JPS61198518A - Transparent touch switch - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a transparent touch switch, and particularly to a transparent touch switch suitable for use in combination with a display device such as a liquid crystal display device.

[Prior Art] A flat transparent touch switch suitable for use in combination with a display device such as a liquid crystal display device is known.

This type of transparent touch switch is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-1
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 35885, a flexible front substrate with an electrode formed on at least one location on the back surface, and at least two pieces of electrodes on the surface of the front substrate corresponding to the position where the electrode is formed. It is usually formed by placing a piece of a transparent back substrate with the electrode surfaces facing each other at a predetermined interval.

This type of transparent touch switch can be made extremely thin,
When used in combination with a display device such as a liquid crystal display, the switch function such as selecting the necessary mode (1) displaying the display etc. is also extremely suitable, but in the case of conventional transparent touch switches, Since the switch is smooth, it has been impossible for the operator to clearly confirm the switch position by simply touching it with his or her fingers.

On the other hand, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 56-133223, two flexible sheets with unevenness are combined, and the convex part of the lower sheet is placed in the four parts of the second sheet. There is also a known structure in which the four parts of the second side sheet are used as switch positions that can be confirmed by hand, but with this structure, the process of forming the flexible sheet is complicated.
It is also difficult to align the two sheets, which complicates the production process and increases production costs such as the cost of all molds. In addition, the switch can be operated by further pressing the four-part switch.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] As mentioned above, the conventionally known transparent touch switch has the drawback that the operator cannot clearly confirm the switch position with his or her fingers, etc.; Although the disclosed technology allows the user to check the switch position with their fingers, it has the disadvantages that the production process is complicated, the production cost is high, and the operability is poor.

The present invention was made in order to eliminate the following drawbacks of conventional touch switches.The switch position can be clearly confirmed with fingers, the production process is simple, the production cost is low, and the operability is improved. Aiming to provide good transparent touch switches.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The transparent touch switch of the present invention includes a flexible transparent front substrate on which an electrode is formed at at least one location on the back surface, and a position corresponding to the position where the electrode is formed on the front substrate. A transparent touch switch has a transparent back substrate on which at least two d-pole pieces are formed, and the electrode surfaces thereof face each other at a predetermined interval. It is characterized by forming a transparent material layer.

The following is a representative example of the transparent touch switch of the present invention.
The configuration of the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 is a representative example of the transparent touch switch of the present invention described above.
It is a sectional view showing an example.

In the figure, a transparent conductive film such as tin oxide (5n02) or lead oxide (PbOz) is coated on a predetermined portion of the back surface of a flexible front substrate l made of a transparent polymer film such as polyester by vapor deposition or sputtering. etc., to form the electrode 2. On the other hand, similarly, at least two electrode pieces 4 made of a transparent conductive film such as 5n02 or Pb0z are formed on the surface of the flexible transparent back substrate 3 made of a transparent polymer film such as polyester, which corresponds to the electrode 2. ing. The electrode pieces 4 are each connected to an external circuit 7, and serve as terminals of a switch.

The front substrate 1 and the back substrate 3 are fixed to each other by a spacer 5 having insulating properties such as epoxy resin, with electrode surfaces facing each other at a predetermined interval.

Electrode 2 of the transparent touch switch formed in this way
A transparent or translucent material layer 6 is formed on the surface corresponding to the formation position.
．． is formed.

The material layer 6 is made of ink such as epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester, modified alkyd resin, modified acrylic resin, etc.
It is formed by a method such as a screen printing method.

The material layer 6 has a substantially trapezoidal cross-sectional shape and a height of 5.
It is preferable for operation to have 01L or more. In addition, its hardness is 3 pencil hardness in order to obtain durability such as scratch resistance.
It is desirable that the ink is H or more, and from this point of view, among the above inks, epoxy resins or unsaturated polyesters are desirable.

The shape of the material layer 6 is not limited to the above-mentioned substantially trapezoidal cross-sectional shape, but may have characters, symbols, frames, etc. shaped like the table 7j. With such a shape, the operator can confirm the position and function of the switch by hand and visually.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transparent touch switch constructed as described above is highly effective when used in combination with a display device such as a liquid crystal display device. That is, by linking the switch operation with the operation of the display device on the back side, it is possible to display the meaning of the switch operation on the display device.

In the liquid crystal display device, a display substrate 7 and an electrode substrate 8 are arranged with their electrode surfaces facing each other, and sealed with a peripheral sealing material 9 to form a display cell, and a liquid crystal 10 is injected into the cell, and as needed. It is constructed by providing a polarizing plate (not shown).

In the illustrated example, the display substrate 7 is fixed to the back surface of the back substrate 3 with transparent paint or the like, and is combined with a transparent touch switch.

The transparent touch switch of the present invention can be used in combination with any other display device, such as a Nilay EJ trochromic display device, a plasma display device, or a display device such as a light emitting diode, in addition to the above-mentioned liquid crystal display device. It goes without saying that the transparent touch switch may also be used in combination with a panel on which a picture or symbol is simply drawn to indicate the meaning of the switch operation, and there is no need to use it in combination with any display means, and the transparent touch switch may be used alone.

[Operation] The operation of the transparent touch switch of the present invention will be explained using the example shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which an operator presses the transparent touch switch shown in FIG. 1 with his/her finger 11 and the switch is turned on.

As shown in the figure, the operator can sense the material layer 6 with his/her finger 11 and easily confirm the position of the switch without visually observing it. When the operator who has confirmed the switch position in this way presses the front substrate 1 of the transparent touch switch with his fingers, the front substrate 1 is bent in the direction of the back substrate 3! The electrode 2 formed on the back side of the plate is the electrode piece 4 on the front side of the back substrate 3.
, the electrode piece 4 is shortened by the electrode 2, and the switch is turned on. While the operator continues to press the front substrate 1 with the finger 11, the transparent touch switch remains in the on state. However, when the operator releases the finger 11 from the front substrate 1, the front substrate 1 changes its elasticity. Recover with resilience,
The electrode 2 is separated from the electrode piece 4 and the switch is turned off.

It has already been mentioned that a preferable display can be obtained by displaying an operation such as the state 9 action of the switch using a display element corresponding to the position of the switch in conjunction with the switch when the switch is in the on state.

[Example] Indium was added to multiple locations on the back side of the polyester film.
Electrodes were formed by vapor depositing tin oxide (ITO), and a top substrate was used. Similarly, ITO was vapor-deposited on the surface of the polyester film at positions corresponding to the electrode formation positions of the front substrate to form two pieces of comb-teeth i-poles, thereby forming a front substrate. Apply epoxy resin as a spacer between this front board and back board,
The peripheral part was fixed with the same epoxy resin to form a flat transparent touch switch.

Next, ink using an epoxy resin was applied by screen printing to the surface of the front substrate corresponding to the electrode forming position so that the cross-sectional shape had a substantially trapezoidal shape, and was dried. The thickness of the epoxy resin layer after drying was 130 gm and the pencil hardness was 4H.

On the other hand, a liquid crystal display device in which a guest-host type liquid crystal is injected between two glass electrode substrates and the peripheral portion is sealed with epoxy resin is attached to the back surface of the polyester film forming the back substrate of the transparent touch switch. A transparent touch switch having a structure as shown in FIG. 1 was prepared by applying the coating so that the electrode formation position on the substrate and the display position of the liquid crystal display device coincided with each other.

With this transparent touch switch, you can immediately determine the switch position by feeling it with your fingertips, and the suppressed position of the switch has a raised trapezoidal shape on a flat surface, so it is easy to break when pressed.
A touch switch with extremely good operability was obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] The transparent touch switch of the present invention has a transparent or semi-transparent material layer formed at the operating position to be pressed by the flat touch switch, so that the switch position can be immediately confirmed by the touch of the operator's fingertips, and Since the switching operation is performed by pressing the material layer raised on the flat plate, extremely good operability can be obtained.

In addition, the material layer can be formed on the surface of the front substrate on a flat plate by a method such as screen printing, and the production process is simple, and there is no need for expensive production parts such as molds, resulting in lower production costs. It can also be done extremely cheaply.

Furthermore, since the entire touch switch can be made transparent, it is an extremely suitable touch switch for use in combination with other display devices or display boards.

Furthermore, since the overall thickness can be made extremely thin, the entire device can be made smaller and more portable when used as an input device for a display device, etc. , which can be applied extremely widely.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a typical example of the transparent touch switch of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the operating state of the example of FIG. 1. l......Front board, 2......
...Electrode, 3... Back board, 4.
...... Electrode piece, 5... Spacer, 6... Material layer, 7...
... Display board, 8... Old electrode board, 9...
...... Sealing material, 10... Old liquid crystal, 11... Hands.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A flexible transparent front substrate with an electrode formed on at least one location on the back surface, and a transparent front substrate with at least two electrode pieces formed on the surface of the front substrate corresponding to the position where the electrode is formed. 1. A transparent touch switch having electrode surfaces facing each other at a predetermined interval, the transparent touch switch comprising: a transparent or translucent material layer formed on a surface of the front substrate corresponding to the electrode formation position. (2) The transparent touch switch according to claim 1, wherein the transparent or translucent material layer has a substantially trapezoidal cross-sectional shape. (3) The transparent touch switch according to claim 1, wherein the transparent or translucent material layer is a polymer film. (4) The transparent touch switch according to claim 1, wherein the front substrate is a polymer film. (5) The transparent touch switch according to claim 1, wherein the back substrate is a polymer film.