Touchscreen with overlapping floating transparent conductive islands

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11537234-B2
Application number	US-202117402836-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2021
Priority date	Jul 19, 2016
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

Various configurations and arrangements for touchscreens are disclosed to accommodate for one or more optical discontinuities that can be present within these touchscreens. When the one or more optical discontinuities are present, these configurations and arrangements of the touchscreens present a single layer of transparent conductive material that can be difficult to perceive by a human eye when viewing the touchscreens. Additionally, various edge correction techniques are disclosed to adjust mutual capacitances along a perimeter of the touchscreens. These edge correction techniques adjust mutual capacitances such that the values of the mutual capacitances are substantially uniform throughout.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A touchscreen, comprising:
a transparent substrate;
a first layer of electrode patterns disposed on the transparent substrate, the first layer of electrode patterns comprising: a first electrode and a first floating transparent conductive island adjacent to the first electrode, an electrode terminus of a third electrode, and a third floating transparent conductive island adjacent to the electrode terminus;
a second layer of electrode patterns comprising a second electrode and a second floating transparent conductive island adjacent to the second electrode, wherein the second floating transparent conductive island overlaps the electrode terminus and the third floating transparent conductive island; and
an edge pattern element configured to adjust an edge mutual capacitance between the electrode terminus and the second electrode, wherein the edge pattern element comprises a grounded electrode adjacent to an edge boundary of the electrode terminus, wherein the grounded electrode is electrically connected to ground without capacitive coupling.

2. The touchscreen of claim 1 , wherein the first layer and the second layer of electrode patterns avoid a high-contrast discontinuity by providing a perceived layer of transparent conductive material.

3. The touchscreen of claim 1 , further comprising interconnect traces for grounding the grounded electrode.

4. The touchscreen of claim 1 , wherein the first electrode further comprises an electrode pad and a second electrode terminus adjacent to the electrode pad, wherein the edge pattern element creates a greater separation distance between the second electrode and the second electrode terminus than between the second electrode and the electrode pad.

5. The touchscreen of claim 1 , wherein the edge pattern element comprises a conductive extension to the second electrode, and wherein the conductive extension is configured to adjust the edge mutual capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode.

6. The touchscreen of claim 1 , wherein the third floating transparent conductive island is configured to adjust an edge mutual capacitance between the electrode terminus and the second electrode.

7. A method for fabricating a touchscreen, comprising:
disposing on a first transparent substrate a first pattern comprising: a first electrode, a first floating transparent conductive island adjacent to the first electrode, an electrode terminus of a third electrode, and a third floating transparent conductive island adjacent to the electrode terminus; and
disposing on a second transparent substrate a second pattern comprising: a second electrode, and a second floating transparent conductive island located adjacent to the second electrode, wherein the second floating transparent conductive island overlaps the electrode terminus and the third floating transparent conductive island,
wherein the touchscreen further comprises an edge pattern element configured to adjust an edge mutual capacitance between the electrode terminus and the second electrode, wherein the edge pattern element comprises a grounded electrode adjacent to an edge boundary of the electrode terminus with interconnect traces for grounding the grounded electrode.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first pattern and the second pattern avoid a high-contrast discontinuity by providing a perceived layer of transparent conductive material when viewed from an angular direction.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the grounded electrode is electrically connected to ground without capacitive coupling.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first electrode further comprises an electrode pad and a second electrode terminus adjacent to the electrode pad, wherein the edge pattern element creates a greater separation distance between the second electrode and the second electrode terminus than between the second electrode and the electrode pad.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the edge pattern element comprises a conductive extension to the second electrode, and wherein the conductive extension is configured to adjust the edge mutual capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the third floating transparent conductive island is configured to adjust an edge mutual capacitance between the electrode terminus and the second electrode.

Assignees

• Elo Touch Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Kent Joel
• Ali Gazi
• Azim Khalid

Classifications

• G06F3/0446

  using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes · CPC title

• G06F3/0448

  Details of the electrode shape, e.g. for enhancing the detection of touches, for generating specific electric field shapes, for enhancing display quality · CPC title

• G06F2203/04103

  Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices · CPC title

• G06F3/04166 Primary

  Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving (Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184) · CPC title

• G06F2203/04107

  Shielding in digitiser, i.e. guard or shielding arrangements, mostly for capacitive touchscreens, e.g. driven shields, driven grounds · CPC title