Method of manufacturing touch sensors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9733331-B2
Application number	US-201213710233-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2012
Priority date	Sep 10, 2012
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

Roll-to-roll processes for manufacturing touch sensors on a plastic base film are provided. The touch sensors can be deposited on the base film using various patterning techniques. One or more shorting bars can also be patterned onto the base film to couple together traces, such as drive lines, sense lines, conductive traces, and the like, of the touch sensor to prevent a potential difference from forming between traces due to static buildup during the manufacturing process. After the touch sensor is fully formed on the base film, the touch sensor can be removed from the base film using lithography or a physical cutting process. The removal process can separate the touch sensor from the one or more shorting bars, thereby uncoupling the traces of the touch sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
forming a touch sensor on a sheet of base film, the touch sensor comprising one or more bond pads including a first bond pad and a second bond pad formed on the base film, said first and second bond pads connecting to conductive traces at a first side of the touch sensor;
forming a first shorting bar coupling together two or more contacts of the first bond pad at the first side of the touch sensor;
forming a second shorting bar coupling together two or more contacts of the second bond pad at the first side of the touch sensor, wherein the second shorting bar is disconnected from the first shorting bar while the first shorting bar is coupling together two or more contacts of the first bond pad and the second shorting bar is coupling together two or more contacts of the second bond pad; and
removing the touch sensor from the sheet of base film; and thereafter separating, the touch sensor from the first shorting bar and the second shorting bar.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sheet of base film comprises cyclo olefin polymer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the touch sensor from the sheet of base film is performed using a die cut process.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the touch sensor from the sheet of base film is performed using a laser cut process.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the touch sensor from the sheet of base film is performed using lithography.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first bond pad for the touch sensor extends beyond an edge of the corresponding touch sensor.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first shorting bar couples together all contacts of the first bond pad.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the touch sensor from the base film comprises cutting the one or more bond pads along a line intersecting the first and second bond pads.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first bond pad is coupled to a plurality of drive lines, and the second bond pad is coupled to a plurality of sense lines.

10. The method of claim 9 , the touch sensor further comprising a third bond pad and a fourth bond pad, wherein:
the first bond pad is coupled to a first end of the plurality of drive lines;
the second bond pad is coupled to a first end of the plurality of sense lines;
the third bond pad is coupled to a second end of the plurality of drive lines; and
the fourth bond pad is coupled to a second end of the plurality of sense lines.

11. The method of claim 10 , the touch sensor further comprising a third shorting bar and a fourth shorting bar, wherein:
the third shorting bar is coupled to the third bond pad; and
the fourth shorting bar is coupled to the fourth bond pad.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises, before removing the touch sensor from the base film:
measuring an impedance of the plurality of drive lines using the first shorting bar and the third shorting bar; and
measuring an impedance of the plurality of sense lines using the second shorting bar and the fourth shorting bar.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Mohapatra Siddharth
• Kang Sunggu
• Zhong John Z
• Lin Albert

Classifications

• H05K3/0097

  Processing two or more printed circuits simultaneously, e.g. made from a common substrate, or temporarily stacked circuit boards (H05K3/0052 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F2203/04103

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

• Y10T29/49815

  Disassembling · CPC title

• Y10T29/49204

  Contact or terminal manufacturing · CPC title

• H05K3/02

  in which the conductive material is applied to the surface of the insulating support and is thereafter removed from such areas of the surface which are not intended for current conducting or shielding · CPC title