Flexible and low-cost touch panels will become popular. Smart phones, tablet devices, and wearable devices continue to evolve toward thinner, thinner, bendable, and foldable devices. In addition, touch screens have been equipped with standard functions, which is driving demand for flexible touch panels.
In the 2013 touch panel exhibition, ITRI and Japanese printing equipment manufacturer Komori jointly announced roll-to-roll ultra-fine line printing technology and equipment (Figure 1); in addition, nano silver particle technology developer Cima NanoTech also exhibited The new generation of transparent conductive film SANTE FS200 (Figure 2) produced by the roll-to-roll process will highlight the trend of using the roll-to-roll process to produce flexible and low-cost touch panels.
Figure 1 ITRI and Komori jointly released roll-to-roll ultrafine line printing process equipment.
Figure 2 A new generation of transparent conductive film SANTE FS200 released by Cima NanoTech
R2R printing equipment comes out
The roll-to-roll ultra-fine line printing technology and equipment jointly released by ITRI and Komori at this exhibition can assist the development of touch panel manufacturers with fine-line printing technology (Fine-line PrinTIng) of less than 20 microns (μm) Ultra-narrow bezel thin touch module and flexible touch panel (Figure 3) were introduced, and replaced the expensive yellow photolithography process.
Figure 3 The radius of curvature of the flexible touch panel reaches 7.5 mm.
Figure 4 On the left is Liu Junting, director of the Institute of Electronics and Optoelectronics, ITRI, and on the right is Komori ’s new wife.
Liu Junting, director of the Institute of Electronics and Optoelectronics of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (picture 4 left), said that there are a variety of narrow frame products on the market today, and the width of the frame depends on the line width and line spacing of the conductor. The line width is about 60? 80 microns, the gravure printing technology is 30? 50 microns, and the most common yellow photoetching process is 30 microns. However, these technologies have gradually failed to meet the requirements of the touch panel manufacturers for the new generation of ultra-narrow borders and Due to the need for flexible design, the industry urgently needs new conductive film printing equipment and technology to overcome this technical bottleneck.
In view of this, ITRI and Komori jointly developed roll-to-roll ultra-fine line printing equipment and technology, which will allow the wire width of the wire to be less than 20 microns to achieve an ultra-narrow frame design, and through roll-to-roll printing equipment, The panel factory can successfully print conductive films on flexible circuit boards, solar panels and displays, and then successfully expand the flexible touch application market and create a new blue ocean market for the touch panel industry.
In fact, at present, most touch panel manufacturers still use the yellow light etching process to make touch panels. Not only the process steps are complicated, but the set of yellow light etching equipment is about NTD billions. The innovative design of the Institute of Industrial Technology and Komori Roll-to-roll ultra-fine line printing equipment and technology, which can be used for direct printing (Direct PrinTIng) on ​​ultra-thin substrates. Only one roll-to-roll printing equipment can replace the current yellow light etching process. Various equipment such as patterned sputtering, coating, development, printing and etching greatly reduce the equipment investment cost of the touch panel factory.
In addition, the roll-to-roll ultra-fine line printing technology is also more sophisticated than the yellow photolithography process in terms of material usage. Liu Junting added that the current yellow light etching process equipment has a material usage rate of about 5%, which means that most of the conductive film will be wasted; in contrast, if roll-to-roll printing equipment is used, the printing characteristics of this technology will benefit , The touch panel factory can increase the material utilization rate to 95%, thereby reducing the cost of material expenditure.
According to the statistics of the Institute of Industrial Technology and Research, the global touch panel output value reached NT $ 494 billion in 2012. Compared with 2011, its annual growth rate in market output value was 48%, showing that the global touch industry is still growing. Strong; Among them, Taiwan's touch panel output value ranks first in the world, and its market share also exceeds 50%. If this new technology can be introduced as soon as possible, it will further consolidate the market leading position.
Komori ’s new wife and wife (right in Figure 4) said that although the roll-to-roll ultrafine line printing equipment production base is located in Japan, Taiwan ’s touch panel shipments rank first in the world, so it will become the main market for Komori. In the future, it will not rule out the expansion of the equipment production line to Taiwan to provide technical support to the touch panel factory in Taiwan.
Liu Junting revealed that the Institute of Industrial Technology is currently applying for a roll-to-roll printing technology patent, and many patent barriers have been installed. Even if foreign touch panel manufacturers purchase Komori roll-to-roll printing equipment, they still need to obtain IP authorization and technical support from the Institute of Industrial Technology. Only then can we successfully produce the next-generation touch panel based on this technology.
It is reported that many Taiwanese touch panel manufacturers are very interested in roll-to-roll printing technology, and have planned to introduce related equipment into the new production line. The Institute of Industrial Technology also estimates the use of this technology for touch panel products The official shipment is expected to begin at the end of next year as soon as possible, and to encourage the market scale of ultra-narrow bezel touch panels and flexible touch applications to expand.
In addition, at this exhibition, Cima NanoTech will also demonstrate the introduction of a new generation of transparent conductive films produced by the introduction of Silver NanoparTIcle coating technology in the roll-to-roll process, ready to use lower cost and higher light transmittance And non-Moire (Non-Moire) ripple advantage, challenge the mainstream position of Metal Mesh technology in the market of large-size touch conductive film.
The Touch Monitor is a product developed and designed by ourselves. It has been sold for more than 6 years and has exceeded 160,000 units. At present, it is running very well. It mainly customizes different touch technologies, different sizes, different interfaces, connecting cables and power supply parts to meet the needs of guests. We provide customers with the choice of Resistive Touch Screen, Capacitive Touch Screen, Infrared Touch Screen and nano touch foil, and customize various interfaces for customers, such as: VGA, DVI, HDMI, DP and so on. It is mainly used in banks, hospitals, government units, airports, railway stations, supermarkets, real estate and other places.
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