Abstract:
A touch device with photovoltaic conversion function includes a main body divided into a touch zone and a non-touch zone located immediately around the touch zone. A photovoltaic conversion layer is provided on a top of the touch zone. By providing the photovoltaic conversion layer on the top of the touch zone of the touch device, the photovoltaic conversion layer can have an increased light-absorption area to enable conversion of more light into more electric current for use by the touch device and accordingly, enable the touch device to have extended standby and operation time.

Description:
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan patent application number 101141314 filed on Nov. 7, 2012.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a touch device with photovoltaic conversion function, and more particularly to a touch device that includes a photovoltaic conversion layer provided on a top of a touch zone thereof, so that the photovoltaic conversion layer has an increased light-absorption area to convert more light into more electric current for use by the touch device, enabling the touch device to have effectively extended standby and operation time. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Power supply plays a very important role in the length of standby and operation time of a general portable electronic device. The currently available portable electronic devices rely on the electric power supplied by their built-in battery to maintain operation thereof. For a portable electronic device that includes a touch device, more power will be consumed during its operation to thereby largely shorten the length of standby and operation time thereof. 
         [0003]    One of the ways for solving the problem of large power consumption of the conventional portable electronic device is to combine a solar module with the portable electronic device. The solar module enables photovoltaic conversion and stores the converted electric energy in the built-in battery of the portable electronic device, so that the portable electronic device can have extended standby and operation time. The solar module is mainly arranged in a non-touch zone or a housing of the portable electronic device. For the solar module to absorb light irradiated thereon and convert the absorbed light into electric current, the portable electronic device must have a clear housing or allow the solar module to expose from the housing. As a result, the portable electronic device would disadvantageously have a large overall thickness. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    A primary object of the present invention is to provide a touch device with photovoltaic conversion function, which includes a photovoltaic conversion layer having an increased light-absorption area to convert more light into more electric current for use by the touch device, enabling the touch device to have effectively extended standby and operation time. 
         [0005]    To achieve the above and other objects, the touch device with photovoltaic conversion function according to the present invention includes a main body divided into a touch zone and a non-touch zone located immediately around the touch zone, and the touch zone has a photovoltaic conversion layer provided on a top thereof. 
         [0006]    By combining the photovoltaic conversion layer with the main body of the touch device, more light can be absorbed and converted into electric energy by the photovoltaic conversion layer for storing in the touch device, so that the touch device can have extended standby and operation time. 
         [0007]    Further, by providing the photovoltaic conversion layer in the touch zone of the main body of the touch device, the main body of the touch device can have a reduced overall thickness and it is not necessary to provide the touch device with a clear housing for the purpose of absorbing light to enable photovoltaic conversion. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a top view of a touch device with photovoltaic conversion function according to the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a first embodiment thereof; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a second embodiment thereof; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a third embodiment thereof; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a fourth embodiment thereof. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the preferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals. 
         [0015]    Please refer to  FIG. 1  that is a top view of a touch device with photovoltaic conversion function according to the present invention, and to  FIG. 2  that is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a first embodiment thereof. As shown, the touch device with photovoltaic conversion function includes a main body  1 , which is divided into a touch zone  11  and a non-touch zone  12  located immediately around the touch zone  11 . A photovoltaic conversion layer  13  is provided on a top of the touch zone  11 . 
         [0016]    The main body  1  includes a first transparent substrate  111 , a second transparent substrate  112 , at least one touch electrode layer  113 , an adhesive layer  114 , a conductive adhesive layer  121 , a shielding layer  122 , an electrode trace layer  123 , and a flexible circuit board  124 . 
         [0017]    The first transparent substrate  111  has a first side  1111  and an opposite second side  1112 ; and the second transparent substrate  112  has a third side  1121  and an opposite fourth side  1122 . The photovoltaic conversion layer  13  is provided on the first side  1111  of the first transparent substrate  111 , and the touch electrode layer  113  can be selectively provided on the third side  1121  or the fourth side  1122  of the second transparent substrate  112 . In the illustrated first embodiment, the touch electrode layer  113  is provided on the third side  1121 . However, it is understood the touch electrode layer  113  can be otherwise provided on the fourth side  1122 . 
         [0018]    The touch electrode layer  113 , the adhesive layer  114 , the conductive adhesive layer  121 , the shielding layer  122 , the flexible circuit board  124  and the electrode trace layer  123  are located between the first and the second transparent substrate  111 ,  112 . More specifically, the touch electrode layer  113  is located in the touch zone  11  of the main body  1 ; the flexible circuit board  124 , the shielding layer  122 , the electrode trace layer  123  and the conductive adhesive layer  121  are located in the non-touch zone  12 . The conductive adhesive layer  121  is located between the flexible circuit board  124  and the electrode trace layer  123 ; and the shielding layer  122  is provided on a top of the electrode trace layer  123  and located adjacent to the conductive adhesive layer  121 . The adhesive layer  114  is located between the flexible circuit board  124 , the touch electrode layer  113  and the first transparent substrate  111 . That is, in the first embodiment, the touch zone  11  includes, from top to bottom, the photovoltaic conversion layer  13 , the first transparent substrate  111 , the adhesive layer  114 , the touch electrode layer  113 , and the second transparent substrate  112 ; and the non-touch zone  12  includes, from top to bottom, the first transparent substrate  111 , the adhesive layer  114 , the flexible circuit board  124 , the juxtaposed conductive adhesive layer  121  and shielding layer  122 , the electrode trace layer  123 , and the second transparent substrate  112 . 
         [0019]    Please refer to  FIG. 3  that is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a second embodiment thereof. As shown, the touch device with photovoltaic conversion function in the second embodiment is generally structurally similar to the first embodiment, except that the shielding layer  122  is provided on the second side  1112  of the first transparent substrate  111 . That is, in the second embodiment, the touch zone  11  includes, from top to bottom, the photovoltaic conversion layer  13 , the first transparent substrate  111 , the adhesive layer  114 , the touch electrode layer  113 , and the second transparent substrate  112 ; and the non-touch zone  12  includes, from top to bottom, the first transparent substrate  111 , the shielding layer  122 , the adhesive layer  114 , the flexible circuit board  124 , the conductive adhesive layer  121 , the electrode trace layer  123 , and the second transparent substrate  112 . 
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a third embodiment thereof. As shown, the touch device with photovoltaic conversion function in the third embodiment is generally structurally similar to the first embodiment, except that an additional touch electrode layer  113  and an additional electrode trace layer  123  are provided on the fourth side  1122  of the second transparent substrate  112 . Thus, in the third embodiment, the touch zone  11  includes, from top to bottom, the photovoltaic conversion layer  13 , the first transparent substrate  111 , the adhesive layer  114 , the touch electrode layer  113 , the second transparent substrate  112 , and the other touch electrode layer  113 ; and the non-touch zone  12  includes, from top to bottom, the first transparent substrate  111 , the adhesive layer  114 , the flexible circuit board  124 , the juxtaposed conductive adhesive layer  121  and shielding layer  122 , the electrode trace layer  123 , the second transparent substrate  112 , and the other electrode trace layer  123 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 5  is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of the touch device of the present invention according to a fourth embodiment thereof. As shown, the touch device with photovoltaic conversion function in the fourth embodiment is generally structurally similar to the third embodiment, except that the shielding layer  122  is provided on the second side  1112  of the first transparent substrate  111 . That is, in the fourth embodiment, the touch zone  11  includes, from top to bottom, the photovoltaic conversion layer  13 , the first transparent substrate  111 , the adhesive layer  114 , the touch electrode layer  113 , the second transparent substrate  112  and the other touch electrode layer  113 ; and the non-touch zone  12  includes, from top to bottom, the first transparent substrate  111 , the shielding layer  122 , the adhesive layer  114 , the flexible circuit board  124 , the conductive adhesive layer  121 , the electrode trace layer  123 , the second transparent substrate  112 , and the other electrode trace layer  123 . 
         [0022]    The photovoltaic conversion layer  13  in each of the first, the second, the third and the fourth embodiment includes an anti-reflective layer  131  and a light-absorption layer  132 . A first transparent electrode layer  133  and a second transparent electrode layer  134  are provided on two opposite sides of the light-absorption layer  132 , and the anti-reflective layer  131  is located on one side of the first transparent layer  133  opposite to the light-absorption layer  132 . In the present invention, the photovoltaic conversion layer  13  is a thin-film solar cell. 
         [0023]    In the present invention, the first and the second transparent substrate  111 ,  112  can be respectively made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), cyclo olefin copolymer (COC) or glass. In the first embodiment, the first transparent substrate  111  is glass while the second transparent substrate  112  can be any one of the above-mentioned materials. Further, in the present invention, the adhesive layer  114  can be a layer of optical clear resin (OCR) or an optical clear adhesive (OCA). 
         [0024]    The touch electrode layer  113  is a thin-film structure, which can be formed on the second transparent substrate  112  by applying a gel layer, electrical plating, vapor deposition or sputtering deposition. And, the thin-film structure of the touch electrode layer  113  can be indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO) or antimony tin oxide (ATO). 
         [0025]    The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.