Patent Publication Number: US-2019189699-A1

Title: Flexible touch panel and oled display panel

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a U.S. National Phase application submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of Patent Cooperation Treaty Application serial No. PCT/CN2018/071255, filed on Jan. 4, 2018, which claims the priority of China Patent Application serial No. 201711339603.4, filed on Dec. 14, 2017, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of display technologies, and more particularly to a flexible touch panel and a flexible OLED display panel. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Organic light emitting diodes (OLED) possess many properties such as self-luminousity, fast response speeds, wide range of viewing angles, broad prospects for application, etc. Nowadays, flexible display panels are dominant. 
     As technologies of flexible OLED display panels are burgeoning, touch panels corresponding to the flexible OLED display panels are also required to possess flexible properties. Touch control wires of conventional touch panels are made of indium tin oxide (ITO) materials. However, ITO is a brittle metallic oxide material which is liable to fracture when bent and it is unable to meet flexible touch requirements. 
     Because metal meshes have fine flexibility, they are suitable for flexible touch screens. As shown in a conventional touch screen shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the touch screen has to be manufactured individually and then attached on top of a display panel. A sensing layer of the touch screen including a conductive layer which is disposed on a surface of a substract  105 , and the conductive layer includes a driving electrode  101  which is distributed in an array configuration. In general, the driving electrode  101  is directly connected with a sensing electrode  102  and is disconnected at an intersection of the sensing electrode  102  and the driving electrode  101 , and then an insulating block  103  is partially positioned on the intersection of the electrode pattern, a conductive bridge  104  is then positioned on the insulating block  103  to connect the driving electrode  101  which is spaced at two sides of sensing electrodes  102 . Or firstly, the conductive bridge  104  is manufactured, after that the insulating block  103  is manufactured, and finally, the driving electrode  101  and the sensing electrode  102  are manufactured. 
     For traditional touch screens which are based on metal meshes, area of the conductive material of the touch screen is about 5% to 10% of the shape and the area of the whole electrode. Therefore, contact areas of two ends of the conductive bridge are small, which are prone to high connection impedance or increase the risk of being open-circuited. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present disclosure provides a flexible touch panel, and the electrode can be connected independent to the traditional metal bridge frame with an extremely-small contact area in order to solve the technical problems that the contact areas between the two ends of the conductive bridge and the electrode are small, which prone to high connection impedance or increase the risk of being an open-circuit. 
     In order to solve the above problem, a technical scheme is provided by the disclosure is as follows: 
     The disclosure provides a flexible touch panel, comprising: 
     a flexible substrate; 
     a first conductive pattern layer disposed on the flexible substrate, wherein the first conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of first driving electrode patterns arranged in a first direction, and at least two of first sensing electrode patterns arranged in a second direction, and the first driving electrode pattern and the first sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged; wherein each of the first driving electrode pattern in the first direction are connect end-to-end; 
     an insulating layer disposed on the first conductive pattern layer, wherein a surface of the insulating layer comprises a first area and a second area, a plurality of first metal through holes are defined in the first area, and a plurality of second metal through holes are defined in the second area; and 
     a second conductive pattern layer disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the second conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of second driving electrode patterns arranged in the first direction, and a second sensing electrode pattern arranged in the second direction, and the second driving electrode pattern and the second sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged; wherein each of the second sensing electrode pattern in the second direction are connect end-to-end; 
     wherein a projection of the first driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first driving electrode pattern is connected with the second driving electrode pattern via the first metal through hole; 
     wherein a projection of the first sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first sensing electrode pattern is connected with the second sensing electrode pattern via the second metal through hole; 
     wherein each of the first driving electrode pattern, the second driving electrode pattern, the first sensing electrode pattern, and the second sensing electrode pattern comprises two rhombic metal meshes diagonally arranged; 
     wherein the first driving electrode pattern and the first sensing electrode pattern form a first rhombic electrode pattern; and 
     wherein the second driving electrode pattern and the second sensing electrode pattern form a second rhombic electrode pattern. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer is metal mesh layers, and display pixels are correspondingly positioned in meshes of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, at least two of the first metal through holes are defined in the first area of the insulating layer, and at least two of the second metal through holes are defined in the second area of the insulating layer. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, a shape and a size of the first area is equal to a shape and a size of the first driving electrode pattern, and equal to a shape and a size of the second driving electrode pattern; and a shape and a size of the second area is equal to a shape and a size of the first sensing electrode pattern, and equal to a shape and a size of the second sensing electrode pattern. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible substrate is an encapsulation layer of a flexible organic fight-emitting diode (OLED) display panel. 
     The present disclosure also provides a flexible touch panel, comprising: 
     a flexible substrate; 
     a first conductive pattern layer is disposed on the flexible substrate, wherein the first conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of first driving electrode patterns arranged in a first direction, and at least two of first sensing electrode patterns arranged in a second direction, and the first driving electrode pattern and the first sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged; wherein each of the first driving electrode pattern in the first direction are connect end-to-end; 
     an insulating layer is disposed on the first conductive pattern layer, wherein a surface of the insulating layer comprises a first area and a second area, a plurality of first metal through holes are defined in the first area, and a plurality of second metal through holes are defined in the second area; and 
     a second conductive pattern layer disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the second conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of second driving electrode patterns arranged in the first direction, and at least two of second sensing electrode patterns arranged in the second direction, and the second driving electrode pattern and the second sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged; wherein each of the second sensing electrode pattern in the second direction are connect end-to-end; 
     wherein a projection of the first driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first driving electrode pattern is connected with the second driving electrode pattern via the first metal through hole; and 
     wherein a projection of the first sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first sensing electrode pattern is connected with the second sensing electrode pattern via the second metal through hole. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer is metal mesh layers, and the display pixels are correspondingly positioned in the meshes of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, at least two of the first metal through holes are defined in the first area of the insulating layer; and at least two of the second metal through holes are defined in the second area of the insulating layer. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, a shape and a size of the first area is equal to a shape and a size of the first driving electrode pattern, and equal to a shape and a size of the second driving electrode pattern; and a shape and a size of the second area is equal to a shape and a size of the first sensing electrode pattern, and equal to a shape and a size of the second sensing electrode pattern. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible substrate is an encapsulation layer of a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel. 
     According to the above objects of the present disclosure, a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OILED) display panel is provided. The flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel, comprising: 
     a flexible substrate; 
     an OLED display layer disposed on the flexible substrate; 
     an encapsulation layer formed on the flexible substrate and encapsulating the OLED display layer; and 
     a first conductive pattern layer disposed on the encapsulation layer, wherein the first conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of first driving electrode patterns arranged in a first direction and at least two of first sensing electrode patterns arranged in a second direction, and the first driving electrode pattern and the first sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged; 
     an insulating layer disposed on the first conductive pattern layer, wherein a surface of the insulating layer comprises a first area and a second area, a plurality of first metal through holes are defined in the first area, and a plurality of second metal through holes are defined in the second area; and 
     a second conductive pattern layer disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the second conductive pattern layer comprises a second driving electrode pattern arranged in the first direction, and a second sensing electrode pattern arranged in the second direction, and the second driving electrode pattern and the second sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged; 
     wherein a projection of the first driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first driving electrode pattern is connected with the second driving electrode pattern via the first metal through hole; 
     wherein a projection of the first sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first sensing electrode pattern is connected with the second sensing electrode pattern via the second metal through hole. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer is metal mesh layers, and display pixels are correspondingly positioned in meshes of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the first driving electrode pattern, the second driving electrode pattern, the first sensing electrode pattern, and the second sensing electrode pattern comprises two rhombic metal meshes diagonally arranged; 
     wherein the first driving electrode pattern and the first sensing electrode pattern form a first rhombic electrode pattern; 
     wherein the second driving electrode pattern and the second sensing electrode pattern form a second rhombic electrode pattern. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, at least two of the first metal through holes are defined in the first area of the insulating layer, and at least two of the second metal through holes are defined in the second area of the insulating layer. 
     The beneficial effects of the present disclosure is that the flexible touch panel provided by the present disclosure, as compared with the prior art, disposed with two layers of touch control electrodes, and the two layers of touch control electrodes are correspondingly connected in order to replace the conduction design of the conductive bridge, and avoid the technical problems of high impedance and open-circuit caused by connection of the conductive bridges; The present disclosure solves the technical problems of the contact areas between the two ends of the conductive bridge and the electrode in the existing flexible touch panel are small that prone to high connection impedance or increase the risk of being an open-circuit. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to illustrate a technical solution in the embodiments or in the prior art more clearly, the accompanying drawings required in the description of the embodiments or the prior art are introduced briefly hereafter. It is obvious that the accompanying drawings in the following description are merely part of the embodiments of the present invention. People with ordinary skills in the art can obtain other drawings without making inventive efforts. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic structural view of electrodes of a touch panel in the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic structural view of a touch panel film layer in the prior art. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded structural view of a flexible touch panel of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic structural view of film layers of a flexible touch panel film layer of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying figures, in which various examples are shown by way of illustration. In this regard, directional terminology mentioned in the present disclosure, such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “inside”, “outside”, “lateral”, etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the figures being described. Therefore, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the present invention. In the accompanying figures, units with similar structures are indicated by the same reference numbers. 
     The present disclosure defines the technical problems of the existing flexible touch panel that the contact areas between the two ends of the conductive bridge and the electrode are small and thus prone to high connection impedance or increase the risk of being an open-circuit. The present embodiment can solve that defect. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the flexible touch panel provided by the present disclosure comprising: a flexible substrate  301 , a first conductive pattern layer, an insulating layer  302 , and a second conductive pattern layer. 
     The first conductive pattern layer is disposed on the flexible substrate  301 . The first conductive pattern layer is disposed on the flexible substrate. The first conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of first driving electrode patterns  303  arranged in a first direction, and at least two of first sensing electrode patterns  304  arranged in a second direction. The first driving electrode pattern  303  and the first sensing electrode pattern  304  are crosswise-arranged, wherein each of the first driving electrode patterns  303  in the first direction are connected end-to-end, i.e. in the first direction, and the adjacent first driving electrode patterns  303  are electrically connected. The first sensing electrode patterns  304  in the second direction have no connection relationship. For example, if the first direction is transverse, and the second direction is vertical. 
     The insulating layer  302  is disposed on the first conductive pattern layer, a surface of the insulating layer  302  comprises a first area  3051  and a second area  3052 , a plurality of first metal through holes  3053  are defined in the first area  3051 , and a plurality of second metal through holes  3054  are defined in the second area  3052 . Specifically, the first metal through hole and the second metal through hole are correspondingly distributed in a gap between two adjacent pixel units, so that the influence of the first metal through hole and the second metal through hole to screen display is avoided. 
     The first area  3051  corresponds to the first driving electrode pattern  303  and the second driving electrode pattern  307 . The second area  3052  corresponds to the first sensing electrode pattern  304  and the second sensing electrode pattern  308 . 
     The second conductive pattern layer is disposed on the insulating layer  302 . The second conductive pattern layer comprises at least two of second driving electrode patterns  307  arranged in the first direction, and at least two of second sensing electrode patterns  308  arranged in the second direction The second driving electrode pattern  307  and the second sensing electrode pattern  308  are arranged are crosswise-arranged, wherein each of the second sensing electrode pattern  308  in the second direction are connect end-to-end, i.e. in the second direction, and the adjacent second sensing electrode patterns  308  are electrically connected. The second driving electrode patterns  307  in the first direction have no connection relationship. 
     A projection of the first driving electrode pattern  303  projected on the insulating layer  302  partially overlaps a projection of the second driving electrode pattern  307  projected on the insulating layer  302 , and the first driving electrode pattern  303  is connected with the second driving electrode pattern  307  via the first metal through hole  3053 . 
     A projection of the first sensing electrode pattern  304  projected on the insulating layer  302  partially overlaps a projection of the second sensing electrode pattern  308  projected on the insulating layer, and the first sensing electrode pattern  304  is connected with the second sensing electrode pattern  308  via the second metal through hole  3054 . 
     By adding redundant electrode patterns and incorporate with achieving connections between driving electrodes and connections between sensing electrodes, the conductive bridges of the conventional touch panels for achieving connection between electrodes can be replaced. 
     Each of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer is metal mesh layers. For example, the metal mesh layers can be made of metal material such as Ag, Ti, Al, or Mo. 
     A plurality of transverse metal wires and a plurality of longitudinal metal wires are perpendicularly crossed to form a metal mesh layer, and the display pixels are correspondingly positioned in the meshes of the first conductive pattern layer and the second conductive pattern layer to prevent the metal mesh block the display area, and affected the aperture ratios of the display pixels. 
     Each of the first driving electrode pattern  303 , the second driving electrode pattern  307 , the first sensing electrode pattern  304 , and the second sensing electrode pattern  308  comprises two rhombic metal meshes diagonally arranged, wherein the first driving electrode pattern  303  and the first sensing electrode pattern  304  form a first rhombic electrode pattern, wherein the second driving electrode pattern  307  and the second sensing electrode pattern  308  form a second rhombic electrode pattern. 
     At least two of the first metal through holes  3053  are defined in the first area  3051  of the insulating layer  302 , and at least two of the second metal through holes  3054  are defined in the second area  3052  of the insulating layer  302 . 
     For example, the first metal through holes  3053  are 4×4, and the first metal through holes  3053  are distributed in an array configuration in the first area  3051 , and each of the first metal through holes  3053  corresponds to an intersection point of any one of the transverse metal wires and the longitudinal metal wires. Similarly, the second metal through holes  3054  are 4×4, and the second metal through holes  3054  are distributed in an array configuration in the second area  3052 , and each of the second metal through holes  3054  corresponds to an intersection point of any one of the transverse metal wires and the longitudinal metal wires. 
     A shape and a size of the first area  3051  is equal to a shape and a size of the first driving electrode pattern  303  and equal to a shape and a size of the second driving electrode pattern  307 . A shape and a size of the second area  3052  is equal to shape and a size of the first sensing electrode pattern  304  and equal to a shape and a size of the second sensing electrode pattern  308 . 
     The driving electrode pattern that is located at either end of the first driving electrode pattern  303  or the second driving electrode pattern  307  in the same row connects with a first connecting end of the driving signal line. The sensing electrode pattern that is located at either end of the first sensing electrode pattern  304  or the second sensing electrode pattern  308  in the same column connects with the sensing signal line of a first connecting end, the second connecting end of the driving signal line is connected with the corresponding pin of the touch control chip, the second connection end of the sensing signal line is connected with the corresponding pin of the touch control chip. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the flexible touch panel provided by the present disclosure comprising: a flexible substrate  401 , a first conductive pattern layer manufactured on the flexible substrate  401 . The first conductive pattern layer comprises a first driving electrode pattern  403  and a first sensing electrode pattern  404 An insulating layer  402  manufactured on the first conductive pattern layer. A first metal through hole  4053  and a second metal through hole  4054  defined in the insulating layer  402 . A second conductive pattern layer manufactured on the insulating layer  402 . The second conductive pattern layer comprises a second driving electrode pattern  407  and a second sensing electrode pattern  408 . 
     The second driving electrode pattern  407  is connected with the first driving electrode pattern  403  via the first metal through hole  4053 , the second sensing electrode pattern  408  is connected with the first sensing electrode pattern  404  via the second metal through hole  4054 . 
     According to the above object of the present disclosure: a flexible substrate, an OLED display layer disposed on the flexible substrate, an encapsulation layer formed on the flexible substrate and encapsulating the OLED display layer A first conductive pattern layer disposed on the encapsulation layer, wherein the first conductive pattern layer comprises at least two first driving electrode patterns arranged in a first direction and at least two first sensing electrode patterns arranged in a second direction, and the first driving electrode pattern and the first sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged An insulating layer disposed on the first conductive pattern layer, wherein a surface of the insulating layer comprises a first area and a second area, a plurality of first metal through holes are defined in the first area, and a plurality of second metal through holes are defined in the second area. A second conductive pattern layer disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the second conductive pattern layer comprises at least two second driving electrode patterns arranged in the first direction, and at least two second sensing electrode patterns arranged in the second direction, and the second driving electrode pattern and the second sensing electrode pattern are crosswise-arranged, wherein a projection of the first driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second driving electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first driving electrode pattern is connected with the second driving electrode pattern via the first metal through hole; wherein a projection of the first sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer partially overlaps a projection of the second sensing electrode pattern projected on the insulating layer, and the first sensing electrode pattern is connected with the second sensing electrode pattern via the second metal through hole. 
     The working principle of the flexible OLED display panel of the present preferred embodiment is consistent with the working principle of the flexible touch panel of the above-mentioned preferred embodiment, reference can be made to the working principle of the flexible touch panel of the above-mentioned preferred embodiment for specific details, and will not go into details herein. 
     In summary, although the present invention has been described with preferred embodiments thereof, the above preferred embodiments is not used to limit the present invention. One of ordinarily skill in the art can carry out changes and modifications to the described embodiment without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.