TWM667038U - Touchpad module - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch panel module includes a support member, a printed circuit board assembly, a spacer and an intermediate layer. The printed circuit board assembly is located over the support member and includes at least one set of conductive patterns disposed on a lower surface of the printed circuit board assembly. The at least one set of conductive patterns includes first and second conductive patterns separated from each other. The spacer is disposed between the support member and the printed circuit board assembly. The spacer is a conductive spacer, or an upper surface of the spacer is provided with a conductive layer. The intermediate layer is disposed between the least one set of conductive patterns and the spacer and defines a hollow region, so that the least one set of conductive patterns faces the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow region. When the touch panel module is pressed, the first and second conductive patterns are in contact with the conductive spacer or the conductive layer, so that the first and second conductive patterns are electrically connected to each other through the conductive spacer or the conductive layer.

Description

Touch panel module

This invention relates to a touch panel module, and more particularly to a resistive pressure sensing touch panel module.

Some electronic devices currently on the market are equipped with a touch panel module. Users can slide their fingers on the touch panel module to move the cursor on the screen of the electronic device, or press the touch panel module to make the electronic device perform a specific function. In this way, users do not need to carry and install an additional mouse.

Generally speaking, touch panel modules usually use piezoelectric, resistive or capacitive sensors to enable the touch panel module to have pressure sensing function. However, since piezoelectric sensors use piezoelectric materials, their cost is relatively high; resistive sensors use resistive strain gauges, their cost is relatively high; environmental temperature and humidity can easily affect capacitive sensors, and their linearity is relatively poor. Therefore, the current touch panel modules still need to be improved.

The invention provides a touch panel module, which includes a support, an assembly circuit board, a spacer and an intermediate layer. The assembly circuit board is located above the support, and includes at least one set of conductive patterns arranged on the lower surface of the assembly circuit board, wherein the at least one set of conductive patterns includes a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern separated from each other. The spacer is arranged between the support and the assembly circuit board, wherein the spacer is a conductive spacer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns, or the upper surface of the spacer is provided with a conductive layer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns. The middle layer is arranged between the at least one set of conductive patterns and the spacer, and defines a hollow area so that the at least one set of conductive patterns faces the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area, wherein when the touch panel module is not pressed, the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern do not contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer, and when the touch panel module is pressed, the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer, so that the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern are conductively connected to each other through the conductive spacer or the conductive layer.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the touch panel module does not include a resistive strain gauge.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the at least one set of conductive patterns is made by silver paste printing.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the middle layer is a connecting layer.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the spacer is fixed on the at least one set of conductive patterns through a bonding layer.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the top-view pattern of the middle layer is a ring or a broken line.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the spacer is elastic.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the Shore hardness of the spacer is less than or equal to 40 degrees.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the middle layer is less than the thickness of the spacer.

The advantages and features of the present invention and the methods for achieving the same will be described in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments and drawings so as to be more easily understood. However, the present invention can be implemented in different forms and should not be understood to be limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, for those with ordinary knowledge in the art, the embodiments provided will make the present invention more thorough and comprehensive and fully convey the scope of the present invention.

The spatially relative terms used herein, such as "lower" and "upper", are used to facilitate the description of the relative relationship between one element or feature and another element or feature in the drawings. The true meaning of these spatially relative terms includes other orientations. For example, when the drawings are flipped 180 degrees up and down, the relationship between one element and another element may change from "lower" to "upper". The spatially relative descriptions used in this article should also be interpreted in the same way.

As described in the prior art, in general, a touch panel module usually uses a piezoelectric, resistive or capacitive sensor to enable the touch panel module to have a pressure sensing function. However, since piezoelectric sensors use piezoelectric materials, their cost is relatively high; resistive sensors use resistive strain gauges, their cost is relatively high; ambient temperature and humidity can easily affect capacitive sensors, and their linearity is relatively poor. Therefore, the current touch panel module still needs to be improved. Accordingly, the present invention provides a touch panel module, which includes a support member, an assembly circuit board having at least one set of conductive patterns, a spacer and an intermediate layer. The at least one set of conductive patterns includes a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern separated from each other. The spacer is a conductive spacer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns, or the upper surface of the spacer is provided with a conductive layer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns. The intermediate layer is arranged between the at least one set of conductive patterns and the spacer, and a hollow area is defined so that the at least one set of conductive patterns faces the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area. When the touch panel module is pressed, the at least one set of conductive patterns (which includes a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern separated from each other) protrudes downward, contacts the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area, so that the corresponding sensing element can detect the current change before the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern are turned on (i.e., in an open circuit state) and after they are turned on, and calculate the resistance change. The resistance change is used as the signal source for pressure sensing. Therefore, the touch panel module of this invention does not need to set a resistance strain gauge under the support, nor does it need to set a flexible circuit board connected between the resistance strain gauge and the assembly circuit board. Therefore, compared with the traditional resistive touch panel module including a resistance strain gauge and a flexible circuit board, the material cost and process cost of the touch panel module of this invention are lower. On the other hand, compared with the piezoelectric touch panel module, the material cost of the touch panel module of this invention is lower; compared with the capacitive touch panel module, the touch panel module of this invention is not affected by the ambient temperature and humidity, and has good linearity. Various embodiments of the touch panel module of the present invention are described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the appearance of a touch panel module according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exploded view of the touch panel module of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a bottom view of an assembly circuit board including multiple sets of conductive patterns of FIG. 2 . FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a bottom view of an assembly circuit board including multiple sets of conductive patterns and an intermediate layer of FIG. 2 . FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a partial cross-section of the touch panel module of FIG. 1 . As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 , the touch panel module includes a support member 110, an assembly circuit board (printed circuit board assembly, PCBA) 120, a spacer 130 and an intermediate layer 140.

In some embodiments, the support member 110 is a metal member, such as an iron member. In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the support member 110 has an opening (not shown).

The assembly circuit board 120 is located above the support member 110 and includes at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 disposed on the lower surface of the assembly circuit board 120. In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 , the assembly circuit board 120 includes multiple sets of conductive patterns 1201, which are respectively disposed on the peripheral area of the lower surface of the assembly circuit board 120.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 includes a first conductive pattern 1201a and a second conductive pattern 1201b that are separated from each other. In some embodiments, a sensing element (not shown) is disposed on the lower surface of the assembly circuit board 120, and the sensing element is electrically connected to the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b. The sensing element can measure the current change before the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b are connected (i.e., in an open circuit state) and after the connection, and calculate the resistance change. The resistance change is used as a signal source for pressure sensing.

In some embodiments, the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b are conductive line patterns, such as zigzag lines. However, the invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments. In other embodiments, the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern are solid patterns, such as squares, triangles, etc., as long as they are separated from each other. In some embodiments, the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 is made by silver paste printing. However, the invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments, and the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 can also be formed by other suitable processes.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 , the spacer 130 is disposed between the support member 110 and the assembly circuit board 120. The spacer 130 may be a conductive spacer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 (refer to FIGS. 2 and 5 ), or the upper surface of the spacer 130 may be provided with a conductive layer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 (not shown). In some embodiments, the spacer 130 is elastic, for example, made of rubber or other suitable materials, so that when the touch panel module is pressed, the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 can protrude downward and contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer. In some embodiments, the Shore hardness of the spacer 130 is less than or equal to 40 degrees.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the middle layer 140 is disposed between the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 and the spacer 130, and defines a hollow area 140a, so that the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 faces the conductive spacer (when the spacer 130 is a conductive spacer) or the conductive layer (when the conductive layer is disposed on the upper surface of the spacer 130, not shown in the figure) through the hollow area 140a. In some embodiments, the top view pattern of the middle layer 140 is a ring (e.g., a circle, a square, a rectangular frame (as shown in FIG. 4), a triangle, etc.) or a broken line (e.g., a Z-shape). However, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments, as long as the middle layer can define a suitable hollow area so that the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 faces the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area, and when the touch panel module is pressed, the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 can contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area, so that the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b are conductively connected to each other.

In some embodiments, the middle layer 140 is a bonding layer. In some embodiments, the spacer 130 is fixed on the at least one set of conductive patterns 1201 through the bonding layer. In some embodiments, the thickness of the middle layer 140 is less than the thickness of the spacer 130.

Referring to FIG. 5 , when the touch panel module is not pressed, the at least one conductive pattern 1201 does not contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer. When the touch panel module is pressed, the at least one conductive pattern 1201 contacts the conductive spacer or the conductive layer. Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5 , in detail, when the touch panel module is pressed, the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b protrude downward, contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area 140a, and the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b are connected to each other through the conductive spacer or the conductive layer. The sensing element can measure the current change before the first conductive pattern 1201a and the second conductive pattern 1201b are turned on (i.e., in an open circuit state) and after the conduction, and calculate the resistance change. This resistance change is used as a signal source for pressure sensing. Therefore, the touch panel module of this invention does not include a resistor strain gauge.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the touch panel module further includes a cover plate 150 that covers the assembly circuit board 120. In some embodiments, the cover plate 150 is made of glass or other suitable materials.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the touch panel module further includes an actuator 160 disposed on the lower surface of the assembly circuit board 120 and exposed from the opening of the support member 110 .

However, the above is only the best embodiment of this creation, and it cannot be used to limit the scope of implementation of this creation. That is, simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the new patent application and the new description content are still within the scope of the new patent. In addition, any embodiment or patent application scope of this creation does not need to achieve all the purposes, advantages or features disclosed by this creation. In addition, the abstract part and the title are only used to assist in searching patent documents, and are not used to limit the scope of rights of this creation.

110: Supporting member 120: Assembling circuit board 1201: Assembling conductive pattern 1201a: First conductive pattern 1201b: Second conductive pattern 130: Spacer 140: Middle layer 140a: Hollow area 150: Cover plate 160: Actuator

The following will be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and various aspects of the present invention can be best understood according to the following embodiments. However, it should be understood that, according to the conventions in the industry, the various features are not necessarily drawn to scale. In fact, for the sake of clarity, the shapes of the various features may be appropriately adjusted, and the sizes of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the appearance of a touch panel module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded schematic diagram of the touch panel module of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the assembled circuit board including multiple sets of conductive patterns shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the assembled circuit board including multiple sets of conductive patterns and the middle layer of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional diagram of the touch panel module of FIG. 1 .

110: Support parts

120: Assembling circuit boards

1201: Group conductive pattern

130: Spacer

140: Middle layer

140a: hollowed-out area

150: Cover plate

Claims (9)

A touch panel module, comprising: a support member; a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), located above the support member, and comprising at least one set of conductive patterns arranged on a lower surface of the printed circuit board, wherein the at least one set of conductive patterns comprises a first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern separated from each other; and a spacer, arranged between the support member and the printed circuit board, wherein the spacer is a conductive spacer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns, or an upper surface of the spacer is provided with a conductive layer corresponding to the at least one set of conductive patterns; and An intermediate layer is disposed between the at least one set of conductive patterns and the spacer, and defines a hollow area so that the at least one set of conductive patterns faces the conductive spacer or the conductive layer through the hollow area, wherein when the touch panel module is not pressed, the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern do not contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer, and when the touch panel module is pressed, the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern contact the conductive spacer or the conductive layer, so that the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern are connected to each other through the conductive spacer or the conductive layer. A touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein the touch panel module does not include a resistor strain gauge. A touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one set of conductive patterns is made by silver paste printing. The touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein the middle layer is a connecting layer. A touch panel module as described in claim 4, wherein the spacer is fixed on the at least one set of conductive patterns through the bonding layer. The touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein a top-view pattern of the middle layer is a ring or a broken line. A touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein the spacer is elastic. A touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein the Shore hardness of the spacer is less than or equal to 40 degrees. A touch panel module as described in claim 1, wherein a thickness of the middle layer is less than a thickness of the spacer.

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