6  is the partially amplified schematic diagram of  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 7  is the cross-sectional schematic diagram of B-B′ hatching line of  FIG. 6 , and  FIG. 8  is the simplified schematic diagram of the transparent areas in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIGS. 5-8 , a touch panel  200  includes a substrate  190 , a plurality of first axial electrodes  210 , a plurality of second axial electrodes  220 , a plurality of first conductive lines  160 A, and a plurality of second conductive lines  160 B. The first axial electrodes  210  set on the substrate  190  are extended toward a first direction Y The first axial electrodes  210  include a plurality of first inductive electrodes  211 , a plurality of the second inductive electrodes  212 , and a plurality of first linkage lines  219 . The first inductive electrodes  211  and the second inductive electrodes  212  are set alternatively along the first direction Y and the first linkage lines  219  are respectively set between the adjacent first inductive electrodes  211  and between the adjacent second inductive electrodes  212 , which are electrically connected to the first inductive electrodes  111  and the second inductive electrodes  212  in the same wire of the first axial electrodes  210 . The second axial electrodes  220  are set on the substrate  190  and extended towards a second direction X. The various second axial electrodes  220  possess a plurality of empty spaces aligned along the second direction X where the various first inductive electrodes  211  are set. In addition. the various second axial electrodes  220  can further include a plurality of third inductive electrodes  221  set along the second direction X and a plurality of second linkage lines  229 . The second linkage lines  229  are respectively set between two adjacent third inductive electrodes  221 , being electrically connected to the third inductive electrodes  221  in the same wire of the second axial electrodes  220 . The various component features and material properties of the touch panel  200  in the present embodiment are similar to those of the touch panel  100  in the above mentioned embodiment, and therefore not restated. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the various second axial electrodes  220 , the various first inductive electrodes  211 , and the various second inductive electrodes  212  can be composed of same conductive material. With reference to  FIG. 8 , the various first conductive lines  160 A, the various second conductive lines  160 B, and the various first linkage lines  219  can be composed of same conductive material to simplify the manufacturing process of the touch panel. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIGS. 6-7 , the second linkage lines  229 , the first inductive electrodes  211 , and the second inductive electrodes  212  can be formed by the same conductive material on the substrate  190  first and then, the insulation layer  170  can be formed later, therefore, the second linkage lines  229  can be set between the substrate  190  and a first lateral side  171  of the insulation layer  170 , Whereas the first linkage lines  219  can be set on a second lateral side  172  of the insulation layer  170 . However, the present disclosure is not restricted to this embodiment. In an embodiment, the first linkage lines  219  is first formed on the substrate  190  and subsequently the insulation layer  170  and the second linkage lines  229  are formed. Therefore, the first linkage lines  219  can be set between the substrate  190  and the first lateral side  171  of the insulation layer  170 , and the second linkage lines  229  can be set on the second lateral side  172  of the insulation layer  170 . Moreover, the cover layer  180  set on the substrate  190  is used for covering the first axial electrodes  210 , the second axial electrodes  220 , and the insulation layer  170 . 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a touch panel of the present disclosure makes use of setting partial inductive electrodes of one axis in an empty structure of another electrode axis for improving simultaneously the exterior quality, the touch resolution, and the sensibility. In addition, the touch panel of the present disclosure further increases the number of linkage lines between adjacent inductive electrodes to reach the effect of promoting the touch panel reliability. 
     While certain embodiment have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been described by way of illustration and not limitations.