CN111064833A

CN111064833A - Folding assembly and foldable display device

Info

Publication number: CN111064833A
Application number: CN202010054463.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张文浩
Original assignee: Kunshan Govisionox Optoelectronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Kunshan Govisionox Optoelectronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-17
Filing date: 2020-01-17
Publication date: 2020-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-17
Also published as: CN111064833B

Abstract

The invention relates to a folding assembly, which comprises a first main body, a second main body, a hinge unit, a support body and a linkage piece. The hinge unit is connected between the first body and the second body; the support body is arranged on the first main body and the second main body and comprises a bendable part which is arranged opposite to the hinge unit; the linkage piece is connected between the bendable part of the support body and the hinge unit. Like this, but the linkage can make kink and hinge unit keep the linkage, and the bending of flexible display screen can not be restricted to the portion of can buckling, can not cause the extrusion to flexible display screen and produce the arch more. And the linkage piece provides a guiding force for the bendable part, so that the bendable part can generate controllable elastic deformation, the flatness of the supporting surface of the bendable part of the supporting body is ensured, and the surface flatness of the display device is further improved. A foldable display device is also provided.

Description

Folding assembly and foldable display device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of display, in particular to a folding assembly and a foldable display device.

Background

With the large-scale application of flexible display screens, foldable display devices (such as mobile phone terminals) have come into operation. The display device has a planar area and a bending area connected with each other, and the bending area can be deformed to expand or fold the planar area. When display device is in the expansion state, can realize the large screen display and show, when display device is in fold condition, be convenient for accomodate and carry.

When folding or expand display device in current design, the bending region of flexible display screen takes place to damage easily, and is higher to the bendability requirement of flexible display screen.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, it is desirable to provide a folding assembly and a foldable display device that can improve the above problem, in order to solve the problem that the bending region of the flexible display panel is easily damaged during bending.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a folding assembly comprising:

a first body and a second body;

a hinge unit connected between the first body and the second body to enable the first body to be folded or unfolded with respect to the second body;

the support body is arranged on the first main body and the second main body and comprises a bendable part which is arranged opposite to the hinge unit; and

and the linkage piece is connected between the bendable part of the support body and the hinge unit.

Foretell folding assembly, linkage can make kink and hinge unit keep the linkage, and the bending of flexible display screen can not be restricted to the portion of can buckling, can not cause the extrusion to flexible display screen and produce the arch even more. And the linkage piece provides a guiding force for the bendable part, so that the bendable part can generate controllable elastic deformation to adapt to the change of the gap between the first main body and the second main body, thereby ensuring the flatness of the supporting surface of the bendable part of the supporting body and further improving the surface flatness of the display device.

In one embodiment, the link is configured to have one end connected to the hinge unit and the other end connected to the bendable portion of the support body;

the linkage piece is used for providing a restraining force for keeping the bendable part of the supporting body and the hinge unit in linkage in the process of folding or unfolding the first main body and the second main body;

preferably, the linkage is resilient.

In one embodiment, the hinge unit includes a rotation shaft;

but the linkage connect in the supporter the kink with between the pivot, and can first main part with the relative rotation in-process of second main part is rolled up in the pivot.

In one embodiment, the linkage comprises a sheet of steel or titanium alloy.

In one embodiment, the linkage member includes a plurality of linkage members arranged at intervals from each other in the axial direction of the rotating shaft.

In one embodiment, projections of the plurality of the linkage members toward a virtual plane perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft are not parallel to each other.

In an embodiment, the hinge unit further comprises:

a first rotating part connected to the first body; and

a second rotating part connected to the second body;

the rotating shaft is fixed on one of the first rotating part and the second rotating part and is rotatably connected with the other of the first rotating part and the second rotating part.

In an embodiment, when the first body and the second body are in a folded state, a second gap is provided between the first body and the second body;

the folding assembly further includes a flexible connecting portion disposed on the first body and the second body, the flexible connecting portion spanning the second gap and spaced apart from the shaft.

In one embodiment, the flexible connection comprises a rubber material or a silicone material.

In one embodiment, the support body comprises:

the first support body is arranged on the first main body;

the second support body is arranged on the second main body; and

and the linkage piece is connected between the bendable part and the hinge unit.

In one embodiment, the bendable portion includes a bracket including:

the supporting parts are arranged along the direction of the first supporting body pointing to the second supporting body at intervals side by side;

a plurality of connecting portions connected between the first support body and the second support body and intersecting the plurality of support portions;

wherein the linkage is connected between the hinge unit and the support portion and/or the connecting portion.

In one embodiment, the elastic modulus of the connecting portion is smaller than the elastic modulus of the supporting portion.

In an embodiment, the supporting body further includes a supporting layer covering the first supporting body, the second supporting body and the bendable portion.

According to another aspect of the application, a display device is provided, which comprises a flexible display screen and the folding assembly.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible display screen in a bent state in the prior art;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a foldable display device in an unfolded state according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the foldable display device shown in FIG. 2 in a folded state;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a foldable display device in an embodiment of the present application in an unfolded state;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a foldable display device in another embodiment of the present application in an unfolded state;

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the foldable display device shown in FIG. 4 with the first and second body portions removed from the receptacles;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating a connection relationship between a hinge and a linkage of the foldable display device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic plan view of the support body of the foldable display device shown in fig. 4.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the invention, the invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As described in the background, a portable display device, such as a communication terminal, a game machine, a multimedia player, a portable computer, or a portable imaging device, generally includes a display screen capable of both displaying an image and having a touch function. Some of these display devices have a foldable structure, for example, the above-mentioned display device has two housings foldable with each other, and one display screen is provided on each of the two housings, so that although the foldable is realized, a large screen display cannot be provided. With the development of flexible display screens, flexible display screens have been applied to display devices having a folding structure, in which case the flexible display screen may be disposed over two housings and span a foldable structure between the two housings. In such a display device, effective support of the flexible display panel to provide the flexible display panel with good flatness and impact resistance is an important aspect of improving the quality of the foldable display device.

In some existing foldable display devices, only the non-bent portion of the flexible display screen is supported, and because the strength and rigidity of the flexible display screen are poor, the bent portion is easy to arch, and when a user presses the bent portion of the flexible display screen or holds the display device to apply force to the bent portion of the flexible display screen, the bent portion of the flexible display screen is easy to collapse due to failure of support, and further damage is caused. In other existing display devices, a certain supporting structure (e.g., a supporting sheet) is disposed on a back surface of a bending portion of a flexible display screen, but if the supporting structure has too high rigidity, the bending movement of the flexible display screen is limited, and if the rigidity is too low, the flatness of the flexible display screen cannot be effectively improved, as shown in fig. 1, the bent flexible display screen may have ripples. In addition, when the flexible display screen is sharply bent, the flexible display screen is easily damaged, and the curvature radius of the flexible display screen cannot be effectively limited.

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a folding assembly and a foldable display device, which can preferably improve the above problems.

Before proceeding with the detailed description, some of the contents will be explained first.

The foldable display device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone. The touch screen can comprise a flexible display screen with only a display function, and can also comprise a flexible display screen with a touch function. The flexible Display screen may be, for example, a flexible OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) Display screen, a flexible Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), or other types of flexible Display screens. When the mobile phone is in a folded state, the space occupied by the mobile phone can be smaller, so that the mobile phone is convenient to store and carry. When the mobile phone is in the unfolding state, the mobile phone can have a larger display area, so that a user can operate and read the mobile phone conveniently.

For another example, the foldable display device may be a tablet computer, wherein when the tablet computer is in a folded state, if the tablet computer is folded toward the display surface side, a part of the tablet computer may be horizontally placed to be configured as a display keyboard so as to form an office operation area, and another part may be obliquely placed to be configured as a display image or text so as to form an office display area. Thus, the user can conveniently carry out mobile office operation or game operation. For example, the foldable display device may be an electronic book, and in this case, the electronic book may be folded to have a better folding effect similar to a book.

For another example, the foldable display device may be a notebook computer, and the flexible display screen may extend to the keyboard region to expand the display area.

The flatness of the flexible display screen refers to the flatness of the surface of the bendable portion of the display device when the bendable portion is not bent, and the smoothness of the surface of the bendable portion when the bendable portion is bent. The round refers to that the surface of the bendable part has no or little lines or unevenness when being bent. The less the problems of surface lines or unevenness and the like of the bendable part during bending, the higher the smoothness of the surface of the bendable part during bending, and the higher the surface flatness of the bendable part during bending.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a foldable display device in an unfolded state according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of the foldable display device shown in FIG. 2 in a folded state; FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a foldable display device in an embodiment of the present application in an unfolded state; FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a foldable display device in another embodiment of the present application in an unfolded state; for the purpose of illustration, the drawings show only the structures relevant to the present application.

Referring to the drawings, a foldable display device 10 according to an embodiment of the present application has a first flat region 12, a curved region 14, and a second flat region 16 connected in series. The curved region 14 is capable of deforming to cause the first flat region 12 to unfold (as shown in fig. 2) or fold (as shown in fig. 3) relative to the second flat region 16. The foldable display device 10 includes a flexible display 20 and a folding assembly 30, wherein the folding assembly 30 includes a first main body 32, a second main body 34, a hinge unit 36 and a support (not shown). The hinge unit 36 is connected between the first body 32 and the second body 34 to enable the first body 32 to rotate relative to the second body 34. The supporting body is disposed on the same side of the first body 32 and the second body 34, and specifically, the supporting body includes a first supporting body 382, a second supporting body 386, and a bendable portion 384 located between the first supporting body 382 and the second supporting body 386, the first supporting body 382 is correspondingly disposed on the first body 32, the second supporting body 386 is disposed on the second body 34, and the bendable portion 384 is disposed opposite to the hinge unit 36 and has a first gap. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the length direction of the foldable display device 10 is perpendicular to the axis X of the rotating shaft of the first body 32 and the second body 34, and the width direction of the foldable display device 10 is parallel to the axis X of the rotating shaft of the first body 32 and the second body 34.

The flexible display screen 20 is disposed on the folding assembly 30, the flexible display screen 20 includes a first display area 22, a curved display area 24 and a second display area 26, the first display area 22 is supported on the first supporting body 382, the second display area 26 is supported on the second supporting body 386, and the curved display area 24 is supported on the bendable portion 384. As an embodiment, the foldable display device 10 may be folded inward, that is, when it is in a folded state, the first display area 22 and the second display area 26 of the flexible display 20 are disposed opposite to each other, and at this time, neither the first display area 22 nor the second display area 26 of the flexible display 20 may be displayed. In another embodiment, the foldable display device 10 can be folded outwards, that is, when the display device is in a folded state, the first display area 22 and the second display area 26 of the flexible display screen 20 are disposed opposite to each other, and the display device is reduced in size in the length direction thereof, so that the display device is convenient to store and carry. At this time, at least one of the first display region 22, the curved display region 24, and the second display region 26 of the flexible display screen 20 can perform display.

In some embodiments, the first body 32 and the second body 34 each include a cover and a receiving portion, the receiving portion is disposed on the cover, the receiving portion has a receiving space, and the hinge unit 36 is connected between the cover of the first body 32 and the cover of the second body 34. Specifically, the first body 32 includes a first cover 322 and a first receiving portion 324, the second body 34 includes a second cover 342 and a second receiving portion 344, and the first cover 322 and the second cover 342 are rotatably connected by the hinge unit 36. The first accommodating portion 324 is disposed on the first cover 322, the second accommodating portion 344 is disposed on the second cover 342, the first supporting body 382 is disposed on the first accommodating portion 324, and the second supporting body 386 is disposed on the second accommodating portion 344, such that the first gap is formed between the bendable portion 384 of the supporting body and the hinge unit 36. The display device further includes a plurality of components, which are received in the first receiving portion 324 and the second receiving portion 344. There are various arrangements of the components in the first and second receiving

portions

324 and 344, which is not strictly limited in the present application. A plurality of components and parts can include many in circuit board, treater, memory, battery, the module of making a video recording, sensor module, audio frequency module, fingerprint module, wireless communication module, mobile communication module, motor module etc.. The processor and memory may be secured to the circuit board. The flexible display screen 20, the memory, the battery, the camera module and other modules are coupled with the processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the folding assembly 30 further includes a link 39, and the link 39 is connected between the bendable portion 384 of the supporting body and the hinge unit 36 and located in the aforementioned first gap. Specifically, the link 39 has elasticity, the link 39 is configured to have one end connected to the hinge unit 36 and the other end connected to the bendable portion 384 of the supporting body, and the link 39 is used to provide a restraining force for keeping the bendable portion 384 of the supporting body and the hinge unit 36 in linkage during the folding or unfolding of the first and

second bodies

32 and 34. Specifically, when the hinge unit 36 rotates when the first body 32 and the second body 34 are folded, the link 39 is pulled, and the link 39 forces the bendable portion 384 of the support body to be elastically deformed in a direction approaching the hinge unit 36. When the first body 32 and the second body 34 are unfolded, the hinge unit 36 rotates in the opposite direction, and the bendable part 384 of the supporting body and the link 39 have elasticity, so that the supporting body is elastically deformed in a direction away from the hinge unit 36 by the elastic restoring force of the bendable part 384 of the supporting body and the link 39.

It should be understood that, since the flexible display 20 of the foldable display device 10 is relatively flexible and has poor surface flatness, the flexible display 20 is supported by a support body disposed on the back surface of the flexible display 20 to improve the surface flatness of the terminal device. However, the thickness of the supporting body (e.g. supporting sheet, supporting block) in the prior art can limit the bending movement of the terminal device, and the thickness of the supporting body is too thin, which can not effectively improve the surface flatness of the terminal device. By setting linkage between the bendable part 384 of the support body and the hinge unit 36, on one hand, the bendable part 384 of the support body can support the flexible display screen 20 together with the first support body 382 and the second support body 386, and assist the bending part of the flexible display screen 20 to maintain a stable shape, when the bending part of the flexible display screen 20 is subjected to an external force (for example, a user presses or touches the flexible display screen 20, or the user holds the electronic device and applies a force to the bending part of the flexible display screen 20), the risk of collapse or indent is reduced, the flatness and reliability of the flexible display screen 20 are improved, and meanwhile, the appearance and touch feeling of the flexible display screen 20 are also improved. On the other hand, due to the arrangement of the elastic linkage 39, it can provide a restraining force for keeping the bendable part 384 of the support body and the hinge unit 36 in linkage, so that the bendable part 384 of the support body does not limit the bending of the flexible display 20, and further does not cause the extrusion of the flexible display 20 to generate a bulge. And in the process of folding or unfolding the display device, a guiding force is provided for the bendable part 384 of the support body, so that the bendable part 384 of the support body can be subjected to controllable elastic deformation to adapt to the change of the gap between the first main body 32 and the second main body 34, thereby ensuring the flatness of the supporting surface of the bendable part 384 of the support body, further ensuring the more smooth bending of the flexible display screen 20, and improving the surface flatness of the display device.

Fig. 6 illustrates a schematic plan view of the foldable display device shown in fig. 4 with the first and

second bodies

32 and 34 removed from the receiving portion; fig. 7 shows a schematic plan view of the support body of the foldable display device shown in fig. 4.

In some embodiments, the hinge unit 36 includes a shaft assembly, and the first body 32 and the second body 34 are rotatable about an axis X of the shaft assembly. Specifically, the rotation shaft assembly includes a first rotation part 364, a second rotation part 366, and a rotation shaft 362, the first rotation part 364 is connected to a side of the first body 32 directed to the second body 34, and the second rotation part 366 is connected to a side of the second body 34 directed to the first body 32. The rotation shaft 362 is fixedly connected to one of the first rotation portion 364 and the second rotation portion 366, and can rotate relative to the other of the first rotation portion 364 and the second rotation portion 366. As shown in fig. 6, in some embodiments, the first rotating portion 364 and the second rotating portion 366 each include two, the two first rotating portions 364 are located at the top end position and the bottom end position of the bending region 14 of the display device, two ends of the rotating shaft 362 are respectively fixed to the two first rotating portions 364, and the two second rotating portions 366 are located between the two first rotating portions 364 and rotatably connected to the rotating shaft 362 along the axis X direction of the rotating shaft of the rotating assembly, so that the first body 32 and the second body 34 can relatively rotate around the rotating shaft 362. In this way, during the relative rotation process of the first main body 32 and the second main body 34, the stress is more uniform, the rotation is more stable, and the first rotating portion 364 and the second rotating portion 366 have no stacking relation in the thickness direction of the display device and are approximately flatly laid between the first main body 32 and the second main body 34, which is beneficial to reducing the thickness of the bending region 14 of the display device, so as to realize lightness and thinness. In addition, a receiving space (the aforementioned first gap) is provided for the linkage 39, and the bendable portion 384 of the support body is prevented from directly contacting the rotating shaft 362 during the rotation of the first main body 32 and the second main body 34, so that a sufficient bending space is provided for the flexible display panel 20.

The link 39 is connected between the bendable portion 384 of the support body and the rotating shaft 362, and can be wound around the rotating shaft 362 during the folding process of the first body 32 and the second body 34. In one embodiment, the link 39 is in the form of a thin plate, and has one end fixed to the rotating shaft 362 and the other end fixed to the bendable portion 384 of the support. The first body 32 is wound around the rotating shaft 362 during the rotation of the first body 32 relative to the second body 34 in the predetermined direction to pull the bendable part 384 of the support to realize the linkage, and the linkage 39 can be gradually reset during the rotation of the first body 32 relative to the second body 34 in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, but maintains the linkage between the bendable part 384 of the support and the rotating shaft 362. As a preferred embodiment, the linkage member 39 comprises a steel sheet or a titanium alloy sheet, and the linkage member 39 has a certain flexibility as well as a good rigidity, so as to ensure the normal folding and unfolding of the display device and to improve the service life of the hinge unit 36.

It is understood that in some embodiments, the first and second

rotating portions

364 and 366 may be integrally formed on the first and

second bodies

32 and 34, respectively.

It is also understood that in other embodiments, the form of the shaft 362 assembly may be other, and is not limited herein.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view illustrating a connection relationship between a hinge and a link of a foldable display device according to an embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the linkage member 39 may include a plurality of linkage members 39, and the plurality of linkage members 39 are arranged at intervals from each other in the direction of the axis X of the rotating shaft. In some embodiments, the linkage members 39 may be elongated, each linkage member 39 has the same width, and the distance between two adjacent linkage members 39 in the direction of the axis X of the rotating shaft is equal. Therefore, the constraint force for linkage between the bendable part 384 of the support body and the rotating shaft 362 can be kept consistent at different positions, the flatness of the supporting surface of the bendable part 384 of the support body is further ensured, the flexible display screen 20 is bent more smoothly, and the surface flatness of the display device is improved.

Further, projections of the plurality of links 39 into a virtual plane perpendicular to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362 are not parallel to each other, and as shown in fig. 7, projections of the plurality of links 39 into a virtual plane perpendicular to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362 are radial around the axis of the rotating shaft 362. In some embodiments, the line connecting the plurality of linkage members 39 to the connection points of the rotating shaft 362 is parallel to the axis X direction of the rotating shaft; the connection points of the plurality of link members 39 to the bendable parts 384 of the support body are disposed offset from each other in a direction in which the first body 32 is directed toward the second body 34.

It should be understood that the reliability of the flexible display 20 is macroscopically a measure of how much of the element is now able to resist elastic deformation, and microscopically a measure of the bonding strength between atoms, ions or molecules. When the flexible display panel 20 is bent and folded, the display panel is subjected to tensile stress and compressive stress along the bending direction, the flat display regions (the first display region 22 and the second display region 26) are mainly subjected to tensile stress, and the bent display region 24 is mainly subjected to compressive stress, and generally, the tensile stress is smaller than the compressive stress, so that the sub-pixels of the bent display region 24 are more easily damaged. Further, the position of the curved display region 24 close to the flat display region is more easily damaged during the folding process, and therefore, the plurality of linkage members 39 are disposed not parallel to each other, so that the direction and the magnitude of the aforementioned constraining force applied to the bendable portion 384 of the support body at different positions are different, so as to ensure that the surface of the flexible display screen 20 supported by the bendable portion 384 of the support body has a higher flatness, thereby further ensuring the flatness of the surface of the display device.

In some embodiments, when the first body 32 and the second body 34 are in the collapsed state, there is a second gap between the first body 32 and the second body 34. As shown in fig. 6, two ends of the two first rotating portions 364 are fixedly connected to the rotating shaft 362, and two second rotating portions 366 are rotatably sleeved on the rotating shaft 362, so that a second gap is formed between the first main body 32 and the second main body 34. This prevents interference during relative rotation of the first and

second bodies

32 and 34, but exposes portions of the hinge unit 36 to the outside. The folding assembly 30 further includes a flexible connecting portion 368, the flexible connecting portion 368 is disposed on the first main body 32 and the second main body 34, and spans the second gap and is spaced apart from the rotation axis, so that the flexible connecting portion 368 can protect the hinge unit 36 on one hand, and can stretch or contract with the first main body 32 and the second main body 34 during the relative rotation process, thereby ensuring the stability of the rotation between the first main body 32 and the second main body 34. In particular embodiments, the flexible connection portion 368 includes an elastically stretchable material, such as, but not limited to, a rubber material, a silicone material, a Thermoplastic polyurethane Elastomer (TPU), or a Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE).

Fig. 8 shows a schematic plan view of the support body of the foldable display device shown in fig. 4.

In some embodiments of the present application, referring to fig. 4 and 8, the bendable portion 384 of the support body includes a bracket including a plurality of supporting portions 383 and a plurality of connecting portions 385, the plurality of supporting portions 383 are arranged along the first supporting body 382 toward the second supporting body 386 at intervals side by side, and the connecting portions 385 are connected to the first supporting body 382 and the second supporting body 386 and intersect with the plurality of supporting portions 383. The supporting portion 383 is used for supporting the flexible display 20, and the connecting portion 385 is used for providing bending elasticity for the bendable portion 384. Illustratively, the plurality of supporting portions 383 are strip-shaped and parallel to each other, and the plurality of connecting portions 385 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to each other and fixedly connected to one side of the supporting portions 383 facing the hinge unit, as shown in fig. 8, the supporting portions 383 are parallel to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362 and are arranged at intervals along a direction perpendicular to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362, and the connecting portions 385 are perpendicular to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362 and are arranged at intervals along a direction parallel to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362, so as to form a grid-shaped or bamboo-shaped structure. In this way, the plurality of supporting portions 383 and the plurality of connecting portions 385 are arranged in a crossing manner, so that the bendable portion 384 of the supporting body can have a plurality of gaps, and when the bendable portion 384 is bent, the gaps can absorb stress generated during bending, and the bending movement of the display device is not limited. And the plurality of supporting parts 383 and the connecting parts 385 form a bamboo slip type structure, which may have good mechanical strength, thereby better supporting the flexible display screen 20.

It is particularly noted that the radius of curvature of the inner peripheral surface of the bracket is smaller than the radius of curvature of the outer peripheral surface of the bracket at the time of folding in, and it is known that the larger the radius of curvature, the smaller the curvature, and the smaller the degree of bending, so that the degree of bending of the connecting portion 385 at the time of folding in is smaller compared to the degree of bending of the flexible display 20 at the inner peripheral surface of the bracket. The bracket is bendable by means of the connection part 385, which is located at the outer side (the side far away from the flexible display panel 20) of the support part 383, so that the bending degree of the connection part 385 is smaller than that of the flexible display panel 20 when the bracket is folded. In this way, a bending space can be reserved for bending the flexible display screen 20, in other words, when the flexible display screen is folded, the bending degree of the connecting portion 385 is smaller than that of the flexible display panel 20, and the connecting portion 385 does not limit the bending of the flexible display screen 20. In addition, the flexible display panel can be protected by the connecting portion 385, for example, when the flexible display panel is folded, the connecting portion 385 is set to reach a bending limit at first and cannot be bent continuously, at this time, the flexible display screen 20 does not reach the bending limit, and when the flexible display screen 20 is bent sharply, the flexible display screen 20 can be protected.

Wherein the linkage 39 is connected between the hinge unit 36 and the support 383 and/or the connection 385. In an embodiment, an end of the link 39 away from the rotation shaft 362 may be welded or clamped with the support portion 383 and/or the connection portion 385. For example, when the linkage members 39 are plural and are arranged at intervals along the axis X of the rotating shaft, one end of each linkage member 39 far from the rotating shaft 362 may be fixedly connected to one of the supporting portions 383 or the connecting portion 385.

It should be understood that the support portion 383 in the bracket is used for supporting the flexible display screen 20, and the connecting portion 385 provides the bracket with sufficient bending performance, therefore, preferably, the elastic modulus of the connecting portion 385 is smaller than that of the support portion 383, for example, the support portion 383 may be a steel strip, and the connecting portion 385 is a thinner steel strip or a thinner steel wire. Therefore, the flexible display screen 20 can be supported well while having good bending performance.

It should also be understood that a plurality of the supporting portions 383 are arranged at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the axis X of the rotating shaft 362, and in the unfolded state of the display device, two adjacent supporting portions 383 have an interval therebetween. As shown in fig. 4, the bottom side (the side connected to the connection part 385) of each support part 383 is fixedly disposed with the connection part 385, and the top side of each support part 383 is the free side. When the user sharply bends the display device, the radius of curvature of the inner circumferential surface (free side) of the bracket is smaller than that of the outer circumferential surface of the bracket, and therefore, the free sides of the support portions 383 come close to or contact each other during the folding of the display device, causing the aforementioned interval to gradually decrease or disappear. If the display device is further bent, the free sides of the support portions 383 come into contact with each other to provide a certain restraining effect, and the user feels a certain retarding force, so that the bending manner is not further adopted. In this way, the reliability of the foldable display device 10 and the user experience are improved.

In other embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the supporting portion 383 may be provided with a guiding groove, and the connecting portion 385 is fixed to the guiding groove, so as to connect the supporting portions 383 to form a supporting structure in a grid or bamboo.

It is understood that the cross-sectional shape of the supporting portion 383 may be rectangular in some embodiments, and the cross-sectional shape of the supporting portion 383 may also be other shapes, such as trapezoidal, in other embodiments, which are not limited herein.

In some embodiments, the support further comprises a support layer 388 covering the first support 382, the second support 386, and the bendable portion 384. In particular embodiments, the supporting layer 388 may be a silicone layer, a woven cloth, a rubber layer, or other film layer with certain flexibility and flexibility. In this way, the mechanical strength of the bendable portion 384 can be further improved, so that the portion of the flexible display 20 corresponding to the bendable portion 384 is relatively supported without limiting the bending movement of the display device, the surface flatness of the bending region 14 of the display device is improved, and the flatness of the entire surface of the entire terminal device is also improved.

In the display device of the embodiment of the application, the bendable part 384 of the supporting body can support the flexible display screen 20 together with the first supporting body 382 and the second supporting body 386, and the bent part of the auxiliary flexible display screen 20 maintains a stable shape, thereby improving the flatness and reliability of the flexible display screen 20. The linkage 39 can provide a restraining force for keeping the bendable part 384 of the support body and the hinge unit 36 in linkage, so that the bendable part 384 of the support body does not limit the bending of the flexible display 20, and further does not cause the extrusion of the flexible display 20 to generate a protrusion. And in the process of folding or unfolding the display device, a guiding force is provided for the bendable part 384 of the support body, so that the bendable part 384 of the support body can be subjected to controllable elastic deformation to adapt to the change of the gap between the first main body 32 and the second main body 34, thereby ensuring the flatness of the supporting surface of the bendable part 384 of the support body, further ensuring the more smooth bending of the flexible display screen 20, and improving the surface flatness of the display device.

In addition, the bracket is formed by the plurality of supporting parts 383 and the plurality of connecting parts 385 which are arranged crosswise, so that the bendable part 384 of the supporting body can have a plurality of gaps which can absorb stress generated during bending, and the bending movement of the display device is not limited. And the free sides of the support portions 383 spaced apart from each other may contact each other during a sharp bending process to play a certain limiting role, thereby improving the reliability of the foldable display apparatus 10 and the user experience.

The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A folding assembly, comprising:

a first body and a second body;

2. The folding assembly of claim 1 wherein said linkage is configured to be connected at one end to said hinge unit and at the other end to a bendable portion of said support body;

the linkage piece is used for providing a restraining force for keeping the bendable part of the support body and the hinge unit in linkage in the process of folding or unfolding the first main body and the second main body;

preferably, the linkage is resilient.

3. A folding assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said hinge unit comprises a rotary shaft;

the linkage piece is connected between the bendable part of the support body and the rotating shaft and can be wound on the rotating shaft in the relative rotating process of the first main body and the second main body;

preferably, the linkage comprises a steel or titanium alloy sheet.

4. The folding assembly of claim 3 wherein said linkage member includes a plurality of said linkage members, said plurality of said linkage members being spaced from one another in the axial direction of said rotatable shaft;

preferably, projections of the plurality of the links toward a virtual plane perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft are not parallel to each other.

5. The folding assembly of claim 3 wherein said hinge unit further comprises:

a first rotating part connected to the first body; and

a second rotating part connected to the second body;

6. A folding assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein when said first and second bodies are in a folded condition, there is a second gap between said first and second body portions;

the folding assembly further comprises a flexible connecting portion disposed on the first body and the second body, the flexible connecting portion spanning the second gap and spaced apart from the shaft;

preferably, the flexible connection portion comprises a rubber material or a silicone material.

7. A folding assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said support body comprises:

the first support body is arranged on the first main body;

the second support body is arranged on the second main body; and

8. The folding assembly of claim 7 wherein said foldable portion comprises a bracket, said bracket comprising:

9. The folding assembly of claim 7 wherein said support further comprises a support layer overlying said first support, said second support and said flexible portion.

10. A display device comprising a flexible display and a folding assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.