WO2019008851A1

WO2019008851A1 - Display device

Info

Publication number: WO2019008851A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/014521
Authority: WO
Inventors: 眞澄西村
Original assignee: 株式会社ジャパンディスプレイ
Priority date: 2017-07-05
Filing date: 2018-04-05
Publication date: 2019-01-10
Also published as: JP2019015808A

Abstract

Provided is a foldable display device. The display device is provided with: a bendable display panel; a first transparent substrate, which is provided on the display surface side of a first display region of the display panel, and which supports the first display region such that the first display region is not bent; a second transparent substrate, which is provided on the display surface side of a second display region of the display panel, said second display region being separated from the first display region, and which supports the second display region such that the second display region is not bent; and a protection film, which is provided on the display surface side of a gap region of the display panel, said gap region being positioned between the first display region and the second display region, and which can be bent together with the gap region.

Description

Display device

The present invention relates to a display device.

Patent Document 1 realizes a narrow frame flat panel display by bending an area outside a display area of a bendable display panel using a flexible resin film as a base material to the back side. It is disclosed.

JP, 2016-31499, A

In recent years, it has been desired to realize a foldable display device (so-called foldable display) using a bendable display panel.

An object of the present invention is to provide a foldable display.

In order to solve the above problems, the display device of the present invention is provided on a bendable display panel and a display surface side of a first display area of the display panel, and supports the first display area not to bend. 1 A transparent substrate, a second transparent substrate which is provided on the display surface side of a second display region apart from the first display region of the display panel and supports the second display region so as not to bend, and the display panel And a protective film which is provided on the display surface side of the gap area located between the first display area and the second display area, and which can be bent together with the gap area.

It is a perspective view which shows the state before the bending of the display apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the state after the bending of the said display apparatus. It is a sectional view showing an example of a display which can be folded on the back side. It is a sectional view showing an example of a display which can be folded to the display surface side.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The disclosure is merely an example, and it is naturally included within the scope of the present invention as to what can be easily conceived of by those skilled in the art as to appropriate changes while maintaining the gist of the invention. In addition, the drawings may be schematically represented as to the width, thickness, shape, etc. of each part in comparison with the embodiment in order to clarify the description, but this is merely an example, and the interpretation of the present invention It is not limited. In the specification and the drawings, the same elements as those described above with reference to the drawings already described may be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the detailed description may be appropriately omitted.

Furthermore, in the detailed description of the embodiment of the present invention, when defining the positional relationship between a certain component and another component, the terms “above” and “below” are located immediately above or below a certain component. Not only the case, but also the case where another composition intervenes between is included unless otherwise noted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state before bending of the display device 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the display device 1 after bending. The display device 1 is an organic EL display device including, for example, an organic light emitting diode as a display element. The display device 1 includes a bendable display panel 10 using a flexible film as a substrate. The flexible film is formed of, for example, a synthetic resin material such as polyimide.

The display panel 10 includes a first display area A1, a second display area A2 separated from the first display area A1, a gap area C located between the first display area A1 and the second display area A2, and A frame area B surrounding one display area A1, a second display area A2, and a gap area C is provided.

The X direction in the drawing represents the direction in which the first display area A1, the gap area C, and the second display area A2 are arranged, and the Y direction represents the direction intersecting (for example, orthogonal to) the X direction. In the X direction, the direction of the gap area C with respect to the first display area A1 or the second display area A2 is inside, and the opposite is outside. The F direction in the drawing represents the display surface side, and the R direction represents the back surface side.

In the display area A, for example, full-color pixels in which unit pixels (sub-pixels) of plural colors of red, green and blue are combined are arranged in a matrix. Peripheral circuits may be arranged in the frame area B. The display panel 10 also has a terminal area (not shown) to which an FPC (flexible printed circuit board) or the like is connected. The terminal area is provided, for example, outside the frame area B, and is folded back on the back side.

The clearance region C is bendable. In the present example, the gap region C can be bent to the back side. That is, the gap area C can be bent so that the back surfaces of the first display area A1 and the second display area A2 face each other. Thus, the display device 1 is foldable on the back side.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III shown in FIG. The figure shows an example of the foldable display device 1 on the back side.

The display panel 10 has a circuit layer 14, an element layer 16 and a sealing film 18 on a base 2. The circuit layer 14 includes thin film transistors corresponding to each unit pixel. The element layer 16 includes an organic light emitting diode corresponding to each unit pixel.

A touch panel 20 is disposed on the display panel 10 (that is, on the display surface side). The touch panel 20 is disposed not only on the first display area A1 and the second display area A2 of the display panel 10 but also on the gap area C. The touch panel 20 preferably includes, for example, a mesh-like wiring (mesh wiring) formed of a metal material in order to allow bending. The touch panel 20 may be on-cell or external. The touch panel 20 may be omitted.

A circularly polarizing plate 33 is disposed on the touch panel 20. The circularly polarizing plate 33 is disposed not only on the first display area A1 and the second display area A2 of the display panel 10 but also on the gap area C.

First and

second cover glasses

35A and 35B are disposed on the circularly polarizing plate 33. The first and

second cover glasses

35A and 35B are examples of the first and second transparent substrates. The first cover glass 35A is provided on the first display area A1 of the display panel 10, and supports the first display area A1 so as not to bend. The second cover glass 35B is provided on the second display area A2 of the display panel 10, and supports the second display area A2 so as not to bend. The first and

second cover glasses

35A and 35B are not provided on the gap area C.

The first cover glass 35A is attached to the circularly polarizing plate 33 by a first adhesive sheet 34A. The second cover glass 35B is attached to the circularly polarizing plate 33 by a second adhesive sheet 34B.

A protective film 37 is provided on the gap region C of the display panel 10. The protective film 37 is provided between the first cover glass 35A and the second cover glass 35B. Specifically, the protective film 37 fills the groove formed between the first cover glass 35A and the second cover glass 35B. The protective film 37 is in contact with the inner edge 351 of the first or

second cover glass

35A, 35B in the X direction. The upper surface of the protective film 37 is lower than the upper surfaces of the first or

second cover glass

35A, 35B. The protective film 37 covers a portion of the first or second pressure-sensitive

adhesive sheet

34A, 34B that protrudes to the inside in the X direction from the edge 351 inside the X direction of the first or

second cover glass

35A, 35B.

The protective film 37 is softer than the first and

second cover glasses

35A and 35B, has elasticity, and can be bent together with the gap region C. The protective film 37 is transparent, and transmits light from the clearance region C when the clearance region C emits light. The protective film 37 is formed of, for example, a synthetic resin material such as an epoxy resin. The protective film 37 is formed, for example, by applying and curing a liquid synthetic resin material.

On the back side of the display panel 10, first and

second back films

21A and 21B are disposed. The first back surface film 21A is provided on the back surface side of the first display area A1 of the display panel 10. The second back surface film 21B is provided on the back surface side of the second display area A2 of the display panel 10. The first and second

back surface films

21A and 21B are not provided on the back surface side of the gap region C.

In the following description, the first and

second cover glasses

35A, 35B are collectively referred to as the cover glass 35, and the first and second

adhesive sheets

34A, 34B are collectively referred to as the adhesive sheet 34, the first and second The

back films

21A and 21B are also collectively referred to as a back film 21.

In this example, it is preferable that the inner edge 211 of the back film 21 in the X direction be positioned inner than the edge 351 of the cover glass 35 in the X direction. That is, the position P2 of the edge 211 inside the X direction of the back film 21 is preferably located inside the X direction of the edge 351 inside the X direction of the cover glass 35. According to this, it is possible to concentrate the stress that the edge 211 of the back surface film 21 exerts on the display surface side when the gap region C is bent to the back surface side to the elastic protective film 37 instead of the cover glass 35. As a result, peeling of the cover glass 35 can be suppressed.

Further, in the present example, it is preferable that the edge 211 on the inner side in the X direction of the back surface film 21 be positioned on the inner side in the X direction than the edge 341 on the inner side in the X direction of the adhesive sheet 34. That is, the position P2 of the edge 211 inside the X direction of the back film 21 is preferably located inside the X direction of the edge 341 inside the X direction of the adhesive sheet 34 in the X direction. According to this, it is possible to concentrate the stress that the edge 211 of the back surface film 21 exerts on the display surface side when the gap region C is bent to the back surface side to the portion of the protective film 37 not covering the adhesive sheet 34 As a result, peeling of the adhesive sheet 34 can be suppressed.

Further, in this example, the edge 341 on the inner side in the X direction of the adhesive sheet 34 is preferably positioned on the inner side in the X direction than the edge 351 on the inner side in the X direction of the cover glass 35. That is, it is preferable that the position P4 of the edge 341 inside the X direction of the adhesive sheet 34 be located inside the X direction of the position P5 of the edge 351 inside the X direction of the cover glass 35. According to this, it is possible to affix the lower surface of the cover glass 35 to the adhesive sheet 34 to the position of the edge 351, and as a result, it is possible to suppress the cover glass 35 from coming off from the position of the edge 351.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the display device 1 that can be bent to the display surface side. About the structure which overlaps with said example, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting a same number.

In this example, the gap area C can be bent to the display surface side. That is, the gap area C can be bent so that the display surfaces of the first display area A1 and the second display area A2 face each other. Thus, the display device 1 is foldable to the display surface side.

Moreover, in this example, it is preferable that the edge 351 inside the X direction of the cover glass 35 be located inside the edge 211 inside the X direction of the back film 21. That is, the position P5 of the edge 351 inside the X direction of the cover glass 35 is preferably located inside the X direction of the edge 211 inside the X direction of the back film 21 in the X direction. It is possible to concentrate the stress that the edge 351 of the cover glass 35 exerts on the back surface side when the gap region C is bent to the display surface side to a position where the back film 21 does not exist. It is possible to suppress.

In the present embodiment, the case of the organic EL display device has been exemplified as the disclosed example, but as another application example, an electronic paper type display device having a liquid crystal display device, another self-luminous display device, an electrophoretic element or the like And any flat panel type display device. Further, it is needless to say that the invention can be applied to medium to small size and large size without particular limitation.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the concept of the present invention, and such changes and modifications are also considered to fall within the scope of the present invention. For example, a person skilled in the art appropriately adds, deletes or changes the design of the component or adds or omits a process or changes conditions to the above-described embodiments. As long as it is included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Flexible display panel,
A first transparent substrate provided on the display surface side of the first display area of the display panel and supporting the first display area so as not to bend it;
A second transparent substrate which is provided on the display surface side of a second display area away from the first display area of the display panel and supports the second display area so as not to bend it;
A protective film which is provided on the display surface side of a gap area located between the first display area and the second display area of the display panel, and which can be bent together with the gap area;
A display device comprising:
A first back film provided on the back side of the first display area of the display panel;
A second back film provided on the back side of the second display area of the display panel;
Further comprising
The display device according to claim 1.
The gap area can be bent so that the back surfaces of the first and second display areas face each other,
When the direction of the gap area with respect to the first or second display area is inside, the inside edge of the first or second back film is inside the inside edge of the first or second transparent substrate To position,
The display device according to claim 2.
A first adhesive sheet provided between the display panel and the first transparent substrate;
A second adhesive sheet provided between the display panel and the second transparent substrate;
And further
The inner edge of the first or second back film is positioned inward of the inner edge of the first or second pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet,
The display device according to claim 3.
The gap area can be bent so that the display surfaces of the first and second display areas face each other,
When the direction of the gap area with respect to the first or second display area is inside, the inside edge of the first or second transparent substrate is inside the inside edge of the first or second back film To position,
The display device according to claim 2.
A first adhesive sheet provided between the display panel and the first transparent substrate;
A second adhesive sheet provided between the display panel and the second transparent substrate;
And further
When the direction of the gap area with respect to the first or second display area is inside, the inside edge of the first or second pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet is inside the inside edge of the first or second transparent substrate To position,
The display device according to claim 1.
The protective film is formed of an elastic synthetic resin material.
The display device according to claim 1.
The protective film is transparent,
The display device according to claim 1.
The touch panel provided between the display panel and the first or second transparent substrate is further provided.
The display device according to claim 1.
It further comprises a polarizing plate provided between the display panel and the first or second transparent substrate.
The display device according to claim 1.
Flexible display panel,
A first cover glass provided on the display surface side of the first display area of the display panel;
A second cover glass provided on the display surface side of a second display area remote from the first display area of the display panel;
A resin film provided on the display surface side of a gap region between the first display region and the second display region of the display panel, and formed of an elastic synthetic resin material;
A display device comprising: