Patent Publication Number: US-2019187843-A1

Title: Flexible touch panel, touch display panel and touch display device

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation application of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CN2018/072621, filed Jan. 15, 2018, which claims the priority benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. CN 201711353759.8, filed Dec. 15, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates to a display panel, and more particularly to a flexible touch panel, a touch display panel with a flexible touch panel, and a touch display device with a flexible touch panel. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     A large number of electronic devices with touch functions are used in the public. In order to make the sensing elements transparent, electrodes are made of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium tin oxide (ITO). However, such materials have higher resistance values and are expensive to use. At this point, part of the touch panel adopts a mesh line to fabricate a touch sensing electrode, wherein the mesh line is formed by a mesh formed by periodically crossing extremely thin metal lines. However, for the foldable display which has the most potential applications at present, the existing touch panel with a mesh line is prone to rupture of the mesh line when bending, thereby affecting the touch effect of the touch panel. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     In view of this, the present disclosure provides a flexible touch panel to effectively solve the above technical problem. 
     In addition, it is also necessary to provide a touch display having the above-mentioned flexible touch panel and a touch display having a flexible touch panel. 
     A flexible touch panel, which is divided into at least two non-bending regions and a bending region connecting adjacent two non-bending regions, the flexible touch panel includes a metal mesh layer with meshes, the metal mesh layer includes a plurality of independent first touch electrode units patterned by a first metal grid, the first touch electrode units are disposed corresponding to the bending zone, the first touch electrode units are spaced apart from each other, and the first metal mesh is formed by crossing conductive lines with a plurality of hollow patterns so as to form the mesh. 
     Further, a plurality of through holes are formed in the conductive lines so as to form the hollow patterns, and the through holes are distributed along an extending direction of the conductive lines. 
     Further, the conductive lines are at least one of a linear conductive line or a bent conductive line, and the bent conductive line is at least one of a wave-shaped conductive line and a zigzag-shaped conductive line. 
     Further, the metal grid layer further includes a plurality of independent second touch electrode units, the second touch electrode units are disposed corresponding to the non-bending regions, the second touch electrode units are spaced apart from each other, and the second touch electrode units are formed by patterning a second metal mesh. 
     Further, the second metal mesh is formed by crossing conductive lines with a plurality of hollow patterns. 
     Further, the flexible touch panel further includes a plurality of signal connection lines and at least one touch control chip, each of the signal connection lines is configured to electrically connect the corresponding first touch electrode units and the touch control chip. 
     Further, the flexible touch panel further includes a plurality of signal connection lines, each of the signal connection lines is electrically connected to the second touch electrode units and the touch control chip, and the first touch electrode units are virtual touch electrode units. 
     A touch display panel, including a display panel. The touch display panel further includes a flexible touch panel as described above, and the display panel and the flexible touch panel are stacked. 
     Further, the display panel includes R pixel, G pixel and B pixel, the alignment of the metal mesh layer avoids the R pixel, the G pixel and the B pixel such that the R pixel, the G pixel and the B pixel are located at meshes of the metal mesh layer. 
     A touch display device includes a display panel. The touch display device further includes a flexible touch panel as described above, and the display panel and the flexible touch panel are stacked. 
     Further, the display panel includes R pixel, G pixel and B pixel, the alignment of the metal mesh layer avoids the R pixel, the G pixel and the B pixel such that the R pixel, the G pixel and the B pixel are located at meshes of the metal mesh layer. 
     In the flexible touch panel of the present disclosure, the first touch electrode units corresponding to the bending region are patterned and formed by the first metal mesh formed by the conductive lines with the plurality of hollow patterns so that the bending stress to be borne by the first touch electrode units is reduced when the bending region is bent, so as to reduce the risk of the first metal mesh breaking when being bent. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible touch panel according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic structural diagram of a first metal grid according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic structural diagram of a first metal grid according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic structural diagram of a touch screen according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a partial cross-sectional view of a method of manufacturing a touch screen according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic structural diagram of a touch display device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure are clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure, 
     In the following, with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 6  and the embodiments, the flexible touch panel  100 , the touch panel  300  with the flexible touch panel  100 , and the touch panel  200  with the flexible touch panel  100  provided by the technical solution will be further described in detail. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , the flexible touch panel  100  according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to receive a touch operation of a user and detect a coordinate position of the touch operation, which is divided into at least two non-bending regions  101  and a bending region  103  connecting the two adjacent non-bending regions  101 . 
     The flexible touch panel  100  includes a transparent flexible substrate  10  and a meshed metal mesh layer  30  formed on the transparent flexible substrate  10 . The metal mesh layer  30  includes a plurality of first touch electrode units  31  and a plurality of second touch electrode units  33  distributed separately. The first touch electrode units  31  are disposed corresponding to the bending region  103 , and the first touch electrode units  31  are spaced apart from each other. The second touch electrode units  33  are disposed corresponding to the non-bending regions  101 , and the second touch electrode units  33  are spaced apart from each other. 
     Each first touch electrode units  31  is formed by patterning a first metal mesh  310 . The first touch electrode units  31  may be at least one of a diamond, a square, a rectangle and the like. In the embodiment, the first touch electrode units  31  have a square shape. The first metal mesh  310  is formed by crossing conductive lines  311  with a plurality of hollow patterns so that the mesh is formed in the first metal mesh  310 . 
     In the present embodiment, referring to  FIG. 2 , a plurality of through holes  313  are formed on the conductive lines  311  to form the hollow pattern. The through holes  313  are distributed in the middle region of the conductive line  311  along the extending direction of the conductive line  311 . In other embodiments, the through hole  313  may be disposed away from a middle region of the conductive line  311 . 
     The conductive lines  311  may be linear conductive lines (see  FIG. 2 ) or curved conductive lines (such as wave-shaped conductive lines and zigzag-shaped conductive lines) (see  FIG. 3 ). The through hole  313  may be at least one of a circular hole, an oval hole, a prismatic hole or other shaped hole. 
     The second touch electrode units  33  are formed by patterning a second metal mesh  330 . In the present embodiment, the second metal mesh  330  may also be formed by crossing conductive lines  311  with a plurality of hollow patterns. In other embodiments, the second metal mesh  330  is formed by crossing conductive lines without a hollow pattern, so that the mesh is formed in the second metal mesh  330 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the flexible touch panel  100  further includes one or two touch control chips  40  and a plurality of signal connection lines  50 . The first touch electrode units  31  and the second touch electrode units  33  are electrically connected to the touch chip  40  through the signal connection line  50 , so that the touch control chip  40  receives the touch signal. When the flexible touch panel  100  includes one touch control chip  40 , each of the first touch electrode units  31  and each of the second touch electrode units  33  are respectively electrically connected to the touch control chip  40  through a signal connection line  50 . When the flexible touch panel  100  includes two touch control chips  40 , the two touch control chips  40  are respectively located at a side of the two non-bending regions  101  away from the bending region  103 , each second touch electrode units  33  and the touch control chip  40  located in the same non-bending region  101  with the second touch electrode units  33  are electrically connected through a signal connection line  50 , the first touch electrode unit  31  is electrically connected to any touch control chip  40  through a signal connection line  50 . In other embodiments, the number and the position of the touch control chip  40  are not limited. 
     In another embodiment, the first touch electrode units  31  are not electrically connected to the touch control chip  40  as a dummy touch electrode unit (I.e. floating electrode, Dummy) for adjusting the capacitance value and maintaining the visual consistency of the flexible touch panel  100 . In addition, when the first touch electrode units  31  are not electrically connected to the touch control chip  40 , even when the conductive lines  311  of the first touch electrode units  31  break during bending, the original touch effect of the flexible touch panel  100  is not affected. 
     Please also refer to  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the touch display panel  300  includes the above-mentioned flexible touch panel  100  and a display panel  301  stacked with the flexible touch panel  100 . The display panel  301  includes a plurality of light-emitting units  303  spaced apart from each other. The light-emitting unit  303  is selected from at least one of an R pixel, a G pixel, and a B pixel. In this embodiment, the display panel  301  includes an R pixel, a G pixel, and a B pixel, 
     The orthographic projections of the first touch electrode units  31  and the second touch electrode units  33  on the display panel  301  are located at the intervals between the light-emitting units  303  so as to prevent the first touch electrode units  31  and the second touch electrode units  33  from affecting the optical effect generated by the display panel  302 . That is, the alignment of the metal mesh layer  30  avoids the R pixel, the G pixel and the B pixel so that the R pixel, the G pixel and the B pixel are located at the meshes of the metal mesh layer  30  so as to prevent the metal mesh layer  30  from affecting the optical effect generated by the display panel  302 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 6 , which is a schematic diagram of the touch display device  200 , The touch display device  200  includes a flexible touch panel  100 . The touch display device  200  may be a cell phone, a tablet, a television, or the like. 
     The touch display device  200  may further include a display panel  301  stacked on the flexible touch panel  100 . The display panel  301  includes a plurality of light-emitting units  303  spaced apart from each other. The light-emitting unit  303  is selected from at least one of an R pixel, a G pixel, and a B pixel. The orthogonal projections of the first touch electrode unit  31  and the second touch electrode unit  33  on the display panel  301  are located at intervals of the light-emitting units  303 . In this embodiment, the display panel  301  includes an R pixel, a G pixel, and a B pixel. 
     In the above-mentioned flexible touch panel  100  of the present disclosure, the first touch electrode units  31  corresponding to the bending regions  103  are patterned to form the first metal mesh  310  with conductive patterns with hollow patterns, so that the bending stress to be received by the first touch electrode unit  31  is reduced when the bending region  103  is bent, so as to reduce the risk of the first metal mesh  310  breaking when being bent, and the conductive lines  311  of the first metal mesh  310  are bent conductive lines (such as wave-shaped conductive lines and zigzag-shaped conductive lines), the risk of the first metal mesh  310  breaking when being bent may be further reduced. 
     The foregoing descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure in any form. Although the present disclosure has been disclosed in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Anyone skilled in the art may make some equivalent modifications or alterations to the equivalent embodiments without departing from the technical solution of the present disclosure by using the technical contents disclosed above. However, any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments according to the technical essence of the present disclosure all fall within the scope of the technical solutions of the present disclosure without departing from the contents of the technical solutions of the present disclosure.