JP2001060144A - High durability input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high durability input device equipped with both the wearing/damaging prevention of a low reflection layer and the satisfactory sliding property of an input pen. SOLUTION: Concerning the input device composed of a transparent touch panel arranging a movable electrode sheet 12, with which a hard coat layer 4, a low reflection layer 3 and a dirt proof layer 2 composed of a fluororesin are successively formed on one side of a movable transparent substrate 6 and a fixed electrode sheet 13 forming a transparent electrode 7 is formed on the other side of a fixed transparent substrate, so as to confront the respective surfaces forming the transparent electrodes 7 and an input pen 1, the top end of the input pen 1 is composed of a polyethylene resin and the cross sectional diameter of that top end is 0.2 to 2.0 mm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device which is arranged on a screen such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or a CRT (CRT) and used by inputting coordinates by handwriting or the like with an input pen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional input device is a transparent touch panel in which a movable electrode sheet having a transparent electrode formed on one surface and a fixed electrode sheet having a transparent electrode formed on one surface are arranged so that the surfaces on which the electrodes are formed face each other. And an input pen for inputting coordinates on the surface of the movable electrode sheet.The transparent touch panel has a hard coat layer formed to protect the surface, and at least the tip of the input pen is nylon or polyacetal. And polyamide resin.

[0003]

However, in the conventional input device, there is a problem that the reflectivity on the surface of the hard coat layer is high and a fluorescent lamp and a face are largely reflected.
On the surface of the touch panel, a coating layer made of a low-refractive material or a coating layer in which a high-refractive material and a low-refractive material are laminated is formed, and a so-called interference film type low reflection treatment is performed.
However, the surface on which the low-reflection layer is formed is repeatedly worn with the tip of the input pen at the time of input by the input pen, so that the surface is worn, the low-reflection layer is damaged, and the surface is scratched or peeled off. And so on. Further, when the tip of the input pen is made of a soft material such as rubber for the purpose of preventing the surface from being damaged, the pen tip becomes difficult to slide on the surface of the movable electrode sheet, and reliable input cannot be performed.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly durable input device that has both abrasion and damage prevention of a low reflection layer and good sliding of an input pen.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a highly durable input device of the present invention comprises a hard coat layer, a low reflection layer, and a fluororesin on one surface of a movable transparent substrate. An antifouling layer is sequentially formed, a movable electrode sheet having a transparent electrode formed on the other surface, and a fixed electrode sheet having a transparent electrode formed on one surface of a fixed transparent substrate. In the input device comprising the transparent touch panel and the input pen arranged so that the surfaces of the input pen face each other, the tip of the input pen is made of polyethylene resin, and the tip cross-sectional diameter is 0.2 to 2.0 mm. The configuration was characterized. Further, in the highly durable input device of the present invention, the transparent touch panel may employ a circularly polarizing plate method. Like.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention will be described. In the highly durable input device of the present invention, a hard coat layer, a low reflection layer, and an antifouling layer made of a fluororesin are sequentially formed on one surface of a movable transparent substrate, and a transparent electrode is formed on the other surface. A transparent touch panel in which a movable electrode sheet and a fixed electrode sheet having a transparent electrode formed on one surface of a fixed transparent substrate are arranged such that the surfaces on which the respective transparent electrodes are formed face each other, and an input pen. In the input device, the tip of the input pen is made of polyethylene resin, and has a tip cross-sectional diameter of 0.2 to 2.0 mm.

The movable electrode sheet 12 has a hard coat layer 4, a low-reflection layer 3, and an antifouling layer 2 made of a fluororesin formed on one surface of a movable transparent substrate 6, and a transparent electrode 7 on the other surface. Is formed.

As the movable transparent substrate 6, there is a polyester film or a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 188 μm.

The hard coat layer 4 includes a printing layer or a coating film formed of a printing ink using an inorganic material such as a siloxane resin or an organic material such as an acrylic acrylate resin. A satin finish may be mixed with a filler. The reason why the siloxane-based resin is good is that it has excellent abrasion resistance. The reason why the acrylic acrylate resin is preferable is that since the acrylic acrylate resin is an ultraviolet curing type, it can be treated at a low temperature in a short time, and the productivity is high. The thickness of the hard coat layer 4 is 2 to 7 μm. If the thickness is less than 2 μm, there are problems such as the coating film strength being insufficient and the film being easily scratched, and the film thickness being liable to vary, causing interference colors. If the thickness is more than 7 μm, there is a problem that cracks are easily generated by bending.

As the low reflection layer 3, there are a low refractive index film, a multilayer interference film, and the like. As the low-refractive-index film, there is a film in which a low-refractive-index substance is directly formed as a print layer or a coating film on the hard coat layer 4. Materials having a low refractive index include SiO ₂ , MgF
There are ₂ etc. The multilayer interference film is formed by alternately coating a film made of a material having a high refractive index and a film made of a material having a low refractive index based on the theory of light refraction by coating or printing. Examples of the substance having a high refractive index include ZrO ₂ , ITO, and TiO ₂ . Examples of the substance having a low refractive index include SiO ₂ and MgF ₂ .

As the antifouling layer 2 made of a fluororesin,
There are a printing layer and a coating film formed using a fluororesin.
Since the fluorine-based resin has a low refractive index, the layer in contact with the air layer can be made as close as possible to the refractive index of the air layer, and the effect of the low reflection layer 3 can be prevented from weakening.
In addition, fluorine resin has a large contact angle with water and oil,
The tip of the pen can slide smoothly on the surface, and the dirt can be easily wiped off. Among fluororesins, difluoromethylene resin is particularly preferable. This is because the difluoromethylene resin has a small coefficient of friction, and the pen tip slides well on its surface.

The hard coat layer 4, the low reflection layer 3, and the antifouling layer 2 may be separately formed on the movable transparent substrate 6 by laminating or the like after being obtained as separate films.

As the transparent electrode 7 formed on the other surface of the movable transparent substrate 6, there is a transparent electrode 7 in which an ITO film is formed with a thickness of 100 to 2000 °.

The fixed electrode sheet 13 is one in which the transparent electrodes 7 are formed on one surface of a fixed transparent base material.

As the fixed transparent substrate, there is soda glass having a thickness of 1.1 mm. In addition, there are resin plates made of polycarbonate resin, acrylic resin, and the like. Examples of the transparent electrode 7 include an ITO film and a SnO ₂ film formed with a thickness of 100 to 2000 °.

An acrylic adhesive is applied to the periphery of the movable electrode sheet 12 on the transparent electrode 7 side and the periphery of the fixed electrode sheet 13 on the transparent electrode 7 side, or an adhesive layer is formed with a double-sided tape. The transparent electrodes 7 of the movable electrode sheet 12 and the transparent electrode 7 of the fixed electrode sheet 13 are arranged so as to face each other, and are bonded to each other with a spacer made of an insulating material as necessary.

The input pen 1 has at least a tip portion made of a polyethylene resin and a tip cross-sectional diameter of 0.1.
It is 2 mm to 2.0 mm. If the radius is smaller than 0.2 mm, the tip is too sharp and the tip is easily worn out or easily broken due to friction with the antifouling layer 2 made of the fluororesin. Further, since the surface of the movable electrode sheet 12 is pierced by the sharp tip of the input pen 1, the movable electrode sheet 12 is bent at an acute angle. This is because adverse effects such as the film being easily damaged occur. Further, when the radius is larger than 2.0 mm, it is difficult to accurately press when inputting the minute coordinate area, or the contact area at the time of input becomes large, so that the antifouling layer 2 made of the fluororesin is required. This is because the kinetic frictional force becomes large, and the pen tip becomes difficult to slide on the surface of the antifouling layer 2 made of the fluorine-based resin, and the antifouling layer and the like are peeled off.

[0018] The transparent touch panel may employ a circular polarizing plate system. As shown in FIG. 1, the touch panel of the circularly polarizing plate type has light (for example, light from a fluorescent lamp or natural light outdoors) between the movable electrode sheet 12 and the fixed electrode sheet 13 from the operator side. "Ambient light 1
5 ". ) Is reflected by, for example, the surface of the transparent electrode 7, the back surface of the fixed electrode sheet 13, and the surface of the liquid crystal display device 10 due to the effect of the air layer existing between the movable electrode sheet 12 and the fixed electrode sheet 13. The external light 15 is confined between the movable electrode sheet 12 and the fixed electrode sheet 13 so as not to be emitted to the operator side in order to prevent the operator inputting the pen from entering the eyes of the operator and becoming dazzling. This is a touch panel that employs a system. For this reason, the operator disturbs the characters and the like of the liquid crystal display device 10 formed by the light from the light guide plate 11 (hereinafter referred to as “internal light 14”) with dazzling light (reflected light of the external light 15). It can be surely recognized without being done. As an example of a specific configuration of the touch panel adopting the circularly polarizing plate method, an optically isotropic material such as polycarbonate (PC) or polyarylate (PA) is used as the movable transparent substrate 6 of the movable electrode sheet 12.
R), an optical retardation film (also referred to as a “λλ film”) in which polyethersulfone (PES) or the like is stretched in advance so that the refractive index becomes 1 / 4λ (137 nm) (movable). 1/4 separately prepared on transparent substrate 6
A λ film may be provided. ), An ITO film serving as a transparent electrode 7 is formed on the lower surface thereof, and a polarizing plate A5 made of a triacetal resin or the like is formed on the upper surface thereof. The absorption axis of the polarizing plate A5 and the optical axis of the movable transparent substrate 6 45 degrees or 135
The fixed electrode sheet 1 made of glass 8 or the like on which the transparent electrode 7 is formed while being stuck to the movable transparent substrate 6
In some cases, another 1 / 4λ film 9 is attached between the liquid crystal display device 3 and the liquid crystal display device 10 so as to be perpendicular to the optical axis of the fixed transparent substrate, and a polarizing plate B17 is arranged as necessary. A polarizing plate C18 is further disposed between the liquid crystal display device 10 and the light guide plate 11 on which the lamp 16 and the like are installed at the edge. The absorption axis of the polarizing plate C18 is perpendicular to the absorption axis of the polarizing plate A5. When arranging the polarizing plate B17,
The polarizing plate B17 is arranged such that the absorption axis of the polarizing plate B17 is in the same direction as the absorption axis of the polarizing plate A5. In the present invention, the hard coat layer 4, the low reflection layer 3, and the antifouling layer 2 may be sequentially formed on the upper surface of the polarizing plate, or the hard coat layer 4,
After forming the low reflection layer 3 and the antifouling layer 2, the movable transparent substrate 6
May be stuck on the upper surface of the substrate.

When a circular polarizer is used for the transparent touch panel, a polarizer is required on the movable electrode. Since the polarizing plate is made of a relatively soft material such as triacetal, the polarizing plate is greatly deformed by the contact of the input pen 1. However, in the present invention, the polarizing plate has an antifouling layer 2 made of a fluorine-based resin on the surface thereof, a tip part made of a polyethylene resin, and a tip cross-sectional diameter of 0.2.
Since the input pen 1 having a thickness of about 2.0 mm is used, the tip of the input pen 1 does not sink more than necessary into the surface of the movable electrode sheet 12 and does not get caught on the surface of the movable electrode sheet 12. It does not damage the touch panel surface or peel off the antifouling layer.

[0020]

Example 1 First, a transparent electrode made of an ITO film was formed on one surface of a flexible and insulating movable transparent substrate made of a polyethylene terephthalate film by sputtering to obtain a so-called ITO film. A short conductive film was formed by removing an unnecessary portion of the ITO film using an etching resist. After the etching, the etching resist was removed with an alkaline solution to obtain a movable electrode sheet. On the other hand, a transparent electrode made of an ITO film is formed by vacuum evaporation on one side of an insulated fixed transparent substrate made of a soda glass plate, and a fine dodged spacer made of a photocurable resin is formed on the ITO film. Thus, a fixed electrode sheet was obtained. Next, the movable electrode sheet and the fixed electrode sheet were bonded to each other with a double-sided tape or a conductive adhesive, with the surfaces on which the transparent electrodes were formed facing each other, to obtain a transparent touch panel. Next, a UV-curable acrylic acrylate resin was applied as a hard coat layer to one surface of another roll-shaped polyethylene terephthalate film by a roll coater so as to have a thickness of 5 μm. Furthermore, TiO ₂ and SiO ₂ were repeatedly formed thereon twice by vacuum evaporation to form a total of four layers, thereby forming a low reflection layer. Next, a fluororesin, difluoromethylene, is dipped to a thickness of 50 °.
To form an antifouling layer. An acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive was applied to the other surface by a roll coater so as to have a film thickness of 25 μ to obtain a roll-shaped low-reflection film with a pressure-sensitive adhesive. This roll-shaped film is cut into the same size as the movable electrode sheet of the transparent touch panel created earlier,
A transparent touch panel with low reflection was obtained by bonding the entire surface of the movable electrode sheet. Next, an input pen having a tip portion made of polyethylene resin ("Lubmer" manufactured by Mitsui Petrochemical) and having a tip cross-sectional diameter of 0.8 mm was obtained by injection molding. Set the input pen on the plotter in the same location on the surface of the transparent touch panel, within a 20 mm square, and carry out an input test to input a total of 150,000 characters of katakana under a load of 250 g. No damage was observed in the layer and the low reflection layer. As a comparative example, an input pen was prepared using a polyamide resin and a polyoxymethylene resin instead of the material of the input pen of Example 1, and an input test was similarly performed. The antifouling layer / low reflection layer was peeled off below. In the case of the polyoxymethylene resin, the antifouling layer was peeled off at about 100,000 to 150,000 characters, and the low reflection layer was also scratched.

[0021]

Example 2 First, sputtering was performed by using an ITO film as a transparent electrode on one surface of a flexible and insulating movable transparent substrate made of polycarbonate stretched to have a refractive index of ４λ (137 nm). Formed by IT
An O film was obtained. A short conductive film was formed by removing an unnecessary portion of the ITO film using an etching resist. After the etching, the etching resist was removed with an alkaline solution to obtain a movable electrode sheet. On the other hand, a transparent electrode made of an ITO film is formed by vacuum evaporation on one side of an insulating substrate made of a soda glass plate, and fine dot-shaped spacers made of a photocurable resin are formed on the ITO film to obtain a fixed electrode sheet. Was. Next, the movable electrode sheet and the fixed electrode sheet were bonded to each other with a double-sided tape or a conductive adhesive, with the surfaces on which the transparent electrodes were formed facing each other, to obtain a transparent touch panel. Next, a polarizing plate made of a triacetal resin is cut into a shape in which the absorption axis of the polarizing plate and the optical axis of the movable electrode sheet of the transparent touch panel are shifted by 135 degrees, and the entire surface of the transparent substrate of the transparent touch panel is coated with an adhesive. A polarizing plate was attached to obtain a circularly polarizing plate type touch panel. Further, on one surface of another roll-shaped polyethylene terephthalate film, a UV-curable acrylic acrylate resin mixed with silica beads having a diameter of 1 to 3 μm was coated with a roll coater to a thickness of 6 μm.
μm, a hard coat layer is formed, and TiO ₂ and SiO ₂ are repeatedly deposited by vacuum evaporation.
Each time, a low-reflection layer was formed by sequentially forming a film so as to have a total of four layers. Next, difluoromethylene, which is a fluororesin, was applied by dipping to a thickness of 50 ° to form an antifouling layer. An acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive was applied to the other surface by a roll coater so as to have a film thickness of 25 μ to obtain a roll-shaped low-reflection film with a pressure-sensitive adhesive. This roll-shaped film was cut into the same size as the previously produced circularly polarizing plate type transparent touch panel, and bonded to the entire surface of the polarizing plate to obtain a circularly polarizing plate type transparent touch panel. Next, an input pen having a tip section made of polyethylene resin ("Lubmer" manufactured by Mitsui Petrochemical) and having a tip section diameter of 0.6 mm was obtained by injection molding. The same place on the surface of the transparent touch panel, 20mm
Even if the input pen is set on the plotter in the corner and an input test is performed to input a total of 150,000 characters of katakana under a load of 250 g, damage to the antifouling layer and low reflection layer on the touch panel surface is observed. Did not. As a comparative example, an input pen made of silicon rubber and having a tip cross-sectional diameter of 3 mm was prepared in place of the material of the input pen of Example 1, and the same input test was performed. The antifouling layer peeled off with the letters.

[0022]

According to the high durability input device of the present invention, a hard coat layer, a low reflection layer and an antifouling layer made of a fluororesin are sequentially formed on one surface of a movable transparent base material, and the other surface is transparent. A movable electrode sheet on which electrodes are formed, and a fixed electrode sheet on which a transparent electrode is formed on one surface of a fixed transparent substrate, and a transparent touch panel in which the surfaces on which the respective transparent electrodes are formed face each other, In the input device consisting of an input pen, the tip of the input pen is made of polyethylene resin,
In addition, the tip has a cross-sectional diameter of 0.2 to 2.0 mm. In the highly durable input device of the present invention, the movable electrode sheet has an antifouling layer, the input pen is made of polyethylene resin, and the tip cross-sectional diameter is 0.2 to 2.0 mm. The formed low reflection layer,
The surface does not wear due to sliding with the tip of the input pen, and the low-reflection layer is not damaged, and defects such as scratches and peeling do not occur. Moreover, since it is not necessary to use a soft material such as rubber for the tip of the input pen, the tip of the pen slides smoothly on the surface thereof, and reliable input becomes possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, the low reflection property of the transparent touch panel is obtained by the fact that the antifouling layer is present and the tip of the input pen has the specific material and the specific tip cross-sectional diameter. The input can be ensured, and the tip of the input pen on the surface of the movable electrode sheet smoothly slides, so that reliable input can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a highly durable input device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 input pen 2 antifouling layer 3 low reflection layer 4 hard coat layer 5 polarizing plate A 6 movable transparent substrate 7 transparent electrode 8 glass 9 λλ film 10 liquid crystal display device 11 light guide plate 12 movable electrode sheet 13 fixed electrode sheet 14 Internal light 15 External light 16 Lamp 17 Polarizing plate B 18 Polarizing plate C

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H089 HA18 HA40 JA11 NA58 QA12 QA13 QA16 TA14 TA18 TA20 5B087 AA04 AA09 AC09 BC03 BC19 BC22 CC12 CC14 CC16

Claims (2)

[Claims] A movable electrode sheet having a hard coat layer, a low reflection layer, and an antifouling layer made of a fluorine-based resin sequentially formed on one surface of a movable transparent substrate, and a transparent electrode formed on the other surface; An input device comprising a fixed electrode sheet having a transparent electrode formed on one surface of a fixed transparent substrate, a transparent touch panel in which the surfaces on which the respective transparent electrodes are formed face each other, and an input pen. The tip of the pen is made of polyethylene resin, and the tip cross-sectional diameter is 0.2 to
A highly durable input device having a length of 2.0 mm. 2. The highly durable input device according to claim 1, wherein the transparent touch panel employs a circularly polarizing plate system.