JP2000314665A - Film sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To reduce the amount of expensive conductive layers used as much as possible,
A manufacturing process is simplified as much as possible to provide a low cost and high productivity film sensor. SOLUTION: First and second insulating films 11 and 12 formed in a desired shape by connecting a circuit pattern having first conductive layers 11a and 12a to a desired shape are formed so that the circuit patterns face each other and a plurality of openings 13a are formed. A film sensor 10 having a detecting portion Ps in which a spacer 13 made of a third insulating film having the following is sandwiched between the two insulating films, and a circuit pattern is opposed at each opening. In each circuit pattern, the second conductive layers 11c and 12c are formed in regions corresponding to the plurality of openings, and are formed only on the periphery of the second conductive layer, and the inside of the second conductive layer is omitted. ing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a film sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, for example, a film sensor is disposed between film substrates 1 and 2 made of a flexible and insulating plastic insulating film such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). And a spacer 3 made of a plastic insulating film having flexibility and insulating properties. The spacer 3 is formed into a desired shape according to a use mode.

The film substrates 1 and 2 are printed with a first conductive layer, for example, a conductive ink containing silver, on their opposing surfaces to form silver ink layers 1a and 2a, and to prevent a so-called migration phenomenon. And carbon ink layer 1 mainly composed of carbon so as to cover silver ink layers 1a and 2a.
The circuit patterns b and 2b are laminated to form a continuous circuit pattern of a desired shape, and the circuit patterns are electrically insulated from each other by the spacers 3.

Here, the film substrates 1 and 2 correspond to openings 3a to be described later, and cover the silver ink layers 1a and 2a and the carbon ink layers 1a over the entire area slightly wider than the opening 3a.
b, 2b are formed. Also, the film substrates 1 and 2
When the film sensor is used as a pressure sensor, the carbon ink layers 1b and 2
pressure-sensitive ink by coating a second conductive layer, for example, a semiconductive special printed conductive ink in which conductive fine particles such as carbon are blended into a plastic whose contact resistance changes according to pressure so as to cover the second conductive layer. The layers 1c and 2c are formed.

On the other hand, the spacer 3 has a circular opening 3a at a desired position, for example, and has an adhesive 3b applied to both surfaces. Therefore, the film sensor has the opening 3a.
The silver ink layers 1a and 2a
The pressure sensing portion Ps is formed at the opening 3a by opposing the spacer 3b with a space corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 3 therebetween.

[0006] As shown in FIG. 6, the film sensor constructed as described above, when pressure acts on the detecting portion Ps in the direction of arrow FA or FB in the drawing, the film substrate 1,
2 or one of them is elastically deformed, and the pressure-sensitive ink layer 1c,
2c is connected. Thereby, the film sensor can detect the pressure acting on the detecting portion Ps by the change in the resistance value between the pressure-sensitive ink layers 1c and 2c.

[0007] When the film sensor is used as a simple on / off sensor using the detection unit Ps,
The carbon ink layers 1b and 2 are formed on the silver ink layers 1a and 2a.
b and the carbon ink layer 1 at the detecting portion Ps.
b and 2b are configured to face each other with a space corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 3 therebetween.

[0008]

By the way, the film sensor is formed into a desired shape in accordance with a use mode, and is provided with a plurality of detecting portions. And the film sensor is
The first conductive layer is manufactured by laminating a carbon ink layer in addition to a silver ink layer in which an expensive conductive ink containing silver is applied in accordance with a circuit pattern, and a pressure-sensitive ink layer depending on the application. For this reason, the manufacturing process of the film sensor is complicated, the production efficiency is low, and the production cost is required to be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a film sensor excellent in productivity at a low cost by minimizing the use of expensive conductive layers as much as possible and simplifying the manufacturing process as much as possible. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in order to attain the above object, a first and a second insulating film formed in a desired shape by continuously forming a circuit pattern having a first conductive layer are provided on the circuit. A film sensor having a detection unit that opposes a pattern, sandwiches a spacer made of a third insulating film having a plurality of openings between the insulating films, and the circuit pattern faces the opening at each of the openings. In each of the circuit patterns, a second conductive layer is formed in a region corresponding to the plurality of openings,
The structure is formed only on the periphery of the second conductive layer, and the inside of the second conductive layer is omitted.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a first embodiment according to the film sensor of the present invention will be described.
The film sensor 10 is formed into a desired shape in accordance with a use mode, and is made of a flexible and insulating material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as shown in FIGS. A spacer 13 made of a plastic insulating film made of a flexible and insulating material such as PET is sandwiched between film substrates 11 and 12 made of a plastic insulating film having the following. The film sensor 10 is provided with a plurality of detecting portions Ps electrically connected by a circuit pattern (not shown), which will be described later, as appropriate.
Connected to an external electric device or the like at a.

Here, FIGS. 2 and 5 attached to this specification are as follows.
In order to clearly show each conductive layer and the like, the film substrate is shown in a see-through state. As shown in FIG. 3, the film substrates 11 and 12 have a first conductive layer, for example,
The conductive ink containing silver is printed to form a silver ink layer 11a, 1
In order to prevent the so-called migration phenomenon, a carbon ink layer 11b, 12b mainly composed of carbon is laminated to cover the silver ink layers 11a, 12a to form a circuit pattern having a desired shape. The patterns are electrically insulated from each other by spacers 13.

Here, the film substrates 11 and 12 are shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), a pressure-sensitive ink layer 11c, 12c is formed by laminating a second conductive layer, for example, the above-mentioned printed conductive ink in a circular area corresponding to a plurality of openings 13a described later. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the silver ink layers 11a and 12a are formed only on the peripheral edges of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 11c and 12c, and the insides of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 11c and 12c are omitted.

On the other hand, the spacer 13 is provided with, for example, a circular opening 13a at a desired position, and is coated with an adhesive 13b on both sides, so that the space between the adjacent detecting portions Ps is formed along the circuit pattern forming direction. A gap 13c serving as an air pipe to be connected is formed. The film sensor 10 configured as described above is integrally manufactured by sandwiching the spacer 13 between the film substrates 11 and 12 and adhering the film substrates 11 and 12 to the spacer 13 with an adhesive 13b. Therefore, in the manufactured film sensor 10, the silver ink layers 11a and 12a are
b, the pressure-sensitive ink layers 11c and 12c are connected to each other through the opening 13a.
At a, a pressure detecting portion Ps is formed.

At this time, in the film sensor 10, the silver ink layers 11a and 12a of the film substrates 11 and 12 are formed only on the peripheral edges of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 11c and 12c, and the insides of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 11c and 12c are omitted. ing. Accordingly, unlike the conventional film sensor in which the silver ink layers 1a and 2a are formed over the entire area slightly larger than the opening 3a as described above, the film sensor 10 reduces the amount of expensive conductive ink containing silver. Can be halved.

Next, a second embodiment of the film sensor according to the present invention will be described.
An embodiment will be described. The film sensor 20
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, film substrates 21 and 22 made of the same material as the film sensor 10 and a spacer 23 are provided.
have. As shown in FIG. 4, the film substrates 21 and 22 have silver ink layers 21a and 22a on their opposing surfaces.
Thus, a circuit pattern having a desired shape is formed, and the circuit patterns are electrically insulated from each other by the spacer 23.

Here, the film substrates 21 and 22 correspond to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, pressure-sensitive ink layers 21c and 22c are formed in layers in a circular area corresponding to a plurality of openings 23a described later. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the silver ink layers 21a and 22a are formed outside the opening 23a of the spacer 23 and only at the peripheral edges of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 21c and 22c. The inner side of the pressure ink layers 21c and 22c is omitted.

On the other hand, the spacer 23 is provided with, for example, a circular opening 23a at a desired position, and is coated with an adhesive 23b on both surfaces, so that the space between the adjacent detecting parts Ps is formed along the circuit pattern forming direction. A gap 23c serving as an air pipe to be connected is formed. The film sensor 20 configured as described above is manufactured in the same manner as the film sensor 10. For this reason, the manufactured film sensor 20
Means that the silver ink layers 21a and 22a are
In the opening 23a, the pressure-sensitive ink layers 21c and 22c face each other across a space corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 23, and form a pressure detecting portion Ps in the opening 23a.

At this time, in the film sensor 20, the silver ink layers 21a and 22a of the film substrates 21 and 22 are formed only on the peripheral edges of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 21c and 22c, and the inside of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 21c and 22c is omitted. Have been. Accordingly, unlike the conventional film sensor in which the silver ink layers 1a and 2a are formed over the entire area slightly larger than the opening 3a as described above, the film sensor 20 reduces the amount of expensive conductive ink containing silver. Can be halved.

Moreover, in the film sensor 20, the silver ink layers 21a and 22a of the film substrates 21 and 22 are formed outside the opening 23a of the spacer 23 and only at the peripheral edges of the pressure-sensitive ink layers 21c and 22c. Have been. For this reason, when the film sensor 20 is manufactured integrally by adhering the film substrates 21 and 22 to the spacer 23 with the adhesive 23b, the silver ink layers 21a and 22a are sandwiched between the film substrates 21 and 22 and the spacer 23. Never be exposed.

Thus, unlike the film sensor 10, the film sensor 20 does not need to cover the silver ink layers 21a and 22a with a carbon ink layer for preventing a migration phenomenon. Therefore, in the film sensor 20, in addition to the effects of the film sensor 10, a step of forming a carbon ink layer is omitted as compared with a conventional film sensor. Therefore, the manufacturing process of the film sensor 20 is simpler than that of the conventional film sensor, and the film sensor 20 can be manufactured at low cost.

Here, in each of the above embodiments, the first
Although the conductive ink containing silver was used as the material of the conductive layer of the above, for example, a conductive ink containing a conductive metal powder such as gold or copper can be used.

[0023]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a film sensor which is low in cost and excellent in productivity by minimizing the amount of expensive conductive layers used and simplifying the manufacturing process as much as possible. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of the overall shape of a film sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a portion A of the film sensor of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 5;

5 shows another embodiment of the film sensor of the present invention, and is an enlarged plan view of a portion corresponding to the portion A of the film sensor of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a main part of a conventional film sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Film sensor 10a Terminal part 11, 12 Film substrate 11a, 12a Silver ink layer (1st conductive layer) 11b, 12b Carbon ink layer 11c, 12c Pressure sensitive ink layer (2nd conductive layer) 13 Spacer 13a Opening 20 Film sensor 21, 22 Film substrate 21a, 22a Silver ink layer (first conductive layer) 21c, 22c Pressure-sensitive ink layer (second conductive layer) 23 Spacer 23a Opening Ps detector

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Katsutoshi Sasaki 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Juichi Ohgami 4-4 Sakuragawa, Naniwa-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka −26 Inside Nita Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first insulating film formed in a desired shape by connecting a circuit pattern having a first conductive layer to a third shape having a plurality of openings while facing the circuit pattern; A film sensor having a detection unit in which a spacer made of an insulating film is interposed between the two insulating films, and the circuit pattern has a detection unit facing each of the openings, wherein each of the circuit patterns corresponds to the plurality of openings. A film sensor, wherein a second conductive layer is formed in a region and formed only on the periphery of the second conductive layer, and the inside of the second conductive layer is omitted.