CN114078395A

CN114078395A - Support structure, manufacturing method thereof and flexible display device

Info

Publication number: CN114078395A
Application number: CN202111424130.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王策; 罗璇; 熊韧; 王志会; 青威
Original assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd; Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd; Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-26
Filing date: 2021-11-26
Publication date: 2022-02-22

Abstract

A supporting structure, a manufacturing method thereof and a flexible display device are disclosed, which relate to the technical field of display and are used for solving the problem that the weight of the flexible display device is heavier. Wherein the support structure comprises a glass substrate and a layer of flexible material. The glass substrate comprises at least two glass substrates and a hollow structure positioned between every two adjacent glass substrates. The flexible material layer covers the hollow structure and at least partial area of the glass substrate. The supporting structure provided by the disclosure can be applied to a flexible display device, and the weight of the flexible display device is reduced.

Description

Support structure, manufacturing method thereof and flexible display device

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of display, and in particular to a supporting structure, a manufacturing method thereof and a flexible display device.

Background

The flexible display technology is an important development direction in the display technology, and the flexible display device has the advantages of being bendable, good in flexibility, light and thin in size, low in power consumption and the like, and can expand the application scene of the display device. At present, the flexible display device has the problem of heavy weight.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of some embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide a support structure, a method of manufacturing the same, and a flexible display device, which are used to reduce the weight of the flexible display device.

In order to achieve the above purpose, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide the following technical solutions:

in one aspect, a support structure for supporting a display panel is provided. The support structure includes a glass substrate and a layer of flexible material. The glass substrate comprises at least two glass substrates and a hollow structure positioned between every two adjacent glass substrates. The flexible material layer covers the hollow structure and at least partial area of the glass substrate.

In some embodiments, two adjacent glass substrates are arranged at intervals, and the hollow structure is an opening between the two adjacent glass substrates; the flexible material layer wraps the glass substrate and fills the opening.

In some embodiments, the flexible material layer comprises a first flexible covering part located on a side of the glass substrate close to the display panel, and a second flexible covering part located on a side of the glass substrate far from the display panel; the first flexible cover portion has a thickness greater than a thickness of the second flexible cover portion.

In some embodiments, the first flexible covering has a thickness of 30 μm to 100 μm; the thickness of the second flexible covering part is 10-30 mu m.

In some embodiments, the hollowed-out structure comprises a glass connecting plate with a plurality of through holes; the glass connecting plates are respectively connected with the glass substrates on two sides, and the flexible material layer is filled in the through holes.

In some embodiments, the flexible material layer covers the entire area of the glass substrate, and the flexible material layer has an average thickness in a direction perpendicular to the glass substrate of 15 μm to 30 μm.

In some embodiments, the glass substrate has two opposing major surfaces and a side connecting the two major surfaces; wherein the junction of the side face and at least one major surface has a chamfer or fillet; or, the side surface is a convex curved surface.

In some embodiments, the roughness of the side of the glass substrate is greater than the roughness of the other surfaces of the glass substrate.

In some embodiments, the glass substrate has a thickness of 100 μm to 150 μm.

In some embodiments, the material of the glass substrate comprises silicon dioxide.

In some embodiments, the flexible material layer comprises a thermally conductive material; the thermally conductive material comprises silicone grease.

In yet another aspect, a flexible display device is provided. The flexible display device includes a support structure and a display panel. The supporting structure comprises the supporting structure, the display panel is located on one side of the supporting structure, the display panel is provided with a bending part, and the orthographic projection of the bending part on the supporting structure is located in the hollow structure.

In some embodiments, the flexible display device further comprises a thermally conductive layer. The heat conduction layer is positioned on one side of the support structure far away from the display panel; the heat conduction layer and the bending part are arranged in a staggered mode, and the heat conduction layer is connected with the glass substrate and/or the flexible material layer.

In some embodiments, the flexible display device further comprises a glue frame and a protective cover plate. The protective cover plate is positioned on one side of the display panel far away from the supporting structure; the rubber frame surrounds the display panel and the protective cover plate. In at least one direction parallel to the display panel, the sum of the width of the rubber frame and the width of the protective cover plate is equal to the width of the supporting structure.

In yet another aspect, a method of making a support structure is provided. The manufacturing method of the supporting structure comprises the following steps: forming a glass substrate, wherein the glass substrate comprises at least two glass substrates and a hollow structure positioned between two adjacent glass substrates; and forming a flexible material layer, wherein the flexible material layer covers the hollow structure and at least partial area of the glass substrate.

The support structure, the manufacturing method thereof and the flexible display device provided by the disclosure have the following beneficial effects:

the support structure provided by the present disclosure, including the glass substrate and the flexible material layer, can reduce the weight of the support structure compared with the support sheet made of steel, and then reduce the weight of the flexible display device.

The manufacturing method of the support structure is used for manufacturing the support structure. The beneficial effects that the flexible display device that this disclosure can realize include at least the same beneficial effect with the bearing structure that above-mentioned technical scheme provided, do not describe here any more.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present disclosure, the drawings needed to be used in some embodiments of the present disclosure will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only drawings of some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art according to the drawings. Furthermore, the drawings in the following description may be regarded as schematic diagrams, and do not limit the actual size of products, the actual flow of methods, the actual timing of signals, and the like, involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a flexible display device according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a flexible display device according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a display panel according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a support structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A' of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top view of a support structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B' of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a glass substrate in a bent state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

9A-9C are block diagrams of edges of glass substrates according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C' of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a top view of a glue frame and display panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

12A-12C are width views of a support structure in different situations according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a method of fabricating a support structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a method of fabricating a support structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 15A-15C are block diagrams of a support structure at various stages of fabrication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Technical solutions in some embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments provided by the present disclosure belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Throughout the specification and claims, the term "comprising" is to be interpreted in an open, inclusive sense, i.e., as "including, but not limited to," unless the context requires otherwise. In the description herein, the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "particular example" or "some examples" or the like are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the disclosure. The schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be included in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

In the following, the terms "first", "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

In describing some embodiments, the expression "electrically connected" is used. For example, the term "electrically connected" is used in describing some embodiments to indicate that two or more elements are in electrical contact with each other.

"A and/or B" includes the following three combinations: a alone, B alone, and a combination of A and B.

The use of "adapted to" or "configured to" herein is meant to be an open and inclusive language that does not exclude devices adapted to or configured to perform additional tasks or steps.

As used herein, "substantially" includes the stated values as well as average values that are within an acceptable deviation range for the particular value, as determined by one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the measurement in question and the error associated with the measurement of the particular quantity (i.e., the limitations of the measurement system).

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to cross-sectional and/or plan views as idealized example figures. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, the exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limited to the shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, an etched region shown as a rectangle will typically have curved features. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of a region of a device and are not intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.

With the rapid development of OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display devices, flexible display devices are becoming an important development direction of OLED display technology.

Based on this, as shown in fig. 1 to 3, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a flexible display device 1000. Fig. 1 is a top view of a flexible display device according to some embodiments, and fig. 2 is a block diagram of the structure of the flexible display device according to some embodiments. Referring to fig. 2, the display device 1000 is a product having an image (including a still image or a moving image, wherein the moving image may be a video) display function. For example, the flexible display device 1000 may be: the display device may be any one of a display, a television, a billboard, a Digital photo frame, a laser printer with a display function, a telephone, a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Digital camera, a camcorder, a viewfinder, a navigator, a vehicle, a large-area wall, a home appliance, an information inquiry apparatus (e.g., an inquiry apparatus for business in a department such as e-government, a bank, a hospital, and electric power), a monitor, and the like.

The flexible display device 1000 may include a display panel 300, and the flexible display device 1000 may further include a driving control circuit 200 coupled with the display panel 300. The driving control circuit 200 is configured to provide an electrical signal to the display panel 300. Illustratively, the drive control circuit 200 may include: a data driving circuit 210 (also referred to as a Source Driver IC), the data driving circuit 210 being configured to provide a data driving signal (also referred to as a data signal) to the display panel 300. The driving Control circuit 200 may further include a timing Control circuit 220 (also referred to as a timing controller, or Timer Control Register, abbreviated as TCON) coupled to the data driving circuit 210.

In some embodiments, the driving control circuit 200 may further include a scan driving circuit 230. In other embodiments, the scan driving circuit 230 may be integrated in the display panel 300, or the display panel 300 may include the scan driving circuit 230, as shown in fig. 2. Since the scan driving circuit 230 is disposed on the display panel 300, the scan driving circuit 230 may also be referred to as a Gate Driver on Array (GOA) driving circuit disposed on the Array substrate.

Specifically, the timing control circuit 220 may be coupled to the scan driving circuit 230, and may also be coupled to the data driving circuit 210. The timing control circuit 220 may be configured to receive a display signal, for example, a power signal, a video image signal, a communication signal (e.g., a signal corresponding to the IIC communication protocol), a mode control signal (e.g., a mode control signal corresponding to the test mode, or a mode control signal corresponding to the normal display mode), and the like. The video image signal is, for example, an MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) signal or an LVDS (Low-Voltage Differential Signaling) signal. The video image signal may include: image data and timing control signals. The image data includes, for example, pixel data of a plurality of subpixels P, and the pixel data may be RGB data or the like. The timing control signals include, for example, a Data Enable signal (Data Enable, which may be abbreviated as DE), a line sync signal (Hsync, which may be abbreviated as HS), a field sync signal (Vsync, which may be abbreviated as VS).

The timing control circuit 220 may also be configured to output a first control signal and image data to the data driving circuit 210 and a second control signal to the scan driving circuit 230 in response to the display signal. Wherein the first control signal is configured to control the operation timing of the data driving circuit 210, and the second control signal is configured to control the operation timing of the scan driving circuit 230.

The data driving circuit 210 may be configured to convert the received image data into data signals of a plurality of subpixels P in the display panel 300 and output the data signals to the pixel driving circuits M in the respective subpixels P at an operation timing determined by the first control signal. The scan driving circuit 230 is configured to output a scan signal to the pixel driving circuit M among the plurality of sub-pixels P at an operation timing determined by the second control signal.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a display panel showing the structure of a display area in the display panel according to some embodiments. It should be noted that fig. 3 only shows the structure of the display region of the display panel, and the structure of the peripheral region, for example, the scan driving circuit, is omitted.

Referring to fig. 3, the display panel 300 may be one of an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display panel, a QLED (Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode) display panel, and a micro LED (including a MiniLED or a micro LED, where the LED is a Light Emitting Diode) display panel.

The display panel 300 has a display area AA and a peripheral area SA. The peripheral area SA may be located on at least one side (e.g., one side; e.g., four sides, including upper and lower sides and left and right sides) of the display area AA.

The display panel 300 includes a plurality of subpixels P disposed in the display area AA. The display panel 10 may display a predetermined image in the display area AA by light emitted from the plurality of subpixels P. Specifically, the plurality of subpixels P may include a plurality of subpixels having different emission colors. Illustratively, the plurality of sub-pixels P includes a first sub-pixel P1, a second sub-pixel P2, and a third sub-pixel P3. The first, second, and third sub-pixels P1, P2, and P3, respectively, emit light of three primary colors, for example, the first sub-pixel P1 may emit red light, the second sub-pixel P2 may emit green light, and the third sub-pixel P3 may emit blue light.

A subpixel P may include a light emitting device E and a pixel driving circuit M coupled to the light emitting device E.

The light emitting device E may be one of an organic light emitting diode OLED, a quantum dot light emitting diode QLED, a light emitting diode LED, and a liquid crystal light emitting device, but is not limited thereto. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the kind of the light emitting device, that is, the light emitting device E may be any other light emitting device (e.g., a light emitting device that emits light by discharge) as long as they can emit light such that the display panel 300 can display a picture.

The pixel driving circuit M may be configured to provide an electrical signal (e.g., a driving voltage or a driving current) to the light emitting device E coupled to the pixel driving circuit M in response to the received scan signal and data signal to drive the light emitting device E to emit light, so that the display panel 300 may display a picture.

The pixel driving circuit M may include a plurality of transistors and at least one (e.g., one; as another example, a plurality) of capacitors. For example, the pixel driving circuit M may have a structure of "2T 1C", "6T 1C", "7T 1C", "6T 2C", or "7T 2C". Here, "T" denotes a transistor, for example, a thin film transistor. The numbers preceding "T" indicate the number of transistors. "C" represents a capacitor, and the number located in front of "C" represents the number of capacitors.

In some implementations, the flexible display device 1000 is made of CPI (color Polyimide) or PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), and the supporting structure is made of an alloy material.

However, the inventors of the present disclosure found through research that: when the material of the supporting structure is made of alloy material, the weight of the supporting structure is heavy due to the heavy weight of the alloy material, and further the weight of the flexible display device is heavy.

The flexible display device 1000 described above may also include some embodiments of the present disclosure to provide a support structure. Referring to fig. 4 to 7, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a supporting structure 100 for supporting a display panel 300. The support structure 100 includes a glass substrate 110 and a layer of flexible material 120.

The glass substrate 110 includes at least two glass substrates 111 and a hollow structure 112 located between two adjacent glass substrates 111.

The flexible material layer 120 covers the hollow structure 112 and at least a partial region of the glass substrate 111.

It should be noted that, in fig. 4 and fig. 6, the glass substrate 110 is covered by the flexible material layer 120, and is not actually seen, but in order to show the positions of the glass substrate 111 and the hollow-out structures 112 in the glass substrate 110, a dashed frame is shown in the figures.

In the flexible display device 1000, the support structure 100 may be disposed away from the light emitting side of the display panel 300 for supporting the display panel 300. When the flexible display device 1000 is differently changed (e.g., folded), the support structure 100 may be changed correspondingly.

The support structure 100 may also have the functions of shading light, electromagnetic shielding, etc., and is not limited herein.

The number of the glass substrates 111 is at least 2, for example: 3, 4, 5, etc. The at least two glass substrates 111 may be arranged in the same direction, or may be arranged in an array, which is not limited herein.

The shape of the glass substrate 111 may be rectangular, for example: rounded rectangles or right-angled rectangles; other shapes such as diamond, triangle, etc. are also possible, and are not limited herein. At least two of the glass substrates 111 may have the same shape or different shapes.

The sizes of the at least two glass substrates 111 may be the same or different. The thicknesses of the two glass substrates 111 may be the same or different.

The hollow structures 112 are located between two adjacent glass substrates 111, and when the flexible display device 1000 is bent, the hollow structures 112 are correspondingly changed in shape, so that the two glass substrates 111 on two sides of the hollow structures 112 are changed in position. The hollow structure 112 may include at least one recess penetrating through the hollow structure 112.

Due to the recess, the thickness of the hollow-out structure 112 in the direction perpendicular to the display panel 300 is less than that of the glass substrate 111, so that the hollow-out structure 112 is convenient to change in shape.

The flexible material layer 120 may be an organic material layer, and a surface of the flexible material layer 120 on a side close to the display panel 300 may be a plane. The flexible material layer 120 covers the hollow-out structures 112 and the recesses in the hollow-out structures 112.

In addition, the flexible material layer 120 may also cover at least partial areas of the glass substrate 111 on both sides of the hollow structure 112, for example: the flexible material layers 120 respectively cover partial areas of two adjacent glass substrates 111, as shown in fig. 12C; for another example, the flexible material layers 120 respectively cover the whole areas of the two adjacent glass substrates 111, as shown in fig. 12A; also for example: the flexible material layer 120 covers a partial area of one glass substrate 111 of the adjacent two glass substrates 111 and covers the entire area of the other glass substrate 111, as shown in fig. 12B.

In the bending process of the flexible display device 1000, the hollow structures 112 and the portions of the flexible material layer 120 covering the hollow structures 112 are correspondingly changed in shape, and the flexible material layer 120 can disperse the deformation stress of the hollow structures 112, thereby improving the reliability of the glass substrate 110.

In the related art, the material of the support structure is an alloy material, such as a titanium alloy. The density of the titanium alloy is about 4.5g/cm³Resulting in a heavy weight of the support structure and thus the flexible display device.

In some of the embodiments described above, the density of the glass substrate 110 is about 2.45g/cm³In the same size specification as the titanium alloy in the above technical solution, the weight of the glass substrate 110 is lower than that of the titanium alloy, and the weight of the support structure 100 can be reduced.

In summary, in the support structure 100 and the flexible display device 1000 provided above, the glass substrate 110 and the flexible material layer 120 are used to replace an alloy material, so that the weight of the support structure 100 and the flexible display device 1000 can be reduced.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4 and fig. 5, two adjacent glass substrates 111 are disposed at intervals, and the hollow-out structure 112 is an opening 113 between the two adjacent glass substrates 111; the flexible material layer 120 wraps around the glass substrate 111 and fills the opening 113.

The hollow-out structure 112 between two adjacent glass substrates 111 is an opening 113 for breaking the two glass substrates 111, i.e. the recess is an opening 113 penetrating through the hollow-out structure 112. The shape of the opening 113 may be rectangular, diamond, trapezoid, oval, etc., and is not limited herein.

The flexible material layer 120 wraps the glass substrate 111, i.e., the flexible material layer 120 covers the respective surfaces of the glass substrate 111. The portion of the flexible material layer 120 that wraps the glass substrate 111 and the portion of the flexible material layer 120 that fills the opening 113 may be integrally molded, thereby enhancing the integrity of the support structure 100.

In addition, the flexible material layer 120 is wrapped by the glass substrate 111, so that when the flexible display device 1000 is subjected to external impact, the impact force can be buffered, the impact force applied to the glass substrate 111 can be reduced or eliminated, the glass substrate 111 is prevented from being broken, and the reliability of the support structure 100 is improved.

During the bending process of the flexible display device 1000: the two sidewalls of the opening 113 are changed in angle and position, and the portion of the flexible material layer 120 filling the opening 113 is bent, so that the support structure 100 is bent. As shown in fig. 5, the spacing distance between two adjacent glass substrates 111 may be greater than the width of the bending portion 1200 in the flexible material layer 120, so as to reduce or eliminate the bending stress applied to the glass substrates 111 during the bending process of the support structure 100, and improve the reliability of the support structure 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the flexible material layer 120 includes a first flexible covering part 121 located on a side of the glass substrate 111 close to the display panel 300, and a second flexible covering part 122 located on a side of the glass substrate 111 far from the display panel 300. The thickness d1 of the first flexible covering part 121 is greater than the thickness d2 of the second flexible covering part 122.

The flexible material layer 120 wraps the glass substrate 111, i.e. the flexible material layer 120 comprises a first flexible covering part 121 and a second flexible covering part 122. The first flexible covering part 121 covers a surface of the glass substrate 111 on a side close to the display panel 300; the second flexible cover 122 covers a surface of the glass substrate 111 on a side away from the display panel 300.

The thickness d1 of the first flexible cover 121 is greater than the thickness d2 of the second flexible cover 122, which can provide a flat surface for the display panel 300 and reduce the supporting stress of the glass substrate 110, while ensuring the bending performance of the support structure 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the thickness d1 of the first flexible covering part 121 is 30 μm to 100 μm; the thickness d2 of the second flexible cover 122 is 10 μm to 30 μm.

Illustratively, the thickness d1 of the first flexible covering part 121 is 30 μm to 100 μm, for example: 30 μm, 40 μm, 52 μm, 66.6 μm, 75.5 μm, 86 μm, 94 μm or 100 μm.

Illustratively, the thickness d2 of the second flexible covering 122 is between 10 μm and 30 μm, for example: 10 μm, 13 μm, 18.6 μm, 20 μm, 24.6 μm, 27 μm, 28.9 μm or 30 μm.

In some embodiments, as shown in conjunction with fig. 6 and 7, the openwork structure 112 includes a glass connecting plate 1124 having a plurality of through holes 1123; the glass connection plates 1124 are connected to the glass substrates 111 on both sides, respectively, and the flexible material layer 120 fills the plurality of through holes 1123.

The hollow structure 112 between two adjacent glass substrates 111 is a glass connecting plate 1124 connecting the two glass substrates 111, and the recess is a through hole 1123 penetrating through the glass connecting plate 1124.

The number of the through holes 1123 may be plural, and the opening shape of the through holes 1123 may include a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle, a diamond, and the like, which is not limited herein. The opening shapes of the plurality of through holes 1123 may be the same or different. In addition, the opening areas of the plurality of through holes 1123 may be the same or different. Illustratively, the opening areas of the plurality of through holes 1123 having the same opening shape may be different from each other. The opening shape of the through hole 1123 refers to the shape of the through hole 1123 on the surface of the glass connecting plate 1124.

The through hole 1123 makes the thickness of the glass connection plate 1124 in the direction perpendicular to the display panel 300 lower than the thickness of the glass substrate 111, facilitating deformation such as bending of the glass connection plate 1124. The glass connecting plate 1124 may be integrally formed with the two glass substrates 111 at both sides, thereby improving the structural strength of the glass substrate 110.

As shown in fig. 7, the width d3 of the glass connection plate 1124 may be greater than the width d4 of the bent portion 1101 of the glass substrate 110 when the flexible display device 1000 is bent, that is, the distance between two adjacent glass substrates 111 is greater than the width d4 of the bent portion 1101 of the glass substrate 110 when the flexible display device 1000 is bent, that is, the bent portion 1101 of the glass substrate 110 is located in the glass connection plate 1124, and the glass connection plate 1124 further includes a portion between the bent portion 1101 and the glass substrates 111 that is not bent. Thus, the transmission of the bending stress of the bent portion 1101 to the glass substrate 111 can be avoided, thereby reducing or eliminating the bending stress to which the glass substrate 111 is subjected during bending of the support structure 100, and improving the reliability of the support structure 100.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a structural diagram of the glass substrate 111 and the hollow structure 112 when the glass substrate 110 is bent. In fig. 8, the hollow structure 112 is bent, and the glass substrate 111 is not bent.

In addition, the arrangement density of the through holes 1123 in the glass connecting plate 1124 may be different, and the greater the arrangement density of the through holes 1123, the more convenient the glass connecting plate 1124 is to be bent. The arrangement density distribution of the through holes 1123 in the glass-connecting plate 1124 may be such that the arrangement density of the through holes 1123 in the central region of the glass-connecting plate 1124 is greater than the arrangement density of the through holes 1123 in the edge region of the glass-connecting plate 1124.

It should be noted that the arrangement density of the through holes 1123 in the glass connecting plate 1124 means: the number of through holes 1123 in the glass-connecting plate 1124 per unit area. The greater the number of the through-holes 1123, the greater the arrangement density of the through-holes 1123.

The flexible material layer 120 fills the plurality of through holes 1123, can share the bending stress borne by the glass connecting plate 1124, and protects the glass connecting plate 1124, thereby improving the reliability of the supporting structure 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 7, the flexible material layer 120 covers the entire area of the glass substrate 110, and the flexible material layer 120 has an average thickness of 15 μm to 30 μm.

The glass substrate 110 includes at least two glass substrates 111 and a glass connection plate 1124 connecting two adjacent glass substrates 111, so that the overall structural strength of the glass substrate 110 is high, and the flexible material layer 120 may cover only the entire area of the surface of the glass substrate 111 near the side of the display panel 300.

The thickness of the flexible material layer 120 at different locations may vary, for example: the thickness d5 of the portion of the flexible material layer 120 covering the glass substrate 111 near the display panel 300 is smaller than the thickness d6 of the portion of the flexible material layer 120 filling the via hole 1123.

The average thickness of the flexible material layer 120 in a direction perpendicular to the display panel 300 may be 15 μm to 30 μm, for example: 15 μm, 16.8 μm, 19.5 μm, 20 μm, 22 μm, 25.3 μm, 28.8 μm or 30 μm.

In some embodiments, as shown in conjunction with fig. 9A and 9B, the edge of the glass substrate 111 has two opposing major surfaces 1111 and a side surface 1112 connecting the two major surfaces 1111; wherein the junction of the side 1112 and the at least one major surface 1111 has a chamfer 114 or fillet 115.

The two main surfaces 111 are a surface of the glass substrate 111 on a side close to the display panel 300 and a surface of the glass substrate 111 on a side far from the display panel 300.

As shown in fig. 9A, the chamfer 114 can increase the surface area of the edge of the glass substrate 111, and further increase the contact area between the flexible material layer 120 and the edge of the glass substrate 111, so as to enhance the connection strength between the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120 and improve the structural strength of the support structure 100.

The fillet 115 may be as shown in fig. 9B, and similarly, the fillet 115 may also increase the surface area of the edge of the glass substrate 111, thereby increasing the contact area between the flexible material layer 120 and the edge of the glass substrate 111, so as to enhance the connection strength between the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120, and improve the structural strength of the support structure 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in connection with fig. 9C, the side 1112 is convexly curved 116.

As shown in fig. 9C, the convex curved surface 116 can also increase the contact area between the flexible material layer 120 and the edge of the glass substrate 111, thereby increasing the connection strength between the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120 and enhancing the structural strength of the support structure 100.

The structural strength of each part in the convex curved surface 116 is high, and in the bending process of the flexible display device 1000, the convex curved surface 116 is not easily damaged under the bending stress, so that the reliability of the glass substrate 111 can be improved.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 9A-9C, the roughness of the side 1112 of the glass substrate 111 is greater than the roughness of the other surfaces of the glass substrate 111.

Since the contact area between the side 1112 of the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120 is small, the connection strength between the side 1112 of the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120 is low, and the flexible material layer 120 is prone to crack with the edge of the glass substrate 111 during the bending process of the flexible display device 1000.

The surface with larger roughness has larger contact area, and the side surface 1112 of the glass substrate 111 can be polished to have larger roughness than other surfaces of the glass substrate 111. The other surface is a surface other than the side surface 1112 in the surface of the glass substrate 111.

In this way, the contact area between the side 1112 of the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120 can be increased, so that the connection strength between the side 1112 of the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120 is improved, the flexible material layer 120 and the edge of the glass substrate 111 are prevented from cracking in the bending process of the flexible display device 1000, and the reliability of the support structure 100 is improved.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5 and 7, the glass substrate 111 may have a thickness of 100 μm to 150 μm. For example: the thickness of the glass substrate 111 may be 100 μm, 108 μm, 123.4 μm, 129 μm, 135 μm, 142 μm, 145.3 μm, or 150 μm.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4-7, the glass substrate 111 is quartz glass, and the material of the glass substrate 111 includes silicon dioxide. The quartz glass has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, low expansion coefficient, thermal shock resistance, good chemical stability and good electrical insulating property.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4-7, the flexible material layer 120 comprises a thermally conductive material; the thermally conductive material comprises silicone grease.

The flexible material layer 120 has a thermal conductivity through the thermal conductive material, so that the support structure 100 has a thermal conductivity. The support structure 100 is capable of conducting heat along the extending direction of the flexible material layer 120, so as to realize heat conduction of the support structure 100.

In particular, the thermally conductive material may comprise silicone grease. The silicone grease can be a high-thermal-conductivity organosilicon material prepared by taking organic silicone as a main raw material and adding a material with excellent heat resistance and thermal conductivity. The silicone grease has excellent thermal conductivity, good electrical insulation, wider use temperature, good use stability, lower consistency and good construction performance. Wherein the silicone grease can maintain excellent heat conductivity at-50 deg.C to 230 deg.C for a long period of time, and-50 deg.C to 230 deg.C can be-30 deg.C, -5 deg.C, -36 deg.C, -77 deg.C, -125 deg.C, -186 deg.C, -199.9 deg.C, 224 deg.C or 230 deg.C.

Referring to fig. 1 and 10 in combination, fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C' of fig. 1. Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a flexible display device 1000. The flexible display device 1000 includes a support structure 100 and a display panel 300. The support structure 100 is a support structure 100 as described above. The display panel 300 is located at one side of the supporting structure 100, the display panel 300 has a bending portion 310, and an orthographic projection of the bending portion 310 on the supporting structure 100 is located in the hollow structure 112.

The display panel 300 includes a bending portion 310, and the bending portion 310 of the display panel 300 bends synchronously during the bending process of the flexible display device 1000. The folded portion 310 of the display panel 300 may display a screen in the same manner, and the folded portion 310 may be located in the display area AA when the display panel 300 is unfolded.

During the bending process of the display panel 300, the support structure 100 is also bent synchronously. The orthographic projection of the bending portion 310 on the supporting structure 100 is located in the hollow-out structure 112, that is, the bending portion of the supporting structure 100 is located in the hollow-out structure 112, so that the bending stress can be prevented from being transmitted to the glass substrate 111, the bending stress applied to the glass substrate 111 during the bending of the supporting structure 100 can be reduced or eliminated, and the reliability of the supporting structure 100 can be improved.

In the flexible display device 1000, the support structure 100 may be disposed away from the light emitting side of the display panel 300 for supporting the display panel 300. When the display panel 300 is differently changed (e.g., folded), the supporting structure 100 may be correspondingly changed in shape.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10, the flexible display device 1000 may further include a Back Film (BF) 400 disposed between the display panel 300 and the support structure 100, a material of the BF may include PET, and the BF 400 is used for supporting a flexible substrate of the display panel 300.

The back film 400 and the support structure 100 may be adhered by an adhesive material, which is not limited herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10, the light exit side of the flexible display device 1000 may further include a protective cover 500, and the protective cover 500 covers the display panel 300, so as to protect the display panel 300 from being damaged by external impact, and ensure the reliability of the flexible display device 1000.

In addition, an antireflection structure, such as a polarizer, may be further included between the display panel 300 and the protective cover 500. The anti-reflection structure can reduce the reflection of light, and improve the display effect of the flexible display device 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10, the flexible display device 1000 further comprises: a thermally conductive layer 130. The heat conducting layer 130 is located on a side of the support structure 100 away from the display panel 300, and the heat conducting layer 130 is offset from the bending portion 310 and connected to the glass substrate 111 and/or the flexible material layer 120.

The heat conduction layer 130 is disposed on a side of the supporting structure 100 away from the display panel 300, so that the heat of the heat conduction layer 130 can be prevented from affecting the normal operation of the display panel 300, and the reliability of the flexible display device 1000 is improved.

The heat conductive layer 130 is made of a material having a heat conductive capability, and may be a graphite sheet, a metal layer, or the like, which is not limited herein. When the heat conducting layer 130 is made of metal, the metal layer may be a metal layer with a nanometer thickness obtained by evaporation of a metal target in order to reduce the weight of the supporting structure 1000.

The thermally conductive layer 130 is connected to the glass substrate 111 and/or the flexible material layer 120, i.e., the thermally conductive layer 130 is connected to at least one of the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120. For example: the heat conduction layer 130 is connected with the glass substrate 111; alternatively, the thermally conductive layer 130 is connected to the flexible material layer 120; alternatively, the heat conductive layer 130 is connected to the glass substrate 111 and the flexible material layer 120, respectively.

By disposing the heat conductive layer 130 on one side of the glass substrate 110, the support structure 100 can conduct heat in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the glass substrate 110, increasing the heat conduction direction of the support structure 100.

The heat conducting layer 130 and the bending portion 310 are disposed in a staggered manner, it can be understood that the heat conducting layer 130 is not located in the bending region of the supporting structure 100, and the bending region of the supporting structure 100 is a region where the supporting structure 100 bends when the flexible display device 1000 bends, and is also a region where the supporting structure 100 faces the bending portion 310.

The heat conduction layer 130 and the bent portion 310 are disposed in a staggered manner, so that the bending stress applied to the heat conduction layer 130 during bending of the support structure 100 can be reduced or eliminated, and the reliability of the heat conduction layer 130 is improved, thereby improving the reliability of the support structure 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10 and 11, the flexible display device 1000 further includes a glue frame 600 and a protective cover 500; the protective cover 500 is located on a side of the display panel 300 away from the support structure 100; the rubber frame 600 is disposed to surround the display panel 300 and the protective cover 500;

the sum of the width of the glue frame 600 and the width of the protective cover 500 is equal to the width of the support structure 100 in at least one direction parallel to the display panel 300.

The adhesive frame 600 is disposed to surround the display panel 300 and the protective cover 500, as shown in fig. 11, and is used to limit the position of the display panel 300 and prevent the display panel 300 from moving. In addition, the rubber frame 600 is connected to an edge of the protective cover 500 to position the protective cover 500.

The rubber frame 600 may be made of Polycarbonate (PC) or the like, but is not limited thereto.

Take the example that the glass substrate 110 includes two glass substrates 111: in at least one direction parallel to the display panel 300, as shown in fig. 10, the sum of the width d7 of the glue frame 600 and the width d8 of the protective cover 500 is equal to the width d9 of the support structure 100. Wherein, in the case that the flexible material layer 120 wraps the two glass substrates 111 in the support structure 100, the width d9 of the support structure 100 is the width of the flexible material layer 120 in the direction, as shown in fig. 12A; in the case where the flexible material layer 120 covers the entire area of one glass substrate 111 and covers a partial area of the other glass substrate 111 in the support structure 100, the width d9 of the support structure 100 is the distance from the edge of the flexible material layer 120 covering one side of the entire area to the edge of the exposed glass substrate 111, as shown in fig. 12B; in the case where the flexible material layer 120 covers partial areas of the two glass substrates 111 in the support structure 100, the width d9 of the support structure 100 is the distance between the two exposed edges of the two glass substrates 111, as shown in fig. 12C.

The sum of the width d7 of the plastic frame 600 and the width d8 of the protective cover 500 is equal to the width d9 of the supporting structure 100, so that the surface of a module formed by the protective cover 500, the plastic frame 600 and the supporting structure 100 is neat, and the internal space of the flexible display device 1000 is optimized.

Referring to fig. 13, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for manufacturing a supporting structure, including:

step 91: forming a glass substrate, wherein the glass substrate comprises at least two glass substrates and a hollow structure positioned between two adjacent glass substrates;

and step 92: and forming a flexible material layer, wherein the flexible material layer covers the hollow structure and at least partial area of the glass substrate.

The glass substrate may be formed by forming a whole glass mother board, and then etching the glass mother board in the hollow area to form the hollow structure 112 in the hollow area of the glass mother board and the glass substrates 111 at two sides of the hollow structure 112, as shown in fig. 4 to 7.

The etching may be laser etching, or may be etching in other manners to obtain a hollow structure, which is not limited herein.

The flexible material layer may be formed by coating a flexible material covering the hollow structure 112 and at least a partial region of the glass substrate 111 after forming the glass substrate, and then curing the flexible material to obtain the flexible material layer.

The sizes of the at least two glass substrates 111 may be the same or different. The thicknesses of the at least two glass substrates 111 may be the same or different.

The flexible material layer 120 may be an organic material layer, and a surface of the flexible material layer 120 near the display panel may be a plane. The flexible material layer 120 covers the hollow-out structures 112 and the recesses in the hollow-out structures 112.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 14, step 92: forming a layer of flexible material comprising:

step 921: forming a first layer of flexible material overlying the glass substrate;

step 922: semi-curing the first flexible material layer to form a first flexible transition layer;

step 923: forming a second layer of flexible material overlying the first layer of flexible transition;

step 924: and curing the first flexible transition layer and the second flexible material layer to obtain the flexible material layer.

That is, the covering of the flexible material layer is performed twice on the surface of the glass substrate 110. As shown in fig. 15A to 15C, a flexible material is coated on the glass substrate 111 to form a first flexible material layer covering the glass substrate 111, and the first flexible material layer is semi-cured to obtain a first flexible transition layer 120A, as shown in fig. 15A.

Thereafter, a flexible material is coated on the first flexible transition layer 120A, forming a second flexible material layer 120B covering the first flexible transition layer 120A, as shown in fig. 15B. And curing the first flexible transition layer 120A and the second flexible material layer 120B to obtain the flexible material layer 120, as shown in fig. 15C.

In some embodiments, before the step 921, a release film 700 may be further attached to a side of the glass substrate 110 away from the display panel 300, as shown in fig. 15A. And after the step 924, a release film 700 may be attached to a side of the flexible material layer 120 close to the display panel 300, as shown in fig. 15C. The release film 700 may be removed again when the support structure 100 is applied to the display device 1000.

By semi-curing the first flexible material layer and then curing the first flexible transition layer and the second flexible material layer, the connection strength between the flexible material layer 120 and the glass substrate 110 can be improved, so that the structural strength of the support structure 100 is improved.

In summary, according to the support structure, the manufacturing method thereof, and the display device provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, the glass substrate 110 and the flexible material layer 120 are used to replace an alloy material, so that the weight of the support structure 100, and thus the weight of the flexible display device 1000, and the weight of the flexible display device 1000 can be reduced.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will appreciate that changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure are included in the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A support structure for supporting a display panel, comprising:

the glass substrate comprises at least two glass substrates and a hollow structure positioned between every two adjacent glass substrates;

and the flexible material layer covers the hollow structure and at least partial area of the glass substrate.

2. The support structure according to claim 1, wherein two adjacent glass substrates are arranged at intervals, and the hollow structure is an opening between the two adjacent glass substrates; the flexible material layer wraps the glass substrate and fills the opening.

3. The support structure of claim 2, wherein the layer of flexible material comprises a first flexible cover portion on a side of the glass substrate proximate to the display panel and a second flexible cover portion on a side of the glass substrate distal from the display panel;

the first flexible cover portion has a thickness greater than a thickness of the second flexible cover portion.

4. The support structure of claim 3, wherein the first flexible covering has a thickness of 30 to 100 μm; the thickness of the second flexible covering part is 10-30 mu m.

5. The support structure of claim 1, wherein the openwork structure comprises a glass web having a plurality of through holes; the glass connecting plates are respectively connected with the glass substrates on two sides, and the flexible material layer is filled in the through holes.

6. The support structure according to claim 5, wherein the flexible material layer covers the entire area of the glass substrate, and an average thickness of the flexible material layer in a direction perpendicular to the glass substrate is 15 μm to 30 μm.

7. The support structure of any of claims 1-6, wherein the glass substrate has two opposing major surfaces and a side connecting the two major surfaces;

wherein the junction of the side face and at least one major surface has a chamfer or fillet;

or, the side surface is a convex curved surface.

8. The support structure of claim 7, wherein the roughness of the side of the glass substrate is greater than the roughness of the other surfaces of the glass substrate.

9. The support structure of any of claims 1-6, wherein the glass substrate has a thickness of 100-150 μm.

10. The support structure of any of claims 1-6, wherein the material of the glass substrate comprises silicon dioxide.

11. The support structure of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the layer of flexible material comprises a thermally conductive material; the thermally conductive material comprises silicone grease.

12. A flexible display device, comprising:

a support structure as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11; and the number of the first and second groups,

the display panel is positioned on one side of the supporting structure and provided with a bending part, and the orthographic projection of the bending part on the supporting structure is positioned in the hollow structure.

13. The flexible display device of claim 12, further comprising:

the heat conduction layer is positioned on one side, far away from the display panel, of the support structure; the heat conduction layer and the bending part are arranged in a staggered mode, and the heat conduction layer is connected with the glass substrate and/or the flexible material layer.

14. The flexible display device according to claim 12 or 13, further comprising:

a rubber frame and a protective cover plate; the protective cover plate is positioned on one side of the display panel far away from the supporting structure; the rubber frame surrounds the display panel and the protective cover plate;

in at least one direction parallel to the display panel, the sum of the width of the rubber frame and the width of the protective cover plate is equal to the width of the supporting structure.

15. A method of making a support structure, comprising:

forming a glass substrate, wherein the glass substrate comprises at least two glass substrates and a hollow structure positioned between two adjacent glass substrates;

and forming a flexible material layer, wherein the flexible material layer covers the hollow structure and at least partial area of the glass substrate.