KR102547721B1 - Manufacturing method of curved OLED display panel and curved OLED display panel using same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is an OLED display panel in which a first substrate, a TFT and an OLED layer are sequentially formed on one surface of the first substrate, and a second substrate is attached to the upper surface of the OLED layer, and the flat OLED display panel Sealing by applying an ultraviolet curing sealant to the left side, right side and bottom side, and the driving circuit junction; partially taping the sealed flat OLED display panel to form an unetched area; And a method for manufacturing a curved OLED display panel comprising the step of mounting the partially taped flat OLED display panel on an etching jig in an etching cassette and etching the substrate of the flat OLED panel, a predetermined curvature angle ( 90 degrees or less) for an OLED display panel including a double-sided homogeneous substrate or a double-sided heterogeneous substrate, to provide a method for etching with a uniform thickness, so that when manufacturing a curved display panel, stable manufacturing without damage is possible. can

Description

Manufacturing method of curved OLED display panel and curved OLED display panel using same}

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a curved OLED display panel and a curved OLED display panel using the same, and specifically, a method for etching an OLED display panel including a double-sided substrate of the same type or a double-sided substrate of a different type, and manufacturing of a curved OLED display panel using the same It relates to a method and a curved OLED display panel.

As display technology develops, various types of display devices are being developed and used. Among them, there is a liquid crystal display device that implements an image using liquid crystal.

A liquid crystal panel of a general liquid crystal display (LCD) includes two substrates and a liquid crystal layer having dielectric anisotropy interposed therebetween. A desired image is obtained by applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer and controlling the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer by adjusting the strength of the electric field. Such a liquid crystal display device is representative of portable flat panel displays (FPDs), and among them, a TFT-LCD using a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element is mainly used.

A plurality of display signal lines, that is, gate lines and data lines, a plurality of thin-film transistors and pixel electrodes, etc. are formed on the lower substrate of the two substrates disposed to face each other of the liquid crystal panel, and a color filter ( color filter) and a common electrode are formed.

Since such a liquid crystal panel is usually manufactured in a flat shape, there is a problem in that a conventional flat liquid crystal panel cannot be used when a curved display is required.

In order to make the liquid crystal display panel into a curved shape, a thick liquid crystal glass substrate may be etched to a predetermined thin thickness, and then bent into a desired curved shape and attached to a guide member to maintain the curved surface.

However, OLED display panels have different manufacturing processes and different substrates, so there is no method for manufacturing curved displays. Of course, recently, a large curved display device is on the market, and such a curved display device uses a flexible substrate and an organic light emitting diode (OLED), which is different from the conventional method using a glass substrate and a liquid crystal panel. The disadvantage is that it is not popular because the yield is low and the manufacturing cost is still higher than that of OLED panels using glass substrates (or metal substrates).

Therefore, the development of a curved display device using a flat OLED panel using a glass substrate (or metal substrate) currently being manufactured is emerging, but a manufacturing method of a curved OLED display device having excellent yield while having economic feasibility has not been developed yet. Currently it is not.

Patent document KR 10-1669422 B1

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a curved OLED display panel and a curved OLED display panel using the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing a curved OLED display panel using a flat OLED display panel including a glass substrate, which does not cause crack damage to the substrate when manufactured in a curved shape.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for etching an OLED display panel including a double-sided homogeneous substrate or a double-sided heterogeneous substrate having a predetermined curvature angle (90 degrees or less) with a uniform thickness, thereby manufacturing a curved display panel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method enabling stable manufacturing without damage and a curved display panel manufactured using the same.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for manufacturing a curved OLED display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate, a TFT and an OLED layer are sequentially formed on one surface of the first substrate, and an upper surface of the OLED layer An OLED display panel to which a second substrate is attached, sealing the planar OLED display panel by applying an ultraviolet curing sealant to the left side, right side and bottom side, and the junction of the driving circuit; partially taping the sealed flat OLED display panel to form an unetched area; and mounting the partially taped flat-type OLED display panel on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and etching a substrate portion of the flat-type OLED panel.

The applying and sealing of the ultraviolet curing sealant may include simultaneously applying the first substrate and the second substrate having the same size or different sizes and curing the sealant by irradiating ultraviolet rays.

In the partial taping step, only the etched area is etched by dividing the etched area and the unetched area of the first substrate, and an etch-resistant protective film is attached to the unetched area.

In the step of etching the substrate of the flat OLED panel, the flat OLED display panel is mounted on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and an etching process is performed using an etchant to fix the OLED display panel in the etching cassette. For this purpose, a guide member may be additionally included to fix the position with an etching jig fixing pin at the top and bottom, and to minimize a gap between the etching jig and the OLED display panel.

The first substrate of the OLED display panel is a glass substrate, the second substrate is a metal substrate, and the second substrate, which is the metal substrate, is sealed by applying an ultraviolet curing sealant; And between the step of partial taping, an etching process for the second substrate is performed, wherein the etching process for the second substrate is to attach an etch-resistant film to the front surface of the first substrate and separately etch the second substrate. The unetched portion of the second substrate may be taped, and the taped OLED display panel may further include etching the second substrate using an etching cassette.

After the etching of the second substrate, an etch-resistant protective film is attached to the etched area of the second substrate, the etch-resistant film attached to the first substrate is removed, and an unetched area of the first substrate is partially formed. taping; And the partially taped first substrate may be etched.

The OLED display panel in which the first substrate and the second substrate are etched is removed from the etch-resistant film and the sealant for UV curing, and then the bonding portion of the OLED display panel and the driving circuit unit and the unetched area of the first substrate and the second substrate are formed. An etch-resistant film may be attached to the surface, mounted on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and etched using an etching solution.

The first substrate and the second substrate are cured by applying an ultraviolet curing sealant to the first substrate and the second substrate at the same time and irradiating ultraviolet rays to prevent exposure and penetration of the etchant.

Thicknesses of the first substrate and the second substrate etched by the etching process may be 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm.

The first substrate of the OLED display panel is a glass substrate, the second substrate is a glass substrate, and when the first substrate and the second substrate are first etched by the etching step, the etch-resistant film and the sealant for UV curing are removed. After that, an etch-resistant film is attached to the junction of the OLED display panel and the driving circuit part and the unetched areas of the first substrate and the second substrate, mounted on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and etched using an etchant.

In the etching step, the first substrate and the second substrate are etched, and the OLED display panel in which the first substrate and the second substrate are etched has a driving circuit part coupled thereto.

The OLED display panel has a flat shape, and the flat display panel may be bent into a curved shape and coupled to a curved guide member.

A curved OLED display panel according to another embodiment of the present invention may be manufactured by the above manufacturing method.

The present invention is a method of providing a curved OLED display panel using a flat OLED display panel including a glass substrate, and does not cause crack damage to the substrate when manufactured in a curved shape.

In addition, a method for etching an OLED display panel including a double-sided homogeneous substrate or a double-sided heterogeneous substrate having a predetermined curvature angle (90 degrees or less) with a uniform thickness is provided, so that when a curved display panel is manufactured, it is not damaged. It can make stable production possible.

1 is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of a curved OLED display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of a curved OLED display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of a curved OLED display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 relates to the sealing of the first substrate and the second substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 illustrates taping of unetched regions of a first substrate and a second substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 illustrates taping of unetched regions of a first substrate and a second substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 illustrates taping of unetched regions in first and second etching processes according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 illustrates taping of unetched regions in first and second etching processes according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 illustrates taping of unetched regions in first and second etching processes according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 illustrates taping of unetched regions in first and second etching processes according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 illustrates taping of unetched regions in first and second etching processes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In the method for manufacturing a curved OLED display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, a first substrate, a TFT and an OLED layer are sequentially formed on one surface of the first substrate, and a second substrate is attached to the upper surface of the OLED layer. It is an OLED display panel, and sealing the left side, right side and bottom side of the flat OLED display panel by applying UV curing sealant to the junction of the driving circuit; partially taping the sealed flat OLED display panel to form an unetched area; and mounting the partially taped flat-type OLED display panel on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and etching a substrate portion of the flat-type OLED panel.

In general, an OLED flat panel display consists of an OLED display panel and a driving circuit. The OLED display panel has TFT and OLED layers on one side of the glass substrate, and an encapsulation substrate is attached to the rear substrate to prevent damage to the OLED layer due to external exposure.

As the encapsulation substrate, a thick glass (double-sided homogeneous substrate) or metal (Invar, etc.) (double-sided heterogeneous substrate) substrate is used, and the left, right and bottom surfaces of the two substrates are sealed.

The driving circuit unit is composed of a printed circuit board (PCB) that transmits signals and a tape carrier package (TCP) that connects it to the OLED display panel substrate.

In order to make the OLED display panel into a curved shape, the thick front and back substrates are etched to a set thin thickness, and then bent into a desired curved shape and attached to a guide member to maintain the curved surface.

At this time, the conventional method has a problem in that both the front and rear surfaces are thick substrates, so that the curved surface cannot be maintained, and when the product is bent, the product is damaged, making it impossible to form a curved surface.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a display panel capable of forming a curved surface without causing damage to the product even when the display panel is bent by thinly etching the thickness of the front and rear substrates.

Specifically, FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a manufacturing method of a curved OLED display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the flat display panel is sealed (S100) on the left side, right side and bottom of the flat OLED display panel. It can be sealed by applying UV curing sealant to the surface.

The OLED display panel is an OLED display panel in which a first substrate, a TFT and an OLED layer are sequentially formed on one surface of the first substrate, and a second substrate is attached to an upper surface of the OLED layer, and the sealant for UV curing is It is applied to both the first substrate and the second substrate, and cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , the first substrate and the second substrate may have the same or different sizes. In the case of different sizes, the sealant is applied in a width of 3 to 4 mm to cover both the first substrate and the second substrate, and then cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays.

The sealing step is to prevent the etchant from penetrating into the OLED display, and the sealing step may be performed by repeating a plurality of steps of applying and curing a sealant for UV curing.

After the sealing step as described above, a step (S200) of taping the unetched area of the display panel may be performed. As described above, the unetched area maintains the thickness of the first substrate and the second substrate, which means that the flat OLED display panel will be processed into a curved shape in the future, and the panel will be damaged in the process of attaching it to a guide member to maintain the curved surface. is to prevent

That is, the display panel must be processed into a thin thickness in order to be processed into a curved shape. At this time, if the thickness is greater than or equal to a thickness within a specific range, it may be damaged when processed into a curved shape. However, since the display panel maintains its shape by being attached to a curved guide member, damage occurs during the attachment process with the guide member even when the portion coupled to the guide member has a too thin thickness. .

In order to prevent the above problem, in the present invention, an etch-resistant film or an etch-resistant tape is used and attached to the unetched area. In general, the unetched area is the outermost outer edge of the upper, lower, left and right sides of the display panel, and may have various widths depending on the shape of the product. By attaching an etch-resistant film or an etch-resistant tape to the unetched region, etching by an etching process described later may be prevented.

The display panel partially taped as described above is mounted on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and an etching process (S300) is performed using an etching solution. In the etching process (S300), the first substrate and/or the second substrate are etched by mounting on an etching jig in an etching cassette and applying an etching solution. As the etchant, an etchant capable of etching a glass substrate or an etchant capable of etching a metal substrate may be used, and any etchant that may be used in a conventional etching process may be used without limitation.

The spraying of the etchant may be used without limitation in a dip type, a top spray, a side spray, and a mixed method of the spraying method.

However, in the process of spraying the etchant, the etchant is sprayed at a certain pressure, and when the display panel is not fixed in the etching cassette, damage may occur due to collision between a plurality of display panels.

Accordingly, the etching cassette of the present invention includes an etching jig for fixing a partially taped display panel, and when the display panel is mounted on the etching jig, the etching jig is fixed at the top and bottom to prevent shaking. It is fixed in position with a pin.

In addition, since the etching jig must be able to mount all display panels that are normally used, a gap may occur in the case of a display panel having a thin thickness. In order to prevent this problem, it is possible to prevent shaking of the display panel coupled in the etching jig due to play by including a guide bar on the top of the jig.

An etching process for the substrate of the display panel may be performed through the above process.

2 and 3 are flowcharts of a method of manufacturing a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, and according to FIGS. 2 and 3, a first etching process (S10) and a second etching process (S20) are performed in order. can proceed

The first etching process (S10) and the second etching process (S20) are applied according to the thickness of the first substrate and the second substrate of the display, and when manufacturing a curved display panel, the thickness range is different depending on the required curvature range. In this regard, only the first etching process (S10) may be performed, or the first etching process (S10) and the second etching process (S20) may be performed as needed.

As an example in which both the first etching process (S10) and the second etching process (S20) are performed, the first substrate of the OLED display panel may be a glass substrate, and the second substrate may be a metal substrate.

Sealing the second substrate, which is the metal substrate, by applying an ultraviolet curing sealant; and performing an etching process on the second substrate between the step of partially taping,

In the etching process for the second substrate, an etch-resistant film is attached to the front surface of the first substrate, and the unetched portion of the second substrate is taped to separately etch the second substrate, and the taped OLED display panel is etched. A step of etching the second substrate using the cassette may be further included.

Specifically, the first substrate, which is a glass substrate, and the second substrate, which is a metal substrate, are sealed using a sealant for UV curing as shown in FIG. 4 (S110). A sealant is applied to the first substrate and the second substrate to be sealed as shown in FIG. 4, and a plurality of sealing processes using the sealant are performed to prevent the etchant from penetrating into the display.

Thereafter, in order to proceed with the first etching process (S10), an etch-resistant film or etch-resistant tape is attached to the unetched area of the sealed display panel (S210). 5 and 6 relate to taping of an unetched area.

Specifically, FIG. 5 shows a case in which both an etched area 100 and an unetched area 200 are included in a first substrate, which is a glass substrate. An etch-resistant film or an etch-resistant tape is attached to the unetched area 200. In addition, when the second substrate, which is a metal substrate, includes both an etched area 110 and an unetched area 210, an etch-resistant film or an etch-resistant tape is attached to the unetched area 210.

As another embodiment, in FIG. 6 , an etch-resistant film or etch-resistant tape is attached to all of the first substrate, which is a glass substrate, to include only the unetched region 200, and the second substrate, which is a metal substrate, has an etch region 110 and an unetched region 210, and an etch-resistant film or etch-resistant tape is attached.

After completing the taping process on the unetched area as described above, an etching process is performed on the display panel.

As shown in FIG. 6 , when all of the first substrate, which is a glass substrate, is in the unetched area 200, only the second substrate, which is a metal substrate, is etched when the display panel is etched. Thereafter, an etch-resistant film or etch-resistant tape is attached to the second substrate, which is the metal substrate, and the etch-resistant tape is attached at a thickness of 2 mm to 5 mm on the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the glass substrate, which is the first substrate. tape to the area.

Thereafter, an etching process is performed in the etching cassette in the same manner.

In the above method, when the glass substrate as the first substrate and the metal substrate as the second substrate are different substrates, the first etching process (S10) is performed by separating the etchants at different points.

When both the first substrate and the second substrate are of the same type, etching can be performed using the same type of etchant, and after the taping process for the unetched area, the first and second substrates are etched through a single etching process. Carry out the etching process.

After passing through the first etching process, the display panel may have a thickness of 0.45 mm to 0.7 mm.

After the first etching process (S10) is performed, a second etching process (S20) may be performed. In the display panel that has completed the first etching process (S10), the cured sealant is removed to prevent penetration of the etchant.

An area where the driving circuit unit is coupled, a lower portion, a left side surface, or a right side surface of the display panel may be sealed using an etch-resistant tape. Sealing using the etch-resistant tape may vary according to product specifications.

Specifically, FIGS. 7 to 11 relate to the etched area 100 and the unetched area 200 of the display panel to which the driving circuit unit 300 is coupled. The unetched area 200 of the display panel may be different depending on the type of product, and the methods shown in FIGS. 7 to 11 may all be used.

Thereafter, a secondary etching process (S20) is performed, and the thickness of the first substrate and the second substrate of the display panel on which the secondary etching is completed may be 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm, respectively. The display panel after the etching process is washed with ultrapure water and dried.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concept of the present invention defined in the following claims are also made according to the present invention. falls within the scope of the rights of

100: etch area
200: gourmet area
300: driving circuit unit

Claims (10)

first substrate,
TFT and OLED layers are sequentially formed on one surface of the first substrate,
An OLED display panel having a second substrate attached to an upper surface of the OLED layer,
Sealing the planar OLED display panel by applying UV curing sealant to the left side, right side, and bottom side, and the junction of the driving circuit;
partially taping the sealed flat OLED display panel to form an unetched area; and
Mounting the partially taped flat OLED display panel on an etching jig in an etching cassette and etching the substrate of the flat OLED panel,
The step of applying and sealing the sealant for UV curing is simultaneously applying a first substrate and a second substrate having the same or different sizes, curing by irradiating ultraviolet rays,
In the step of etching the substrate of the flat OLED panel, the flat OLED display panel is mounted on an etching jig in an etching cassette, and an etching process is performed using an etchant to fix the OLED display panel in the etching cassette. In order to fix the position with etch jig fixing pins at the top and bottom, and further include a guide member to minimize the gap between the etch jig and the OLED display panel,
The first substrate of the OLED display panel is a glass substrate, the second substrate is a metal substrate,
Sealing the second substrate, which is the metal substrate, by applying an ultraviolet curing sealant; and performing an etching process on the second substrate between the step of partially taping,
In the etching process for the second substrate, an etch-resistant film is attached to the junction of the OLED display panel and the driving circuit and the front surface of the first substrate, and taping to the unetched portion of the second substrate to separately etch the second substrate, , the taped OLED display panel further comprises etching the second substrate using an etching cassette,
After the etching of the second substrate, an etch-resistant protective film is attached to the etched area of the second substrate, the etch-resistant film attached to the first substrate is removed, and the unetched area of the first substrate is partially removed. taping; and
Etching the partially taped first substrate;
In the etching step, the first substrate and the second substrate are etched, and the OLED display panel in which the first substrate and the second substrate are etched has a driving circuit part coupled thereto,
The OLED display panel has a flat shape, and the flat display panel is bent into a curved shape and coupled to a curved guide member.
In the step of applying and sealing the ultraviolet curing sealant, when the first substrate and the second substrate have different sizes, the width of the ultraviolet curing sealant is 3 mm to 4 mm,
In the step of applying and sealing the UV curing sealant, the process of applying and curing the UV curing sealant is repeatedly performed so that the etchant does not penetrate into the OLED display panel Manufacturing method of the curved OLED display panel.
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