WO2024067417A1

WO2024067417A1 - Display module and electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2024067417A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/120836
Authority: WO
Inventors: 游玉霖; 牛鹏程; 姚熙临; 王维; 王根田; 戴奇峰; 邹建忠
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2023-09-22
Publication date: 2024-04-04
Also published as: CN115551333A

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a display module and an electronic device. The display module comprises a flexible display panel, a flexible circuit board and conductive connecting members. The display panel comprises a display portion, a bending portion and a bonding portion, which are sequentially connected to each other; in the direction of thickness of the display module, the bonding portion is spaced apart from and opposite the display portion, and is positioned at a non-display side of the display portion; in the direction of width of the display module, the bending portion is positioned at a side portion of the display module; protective layers are laminated on the surface of the bending portion facing away from the display portion, each protective layer comprising a first section which extends towards the bonding portion; the flexible circuit board comprises a body and an extension section, wherein the body comprises a side face, the extension section protrudes from the side face, and the extension section comprises a conductive connection area; the flexible circuit board is laminated on the bonding portion and is electrically connected to the display panel; and the conductive connecting members are laminated on the surface of the flexible circuit board facing away from the display panel and are electrically connected to the conductive connection area, free ends of the conductive connecting members are grounded, at least part of the extension section is opposite the first sections in the direction of thickness of the display module, and the conductive connection area faces the first sections.

Description

Display modules and electronic devices

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on September 28, 2022, with application number 202211189376.2 and application name “Display Module and Electronic Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a display module and an electronic device.

Background technique

At present, electronic devices will inevitably generate static electricity during use. If static electricity is not discharged or eliminated in time, it may cause discharge due to direct contact or induction, which is the electrostatic discharge effect. In addition, static electricity will enter the display panel from the side of the electronic device, thereby damaging the display panel and affecting the quality of the electronic device.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a display module and an electronic device to solve the technical problem in the prior art that the electrostatic discharge effect damages the display panel.

To solve the above problems, in a first aspect, the present application provides a display module, the display module comprising a flexible display panel, a flexible circuit board and a conductive member;

The display panel includes a display portion, a bending portion, and a binding portion connected in sequence; in the thickness direction of the display module, the binding portion is spaced apart from the display portion and is located on the non-display side of the display portion, and in the width direction of the display module, the bending portion is located on the side of the display module.

The surface of the bending portion facing away from the display portion is stacked with a protective layer; the protective layer includes a first section, the first section extends toward the binding portion,

The flexible circuit board comprises a body and an extension section, the body comprises a side surface, the extension section protrudes from the side surface and extends away from the side surface, and the extension section comprises a conductive area;

The flexible circuit board is stacked on the binding portion and is electrically connected to the display panel; the conductive component is stacked on the surface of the flexible circuit board facing away from the display panel and is electrically connected to the conductive area, and the free end of the conductive component is grounded. In the thickness direction of the display module, the extension section is at least partially opposite to the bending section, and the conductive area faces the first section.

In this embodiment, the layer structure of the flexible circuit board is used as a protective layer for the overlapping edge of the medium and an internal conductive member. The structure is simple, easy to implement, and does not take up additional space. That is, the conductive member used for grounding uses the flexible circuit board bound to the display panel as an intermediate medium to conduct away the static electricity on the surface of the protective layer on the side of the panel. When a user holds the side of an electronic device, static electricity will be generated, and the static electricity will enter the side of the display module through the gap in the frame; when the external static electricity passes through the protective layer, since the conductive area of the extension section overlaps with the second section of the protective layer in the X-axis direction, when the static electricity accumulates to a certain extent, the static electricity can also be attracted by the conductive area, and the static electricity is conducted to the conductive connector through the extension section and the flexible circuit board; static electricity is prevented from damaging the bending portion of the display panel, and the yield of the display module is guaranteed. At the same time, no additional space is required inside the electronic device, and the battery life can be improved. In addition, it is ensured that the distance from the vertex O (the vertex of the arc on the side of the protective layer facing away from the bending portion) to the end face of the first section is less than the distance from the vertex to the side of the flexible circuit board, and there will be no tolerance problem affecting the grounding of the conductive connector, and the display part is prevented from being broken down by static electricity, thereby improving the quality of the electronic device.

In one embodiment, the flexible circuit board includes a conductive part, the conductive part is insulated from the main body and electrically connected to the conductive area of the extension section, and one end of the conductive part is exposed from the surface of the flexible circuit board and electrically connected to the conductive part. In this embodiment, the conductive part disposed inside the flexible circuit board forms a conductive path for the conductive part to conduct static electricity with the conductive area, thereby avoiding the problem that the free end of the conductive part cannot be connected to the grounding point, and the conductive part is insulated from the main body of the flexible circuit board, preventing static electricity from affecting the operation of other functional devices in the main body, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the electronic device while providing static protection.

In one embodiment, the conductive part is located in the body and is a hole arranged along the thickness direction of the body, an insulating layer insulated from the body is arranged in the hole, and a metal layer electrically connected to the conductive part and the extension section is also arranged, and the metal layer is exposed from the surface of the body. In this embodiment, in the field of flexible circuit boards, the process of forming holes on the circuit board layer structure is relatively mature, and is a common means of achieving mutual conduction between the multi-layer structures of flexible circuit boards. Directly using the flexible circuit board body to set the conductive part is easy to implement, which can save process costs and improve processing efficiency.

In one embodiment, in the thickness direction of the display module, the extension section is stacked with the first section, and the conductive area is in contact with the surface of the first section, and the extension direction of the extension section intersects with the extension direction of the conductive portion and is electrically connected. The conductive area is in contact with the surface of the first section to achieve a more stable electrical connection, conduct static electricity more stably, and avoid static electricity damage to the bending portion of the display panel. Moreover, when the area of the conductive area is larger, the conductivity is greater, which can increase the static electricity conduction speed and speed up the efficiency of static electricity removal.

In one embodiment, the conductive part is located on a side of the extension section away from the side surface, the conductive part is a hole arranged along the thickness direction of the extension section, and in the thickness direction of the display module, the conductive part penetrates the extension section to connect the conductive member and the conductive area, and the conductive part is insulated from the body and the extension section. In this embodiment, the conductive part is arranged in the extension section, which can reduce the area occupied by the body, increase the complete area of the body, and thus improve the strength of the body. At the same time, the mature through-hole process can save process costs and improve processing efficiency.

In one embodiment, in the thickness direction of the display module, the extension section is spaced and opposite to the first section. In this embodiment, the extension section does not need to contact the protective layer, the assembly precision requirement is not high, the assembly method is simplified, and the layer structure of the Rongxiang circuit board can be arbitrarily selected to form the extension section, which improves the design convenience. In addition, the extension section can be directly formed by cutting the excess part of the flexible circuit board between the extension section and the binding part, which simplifies the process steps and improves the processing efficiency.

In one embodiment, a functional area is provided on the surface of the circuit board, and the conductive part is electrically connected to the conductive part through the functional area. The functional area is used to attract static electricity outside the protective layer into the conductive part. The contact area between the functional area and the conductive part is large, the effect of conducting static electricity is better, and the static electricity protection ability is stronger.

In one embodiment, the flexible printed circuit board includes a plurality of conductive layers and a plurality of insulating layers, and the plurality of conductive layers and the plurality of insulating layers are alternately stacked along the thickness direction of the display module. The extension section is formed by at least one conductive layer and the insulating layer stacked with the at least one conductive layer extending parallel to and away from the main body. The extension section is directly formed during the manufacturing process of the flexible circuit board, which simplifies the process, saves processing costs, and improves production efficiency.

In one embodiment, the display module further includes a back film, a support layer and a connection layer; the back film, the support layer and the connection layer are stacked between the display part and the binding part; the free end of the conductive part is electrically connected to the support layer to achieve a grounding setting. The back film, the support layer and the connection layer are stacked between the display part and the binding part, so that the binding part can be more stably supported, thereby improving the stability of the electronic device. It is important that in this embodiment, the conductive part, the flexible circuit board and the support layer are stacked, and in the thickness direction, the free end of the conductive part can be directly bent and connected to the support layer to achieve grounding, without the need for precise matching in the width direction of the display module, thereby ensuring assembly accuracy and grounding reliability of the conductive part.

In one embodiment, a relief area is provided on the body of the flexible printed circuit board, the display module includes a driver chip, the driver chip is provided on the binding portion and is located in the relief area, and the conductive member covers the relief area in the thickness direction of the display module. The relief area can accommodate the driver chip, reduce the thickness of the display module, and make the electronic device thinner and lighter.

In one embodiment, the conductive member is a conductive cloth, which is a common flexible conductive member. Using the deformable conductive cloth as the conductive member can utilize the internal space of the display module, which is more flexible in design.

On the other hand, the present application also provides an electronic device, which includes the display module and a main body, wherein the display module is stacked on one side of the main body, and the main body can drive the display module to be flattened or folded. The electronic device uses the display module to ensure the screen display effect and increase the service life of the screen.

In one embodiment, the electronic device includes a short-range antenna module and a cellular antenna module, and the main body includes a first shell and a second shell, the short-range antenna module is distributed at the periphery of the first shell, and the cellular antenna module is distributed at the periphery of the second shell. The display module provided in the present application can achieve the effect of electrostatic protection by only setting an extension section on the flexible circuit board and connecting it with the protective layer. Not only does it not need to increase the pad printing area to affect the design of the antenna, it greatly enhances the flexibility of the overall antenna architecture design, and the space suitable for antenna design around the electronic device is greatly increased; it also eliminates the process of pad printing and applying conductive silver paste, significantly reducing the cost of electrostatic protection.

In summary, the display module provided by the present application forms a path between the protective layer, the extension section and the conductive member to transfer static electricity, thereby preventing static electricity from damaging the display panel and ensuring the quality of the electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the background technology, the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application or the background technology will be described below.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device in a folded state provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic device shown in FIG. 1 in an unfolded state:

FIG3a is a partial structural cross-sectional view of the electronic device shown in FIG2 along the A-A direction, wherein the extension section and the conducting section are not shown;

FIG3 b is a partial structural exploded view of the electronic device shown in FIG3 a ;

FIG3c is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device shown in FIG3a including a flexible circuit board according to another embodiment;

FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of a first embodiment of the display module shown in FIG3a;

FIG5 is a schematic plan view of a partial structure of the first embodiment of the display module shown in FIG4 ;

FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a second embodiment of the display module shown in FIG3a;

FIG7 is a partial structural plan view of a second embodiment of the display module shown in FIG6 ;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of the electronic device provided in the present application.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic device 500 provided by the present application in a folded state, and Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic device 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application in an unfolded state. The electronic device 500 can be in an unfolded state or a folded state; the electronic device 500 is generally used in the unfolded state, and in the folded state, the electronic device 500 is mostly in a closed mode for easy carrying.

For ease of description, the width direction of the electronic device 500 is defined as the X direction, the length direction is defined as the Y direction, and the thickness direction is defined as the Z direction. The X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction are perpendicular to each other.

The electronic device 500 includes but is not limited to electronic products using flexible display panels such as mobile phones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, wearable devices, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the electronic device 500 is described by taking a foldable mobile phone as an example.

The electronic device 500 includes a main body 100 and a display module 200. The display module 200 is installed on the main body 100. The main body 100 includes a first shell 110 and a second shell 120, and the first shell 110 and the second shell 120 are connected by a rotating structure to realize the rotation connection between the first shell 110 and the second shell 120, and the first shell 110 and the second shell 120 can be relatively rotated by the rotating mechanism, so that the electronic device 500 switches between the folded state and the unfolded state. The first shell 110 and the second shell 120 are used to accommodate electronic components and structural elements such as processors, circuit boards, and camera modules of the electronic device 500. The display module 200 is stacked on one side of the first shell 110 and the second shell 120. The side of the first shell 110 and the second shell 120 facing away from the display module 200 is the outer surface of the electronic device 500.

For the convenience of description, the width direction of the display module 200 is defined as the X direction, the length direction is defined as the Y direction, and the thickness direction is defined as the Z direction.

The first housing 110 includes a first side frame 112, which surrounds a portion of the periphery of the display module 200, and the second housing 120 includes a second side frame 122, which surrounds another portion of the periphery of the display module 200. The first side frame 112 and the second side frame 122 serve as the peripheral shell of the electronic device 500, that is, the portion that the user can hold by hand when using the electronic device 500.

Please refer to Figures 3a, 3b and 3c. Figure 3a is a partial structural cross-sectional view of the electronic device 500 shown in Figure 2 along the A-A direction, in which the extension section 350 and the conductive portion 360 are not shown; Figure 3b is a partial structural exploded view of the electronic device shown in Figure 3a; Figure 3c is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device shown in Figure 3a including a flexible circuit board of another embodiment.

The display module 200 includes a display panel 210, a cover plate 270, a driving chip 290, a conductive member 260, and a flexible circuit board 300. The display panel 210 is a flexible display panel, such as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel, an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display panel, etc. That is, the display module 200 of this embodiment is a flexible display module, and when the first housing 110 is folded relative to the second housing 120, the display panel 210 is driven to fold.

The display panel 210 and the cover plate 270 are stacked. The cover plate 270 is a light-transmitting plate-shaped structure. The cover plate 270 is used to protect the display panel 210 , and the cover plate 270 can transmit the image light emitted by the display panel 210 .

Specifically, the display panel 210 includes a display area 210a and a non-display area 210b. The display area 210a is used to display images and operate the display module 200, and the non-display area 210b is an area that is not used for display and is surrounded by at least one side edge of the display area 210a. In the non-display area 210b, the surface of the cover plate 270 close to the display panel 210 is usually provided with a light-shielding structure such as a light-shielding ink layer and a light-shielding tape. The portion of the cover plate 270 opposite to the display area 210a is a light-transmitting portion to allow the image light generated by the display area to pass through, thereby realizing image display.

The display panel 210 includes a display portion 211, a bending portion 214 and a binding portion 217. The bending portion 214 is located between the display portion 211 and the binding portion 217, and connects the display portion 211 and the binding portion 217. The display portion 211 is located in the display area 210a, the bending portion 214 is located in the non-display area 210b, and the binding portion 217 is located at the back of the display portion 211 and is spaced apart from the display portion 211. The bending portion 214 at least includes a partial arc segment.

The display unit 211 includes a display surface 212 and a backlight surface 213, which are arranged opposite to each other. The cover plate 270 covers the display surface 212, and the display side of the display unit 211 is the display surface 212, which is used to display text, images, videos, etc. displayed on the display panel 210.

The display module 200 also includes a structural layer 280, which includes a polarizer and a transparent adhesive layer (not shown in the figure). The polarizer and the transparent adhesive layer are connected between the display surface 212 of the display unit 211 and the cover plate 270. The polarizer is used to reduce the influence of reflected light on the display effect of the display module 200. The polarizer can be directly formed on the display area 210a, or it can be bonded to the display area 210a through an adhesive layer. The transparent adhesive layer is arranged between the polarizer and the cover plate 270, and the transparent adhesive layer is used to bond the display panel 210 with the polarizer to the cover plate 270, and the transparent adhesive layer can transmit the image light emitted from the display area. In some embodiments, the transparent adhesive layer is an optically clear adhesive (OCA). It can be understood that in addition to the polarizer and the transparent adhesive layer, other structures such as a touch layer can also be included on one side of the display surface 212, which are not specifically limited here.

The binding portion 217 is stacked with the display portion 211, and the binding portion 217 is located at the back of the display portion 211, specifically, at the side of the backlight surface 213 of the display portion 211. The binding portion 217 includes a binding surface 218, which is away from the backlight surface 213 and faces the backlight surface 213. The binding portion 217 is used to bind the flexible circuit board 300 and realize the electrical connection between the display panel 210 and the flexible circuit board 300. The driving chip 290 of this embodiment is installed on the binding surface 218 and is electrically connected to the display panel 210. The binding portion 217 can be understood as an area for introducing signals and electricity to the display portion 211. The binding portion 217 is provided with leads and pads for transmitting signals and electricity, wherein the leads pass through the bending portion 214 to the display portion 211.

The display module 200 also includes a back film 220, a support layer 230 and a connection layer 240. In this embodiment, the back film 220, the support layer 230 and the connection layer 240 are stacked in sequence, and the support layer 230 is located between the back film 220 and the connection layer 240, and connects the first back film 220 and the connection layer 240. The back film 220 is connected to the binding portion 217; the connection layer 240 is connected to the backlight surface 213 of the display portion 211. The support layer 230 is made of a conductive material, and the back film 220 is made of an insulating material. The back film 220, the support layer 230 and the connection layer 240 connect the binding portion 217 and the display portion 211 and are supported between the display portion 211 and the binding portion 217.

The bending portion 214 is located at the side of the display panel 210, and when the display module 200 is installed in the main body 100, the bending portion 214 is adjacent to the side frame (112, 122) and faces the side frame (112, 122). Specifically, the bending portion 214 is generally arc-shaped, including a first surface 215 and a second surface 216, and the second surface 216 is arranged opposite to the first surface 215. The second surface 216 faces and connects the display portion 211 and the binding portion 217; the first surface 215 partially faces the side frame (112, 122).

The protective layer 250 covers the first surface 215 of the bending portion 214, and the two ends extend to the binding surface 218 of the binding portion 217 and the display surface 212 of the display portion 211 respectively. The contact portion of the protective layer 250 with the first surface 215 is insulated to prevent the protective layer 250 from short-circuiting with the bending portion 214. At the same time, the protective layer 250 can also be used to protect the bending portion 214 to avoid the bending portion 214 of the display panel 210 being exposed to the outside and causing physical damage. Specifically, the cross-section of the protective layer 250 is roughly U-shaped, including a second section 251 and a first section 252, the second section 251 is located on one side of the display surface 212 (in the non-display area 210b), and the end face of the second section 251 is connected to the display surface 212 (actually, it is the junction between the display portion 211 and the bending portion 214). The first section 252 is located on one side of the backlight surface 213 and is connected to the binding surface 218 (actually, it is the junction between the binding portion 217 and the bending portion 214). An arc segment (not marked in the figure) is located between the second segment 251 and the first segment 252 . The arc segment is located at the side of the display module 200 and also at the side of the electronic device 500 .

The flexible circuit board 300 is a printed circuit board made of a flexible insulating substrate (mainly polyimide or polyester film), which can be bent, rolled and folded freely. The flexible circuit board 300 is a multi-layer board structure. The flexible circuit board 300 includes a body 300A, a conductive part 360 and an extension section 350. The extension section 350 protrudes from the body 300A and extends away from the body 300A. The body 300A includes several conductive layers 300a and several insulating layers 300b. The conductive layers 300a and the insulating layers 300b are alternately stacked along the thickness direction of the display module 200; that is, there is an insulating layer 300b between every two adjacent conductive layers 300a. The conductive layer 300a is used to set the metal wiring. The insulating layer 300b is usually located on the surface of the flexible circuit board 300, and there will be pads and pins to connect the wiring of the conductive layer 300a, which is convenient for external electronic devices. One end of the flexible circuit board 300 is electrically connected to the display panel 210, and the other end is electrically connected to the circuit board of the main body 100. The signals and power outputted by the circuit board are thus transmitted to the display module 200 to control the display panel 210 to display text, images and videos.

The body 300A includes a mounting surface 310, a functional surface 320 and a side surface 330. The mounting surface 310 and the functional surface 320 are arranged opposite to each other, the side surface 330 connects the mounting surface 310 and the functional surface 320, and the side surface 330 faces the bending portion 214. Among them, the mounting surface 310 and the functional surface 320 are two outer surfaces of the flexible circuit board 300, and the conductive layer 300a is located between the mounting surface 310 and the functional surface 320. The functional surface 320 is the surface of the insulating layer 300b, and is provided with a pad and a pin for connecting electronic devices. The functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300 is used to install various electronic devices. The mounting surface 310 of the flexible circuit board 300 is attached to the binding surface 218 of the binding portion 217, which is used for the connection and electrical conduction between the flexible circuit board 300 and the display panel 210. It can be understood that the mounting surface 310 and the functional surface 320 are also two surfaces of the flexible circuit board 300. The conductive layer 300 a and the insulating layer 300 b are specific layer structures of the flexible circuit board 300 .

A clearance area 340 may also be provided on the flexible circuit board 300. The opening of the clearance area 340 is located on the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300, and the clearance area 340 is recessed from the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300 toward the mounting surface 310. Exemplarily, the clearance area 340 may be used to set the driver chip 290. The clearance area 340 may completely penetrate the flexible circuit board 300, or may penetrate part of the flexible circuit board 300, as shown in FIG3c, which penetrates part of the flexible circuit board 300.

The conductive member 260 of the display module 200 is a deformable conductive cloth. The conductive member 260 is stacked on the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300, and the portion of the conductive member 260 extending out of the functional surface 320 is stacked with the binding portion 217 of the display panel 210. The free end 261 of the conductive member 260 extending out of the functional surface 320 is attached to and connected with the support layer 230. The conductive member 260 is used to conduct away the accumulated electrostatic charge.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 . FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of the first embodiment of the display module 200 shown in FIG. 3 a , and FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a partial structure of the first embodiment of the display module 200 shown in FIG. 4 .

In this embodiment, the extension section 350a extends out of the side surface 330 and extends away from the side surface 330 toward the upper side of the bending portion 214 (in the thickness direction). Specifically, the extension section 350a of this embodiment extends parallel to the flexible circuit board 300 to the upper side of the protective layer 250 (in the Z-axis direction) and contacts the second section 251 of the protective layer 250. The extension section 350a includes at least one conductive layer 300a and at least one insulating layer 300b stacked with the conductive layer 300a. In this embodiment, the extension section 350a includes a conductive layer 300a and an insulating layer 300b; in fact, the extension section 350a is a The flexible circuit board 300 is formed by a plurality of insulating layers 300b and a conductive layer 300a stacked with the insulating layer 300b. Of course, there may also be two or more layers. The extension section 350a is formed by extending any one of the insulating layers 300b and the conductive layer 300a and a conductive layer 300a stacked with the insulating layer 300b. The extension section 350a may be an extension of the middle layer of the flexible circuit board 300, so that the strength of the extension section 350a can be ensured.

The extension section 350a is provided with a conductive area 351a, which is located on the surface of the extension section 350a facing the binding portion 217 of the display panel 210, and the conductive area 351a is used to contact and conduct with the first section 252 of the protective layer 250. Exemplarily, the conductive layer 300a can be a copper foil layer, and the conductive area 351a belongs to the conductive layer 300a, which can be realized by a copper leakage design.

The flexible circuit board 300 is also provided with a conducting portion 360a, which extends along the thickness direction of the flexible circuit board 300, and one end of which exposes the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300, for electrical connection with the conductive member 260. Specifically, the conducting portion 360a in this embodiment is hole-shaped, which can be a through hole or a blind hole. The hole wall of the conducting portion 360a has a conductive metal layer, which can realize current conduction. In other embodiments, the conducting portion 360a can also be a columnar body of conductive metal, which is arranged inside the flexible circuit board 300. Alternatively, the conducting portion 360a can also be a metal trace, which connects the conductive area 351a and extends out of the functional surface 320.

In this embodiment, a functional area 321a is further provided on the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300, and the functional area 321a is used to contact and conduct with the conductive member 260. Exemplarily, the functional area 321a can also be realized by a copper leakage design, that is, the insulating layer 300b forming the functional surface 320 is partially copper-leaking, exposing part of the conductive layer 300a below. The opening of the conductive part 360a is located in the functional area 321a of the flexible circuit board 300, and the conductive part 360a extends from the functional area 321a of the flexible circuit board 300 to the mounting surface 310. Exemplarily, the through-hole-shaped conductive part 360a can penetrate the flexible circuit board 300 in the thickness direction, extending from the functional area 321a to the mounting surface 310. It can be understood that the functional surface 320 and the mounting surface 310 can also be the surface of the conductive layer 300a, which has been subjected to insulation treatment, such as coating with an ink layer. Therefore, in other embodiments, it is not limited whether the outermost layer is the insulating layer 300b or the conductive layer 300a in the thickness direction.

In this embodiment, in the thickness direction of the display module 200, the flexible circuit board 300 is stacked on the binding surface 218 of the binding portion 217, the extension section 350a is located above the protective layer 250, and the conductive area 351a is in contact with and conductive to the first section 252 of the protective layer 250. In this embodiment, the largest contact surface of the extension section 350a and the second section 251 is the conductive area 351a, which can be fixed by welding or by conductive adhesive. In this way, the larger the contact area, the better the anti-static conductive effect of the conductive area 351a and the first section 252. The contact area between the conductive area 351a and the second section 251 is the copper leakage area.

When a user holds the side of the electronic device 500 (that is, the frame position), static electricity will be generated, and the static electricity will enter the side of the display module 200 through the gap in the frame; since the display panel 210 itself is relatively thin, the bending part has a weaker ability to resist static electricity, which can easily damage the display panel 210, and the first surface 215 of the bending part 214 is stacked with a protective layer 250, and the static electricity is drawn away along the protective layer 250 through the extension section 350a to the conductive part 260, thereby avoiding damage to the bending part 214 of the display panel 210. Further, along the width direction of the display module 200, the distance A from the vertex O (the vertex of the arc on the side of the protective layer 250 facing away from the bending portion 214) to the first section 252 is less than the distance B from the vertex to the side 330 of the flexible circuit board 300. The external static electricity passes through the protective layer 250 and flows to the extension section 350a of the flexible circuit board 300, and contacts and conducts with the second section 251 of the protective layer 250 through the conductive area 351a. Therefore, the static electricity charge in the protective layer 250 will enter the conductive area 351a, and conduct through the conductive layer 300a of the extension section 350a to reach the conductive portion 360a of the flexible circuit board 300, and then follow the conductive portion 360a to reach the functional area 321a. Since the functional area 321a is in contact with and conductive with the conductive member 260, the conductive member 260 can guide the electrostatic charge from the functional area 321a of the flexible circuit board 300 to the supporting layer 230, thereby achieving a grounding effect, that is, eliminating static electricity, avoiding damage to the display unit 211 caused by the ESD effect, and ensuring the normal display of the electronic device 500, thereby improving the quality of the electronic device 500.

Please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 . FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of the second embodiment of the display module 200 shown in FIG. 3 a , and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a portion of the structure of the second embodiment of the display module 200 shown in FIG. 6 .

In this embodiment, the flexible circuit board 300 further includes an extension section 350b, which extends out of the side surface 330 and away from the side surface 330 to the upper side of the bending portion 214 (in the thickness direction of the display module 200). Specifically, the extension section 350b of this embodiment extends parallel to the flexible circuit board 300 to the upper side of the protective layer 250 (in the Z-axis direction), and the extension section 350b and the first section 252 of the protective layer 250 at least partially overlap in the thickness direction of the display module 200, but do not contact in the Z-axis direction. The extension section 350b includes at least one conductive layer 300a and at least one insulating layer 300b stacked with the conductive layer 300a. In this embodiment, the extension section 350b includes a conductive layer 300a and an insulating layer 300b; in fact, the extension section 350b is formed by a conductive layer 300b and a conductive layer 300a stacked with the insulating layer 300b. Of course, it can also be two or more layers. The extension section 350b is formed by extending any one of the multiple insulating layers 300b and the conductive layer 300a and a conductive layer 300a stacked with the insulating layer 300b. The extension section 350b can be an extension of the surface layer of the flexible circuit board 300, so that the strength of the extension section 350b can be ensured. The extension section 350b of this embodiment is formed by a conductive layer 300a and an insulating layer 300b on one side of the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300, so that the flatness of the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300 can be ensured and the processing technology can be simplified.

The extension section 350b is provided with a conductive area 351b, which is located on the surface of the extension section 350b facing the binding portion 217 of the display panel 210, and the conductive area 351b is spaced apart from the first section 252 of the protective layer 250. Exemplarily, the conductive layer 300a can be a copper foil layer, and the conductive area 351b belongs to the conductive layer 300a, which can be realized by a copper leakage design. The conductive member 260 covers the functional surface of the main body 300A and the extension section 350b. The extending section 350 b faces away from the surface of the display panel 210 .

The flexible circuit board 300 is also provided with a conducting part 360, which is arranged in the extension section 350b and extends along the thickness direction of the flexible circuit board 300. One end of the conducting part 360 exposes the functional surface 320 of the flexible circuit board 300. In this embodiment, the surface of the extension section 350b facing away from the display panel 210 is exposed, which is used to electrically connect with the conductive member 260. The other end of the conducting part 360 is connected and conducted with the conductive area 351b. Specifically, the conducting part 360 in this embodiment is hole-shaped, which can be a through hole. The hole wall of the conducting part 360 has a conductive metal layer, which can realize current conduction. In other embodiments, the conducting part 360 can also be a columnar body of conductive metal, which is arranged inside the extension section 350b. Alternatively, the conducting part 360 can also be a metal trace, which connects the conductive area 351b and extends out of the functional surface 320.

Furthermore, the surface of the extension section 350b facing away from the display panel 210 (also referred to as the functional surface) is provided with a functional area 321b, and the functional area 321b is used to contact and conduct with the conductive member 260. Exemplarily, the functional area 321b can also be realized by a copper leakage design, that is, the insulating layer 300b forming the functional surface 320 is partially copper-leaking, exposing a portion of the conductive layer 300a below. It can be understood that the conductive member 260 is electrically connected to the conductive member 260 and the conductive area 351b through the functional area 321b.

In this embodiment, in the thickness direction of the display module 200, the flexible circuit board 300 is stacked on the binding surface 218 of the binding portion 217, the extension section 350b is located above the protective layer 250, and the conductive area 351b is spaced apart from the first section 252 of the protective layer 250. When the user holds the side of the electronic device 500 (that is, the frame position), static electricity will be generated, and the static electricity will enter the side of the display module 200 through the gap of the frame; since the display panel 210 itself is thin, the bending part has a weak ability to resist static electricity, which can easily damage the display panel 210, and the first surface 215 of the bending portion 214 is stacked with the protective layer 250, and the static electricity is pulled by the conductive area 351b of the extension section 350b, and is led away along the protective layer 250 through the extension section 350b to the conductive member 260, avoiding damage to the bending portion 214 of the display panel 210. Further, along the width direction of the display module 200, the distance A from the vertex O (the vertex of the arc on the side of the protective layer 250 facing away from the bending portion 214) to the end surface of the first section 252 is less than the distance B from the vertex O to the side surface 330 of the flexible circuit board 300. Therefore, after the external static electricity passes through the protective layer 250, since the conductive area 351b of the extension section 350b overlaps with the second section 251 of the protective layer 250 in the X-axis direction, when the static electricity charge accumulates to a certain extent, even if there is no contact in the Z-axis direction, the static electricity can break through the medium between the conductive area 351b and the second section 251 of the protective layer 250, and realize the charge transfer from the second section 251 of the protective layer 250 to the conductive area 351b. Therefore, the static electricity charge in the protective layer 250 will enter the conductive area 351b, and reach the conductive part 360 of the flexible circuit board 300 through the conduction of the conductive layer 300a of the extension section 350b, and then reach the functional area 321 along the conductive part 360. Since the functional area 321 is in contact with and conductive with the conductive member 260 , the conductive member 260 can guide the electrostatic charge from the functional area 321 of the flexible circuit board 300 to the supporting layer 230 , thereby achieving a grounding effect, that is, eliminating static electricity, avoiding damage to the display unit 211 caused by the ESD effect, and ensuring the normal display of the electronic device 500 , thereby improving the quality of the electronic device 500 .

In one prior art, a person skilled in the art directly introduces the static electricity generated on the surface of the mobile phone when it is in use into the main body 100 to avoid damage to the screen by the ESD effect by adding a pad-printed silver paste on the inner surface of the plastic front shell of the mobile phone and connecting it to the laser-engraved area of the main body 100. However, since the main component of the pad-printed area is a metal composite material, adding a pad-printed area on the inner surface of the plastic front shell is equivalent to adding a suspended metal above the display panel 210, which will have a significant impact on the high-frequency band of the antenna, and has a great restriction on the design of the antenna and the overall architecture design. The display module 200 provided in this application can achieve the effect of ESD protection only by changing the structure of the existing display module 200. Not only does it not need to increase the pad-printed area to affect the design of the antenna, it greatly enhances the flexibility of the overall architecture design, and eliminates the process of pad printing and applying conductive silver paste, significantly reducing the cost of ESD protection. Taking a folding screen mobile phone as an example, it is explained that the display module 200 provided in this application can be applied to different antenna design schemes to meet different overall architecture designs.

Please refer to FIG8 , which is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of the electronic device 500 provided in the present application. In one embodiment, the chip-level system (System on Chip, SoC) is located in the first housing 110, and the radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC, Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit) is located in the second housing 120. The design scheme of the chip-level system and the radio frequency integrated circuit in the traditional architecture has low space utilization, which restricts the overall battery life of the folding screen mobile phone. Now it has gradually evolved into a new design scheme in which the chip-level system and the radio frequency integrated circuit are separated in two middle frames, and one side of the radio frequency integrated circuit is combined with the flexible screen binding design to expand the battery space of the folding screen mobile phone and improve the overall battery life. The first housing 110 includes a plurality of first areas 111, which are arranged at intervals along the periphery of the first housing 110 and can be used to install a short-range antenna module. Among them, the short-range antenna module can include wireless communication modules such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Bluetooth (BT), and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi). The second housing 120 includes a plurality of second areas 121 , which are spaced apart along the periphery of the second housing 120 and can be used to install a cellular antenna module, which includes a plurality of sub-antennas.

At this time, if the pad printing silver paste is used for ESD protection, it will inevitably affect the high-frequency signal of the cellular antenna module distributed in the second area 121, thereby reducing the communication quality of the electronic device 500. However, compared with the prior art, the display module 200 provided in the present application does not need to add a pad printing area under the condition that electrostatic ESD protection can be achieved, so it will not affect the antenna signal, and there is no restriction on the distribution of the antenna, making the overall machine architecture design more flexible.

Furthermore, the installation accuracy of the flexible circuit board 300 in the binding area of the present application can reach +/-0.15mm, which is much higher than the +/-0.8mm tolerance of the conductive cloth fixture, thereby avoiding the direct overlap between the conductive cloth and the first section 252 of the protective layer 250, because the tolerance of the conductive cloth fixture is too large. The conductive cloth cannot contact the protective layer, resulting in a weak anti-ESD capability of the display module 200. Therefore, in the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the display module 200 provided in the present application, the extension section 350a and the extension section 350b of the flexible circuit board 300 can more stably form an overlap area with the first section 252 of the protective layer 250 in the width direction of the display module 200 (i.e., the X-axis direction), which significantly reduces the resistance of electrostatic charge transfer on the protective layer 250, improves the anti-ESD capability of the display module 200, and ensures the quality of the electronic device 500.

The above are only some embodiments and implementation methods of the present application, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A display module, characterized in that the display module comprises a flexible display panel, a flexible circuit board and a conductive member;

The display panel comprises a display portion, a bending portion and a binding portion connected in sequence; in the thickness direction of the display module, the binding portion is spaced apart from the display portion and is located on the non-display side of the display portion, and in the width direction of the display module, the bending portion is located on the side of the display module;

A protective layer is stacked on the surface of the bending portion facing away from the display portion; the protective layer includes a first section, and the first section extends toward the binding portion;

The flexible circuit board comprises a body and an extension section, the body comprises a side surface, the extension section protrudes from the side surface and extends away from the side surface, and the extension section comprises a conductive area;

The flexible circuit board is stacked on the binding portion and is electrically connected to the display panel; the conductive member is stacked on the surface of the flexible circuit board facing away from the display panel and is electrically connected to the conductive area, and the free end of the conductive member is grounded. In the thickness direction of the display module, the extension section is at least partially opposite to the first section, and the conductive area faces the first section.
The display module according to claim 1 is characterized in that the flexible circuit board includes a conductive portion, the conductive portion is insulated from the body and is electrically connected to the conductive area of the extension section, and one end of the conductive portion is exposed from the surface of the flexible circuit board and is electrically connected to the conductive member.
The display module according to claim 2 is characterized in that the conductive part is located in the body and is a hole arranged along the thickness direction of the body, an insulating layer insulated from the body is provided in the hole, and a metal layer electrically connected to the conductive part and the extension section is also provided, and the metal layer is exposed on the surface of the body.
The display module according to claim 3 is characterized in that in the thickness direction of the display module, the extension segment is stacked with the first segment, and the conductive area is in contact with the surface of the first segment, and the extension direction of the extension segment intersects with the extension direction of the conductive portion and is electrically connected.
The display module according to claim 2 is characterized in that the conductive portion is located on a side of the extension segment away from the side surface, the conductive portion is a hole arranged along the thickness direction of the extension segment, and in the thickness direction of the display module, the conductive portion penetrates the extension segment to connect the conductive member and the conductive area, and the conductive portion is insulated from the main body and the extension segment.
The display module according to claim 5, characterized in that in the thickness direction of the display module, the extension section and the first section are spaced apart and opposite to each other.
The display module according to claim 2 is characterized in that a functional area is provided on the surface of the circuit board, and the conductive part is electrically connected to the conductive member through the functional area.
The display module according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is characterized in that the flexible circuit board comprises a plurality of conductive layers and a plurality of insulating layers, and the plurality of conductive layers and the plurality of insulating layers are alternately stacked along the thickness direction of the display module; and the extension section is formed by at least one layer of the conductive layer and the insulating layer stacked with at least one layer of the conductive layer, extending in a direction parallel to and away from the main body.
The display module according to any one of claims 1-7 is characterized in that the display module also includes a back film, a support layer and a connecting layer; the back film, the support layer and the connecting layer are stacked between the display part and the binding part; the free end of the conductive member is electrically connected to the support layer to achieve a grounding setting.
The display module according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is characterized in that an avoidance area is provided on the body of the flexible circuit board, and the display module includes a driving chip, which is provided on the binding portion and located in the avoidance area.
The display module according to claim 8, characterized in that the conductive member is a conductive cloth.
An electronic device, characterized in that it comprises the display module and the main body according to any one of claims 1 to 11, the flexible circuit board is electrically connected to the circuit board in the main body, the display module is stacked on one side of the main body, and the main body can drive the display module to be flattened or folded.
The electronic device according to claim 12 is characterized in that the electronic device includes a short-range antenna module and a cellular antenna module, the main body includes a first shell and a second shell, the short-range antenna module is distributed at the periphery of the first shell, and the cellular antenna module is distributed at the periphery of the second shell.