Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve various battery can designs. In general, the battery can design includes two fitted surfaces oriented opposite each other and seam welded together to form an enclosure in which a battery stack is located. To form the enclosure, the two fitted surfaces are welded together along the large perimeter. Other swelling-resisting advantages may also be achieved utilizing the battery can design described herein including, but not limited to, the ability to modify one or more can wall thicknesses to control a pressure applied to the battery stack by the can, overall reduction in wall thickness of the can through the use of stronger materials for the can surfaces, additional supports structures included within the can design, and/or bossing or other localized thinning of surfaces of the can.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve various battery can designs. In general, the battery can design includes two fitted surfaces oriented opposite each other and seam welded together to form an enclosure in which a battery stack is located. To form the enclosure, the two fitted surfaces are welded together along the large perimeter. Other swelling-resisting advantages may also be achieved utilizing the battery can design described herein including, but not limited to, the ability to modify one or more can wall thicknesses to control a pressure applied to the battery stack by the can, overall reduction in wall thickness of the can through the use of stronger materials for the can surfaces, additional supports structures included within the can design, and/or bossing or other localized thinning of surfaces of the can.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve various battery can designs. In general, the battery can design includes two fitted surfaces oriented opposite each other and seam welded together to form an enclosure in which a battery stack is located. To form the enclosure, the two fitted surfaces are welded together along the large perimeter. Other swelling-resisting advantages may also be achieved utilizing the battery can design described herein including, but not limited to, the ability to modify one or more can wall thicknesses to control a pressure applied to the battery stack by the can, overall reduction in wall thickness of the can through the use of stronger materials for the can surfaces, additional supports structures included within the can design, and/or bossing or other localized thinning of surfaces of the can.

Abstract: Processes for manufacturing touch sensors with one or more guard traces to reduce the effect of moisture damage are provided. One example process can include forming one or more guard traces between an edge of the touch sensor and the metal traces that route the drive and sense lines to bond pads. The one or more guard traces can be uncoupled from the drive lines and sense lines to protect the inner metal traces from moisture damage. In some examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by copper. In other examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by indium tin oxide or the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by a strip of indium tin oxide. In yet other examples, the guard trace can be floating (e.g., not coupled to ground).

Abstract: Processes for fabricating compact touch sensors for touch sensitive devices are disclosed. A process can include providing a touch sensor structure having a substrate, a first layer disposed on the substrate, and a second layer disposed on the first layer. The second layer can have an ablation fluence value that is lower than an ablation fluence value of the first layer. The process can include patterning the second layer with a laser emitting energy having a fluence value greater than or equal to the ablation fluence value of the second layer and less than the ablation fluence value of the first layer. The process can further include etching at least a portion of the first layer that was exposed during the patterning of the second layer. At least a portion of the second layer can then be removed by etching or laser ablation.

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.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure involve various battery can designs. In general, the battery can design includes two fitted surfaces oriented opposite each other and seam welded together to form an enclosure in which a battery stack is located. To form the enclosure, the two fitted surfaces are welded together along the large perimeter. Other swelling-resisting advantages may also be achieved utilizing the battery can design described herein including, but not limited to, the ability to modify one or more can wall thicknesses to control a pressure applied to the battery stack by the can, overall reduction in wall thickness of the can through the use of stronger materials for the can surfaces, additional supports structures included within the can design, and/or bossing or other localized thinning of surfaces of the can.

Abstract: Processes for manufacturing touch sensors with one or more guard traces to reduce the effect of moisture damage are provided. One example process can include forming one or more guard traces between an edge of the touch sensor and the metal traces that route the drive and sense lines to bond pads. The one or more guard traces can be uncoupled from the drive lines and sense lines to protect the inner metal traces from moisture damage. In some examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by copper. In other examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by indium tin oxide or the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by a strip of indium tin oxide. In yet other examples, the guard trace can be floating (e.g., not coupled to ground).

Abstract: Processes for manufacturing touch sensors with one or more guard traces to reduce the effect of moisture damage are provided. One example process can include forming one or more guard traces between an edge of the touch sensor and the metal traces that route the drive and sense lines to bond pads. The one or more guard traces can be uncoupled from the drive lines and sense lines to protect the inner metal traces from moisture damage. In some examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by copper. In other examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by indium tin oxide or the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by a strip of indium tin oxide. In yet other examples, the guard trace can be floating (e.g., not coupled to ground).

Abstract: When a user operates a touch sensor panel having an LCD device outdoors or in a bright environment, light reflecting off the device can create glare. In order to reduce glare, a user can view the device through polarized filters such as polarized sunglasses. Doing so can reduce the visibility of the image displayed on the LCD. A quarter-wave retardation film can be added to the touch sensor panel's LCD device to mitigate these effects by producing circularly polarized light. However, adding a separate quarter-wave retardation film can increase the thickness and cost of manufacturing the touch sensor panel. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a touch sensor panel constructed from a base film having quarter-wave retardation properties that can produce circularly polarized light. Because the base film has the desired optical properties, a separate quarter-wave retardation film may not be needed.

Abstract: Roll-to-roll processes for manufacturing touch sensors using a sheet of patterned photoresist film are disclosed. The photoresist film can include a sheet of photoresist material, such as DFR, that has been patterned by removing portions of the photoresist film using a die or laser cutting technique. In some examples, the photoresist film can be patterned such that the patterned photoresist film can be laminated to a base film and used as an etching mask or a photoresist layer in a roll-to-roll manufacturing process. In this way, the patterned photoresist film can be used in place of conventional photoresist films in roll-to-roll processes, thereby obviating the need for subsequent exposure and development operations that would otherwise be performed when using conventional photoresist films. As a result, the chance that a defect is introduced into the touch sensors is reduced by reducing the number of operations performed in the roll-to-roll process.

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.

Abstract: Processes for reducing physical contact to sheets of base film in roll-to-roll processing of touch sensors are disclosed. In one example, the process includes the use of rollers having rings circumferentially extending away from the roller and operable to contact the sheets of base film. The rings can be configured to contact portions of the sheet of base film away from touch sensor areas of the base film. The rings can further be configured to prevent the sheets of base film from contacting a shaft of the rollers. In another example, a reduced strength vacuum seal can be formed between a photo mask and the sheet of base film to reduce the amount of force applied to a passivation layer of the sheet of base film.

Abstract: Systems and processes for die-cutting stretched base films are disclosed. In some examples, the systems can include fixed or adjustable die-cut heads that are offset from one another based on an amount of distortion of the base film. Systems and processes for reducing the amount of distortion or shrinking of base films are also disclosed. In some examples, the processes can include pre-shrinking the base film by exposing the film to elevated temperatures sufficient to shrink the film. The pre-shrinking can be performed on the base film material alone, or can be applied during subsequent annealing stages. The pre-shrinking can be used alone or in combination with the offset die-cutters.

Abstract: Processes for manufacturing touch sensors with one or more guard traces to reduce the effect of moisture damage are provided. One example process can include forming one or more guard traces between an edge of the touch sensor and the metal traces that route the drive and sense lines to bond pads. The one or more guard traces can be uncoupled from the drive lines and sense lines to protect the inner metal traces from moisture damage. In some examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by copper. In other examples, ends of the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by indium tin oxide or the one or more guard traces can be coupled to ground by a strip of indium tin oxide. In yet other examples, the guard trace can be floating (e.g., not coupled to ground).

Abstract: The described embodiments relate generally to the singulation of circuits and more particularly to a method of cutting of a polymer substrate that is overlaid with a conductive element and a passivation layer. In one embodiment, the passivation layer is applied selectively to the polymer substrate in an area covering the conductive element and extending at least a first distance past an outer edge of the conductive element. Then, a cutting operation is performed along a cutting path located a second distance from an outer edge of the passivation layer. The second distance is a minimum distance between the edge of the passivation layer and the cutting path that prevents a load applied at the second distance from causing a stress crack in the passivation layer.

Abstract: When a user operates a touch sensor panel having an LCD device outdoors or in a bright environment, light reflecting off the device can create glare. In order to reduce glare, a user can view the device through polarized filters such as polarized sunglasses. Doing so can reduce the visibility of the image displayed on the LCD. A quarter-wave retardation film can be added to the touch sensor panel's LCD device to mitigate these effects by producing circularly polarized light. However, adding a separate quarter-wave retardation film can increase the thickness and cost of manufacturing the touch sensor panel. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a touch sensor panel constructed from a base film having quarter-wave retardation properties that can produce circularly polarized light. Because the base film has the desired optical properties, a separate quarter-wave retardation film may not be needed.

Abstract: A method for fabricating a touch sensor panel is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate for the touch sensor panel, depositing a conductive material layer on a top surface of the substrate, depositing a metal layer on top of the conductive material layer, affixing a resist to a first area of the metal layer, the resist also adapted to serve as a passivation layer during passivation, removing metal from the metal layer outside of the first area; and performing passivation on the substrate while leaving the affixed resist intact.

Abstract: A method for fabricating a touch sensor panel is disclosed. The method includes providing a substrate for the touch sensor panel, depositing a conductive material layer on a top surface of the substrate, depositing a metal layer on top of the conductive material layer, affixing a resist to a first area of the metal layer, the resist also adapted to serve as a passivation layer during passivation, removing metal from the metal layer outside of the first area; and performing passivation on the substrate while leaving the affixed resist intact.

Abstract: A low-cost and efficient process producing improved organic electronic devices such as transistors that may be used in a variety of applications is described. The applications may include radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, displays and the like. In one embodiment, the improved process is implemented by flash annealing a substrate with an energy having wavelengths ranging from about 250 nm to about 1100 nm or higher. In this flash annealing process energy having wavelengths from about 250 nm to about 350 nm or higher is substantially prevented from irradiating the substrate.