CN113362704A

CN113362704A - Display device

Info

Publication number: CN113362704A
Application number: CN202010142007.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈谚宗; 谢旭闵; 赖俊延; 邓嘉峰
Original assignee: Hannstar Display Nanjing Corp; Hannstar Display Corp
Current assignee: Hannstar Display Nanjing Corp; Hannstar Display Corp
Priority date: 2020-03-04
Filing date: 2020-03-04
Publication date: 2021-09-07

Abstract

The invention discloses a display device which comprises a flexible display panel, a flexible supporting layer and a bending module. The bending module comprises a plurality of supporting elements and a connecting assembly, wherein the flexible supporting layer is arranged between the flexible display panel and the bending module. The support element comprises a rotating shaft extending along the first direction, and the length of the rotating shaft in the first direction is greater than or equal to the length of the flexible display panel in the first direction. The connecting assembly comprises two connecting elements, the two connecting elements correspond to the two supporting elements and are respectively arranged on the supporting elements and located on two sides of the first direction, and two end parts of the connecting elements are respectively connected to the rotating shafts of the supporting elements to form two rotating axes. Thereby, damage to components or lines in the flexible display panel can be avoided.

Description

Display device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a display device having a flexible display panel, and more particularly, to a display device having a flexible display panel with a better bending performance.

Background

With the development of flexible display technology, more and more products can be matched with flexible display panels, the flexible display panels can be bent or folded, and the flexible display panels with changeable shapes can be conveniently carried and can improve the convenience of users. However, when the flexible display panel is bent, the elements or circuits in the panel are easily damaged at the bent portion. For example, a typical flexible display panel has a plurality of very thin data lines, which are easily broken when the bending radius is small, and the user often perceives a visible crease when bending the data lines many times. Therefore, the problem caused by the above bending is a concern to those skilled in the art. The information disclosed in this background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a display device which can prevent elements or lines in a flexible display panel from being damaged.

The embodiment of the invention provides a display device, which comprises a flexible display panel, a flexible supporting layer and a bending module. The bending module comprises a plurality of supporting elements and a connecting assembly, wherein the flexible supporting layer is arranged between the flexible display panel and the bending module. The support element comprises a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft extends along a first direction, and the length of the rotating shaft in the first direction is greater than or equal to the length of the flexible display panel in the first direction. The connecting assembly comprises two connecting elements, the two connecting elements correspond to the two supporting elements and are respectively arranged on two sides of the supporting elements in the first direction, and two end parts of the connecting elements are respectively connected to the rotating shafts of the supporting elements to form two rotating axes.

In some embodiments, the number of the connecting members is greater than one, and the number of the rotating shafts is two and corresponds to two connecting members respectively. The bending module forms a plurality of curvature radiuses when the corresponding connecting components of the supporting elements rotate around the corresponding rotating shafts respectively.

In some embodiments, the distance between two of the connecting members is different from the distance between two other connecting members, and there are two radii of curvature that are different from each other.

In some embodiments, the support element has two first perforations, the rotation shaft being arranged in the first perforations.

In some embodiments, the connecting element includes a second through hole and a covering portion, and the corresponding rotation shaft passes through the second through hole and is connected to the covering portion.

In some embodiments, the display device further comprises a first adhesive layer disposed between the flexible display and the flexible support layer; and a second adhesive layer disposed between the flexible support layer and the support element.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the first adhesive layer is equal to or greater than the thickness of the second adhesive layer.

In some embodiments, the second adhesive layer is repositionable and the flexible support layer is detachable from the support member.

In some embodiments, the distance between the rotational axes is equal to or greater than the sum of the thickness of the flexible display, twice the thickness of the flexible support layer, the thickness of the support element, and twice the minimum tolerable radius of curvature of the flexible display panel.

In some embodiments, the distance between the rotational axes is greater than or equal to twice the minimum tolerated radius of curvature of the flexible display panel minus the sum of the thickness of the flexible display, twice the thickness of the flexible support layer, and the thickness of the support elements.

In the display device, because two rotation axes are arranged, a larger curvature radius can be formed, and the damage of elements or lines in the flexible display panel can be avoided.

In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

Fig. 1A is a side view of a display device along a cross-sectional line AA' according to an embodiment.

Fig. 1B is a top view of a display device according to an embodiment.

Fig. 1C is a partially exploded view of the bending module 130 according to an embodiment.

FIG. 1D is a side view of the display device of FIG. 1A shown bent inward according to one embodiment.

Fig. 2A is a side view of a display device according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2B is a side view of the display device being bent outward according to an embodiment.

Fig. 3A is a side view of a display device according to an embodiment.

Fig. 3B is a side view of the display device shown bent inward according to an embodiment.

Fig. 3C is a top view of a bending module according to an embodiment.

Fig. 4A is a side view of a display device according to an embodiment.

Fig. 4B is a side view of the display device being bent outward according to an embodiment.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of a flex module having a plurality of connection assemblies according to one embodiment.

Description of the main reference numerals:

100-display device, 110-flexible display panel, 120-flexible support layer, 130-bending module, AL 1-first adhesive layer, AL 2-second adhesive layer, RA1, RA 2-rotation axis, SE1, SE 2-support element, CE 1-connection element, AA' -cross-section line.

Detailed Description

As used herein, "first," "second," …, etc., do not denote any order or sequence, but rather denote the same order or sequence, and are used to distinguish one element from another.

Fig. 1A is a side view of a display device along a cross-sectional line AA' according to an embodiment. Fig. 1B is a top view of a display device according to an embodiment. Referring to fig. 1A and 1B, the display device 100 includes a flexible display panel 110, a first adhesive layer AL1, a flexible supporting layer 120, a second adhesive layer AL2, and a bending module 130. The flexible support layer 120 is disposed between the flexible display panel 110 and the bending module 130. The first adhesive layer AL1 is disposed between the flexible display panel 110 and the flexible support layer 120. The flexible display panel 110 is, for example, a flexible organic light emitting diode panel or a micro light emitting diode (micro led) display panel, and the first adhesive layer AL1 and the second adhesive layer AL2 may include any suitable adhesive material. The flexible supporting layer 120 has characteristics of high extensibility, bending resistance, repairability and the like, for example, a grid-shaped material woven by wire bodies has characteristics of tensile resistance and extrusion resistance, and if the grid-shaped material generates irregular planes, the irregular planes can be filled by the first adhesive layer AL1 and the second adhesive layer AL 2. In some embodiments, the thickness of the first adhesive layer AL1 is greater than or equal to the thickness of the second adhesive layer AL2, so that the flexible display panel 110 and the flexible support layer 120 have better adhesive force, and the adhesion and the tightness of the two are prevented from being reduced or even torn off due to multiple stress applications.

The bending module 130 includes two supporting elements SE1, SE2 and a connecting assembly CS1, wherein the second adhesive layer AL2 is disposed between the flexible supporting layer 120 and the supporting elements SE1, SE2, but the second adhesive layer AL2 does not contact the connecting assembly CS 1. Support elements SE1, SE2 are, for example, flat plates or strips of sufficient stiffness, which are adjacent to each other but not connected to each other in the second direction D2, wherein support element SE1 comprises a rotational axis RA1 on the side adjacent to support element SE2 and support element SE2 comprises a rotational axis RA2 on the side adjacent to support element SE 1. The rotation axes RA1, RA2 extend along the first direction D1, and the lengths of the rotation axes RA1, RA2 in the first direction D1 are greater than the length of the flexible display panel 110 in the first direction D1. The connecting assembly CS1 comprises connecting elements CE1, CE2, which connecting elements CE1, CE2 correspond to support elements SE1, SE2 and are located on both sides of support elements SE1, SE2 in the first direction D1. The connecting elements CE1, CE2 are intended to be connected to the support elements SE1, SE2 on the left and right. Specifically, connecting element CE1 is a rotating shaft RA1, RA2 disposed on the left side of fig. 1B extending toward second direction D2 to connect support elements SE1, SE2, and connecting element CE2 is a rotating shaft RA1, RA2 disposed on the right side of fig. 1B extending toward second direction D2 to connect support elements SE1, SE 2. In other words, both ends of each of the two connecting elements CE1, CE2 in the second direction D2 are connected to the rotational axes RA1, RA2 in the support elements SE1, SE2, respectively, to form two rotational axes RL1, RL2, respectively.

Fig. 1C is a partially exploded view of the bending module 130 according to an embodiment. Referring to fig. 1C, the supporting element SE1 has a first through hole 141, the rotating shaft RA1 is disposed in the first through hole 141, the supporting element SE2 has a first through hole 142, and the rotating shaft RA2 is disposed in the first through hole 142. In addition, the connection element CE2 includes two second through

holes

151, 152 and cover

portions

161, 162, the rotation shaft RA1 passes through the second through hole 151 and is connected to the cover portion 161, and the rotation shaft RA2 passes through the second through hole 152 and is connected to the cover portion 162. The

covers

161 and 162 are used to prevent the rotation shafts RA1 and RA2 from protruding from the connecting element CE2, and the

covers

161 and 162 can rotate together with the rotation shafts RA1 and RA2, respectively. The connecting element CE1 is disposed on the other side of the connecting element CE2 and has the same configuration as the connecting element CE2, and the connecting element CE1 is not shown in fig. 1C for simplicity. In some embodiments, the supporting element SE1 further comprises a through hole 143, the supporting element SE2 further comprises a through hole 144, and the two through

holes

143, 144 may be used to connect to other devices, or in some embodiments, the through

holes

143, 144 may be omitted, for example, the display panel is located at two ends of the bendable direction, which may not need to be located at the through

holes

143, 144 for aesthetic and functional considerations.

FIG. 1D is a side view of the display device of FIG. 1A shown bent inward according to one embodiment. Referring to fig. 1A and 1D, a portion of the flexible supporting layer 120 is attached to the supporting elements SE1 and SE2 through the second adhesive layer AL2, and the remaining portion of the flexible supporting layer 120 is not bonded to the supporting elements SE1 and SE2 and is exposed, so that the display panel 110 has better deformation and expansion when the display panel is bent. For example, the second adhesive layer AL2 is aligned with the axis of the rotating shafts RA1, RA 2. When the exposed portion of the flexible support layer 120 is bent and the rotation axes RA1, RA2 are correspondingly rotated, the flexible display panel 110 has a radius of curvature R. Since the two rotation axes RA1, RA2 are provided in this embodiment, the curvature radius R is larger than that of a device having only one rotation axis, so the stress generated on the flexible display panel 110 is smaller, and the elements or circuits in the flexible display panel 110 are less likely to be damaged. In some embodiments, the second adhesive layer AL2 can be repeatedly adhered and the flexible supporting layer 120 and the supporting elements SE1 and SE2 can be separated, so that the user can conveniently replace the bending module 130 or the maintenance man-hour can be reduced more effectively when the display device 100 is repaired.

The flexible display panel 110 has a minimum tolerable radius of curvature R_m. When the length of the connection element CE1 is too short, the radius of curvature R of the flexible display panel 110 may be smaller than the minimum allowable radius of curvature R_mAt this time, the elements or lines in the flexible display panel 110 may be damaged. In some embodiments, the length of the connecting element CE1 can thus be designed such that the distance T between the axes of rotation RA1, RA2₁Will be greater than or equal to the thickness T of the flexible display₂Twice the thickness T of the flexible support layer 120₃Thickness T of support element SE1₄And twice the minimum tolerated radius of curvature R_mThe sum of (a) and (b), in other words, the following equation (1) is satisfied.

T₁≥T₂+2×T₃+T₄+2×R_m…(1)

Since the radius of curvature R is calculated from the center point of the flexible display, the thickness T of the flexible display does not need to be calculated in the above equation (1)₂Multiplied by 2. Furthermore, given that the thickness of the support element SE1 is the same as the thickness of the support element SE2, the distance T between the axes of rotation RA1, RA2 is due to₁The upper half of the supporting element SE1 and the lower half of the supporting element SE2 are not covered, so the thickness T of the supporting element SE1 in the above equation (1)₄Nor does it need to be multiplied by 2. On the other hand, the thicknesses of the first adhesive layer AL1 and the second adhesive layer AL2 are omitted in the above equation (1), and in some embodiments, twice the thickness of the first adhesive layer AL1 and twice the thickness of the second adhesive layer AL2 may be added to the right side of the equation (1).

Fig. 2A is a side view of a display device according to an embodiment. Fig. 2B is a side view of the display device being bent outward according to an embodiment. FIGS. 2A and 2B are similar to FIG. 1AElements have the same reference numerals and the description of the same elements in fig. 2A and 2B is not repeated here. Unlike fig. 1A, in which the connecting element CE1 is relatively short in length in fig. 2A, the support elements SE1, SE2 may oppose each other (or may contact each other in some embodiments) when the display device 100 is bent outward. In the embodiment of fig. 2B, the flexible display panel 110 is bent with a radius of curvature R equal to the distance T between the rotational axes RA1, RA2₁Plus the thickness T of the flexible display panel 110₂Of the flexible supporting layer₃And the thickness T of the supporting element₄Since the radius of curvature R of the flexible display panel 110 must be greater than or equal to the minimum tolerable radius of curvature R_mTherefore, the following equation (2) must be satisfied, and the equation (2) can be rewritten as the following equation (3).

T₁≥2×R_m-(T₂+2×T₃+T₄)…(3)

In other words, the distance T between the axes of rotation RA1, RA2₁Will be more than or equal to two times the minimum tolerable radius of curvature R of the flexible display panel 110_mMinus the thickness T of the flexible display₂Twice the thickness T of the flexible support layer 120₃To the thickness T of the supporting element SE1₄The sum of (a) and (b). On the other hand, the thicknesses of the first adhesive layer AL1 and the second adhesive layer AL2 are omitted in the above equation (3), and in some embodiments, the sum of the two thicknesses of the first adhesive layer AL1 and the two thicknesses of the second adhesive layer AL2 may be subtracted from the right side of the equation (3).

In the embodiment of fig. 1A and 2A, the bending module 130 includes a connecting component CS1, the connecting component CS1 is used to form two rotation axes RL1 and RL2, so that the display device 100 can be bent (inward or outward) at the position where the connecting component CS1 is disposed to form a radius of curvature. In other embodiments, the bending module 130 may also include a plurality of connecting assemblies and more than 2 supporting elements, each connecting assembly corresponding to two supporting elements, each supporting element may include two rotating shafts to correspond to two connecting assemblies, and the bending module 130 may form a plurality of radii of curvature when the connecting assemblies rotate around the corresponding rotating shafts. For example, fig. 3A is a side view illustrating a display device according to an embodiment, and fig. 3B is a side view illustrating the display device being bent inward according to an embodiment. In the embodiment of fig. 3A and 3B, the bending module 130 includes 6 supporting elements SE 1-SE 6 and 5 connecting assemblies (each connecting assembly includes two opposite connecting elements, only one side connecting element CE 1-CE 5 is shown in fig. 3A and 3B for simplicity, but there may be more connecting elements and supporting elements in practical applications). The support element SE1 comprises a rotation axis RA1, RA 2; the support element SE2 comprises a rotation axis RA3, RA 4; the support element SE3 comprises a rotation axis RA5, RA 6; the support element SE4 comprises a rotation axis RA7, RA 8; the support element SE5 comprises a rotation axis RA9, RA 10; the support element SE6 comprises a rotational axis RA11, RA 12. Wherein the rotational shafts RA2, RA3 are connected to both ends of the connecting element CE 1; the rotation shafts RA4, RA5 are connected to both ends of the connection element CE 2; the rotation shafts RA6, RA7 are connected to both ends of the connection element CE 3; the rotation shafts RA8, RA9 are connected to both ends of the connection element CE 4; the rotation shafts RA10, RA11 are connected to both ends of the connection element CE 5. Each of the connecting elements CE 1-CE 6 may define a radius of curvature, for example, in the embodiment of fig. 3B, the display device 300 is bent inwardly between the support elements SE2, SE3, and the two rotational axes RA4, RA5 of the connecting element CE2 are correspondingly rotated, thereby defining a radius of curvature. By providing a plurality of connecting members, the display device 300 can be bent into an "S" shape, a zigzag shape, a square shape, a triangular shape, or other possible shapes.

In some embodiments, the distances between the connecting members may be the same or different, that is, the distance between two of the connecting members may not be the same as the distance between the other two connecting members. Each connecting member is configured to define a radius of curvature, which may be the same or different from each other. For example, fig. 3C is a top view of a bending module according to an embodiment. For simplicity, three linkage assemblies CS 1-CS 3 and four support elements SE 1-SE 4 are shown in FIG. 3C, with each linkage assembly CS 1-CS 3 including a corresponding linkage element CE 1-CE 6. Wherein the distance between the connection assembly CS1 and the connection assembly CS2 is greater than the distance between the connection assembly CS2 and the connection assembly CS 3. Furthermore, the length of connecting elements CE3, CE4 in second direction D2 is greater than the length of connecting elements CE1, CE2 in second direction D2, which results in a radius of curvature formed by connecting assembly CS2 that is greater than the radius of curvature formed by connecting assembly CS 1.

Fig. 4A is a side view of a display device according to an embodiment, and fig. 4B is a side view of the display device when it is bent outward according to an embodiment. In the embodiment of fig. 4A and 4B, the display device 400 includes supporting elements SE 1-SE 13 and connecting elements CE 1-CE 12, and when the display device 400 is bent outward between the supporting element SE2 and the supporting element SE3, two rotating shafts RA1, RA2 corresponding to the connecting element CE2 are correspondingly rotated to form a curvature radius. Likewise, by providing a plurality of connecting members, the display device 400 may be bent into an "S" shape, a zigzag shape, a square shape, a triangular shape, or other possible shapes.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of a flex module having a plurality of connection assemblies according to one embodiment. In the embodiment of fig. 5, the bending module 130 includes supporting elements SE 1-SE 3, wherein the supporting element SE1 includes through

holes

501, 502, a rotating shaft RA1 is disposed in the through hole 501, and a rotating shaft RA2 is disposed in the through hole 502. The supporting element SE2 includes through

holes

503, 504, and the rotating shaft RA3 is disposed in the through hole 503 and the rotating shaft RA4 is disposed in the through hole 504. The support element SE3 includes through

holes

505, 506, a rotation axis RA5 is disposed in the through hole 505, and a rotation axis RA6 is disposed in the through hole 506. The connection element CE1 includes a through hole 511 and a cover 521, and the rotation shaft RA1 passes through the through hole 511 to be connected to the cover 521. The connection element CE2 includes through

holes

512, 513 and covering

portions

522, 523, and the rotation shafts RA2, RA3 pass through the through

holes

512, 513 to be connected to the covering

portions

522, 523, respectively. Connection element CE3 includes through

holes

514, 515 and covers 524, 525, and rotation shafts RA4, RA5 pass through

holes

514, 515 to be connected to

covers

524, 525, respectively. The connection element CE4 includes a through hole 516 and a cover part 526, the rotation shaft RA6 passes through the through hole 516 to be connected to the cover part 526, and the through hole 517 and the cover part 527 can be used to connect other rotation shafts and support elements. The bending module of fig. 5 can be applied to the embodiments of fig. 3A, 3B, 4A and 4B.

In the display device, the bending module is used for supporting the flexible display panel to enable the flexible display panel to be bent inwards or outwards, and each connecting assembly corresponds to the two rotating shafts, so that the curvature radius can be increased, the stress on the flexible display panel is reduced, and the damage of elements or circuits in the flexible display panel is avoided. When the bending module is provided with a plurality of connecting components, the display device can be bent into a plurality of shapes more elastically, so that a plurality of types of bending states and diversification of application ends can be increased.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

a flexible display panel;

a flexible support layer; and

a bending module comprising a plurality of support elements and a connection assembly, wherein the flexible support layer is disposed between the flexible display panel and the bending module,

wherein each of the support elements includes a rotation axis extending along a first direction, and a length of the rotation axis in the first direction is equal to or greater than a length of the flexible display panel in the first direction,

wherein the connecting assembly includes two connecting members corresponding to two of the plurality of supporting members and respectively disposed at both sides of the two of the plurality of supporting members in the first direction, and both end portions of each of the two connecting members are respectively connected to the rotating shafts of the two of the plurality of supporting members to form two rotating axes.

2. The display apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of the connecting members is greater than one, the number of the rotation axes of the supporting members is two and corresponds to two of the connecting members, respectively, and the bending module forms a plurality of radii of curvature when the two of the connecting members corresponding to the supporting members rotate around the corresponding rotation axes, respectively.

3. The display apparatus of claim 2, wherein a distance between two of the connecting members is different from a distance between two of the connecting members, and two of the radii of curvature are different from each other.

4. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the support member has two first through holes, and the rotation shaft is disposed in the first through holes.

5. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the connection member includes a second through hole and a cover portion, and the corresponding rotation shaft passes through the second through hole and is connected to the cover portion.

6. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a first adhesive layer disposed between the flexible display and the flexible support layer; and

a second adhesive layer disposed between the flexible support layer and the support element.

7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein a thickness of the first adhesive layer is equal to or greater than a thickness of the second adhesive layer.

8. The display device of claim 6, wherein the second adhesive layer is capable of repeated affixation and the flexible support layer is separable from the support element.

9. The display device of claim 1, wherein a distance between the rotational axes is equal to or greater than a sum of a thickness of the flexible display, twice a thickness of the flexible support layer, a thickness of the support element, and twice a minimum tolerable radius of curvature of the flexible display panel.

10. The display device of claim 1, wherein a distance between the rotational axes is greater than or equal to two times a minimum tolerated radius of curvature of the flexible display panel minus a sum of a thickness of the flexible display, two times a thickness of the flexible support layer, and a thickness of the support element.