CN113781918A

CN113781918A - Flexible display device

Info

Publication number: CN113781918A
Application number: CN202111122132.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 景小红
Original assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-24
Filing date: 2021-09-24
Publication date: 2021-12-10

Abstract

A flexible display device comprises a storage box body, a curling mechanism and a power driving mechanism. The storage box body comprises a containing space and a side opening communicated with the containing space, the curling mechanism is accommodated in the containing space and comprises a support structure for supporting the display screen and a transmission structure for driving the display screen to move. The power driving mechanism is accommodated in the accommodating space and comprises a supporting structure and a transmission structure which are driven synchronously, so that the display screen is unfolded or rolled from the side opening. The power driving mechanism comprises a hinge motor for driving the supporting structure and a driving motor for driving the transmission structure, and the display screen cannot be contacted with any mechanism in the whole dynamic process of storage and expansion, so that the risk of damage to the display screen is effectively reduced.

Description

Flexible display device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a flexible display, and more particularly, to a flexible display device having a flexible display screen that can be extended or retracted from one side of a storage case.

Background

With the development and popularization of Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display technology, the application forms of display products are more and more abundant, the traditional planar static display is broken through, the occupation requirements of people on large-size display and small space are more and more strong, the application of display screens gradually develops towards two directions of adjustable display area (changeable size) and minimization (contraction) of occupied space, for example, a curled television and a folded screen appearing in the current market are generated by meeting the requirements of large-size display and small size. With the continuous progress of flexible technologies, the application of flexible OLEDs will become more and more abundant in the future.

At present, the screen body and the material have higher requirements for reliability no matter in a curled state or a bent state, and the curled state has the risk of easily causing friction damage between the screen bodies or generating particles (particles) to stab the screen because of the contact between the back surface and the front surface of the screen body. Therefore, in order to expand the application of flexible display and reduce the technical threshold of flexible application, a new storage form needs to be developed to solve the risk of technical application.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a flexible display device, wherein in the whole dynamic process of storage and expansion, a display screen cannot be in contact with any mechanism, so that the display screen cannot be damaged by friction or stabbed by particles, and the risk of damage to the display screen is effectively reduced.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flexible display device for unfolding or rolling a display screen including a plurality of pixels, the flexible display device including a storage box, a rolling mechanism and a power driving mechanism. The storage box body comprises a containing space and a side opening communicated with the containing space, the curling mechanism is accommodated in the containing space and comprises a support structure for supporting the display screen and a transmission structure for driving the display screen to move. The power driving mechanism is accommodated in the accommodating space and comprises a supporting structure and a transmission structure which are driven synchronously, so that the display screen is unfolded or rolled from the side opening. The power drive mechanism includes a hinge motor that drives the support structure and a drive motor that drives the transmission structure.

Preferably, each of the first support rods is driven to rotate by the connection of the hinge motor, and each of the hinges is disposed between the first support rod and the second support rod and between the second support rod and the transverse support rod.

Preferably, the display device further comprises a plurality of toothed chain units driving each rack to move, each toothed chain unit is arranged on the left side and the right side of the storage box body and is adjacent to the hinge motor, and when the hinge motor drives each first support rod to unfold from the storage box body in a rotating manner, each hinge rotates each second support rod and the transverse support rod, so that the display screen unfolds from the side opening.

Preferably, the transmission structure includes a plurality of gear discs, a plurality of gear chain units engaged with the gear discs, and a plurality of racks connected to each of the gear chain units, wherein any pair of the gear discs is disposed on two corresponding inner walls of the storage box, and each pair of the adjacent gear discs is disposed in a staggered manner, so that the display screen is in a continuous movement track in the accommodating space.

Preferably, each of the chain units includes a body, a first lug, a second lug, a rack transmission hole, a fluted disc transmission hole and a plurality of fixing members, the first lug and the second lug are convexly disposed on two corresponding sides of the body, and the rack transmission hole and the fluted disc transmission hole are disposed on two other two sides of the body.

Preferably, the continuous moving trajectory includes an S-shape, a spiral shape, a W-shape or a bow shape, a pitch of each of the rack chain units is the same as a pitch of each of the racks, and a radius of the continuous moving trajectory is set by adjusting the pitch of the racks.

Preferably, each the shape of chain unit is the ellipse circular body, the shape in fluted disc drive hole is the rectangular hole, the shape in rack drive hole is the circular port, the display screen show the face towards keeping away from the direction setting in fluted disc drive hole.

Preferably, the second lug includes two ear portions, a gap formed between the ear portions, and an opening penetrating through the ear portions, the first lug is inserted into the gap, and each of the tooth chain units is fixedly connected by the fixing member passing through the opening and the first lug.

Preferably, the transmission structure further comprises a take-up reel, and the take-up reel is accommodated in the accommodating space and used for taking up or releasing the display screen.

The invention also has the following effect that in the process of unfolding or containing the display screen, the transverse supporting rod of the supporting structure acts on the back surface of the top end of the display screen and drives the display screen to move through the meshing transmission of the fluted disc of the transmission structure and the plurality of racks/the plurality of toothed chain units, so that the display screen cannot be stretched. Moreover, every pair of adjacent fluted disc crisscross setting makes the continuous movement track of display screen adopt the positive and negative direction bending of S-shaped, and the effectual risk that has reduced the marginal rete that unidirectional curling caused and has slided and peel (peeling). The continuous moving track of accomodating of display screen is S-shaped displacement for example, makes the display screen accomodate the back and can not contact with other structures to the protection display screen. Finally, the pitch of each toothed chain unit is the same as the pitch of each rack, and the pitch of the racks can be adjusted according to the size of the display screen and the requirement of the radius (R) of the continuous moving track, so that different radius requirements are met.

Drawings

In order to illustrate the embodiments or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the invention, and it is obvious for a person skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a flexible display device according to the present invention, with a curling mechanism rolled in a storage case;

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen of a flexible display device of the present invention being stored in a storage box in a longitudinal direction;

FIG. 2B is a diagram of an embodiment of the display screen of the flexible display device of the present invention being stored in the storage box in a horizontal direction;

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the curling mechanism of the flexible display device of the present invention being unfolded from the receiving case;

FIG. 4A is a schematic view of the display screen of the flexible display device being unfolded and then being stored in the storage box in the longitudinal direction;

FIG. 4B is a view of another embodiment of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a single toothed chain unit of the flexible display device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a schematic partial perspective view of a transmission mechanism of a flexible display device according to the present invention, i.e., a schematic perspective view of a gear plate engaged with a plurality of gear units and driving a plurality of racks to move;

FIG. 6B is a perspective view of another embodiment of the transmission mechanism of the flexible display device according to the present invention, which is a schematic perspective view of each rack directly engaged by the fluted disc;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the flexible display device of the present invention being unfolded or stored in the storage box via the transmission mechanism;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of another perspective of FIG. 7; and

fig. 9 is a partially enlarged schematic view of fig. 8.

Detailed Description

Reference in the detailed description to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the same phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily limited to the same embodiment, but are to be construed as independent or alternative embodiments to other embodiments. In light of the disclosure of the embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described in the present invention can have other combinations or variations consistent with the concept of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4B, fig. 1 to 2B are schematic plan views of a flexible display device according to the present invention, in which a curling mechanism is rolled in a storage box, and a display screen is rolled in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction of the storage box along a continuous moving track. Fig. 3 to 4B are schematic plan views of the winding mechanism of the flexible display device of the present invention being unwound from the storage box, and schematic continuous movement traces of the display screen moving in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the unwinding of the storage box. The invention provides a flexible display device 100, which can unfold or roll up a display screen P comprising a plurality of pixels (not shown), wherein the flexible display device 100 comprises a containing box body 110, a curling mechanism 120 and a power driving mechanism 180. The display panel P referred to herein is preferably an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display panel; however, in other alternative embodiments, the display panel P may be a micro-LED (micro-LED), a submillimeter LED (Mini-LED), or other suitable flexible display panel.

The storage box 110 includes an accommodating space 112 and a side opening 114 communicating with the accommodating space 112, wherein the side opening 114 is preferably a rectangular opening and has a size larger than the sum of the size of the display screen P and the thickness of the curling mechanism 120, so that the curling mechanism 120 can smoothly drive the display screen P to enter and exit the side opening 114. The curling mechanism 120 is accommodated in the accommodating space 112, and the curling mechanism 120 includes a supporting structure 130 for supporting the display screen P and a transmission structure 150 for driving the display screen P to move. The power driving mechanism 180 is also accommodated in the accommodating space 112, and the power driving mechanism 180 synchronously drives the supporting structure 130 and the transmission structure 150, so that the display screen P can be unfolded or rolled from the side opening 114, and the display screen P is not damaged by friction or punctured due to particles, thereby effectively reducing the risk of damage to the display screen P.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1-4B, the powered drive mechanism 180 includes a hinge motor 182 that drives the support structure 130 and a drive motor 184 that drives the transmission structure 150. The number of the hinge motors 182 and the driving motors 184 in the present embodiment is 2, but not limited thereto, and can be adjusted according to the size of the display panel P and different requirements.

The operation of the curling mechanism 120 of the present embodiment will be further described below. The supporting structure 130 includes two first supporting rods 132, two second supporting rods 134 connecting each of the first supporting rods 132, a plurality of hinges 136, a transverse supporting rod 138 and a plurality of racks 140. One end of each of the second support bars 134 is connected to two ends of the transverse support bar 138, one side of the transverse support bar 138 is connected to and supports the back (top) of the display panel P, and the racks 140 are spaced from each other and supported on the transverse side of the display panel P. When the hinge motor 182 drives each of the first support rods 132 to unfold from the storage box 110, each of the hinges 136 rotates each of the second support rods 134 and the lateral support rods 138 to unfold the display panel P from the side opening 114 to the unfolded state as shown in fig. 3.

That is, when each of the first support rods 132 is rotated and unfolded by the hinge motor 182, each of the hinges 136 can pivot each of the second support rods 134 and the transverse support rod 138 to a predetermined position. At this time, the transverse support bar 138 is driven by the support structure 130 to gradually unfold the display screen P from the storage box 110. When the display panel P is unfolded as shown in fig. 3, the second supporting rods 134 are vertically connected to the first supporting rods 132, the transverse supporting rods 138 are perpendicular to the second supporting rods 134, and each rack 140 is parallel to the transverse supporting rods 138 in the unfolded state. It should be noted that, in the embodiment, the number of the first supporting rods 132 and the second supporting rods 134 on the left and right sides is 2 for description, but the embodiment is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 5, the transmission structure 150 further includes a plurality of toothed chain units 160 for driving each rack 140 to move. Each of the rack units 160 is disposed at left and right sides of the storage box 110 and adjacent to the hinge motor 182, and synchronously drives each of the racks 140 and the display screen P to move. Specifically, the transmission structure 150 further includes a plurality of toothed discs 152, a plurality of toothed chain units 160 engaging with the toothed discs 152, and a plurality of racks 140 connected to each of the toothed chain units 160. Any pair of the gear discs 152 is disposed on the two corresponding inner walls 116 of the storage box 110, and each pair of the gear discs 152 adjacent to each other are disposed in a staggered manner, so that the display screen P forms a continuous moving track S in the accommodating space 112.

In the embodiments shown in fig. 2A, 2B, 4A and 4B, the continuous moving trajectory S includes an S-shape, a spiral shape (loop shape), a W-shape, a bow shape or other suitable shape. Because adjacent each pair of fluted discs 152 are arranged in a staggered manner, the continuous moving track S of the display screen P is bent in the S-shaped positive and negative directions, and the risk of edge film slippage and peeling (peeling) caused by unidirectional curling is effectively reduced. Furthermore, the pitch (pitch) of each of the rack units 160 is the same as the pitch (pitch) of each of the racks 140, so that the pitch of each of the racks 140 can be adjusted according to the size of the display screen P and the radius (R) of the continuous movement track S, thereby meeting the requirements of different radii.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, each of the chain units 160 includes a body 162, a first lug 164, a second lug 166, a rack gear hole 170, a fluted disc gear hole 172, and a plurality of fasteners (not shown). The first lug 164 and the second lug 166 are disposed on two corresponding sides of the body 162, and the rack transmission hole 170 and the fluted disc transmission hole 172 are disposed on two other two sides of the body 162. Specifically, the second lug 166 includes two ear portions 167, a gap 168 formed between the ear portions 167, and an opening 169 passing through each ear portion 167, the first lug 164 is inserted into the gap 168, and the fixing member, such as a screw, or a rivet, passes through and fastens the opening 169 and the hole 165 of the first lug 164 to fix each of the toothed chain units 160.

As shown in fig. 6A, each of the toothed chain units 160 is preferably elliptical. However, in other alternative embodiments, each of the tooth chain units 160 may be rectangular, circular or other suitable geometric shapes. The gear plate driving hole 172 is a rectangular hole to engage with the gear plate 152, and the rack driving hole 170 is a circular hole to connect with the rack 140. However, in the embodiment shown in fig. 6B, the purpose of driving the display panel P connected to the back side can also be achieved by directly engaging each rack 140 through each tooth portion 158 of the pair of toothed plates 152, which can be changed as required. Besides the above structure, the transmission structure 150 may also be combined with other structures such as balls, belts or other suitable members to achieve the purpose of transmission, and since the balls and the belts are prior art, they are not described herein again.

It should be noted that in any of the transmission structures 150, i.e. the combination of the toothed disc 152 alone or the combination of the toothed disc 152 coupled by each of the chain units 160, will not be driven out of the receiving space 112 by the transmission outlet opening 114. The display surface of the display screen P is always arranged in a direction away from the fluted disc transmission hole 172, so that the display screen P does not contact any mechanism/element in the whole dynamic process of storage and expansion, the situation that the display screen P is damaged by friction or stabbed by particles is avoided, and the risk of damage to the display screen P is effectively reduced.

Referring to fig. 7 to 9, the transmission structure 150 further includes a take-up reel 154, and the take-up reel 154 is accommodated in the accommodating space 112, and can fix the bottom end of the display screen P and wind or release the top end of the display screen P through the rolling mechanism 120. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the pairs of gear discs 152 are disposed on two corresponding inner walls 116 of the storage box 110 (only one of the gear discs is shown), and each pair of adjacent gear discs 152 are disposed in a staggered manner, so that the volume of the display panel P in the accommodating space 112 can be reduced and the display panel P cannot contact with other structures, thereby achieving the effect of protecting the display panel P.

In the present embodiment, when the hinge motor 182 and the driving motor 184 synchronously operate, the hinge motor 182 rotates to drive the supporting

rods

132 and 134 to angularly expand or contract the position of each hinge 136 (i.e., joint), so that the display panel P synchronously expands or contracts. At this time, the plurality of toothed chains 160 on the left and right sides in the accommodating case 110 are driven by the plurality of toothed discs 152 of the driving motor 184, so that each of the toothed chains 160 or the toothed bar 140 moves in the accommodating case 110 in an expanding or contracting manner along the continuous movement path S or the toothed chain path (not shown) as shown in fig. 3.

In the process of unfolding or accommodating the display screen P, the transverse support rod 138 of the support structure 130 acts on the back of the top end of the display screen P, and is engaged with the plurality of racks 140/the plurality of chain units 160 through the fluted disc 152 of the transmission structure 150 to drive the display screen P to move, so that the display screen P is not stretched. Moreover, each pair of adjacent fluted discs 152 are arranged in a staggered manner, so that the continuous moving track S of the display screen P is bent in the S-shaped positive and negative directions, and the risk of edge film slippage and peeling (peeling) caused by unidirectional curling is effectively reduced. Finally, the pitch of each of the rack chain units 160 is the same as the pitch of each of the racks 140, so that the pitch of each of the racks 140 can be adjusted according to the size of the display screen P and the radius (R) of the continuous moving track S, thereby meeting different radius requirements.

In view of the foregoing, while the present invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the included claims.

Claims

1. A flexible display device, unrolling or rolling a display screen, the flexible display device comprising:

the storage box body comprises an accommodating space and a side opening communicated with the accommodating space;

the curling mechanism is accommodated in the accommodating space and comprises a supporting structure for supporting the display screen and a transmission structure for driving the display screen to move; and

the power driving mechanism is accommodated in the accommodating space and comprises a synchronous driving structure and a transmission structure, the supporting structure reaches the transmission structure, the display screen is unfolded or rolled from the side opening, and the power driving mechanism comprises a hinge motor for driving the supporting structure and a driving motor for driving the transmission structure.

2. The flexible display device according to claim 1, wherein the supporting structure comprises two first supporting rods, two second supporting rods connected to each of the first supporting rods, a plurality of hinges, a transverse supporting rod and a plurality of racks, one end of each of the second supporting rods is connected to two ends of the transverse supporting rod, one side of the transverse supporting rod is connected to and supports the back of the display screen, and each of the racks is spaced apart from each other and supported on the transverse side of the display screen, wherein each of the racks is parallel to the transverse supporting rod in the unfolded state.

3. The flexible display device according to claim 2, wherein the hinge motor is coupled to drive each of the first support rods to rotate, and each of the hinges is disposed between the first support rod and the second support rod and between the second support rod and the transverse support rod.

4. The flexible display device according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of gear units for moving each of the racks, each of the gear units being disposed on both left and right sides of the storage case and adjacent to the hinge motor, wherein when the hinge motor drives each of the first support rods to be unfolded from the storage case, each of the hinges rotates each of the second support rods and the lateral support rod, so that the display screen is unfolded from the side opening.

5. The flexible display device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission structure includes a plurality of gear plates, a plurality of chain units engaged with the gear plates, and a plurality of racks connected to each of the chain units, each pair of gear plates is disposed on two corresponding inner walls of the receiving box, and each pair of adjacent gear plates is disposed alternately so that the display screen has a continuous movement track in the receiving space.

6. The flexible display device as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the sprocket units comprises a body, a first lug, a second lug, a rack hole, a gear hole and a plurality of fixing members, the first lug and the second lug are protruded on two corresponding sides of the body, and the rack hole and the gear hole are opened on two other sides of the body.

7. The flexible display device according to claim 5, wherein the continuous moving track comprises an S-shape, a spiral shape, a W-shape or a bow shape, a pitch of each of the rack chain units is the same as a pitch of each of the racks, and a radius of the continuous moving track is set by adjusting the pitch of the racks.

8. The flexible display device as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the sprocket units is an oval body, the sprocket holes are rectangular holes, the rack holes are circular holes, and the display surface of the display screen is disposed away from the sprocket holes.

9. The flexible display device according to claim 6, wherein the second lug includes two ear portions, a gap formed between the ear portions, and an opening penetrating the ear portions, the first lug is inserted into the gap, and each of the tooth chain units is fixed by the fixing member through the opening and the first lug.

10. The flexible display device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission structure further comprises a take-up reel, and the take-up reel is accommodated in the accommodating space to take up or release the display screen.