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`

`
`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 10, 2012
`
`Sheet 1 of5
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 10, 2012
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`Sheet 2 of5
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`Page 3 of 14
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 10, 2012
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`Sheet 3 of5
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`Page 4 of 14
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 10, 2012
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`Sheet 4 of5
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`FIG.7
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`FIG.8
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`Page 5 of 14
`Page 5 of 14
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jul. 10, 2012
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`Sheet 5 of5
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`131132
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`Page 6 of 14
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`1
`CONDUCTOR PATTERN STRUCTURE OF
`CAPACITIVE TOUCH PANEL
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates to the field of touch panel
`devices, and in particular to a conductor pattern structure of a
`capacitive touch panel.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Touch panels have been ofwide applications in the fields of
`household appliances, communications, and electronic infor-
`mation appliances. An example of the common applications
`of the touch panel is an input interface of a personal digital
`assistant (PDA), an electrical appliance, or a game machine,
`etc. The current trend of integration of a touch panel and a
`display panel allows a user to use his or her finger or a stylus
`to point a control icon shown on the panel in order to execute
`a desired function on a PDA, an electrical appliance or a game
`machine, etc. The touch panel is also applied in a public
`information inquiry system to provide an efficient operation
`system for the public.
`A conventional touch panel comprises a substrate having a
`surface on which sensing zones are distributed for sensing a
`signal associated with the touch of a user’s finger or stylus to
`effect input and control. The sensing zones are made oftrans-
`parent conductive membranes, such as Indium Tin Oxide
`(ITO), whereby a user may touch the transparent conducive
`membrane corresponding to a specific location shown on the
`display to effect operation of the device.
`The most commonly known types of touch panels include
`resistive panel, capacitive panel, infrared sensing panel, elec-
`tromagnetic sensing panel, and sonic sensing panel. The
`capacitive touch panel employs a change in capacitance
`caused between a transparent electrode and the electrostatics
`ofhuman body to induce an current based on which the touch
`location can be identified. The capacitive touch panel is
`advantageous in light
`transparency, hardness, precision,
`response time, touch cycles, operation temperature, and ini-
`tiation force and is thus most commonly used currently.
`In order to detect the location where a finger or a stylus
`touches the touch panel, a variety of capacitive touch panel
`techniques are developed. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,
`160, which discloses a lattice touch-sensing system for
`detecting a position of a touch on a touch-sensitive surface.
`The lattice touch-sensing system may include two capacitive
`sensing layers, separated by an insulating material, where
`each layer consists of substantially parallel conducting ele-
`ments, and the conducting elements of the two sensing layers
`are substantially orthogonal to each other. Each element may
`comprise a series of diamond shaped patches that are con-
`nected together with narrow conductive rectangular strips.
`Each conducting element of a given sensing layer is electri-
`cally connected at one or both ends to a lead line of a corre-
`sponding set of lead lines. A control circuit may also be
`included to provide an excitation signal to both sets of con-
`ducting elements through the corresponding sets ofleadlines,
`to receive sensing signals generated by sensor elements when
`a touch on the surface occurs, and to determine a position of
`the touch based o11 the position of the affected bars in each
`layer.
`U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,522 discloses a capacitive touch panel
`comprising an array of touch sensitive switch cells. Each
`switch cell includes a first and a second pair of series con-
`nected capacitors energized by a common signal source, the
`array of switch cells being arranged so that the first pair of
`
`2
`
`capacitors are connected in first groups of switch cells, such
`as rows, to a corresponding first plurality of signal detectors,
`and the second pair of capacitors are connected in second
`groups of switch cells, such as colunms, to a corresponding
`second plurality of signal detectors, the junctions of each pair
`of capacitors of a single switch cell being selectively coupled
`to ground by the body or other touch capacitive means for
`actuating a selected switch cell.
`U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,222 discloses a capacitance variation
`sensitive touch sensing array system including an array of
`electrodes, an array of drive lines, a drive signal generator,
`and an array of sense lines. Each electrode is a connected
`series of conductive tabs and forms either a row or a colunm
`
`of the electrode array. Each drive line is capacitively coupled
`to a plurality of the electrodes. The drive signal generator
`generates and applies alternating signal packets to the drive
`lines. The sense line is capacitively coupled to a plurality of
`the electrodes so that signals are derived from the electrodes
`when drive signals are applied to the drive lines. The number
`of electrodes is equal to the product of the number of drive
`lines and the number of sense lines. Based on values derived
`
`from signals on the sense lines, a microprocessor provides
`information associated with touch by an operator.
`U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,411 discloses a method for recognizing
`a position made by a conductive object on a touch-sensor pad.
`Signals are sent to a control circuit of a host to identify the
`touch position. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,414,671 and 5,374,787 dis-
`close the same technique.
`U.S. Pat. No. 7,030,860 discloses a transparent, capacitive
`sensing system particularly well suited for input to electronic
`devices. The capacitive sensor can further be used as an input
`device for a graphical user interface, especially if overlaid on
`top of a display device like an LCD screen to sense finger
`position and contact area over the display.
`U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,463 discloses a device for locating an
`object situated close to a detection area and a transparent
`keyboard incorporating the device. The device comprises a
`first set of detection zones connected so as to form lines which
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`extend parallel to each other and to a detection area, a second
`set of detection zones connected to each other so as to form
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`colunms which extend perpendicularly to the lines, a scan-
`ning device which applies an electric signal to the lines and
`colunms, and means for determining the position of an object
`by means of the scanning device.
`U.S. Pat. No. 6,498,590 discloses a multi-user touch sys-
`tem including a surface on which antennas are formed. A
`transmitter transmits uniquely identifiable signals to each
`antenna. Receivers are capacitively coupled to different users,
`and the receivers are configured to receive the uniquely iden-
`tifiable signals. A processor then associates a specific antenna
`with a particular user when multiple users simultaneously
`touch any of the antennas.
`U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,690 discloses a unitary display and
`sensing device, which integrates liquid crystal display mod-
`ule elements of a liquid crystal display module for detecting
`input on a flat panel display screen.
`All the prior art references described above provide teach-
`ing of detection touch of a user on a touch panel and all are
`comprised of structures of touch sensing elements. However,
`these known devices are all of a construction including two
`capacitive sensing layers spaced from each other with an
`insulation material to effect capacitive effect between the
`layers. This makes the structure of the panel very thick and is
`thus against the trend of miniaturization. Further, the conven-
`tional capacitive touch panel comprises a substrate on both
`surfaces of which two capacitive sensing layers are formed
`respectively. In this respect, through holes must be formed on
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`3
`the substrate to serve as vias and circuit layering must be
`adopted to properly connect conductor elements of the sens-
`ing layers. This complicates the manufacturing ofthe capaci-
`tive touch panel.
`Thus, it is desired to have a capacitive touch panel that
`overcomes the above drawbacks of the conventional capaci-
`tive touch panels.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide a
`capacitive touch panel comprising a thin conductor pattern
`structure, which consists of a plurality of first-axis conductor
`assemblies and a plurality of second-axis conductor assem-
`blics, cach conductor asscmbly bcing comprised ofa plurality
`of conductor cells interconnected by conduction lines,
`wherein the conduction lines extending in different axes are
`isolated from each other by an insulation layer.
`Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
`capacitive touch panel comprising a conductor pattern struc-
`ture consisting of first-axis conductor assemblies and second-
`axis conductor assemblies, both comprising conductors cells
`connected by conduction lines, the conductor cells and the
`conduction lines being formed on the same surface of a sub-
`strate by known processes for manufacturing general trans-
`parent conductor layer, whereby when a user touches the
`surface ofthe touch panel, the first-axis conductor assemblies
`and the second-axis conductor assemblies that are touched by
`the user induce capacitive effect between adjacent conductor
`cells thereof.
`
`According to the present invention, a solution to overcome
`the above discussed drawbacks ofthe conventional capacitive
`touch panels resides in that a conductor pattern structure is
`formed on a surface of a substrate, comprising a plurality of
`first-axis conductor assemblies and a plurality of second-axis
`conductor assemblies that are extended in directions that are
`
`substantially perpendicular to each other and that comprise a
`plurality of equally-spaced first-axis conductor cells and
`equally-spaced second-axis conductor cells respectively, and
`first-axis conduction lines and second-axis conduction lines
`
`interconnecting the first-axis conductors along the first axis
`and the second-axis conductors along the second axis respec-
`tively, wherein an insulation layer is provided to cover a
`surface of each first-axis conduction line to isolate the first-
`axis conduction line from the associated second-axis conduc-
`tion line.
`
`According to the present invention, a plurality of first-axis
`conductor assemblies and a plurality of second-axis conduc-
`tor assemblies, which constitute the conductor pattern struc-
`ture of a capacitive touch panel, are formed on the same
`surface of a substrate, thereby simplifying the structure and
`reducing the thickness of the structure. When the conductor
`cells of the first-axis conductor assemblies and the conductor
`
`cells of the second-axis conductor assemblies that are adja-
`cent to each other are touched by a user’s finger, a capacitance
`variation signal is induced, in response to the area of the
`adjacent conductor cells on which the finger ofthe user is laid,
`and then applied to a control circuit to identify the position
`where the user’s finger touches the panel. The first-axis con-
`ductor assemblies and the second-axis conductor assemblies
`
`of the conductor pattern structure can be formed on only one
`surface of the substrate by the general circuit laying tech-
`niques. Thus, the present invention can be practiced in a
`simple process with high passing rate and low costs.
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`4
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in
`the art by reading the following description of preferred
`embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached draw-
`ings, in which:
`FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conductor pattern structure of a
`capacitive touch panel in accordance with a first embodiment
`of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the conductor
`pattern structure of the capacitive touch panel of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.
`
`2;
`
`2;
`
`FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 ofFIG.
`
`FIG. 5 illustrates a user’s finger physically engaging a
`point on the capacitive touch panel in accordance with the
`present invention;
`FIG. 6 illustrates the user’s finger engaging a different
`point on the capacitive touch panel of the present invention;
`FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic view of a surface of a sub-
`
`strate on which a plurality of first-axis conductor cells, first-
`axis conduction lines, signal transmission lines, and second-
`axis conductor cells are formed;
`FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic view of the substrate surface
`
`on which an insulation layer is formed to cover the surface of
`each first-axis conduction line, after the step of FIG. 7;
`FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic view of the substrate surface
`on which a second-axis conduction line is formed to connect
`
`between each pair of adjacent second-axis conductor cells of
`the same second-axis conductor assembly, after the step of
`FIG. 8; and
`FIG. 10 is a plan view of a conductor pattern structure of a
`capacitive touch panel in accordance with a second embodi-
`ment of the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1
`and 2, of which FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of a conductor
`pattern structure of a capacitive touch panel in accordance
`with a first embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 2
`illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the conductor
`pattern structure of the capacitive touch panel, generally des-
`ignated with reference numeral 12, is formed on a surface 11
`of a substrate 1. The conductor pattern structure 12 comprises
`a plurality of conductor assemblies 13 extending along a first
`axis, which will be referred to as “first-axis conductor assem-
`blies”, and a plurality of conductor assemblies 14 extending
`along a second axis, which will be referred to as “second-axis
`conductor assemblies”. Each of the first-axis conductor
`
`assemblies 13 is parallel to other first-axis conductor assem-
`blies 13, and each ofthe second-axis conductor assemblies 14
`is parallel to other second-axis conductor assemblies 14. The
`first-axis conductor assemblies 13 are substantially perpen-
`dicular to the second-axis conductor assemblies 14. However,
`it is apparent that the first-axis conductor assemblies 13 and
`the second-axis conductor assemblies 14 can be arranged on
`the surface 11 of the substrate 1 at an included angle therebe-
`tween that is other than a right angle.
`Each first-axis conductor assembly 13 is composed of a
`plurality of first-axis conductor cells 131 that are lined up
`along the first axis, which is designated at “X” in the draw-
`ings, on the surface 11 of the substrate 1 in a substantially
`equally-spaced manner and a disposition zone 15 is delimited
`
`Page 8 of 14
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`5
`between adjacent first-axis conductor assemblies 13 and adja-
`cent first-axis conductor cells 131.
`
`A first-axis conduction line 132 connects between adjacent
`first-axis conductor cells 131 positioned along the first axis X
`so that the first-axis conductor cells 131 along the first axis X
`are electrically connected together to form a first-axis con-
`ductor assembly 13. In other words, the first-axis conductor
`cells 131 of the same first-axis conductor assembly 13 are
`connected together in cascade by the first-axis conduction
`lines 132. Each first-axis conductor assembly 13 is further
`connected to a signal transmission line 16a for transmitting a
`signal to a control circuit laid on a circuit board (both not
`shown).
`Each of the conduction lines 132 has a surface 133 that is
`
`covered by an insulation covering layer 17, which is made of
`a material featuring electric insulation, and preferably a trans-
`parent insulation material, such as silicon dioxide. Each sec-
`ond-axis conductor assembly 14 is composed of a plurality of
`second-axis conductor cells 141 that are lined up along the
`second axis, which is designated at “Y” in the drawings, in a
`substantially equally-spaced manner on the surface 11 of the
`substrate 1. Each second-axis conductor cell 141 is set in the
`
`respective second-axis conductor cell disposition zone 15.
`A second-axis conduction line 142 connects between adja-
`cent second-axis conductor cells 141 positioned along the
`second axis Y and extends over and across a surface of each
`
`insulation layer 17 so that the second-axis conductor cells 141
`of the same second-axis conductor assembly 14 are con-
`nected together. In other words, the second-axis conductor
`cells 141 of the same second-axis co11ductor assembly 14 are
`connected together in cascade by the second-axis conduction
`lines 142. Each second-axis conductor assembly 14 is further
`connected to a signal transmission line 16b for transmitting a
`signal to the control circuit.
`Also referring to FIG. 3, which shows a cross—sectional
`view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4, which shows
`a cross—sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2, the
`first-axis conductor cells 131, the first-axis conduction lines
`132, the second-axis conductor cells 141, and the second
`conduction lines 142 are made of transparent conductive
`material. The insulation layer 17 is interposed between the
`respective first-axis conduction line 132 and the second-axis
`conduction line 142 so that the second-axis conduction line
`
`142 that connects adjacent second-axis conductor cells 141 of
`the second-axis conductor assembly 14 extends across the
`respectively first-axis conduction line 132 in a mutually-in-
`sulated manner.
`
`The substrate 1 can be a glass substrate, and the first-axis
`conductor assemblies 13 and the second-axis conductor
`assemblies 14, and the first-axis and second-axis conduction
`lines 132, 142 are made of transparent conductive film, such
`as ITO conductive film. In the embodiment illustrated, the
`first-axis conductor cells 131 and the second-axis conductor
`
`cells 141 are of a shape of substantially hexagon geometry
`contour. It is apparent that the conductor cells 131, 141 can be
`of shapes of other geometry contours to effect an optimum
`distribution of effective conductor surface.
`
`FIG. 5 demonstrates a user’s finger physically engaging a
`point on the capacitive touch panel in accordance with the
`present invention, and FIG. 6 demonstrates the user’s finger
`engaging a different point on the capacitive touch panel ofthe
`present invention. When a user put his or her finger to touch a
`contact area (point), designated at “A”, on the capacitive
`touch panel of the present invention, the first-axis conductor
`cell 131 of the first-axis conductor assembly 13 and the sec-
`ond-axis conductor cell 141 of the second-axis conductor
`
`6
`a capacitor effect therebetween and a signal caused thereby is
`transmitted through the signal transmission lines 16a, 16b to
`the control circuit. The control circuit may then carry out
`computation to determine on which point on the surface 11 of
`the substrate 1 the contact area A is set.
`
`When the user moves his or her finger to another contact
`area B, the first-axis conductor cell 131 of the first-axis con-
`ductor assembly 13 and the second-axis conductor cell 141 of
`the second-axis conductor assembly 14, which are covered by
`the contact area B, induce a capacitor effect therebetween and
`a change occurs, which induces a signal that is transmitted
`through the signal transmission lines 16a, 16b to the control
`circuit. The control circuit may then carry out computation to
`determine on which point on the surface 11 of the substrate 1
`the contact area B is set.
`
`FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic plan views demonstrating
`manufacturing steps ofthe conductorpattem ofthe capacitive
`touch panel in accordance with the present invention, wherein
`FIG. 7 illustrates the schematic view of a surface of a sub-
`
`strate on which a plurality of first-axis conductor cells 131,
`first-axis conduction lines 132, signal transmission lines 16a,
`16b, and second-axis conductor cells 141 arejust formed, and
`FIG. 8 illustrates the schematic view of the substrate surface
`
`on which an insulation covering layer 17 is formed to cover
`the surface of each first-axis conduction line 132, after the
`step of FIG. 7. Further, FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic view of
`the substrate surface on which a second-axis conduction line
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`142 is formed to connect between each pair of adjacent sec-
`ond-axis conductor cells 141 of the same second-axis con-
`
`ductor assembly, after the step of FIG. 8, to thereby complete
`the manufacturing of the conductor pattern structure of the
`touch panel in accordance with the present invention.
`The manufacturing of the conductor pattern structure 12
`can be carried out with any known techniques, such as etch-
`ing, sputtering, and screen printing. Etching is taken as an
`example for manufacture ofthe conductor pattern structure as
`follows. First of all, a conductor film, of which an ITO trans-
`parent conductive film is an example, is formed on the surface
`11 of a cleaned substrate 1. Thereafter, screen printing is
`employed to carry out etching mask printing process.
`After the etching mask printing process, etching is carried
`out on the surface 11, followed by film stripping. Thus, the
`first-axis conductor cells 131 of the first-axis conductor
`assemblies 13, the first conduction lines 132, and the second-
`axis conductor cells 141 ofthe second-axis conductor assem-
`
`blies 14, all being transparent and electrically conductive, are
`formed on the substrate surface 11, as shown in FIG. 7. At this
`point, all the first-axis conductor cells 131 of the same first-
`axis conductor assemblies 13 are electrically connected
`together and the first-axis conductor assemblies 13 are further
`connected to a plurality of signal transmission lines 16a.
`Thereafter, an insulation covering layer 17 is applied to
`cover the surface 133 ofeach first-axis conduction line 132, as
`shown in FIG. 8. Then, a mask is formed with the printing
`technique to define the positions of the second-axis conduc-
`tion lines 142, followed by application of a transparent con-
`ductive layer to form the second-axis conduction lines 142
`whereby the adjacent second-axis conductor cells 141 along
`the second axis Y are each connected by the second-axis
`conduction lines 142 with each second-axis conduction line
`
`142 extending over and across the surface of the respective
`insulation layer 17, as shown in FIG. 9. Once the step is done,
`all second-axis conductor cells 141 of the same second-axis
`
`conductor assemblies 14 are electrically connected together
`and the second-axis conductor assemblies 14 are connected to
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`assembly 14, which are covered by the contact area A, induce
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`the signal transmission lines 16b.
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`7
`When the etching technique described above is taken to
`form the conductor cells and the conduction lines on the
`
`substrate surface, different pattern can be formed with etch-
`ing areas defined by different etching masks to similarly form
`a conductor pattern structure. For example, in the first etching
`step, only the first-axis conductor cells 131 and the first-axis
`conduction lines 132 ofthe first-axis conductor assemblies 13
`are formed on the substrate surface 11, but not the second-axis
`conductor cells 141 of the second-axis conductor assemblies
`
`14. Thereafter, the same etching technique is taken again to
`form the second-axis conductor cells 141 and the second-axis
`conduction lines 142 on the substrate surface 11, with the
`second conduction lines 142 extending over and across the
`surfaces of the associated insulation layers 17.
`In the embodiment discussed previously, the first-axis con-
`ductor cells and the second-axis conductor cells are each
`
`formed on the substrate in an array form to constitute the
`conductor pattern structure of the capacitive touch panel.
`Based on the same philosophy, a small number of conductor
`cells can also be used to construct a conductor pattern struc-
`ture ofthe capacitive touch panel. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 0
`as a second embodiment of the disclosure, wherein two adja-
`cent first-axis conductor cells 31, 32 are formed on a surface
`21 of a substrate 2 and a signal transmission line 34 is con-
`nected to the conductor cell 32. A first-axis conduction line 33
`
`connects between the adjacent first-axis conductor cells 31,
`32. An insulation layer 4 is formed on a surface of the first-
`axis conduction line 33.
`
`Along an axis that is different from the first-axis conductor
`cells 31, 32, two adjacent second-axis conductor cells 51, 52
`are arranged and a second-axis conduction lines 53 connects
`between the adjacent second-axis conductor cells 51, 52 by
`extending over and across a surface of the insulation layer 4.
`The conductor cell 52 is also connected to a signal transmis-
`sion line 54.
`
`Although the present invention has been described with
`reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent
`to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and
`changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe
`present invention which is intended to be defined by the
`appended claims.
`What is claimed is:
`
`1. A conductor pattern structure ofa capacitive touchpanel
`formed on a surface of a substrate, the conductor pattern
`structure comprising:
`a plurality of first-axis conductor assemblies, each first-
`axis conductor assembly comprising a plurality of first-
`axis conductor cells arranged on the surface of the sub-
`strate along a first axis in a substantially equally-spaced
`manner, a disposition zone being delimited between
`adjacent ones of the first-axis conductor assemblies and
`between adjacent ones of the first-axis conductor cells;
`a plurality of first-axis conduction lines respectively con-
`necting between adjacent ones of the first-axis conduc-
`tor cells of each first-axis conductor assembly so that the
`first-axis conductor cells of each respective first-axis
`conductor assembly are electrically connected together;
`a plurality of insulation layers, each insulation layer of the
`plurality of insulation layers covering a surface of each
`first-axis conduction line without encompassing the
`adjacent first-axis conductor cells;
`a plurality of second-axis conductor assemblies, each sec-
`ond-axis conductor assembly comprising a plurality of
`second-axis conductor cells arranged on the surface of
`the substrate along a second axis in a substantially
`equally-spaced manner, each second-axis conductor cell
`being set in each disposition zone;
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`20
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`25
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`a plurality of second-axis conduction lines respectively
`connecting between adjacent ones of the second-axis
`conductor cells of each second-axis conductor assembly
`so that the second-axis conductor cells of each respec-
`tive second-axis conductor assembly are electrically
`connected together,
`the second-axis conduction line
`being extended across a surface ofthe insulation layer of
`the respective first-axis conduction line,
`wherein first-axis conductor cells and the second-axis con-
`
`ductor cells consist of a transparent conductive material.
`2. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 1,
`wherein the first-axis conduction lines consist of a transparent
`conductive material.
`
`3. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 1,
`wherein the second-axis conduction lines consist of a trans-
`parent conductive material.
`4. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 1,
`wherein the insulation layer consists of a transparent insula-
`tion material.
`
`5. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 1,
`wherein the first-axis conductor cells and the second-axis
`
`conductor cells have a co11tour of hexagonal shape.
`6. A conductor pattern structure of a capacitive touch panel
`formed on a surface of a substrate, the conductor pattern
`structure comprising:
`at least two adjacent first-axis conductor cells; and
`at least two adjacent second-axis conductor cells,
`wherein the adjacent first-axis conductor cells are con-
`nected by a first-axis conduction line provided therebe-
`tween,
`wherein an insulation layer is formed on a surface of the
`first-axis conduction line without encompassing the two
`adjacent first-axis conductor cells, and a second-axis
`conduction line extends across a surface ofthe insulation
`layer to connect between the adjacent second-axis con-
`ductor cells, and
`wherein first-axis conductor cells and the second-axis con-
`
`ductor cells consist of a transparent conductive material.
`7. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 6,
`wherein the first-axis conduction lines consist of a transparent
`conductive material.
`8. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 6,
`wherein the second-axis conduction lines consist of a trans-
`
`parent conductive material.
`9. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 6,
`wherein the insulation layer consists of a transparent insula-
`tion material.
`
`10. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 6,
`wherein the first-axis conductor cells and the second-axis
`
`conductor cells have a co11tour of hexagonal shape.
`11. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 1
`further comprises a plurality of signal transmission lines
`formed on the surface of the substrate, each signal transmis-
`sion line respectively cormecting each first-axis conductor
`assembly and each second-axis conductor assembly.
`12. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 11,
`wherein the first-axis conduction lines consist of a transparent
`conductive material.
`
`13. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 11,
`wherein the second-axis conduction lines consist of a trans-
`parent conductive material.
`14. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 11,
`wherein the insulation layer consists of a transparent insula-
`tion material.
`
`15. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 11,
`wherein the first-axis conductor cells and the second-axis
`
`conductor cells have a co11tour of hexagonal shape.
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`US 8,217,902 B2
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`9
`16. The conductor pattern structure as claimed in claim 11,
`wherein the transparent conductive material is Indium Tin
`Oxide (ITO).
`17. A conductor pattern structure of a capacitive touch
`panel formed on a surface ofa substrate, the conductorpattern
`structure comprising:
`a plurality of first-axis conductor assemblies, each first-
`axis conductor assembly comprising a plurality of first-
`axis conductor cells arranged on the surface of the sub-
`strate along a first axis in a substantially equally-spaced
`manner, a disposition zone being delimited between
`adjacent ones of the first-axis conductor assemblies and
`between adjacent ones of the first-axis conductor cells;
`a plurality of first-axis conduction lines respectively con-
`necting between adjacent ones of the first-axis conduc-
`tor cells of each first-axis conductor assembly so that the
`first-axis conductor cells of each respective first-axis
`conductor assembly are electrically connected together;
`a plurality of insulation layers, each insulation layer of the
`plurality of insulation layers covering a surface of each
`first-axis conduction line without encompassing the
`adjacent first-axis conductor cells;
`a plurality of second-axis conductor assemblies, each sec-
`ond-axis conductor assembly comprising a plurality of
`second-axis conductor cells arranged on the surface of
`the substrate along a second axis in a substantially
`equally-spaced manner, each second-axis conductor cell
`being set in each disposition zone;
`a plurality of second-axis conduction lines respectively
`connecting between adjacent ones of the second-axis
`conductor cells of each second-axis conductor assembly
`so that the second-axis conductor cells of each respec-
`tive second-axis conductor assembly are elec