Display panel and display device

Abstract

The invention provides a display panel and a display device. The display panel is provided with a light-emitting area and a frame area surrounding the light-emitting area. The display panel includes a substrate, a light emitting layer, and a first refractive layer. The light-emitting layer is arranged on one side of the substrate and located in the display area. The first refraction layer and the light-emitting layer are jointly arranged on the same side of the substrate and located in the frame area. The refractive index of the first refractive layer is smaller than that of the light-emitting layer and the substrate. By arranging the first refraction layer, the screen-to-body ratio of the display panel is increased while the brightness of the edge position of the display area is reduced, and narrow-frame display is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a display panel and a display device. Background Art

[0002] Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display panels have the advantages of active luminescence, good temperature characteristics, low power consumption, fast response, flexibility, ultra-lightness and low cost, and are considered to have great application prospects in the field of display technology.

[0003] In the related art, the OLED display panel has uneven brightness, especially in large-area light-emitting devices, where the brightness at the edges is high and the brightness in the middle is low. In addition, because the edges need to be wired or packaged, the edges of the OLED display panel will have a certain degree of width that cannot be displayed, affecting the display effect of the display panel. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a display panel and a display device to solve the technical problems of uneven brightness and wide borders in related OLED display panels.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] A display panel having a light-emitting area and a frame area surrounding the light-emitting area. The display panel comprises a substrate, a light-emitting layer and a first refractive layer. The light-emitting layer is arranged on one side of the substrate and is located in the display area. The first refractive layer and the light-emitting layer are arranged on the same side of the substrate and extend from the frame area to the edge of the display area. The refractive index of the first refractive layer is less than the refractive index of the light-emitting layer and the substrate.

[0007] Further, the first refractive layer has a light emitting surface, a bottom surface, a light incident surface and a side surface. The light emitting surface is parallel to the light emitting surface of the light emitting layer. The bottom surface is away from the light emitting surface. The light incident surface intersects with the light emitting surface and the bottom surface, and is located on a side of the first refractive layer close to the light emitting layer. The side surface intersects with the light emitting surface and the bottom surface, and is located on a side of the first refractive layer away from the light emitting layer. An internal angle is formed between the light incident surface, the side surface and the light emitting surface, and the angle of the internal angle is less than 60°. Preferably, the angle of the internal angle is less than 30°.

[0008] Further, the bottom width of the first refractive layer is smaller than the width of its light-emitting surface. Preferably, the cross section of the first refractive layer in the stacking direction of the display panel is a trapezoid. Preferably, the width of the light-emitting surface of the first refractive layer is 1-10 mm. Preferably, the thickness of the first refractive layer is less than or equal to 20 nanometers.

[0009] Further, the first refractive layer includes an insulator and a reflective film. The refractive index of the insulator is smaller than the refractive index of the light-emitting layer and the substrate. The reflective film is arranged on the side and / or bottom surface of the insulator away from the light-emitting layer. Preferably, the material of the reflective film includes metal.

[0010] Furthermore, a second refractive layer is included, and the second refractive layer is arranged on a side of the substrate away from the first refractive layer. Preferably, the refractive index of the second refractive layer is smaller than the refractive index of the substrate and air.

[0011] Further, the orthographic projection of the second refractive layer on the light-emitting layer coincides with the orthographic projection of the first refractive layer on the light-emitting layer. Preferably, the width of the second refractive layer is greater than or equal to the width of the first refractive layer. Preferably, the thickness of the second refractive layer is less than or equal to 20 nanometers.

[0012] Further, the material of the second refractive layer includes metal. Preferably, the metal includes at least one of gold, silver, aluminum, magnesium, calcium, titanium and copper.

[0013] Furthermore, the display panel further comprises a groove, the groove is arranged on the surface of the substrate away from the substrate and is located in the frame area, and the second refractive layer fills the groove. Preferably, the depth of the groove is less than or equal to the thickness of the second refractive layer.

[0014] Furthermore, the display panel further includes an encapsulation layer disposed on a side of the light-emitting layer away from the substrate.

[0015] The present invention further provides a display device, which includes the display panel as described above.

[0016] The advantage of the present invention is that in the display panel and the display device proposed in the present application, the light at the edge of the display area in the light-emitting layer is refracted into the frame area by setting a first refraction layer, thereby effectively reducing the brightness at the edge of the display area and enabling the frame area of ​​the display panel to emit light, thereby reducing the visual effect of the frame area and increasing the screen-to-body ratio of the display panel to achieve narrow-frame display. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a front view of a display panel in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The cross-sectional structure diagram of the panel at line AA' is shown in the middle;

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of an enlarged cross-sectional structure of the first refractive layer in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] The components in the figure are shown as follows:

[0022] Display panel 1; Display area AA;

[0023] Border area BB; substrate 10;

[0024] Groove 11; Light-emitting layer 20;

[0025] Light emitting surface 21; First refractive layer 30;

[0026] Light exiting surface 31; Light incident surface 32;

[0027] Bottom surface 33; Side surface 34;

[0028] Insulator 35; Reflective film 36;

[0029] The second refractive layer 50; and the encapsulation layer 60. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings in the specification to prove that the present invention can be implemented. The embodiments of the invention can fully introduce the present invention to those skilled in the art, making its technical content clearer and easier to understand. The present invention can be embodied through many different forms of embodiments of the invention, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments mentioned in the text.

[0031] In the drawings, components with the same structure are indicated by the same numerical reference numerals, and components with similar structures or functions are indicated by similar numerical reference numerals. The size and thickness of each component shown in the drawings are arbitrarily shown, and the present invention does not limit the size and thickness of each component. In order to make the illustration clearer, the thickness of the components is appropriately exaggerated in some places in the drawings.

[0032] In addition, the following descriptions of the various embodiments of the invention are made with reference to the attached diagrams to illustrate specific embodiments of the invention that the present invention can be implemented with. The directional terms mentioned in the present invention, such as "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", "side", etc., are only with reference to the directions of the attached drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are for better and clearer description and understanding of the present invention, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0033] When some components are described as being "on" another component, the component may be directly placed on the other component; there may also be an intermediate component on which the component is placed, and the intermediate component is placed on the other component. When a component is described as being "mounted on" or "connected to" another component, the two may be understood to be directly "mounted on" or "connected", or one component may be indirectly "mounted on" or "connected to" another component via an intermediate component.

[0034] In the related art, since the resistance at the edge of the OLED display panel is smaller than that at the middle of the panel, the brightness of the display panel will be uneven when it is emitting light, especially for large-area light-emitting devices, that is, the brightness at the edge is high and the brightness in the middle is low, which affects the display effect of the picture. At the same time, due to the arrangement of signal routing leads or packaging at the edge of the display panel, it will produce a frame that cannot emit light and display, affecting the final appearance of the product.

[0035] Based on the technical problems arising from the above-mentioned related technologies, an embodiment of the present invention provides a display panel 1, such as Figure 1 As shown, the display panel 1 has a display area AA and a frame area BB surrounding the display. The display area AA is used to present a display image, and the frame area BB cannot emit light for display.

[0036] like Figure 2 As shown, the display panel 1 includes a substrate 10 , a light emitting layer 20 , a first refractive layer 30 , a second refractive layer 50 and an encapsulation layer 60 .

[0037] In the embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 10 is an array substrate, which includes a plurality of TFT (Thin Film Transistor) devices arranged in an array.

[0038] The light-emitting layer 20 is arranged on one side of the substrate 10 and is located in the display area AA of the display panel 1. A plurality of light-emitting devices are arranged in the light-emitting layer 20, each of which is electrically connected to the corresponding TFT device in the substrate 10, and is electrically conductive under the control of the TFT device to emit light, thereby providing a display light source for the display panel 11. In the embodiment of the present invention, the light-emitting device in the light-emitting layer 20 is a bottom-emitting light-emitting diode, and the light emitted by it is emitted from its bottom (i.e., the side of the light-emitting device close to the substrate 10). The surface formed by the splicing combination of the light-emitting ends of several light-emitting devices is the light-emitting surface 21 of the light-emitting layer 20, and the substrate 10 is stacked on the light-emitting surface 21 of the light-emitting layer 20.

[0039] The encapsulation layer 60 is arranged on the side of the light-emitting layer 20 away from the substrate 10. It is prepared by TFE (Thin Film Encapsulation) process and is used to encapsulate and protect the light-emitting layer 20 and the light-emitting devices and TFT devices in the substrate 10 to prevent water and oxygen from invading and corroding the devices in the display panel 1.

[0040] The first refractive layer 30 and the light emitting layer 20 are arranged together on the same side of the substrate 10, and extend from the frame area BB to the edge of the display area AA, surrounding the light emitting layer 20. At the junction of the display area AA and the frame area BB, the first refractive layer 30 and the light emitting layer 20 are stacked, and the first refractive layer 30 is located between the light emitting layer 20 and the substrate 10. Among them, at the junction of the display area AA and the frame area BB, the thickness of the first refractive layer 30 gradually decreases in the direction from the frame area BB to the display area AA, and the thickness of the light emitting layer 20 gradually increases in the direction from the frame area BB to the display area AA.

[0041] Specifically, Figure 2 and Figure 3As shown, the first refractive layer 30 has a light emitting surface 31, a light incident surface 32, a bottom surface 33 and a side surface 34. The light emitting surface 31 of the first refractive layer 30 is parallel to the light emitting surface 21 of the light emitting layer 20, and the light entering the first refractive layer 30 is emitted through the light emitting surface 31; preferably, the light emitting surface 31 of the first refractive layer 30 and the light emitting surface 21 of the light emitting layer 20 are located in the same plane. The first bottom surface 33 is opposite to the light emitting surface 31 and is parallel to the bottom surface 33 opposite to the light emitting surface 21 of the light emitting layer 20. The light incident surface 32 and the side surface 34 of the first refractive layer 30 both intersect with the light emitting surface 31 and the bottom surface 33. Among them, the light incident surface 32 is located on the side of the first refractive layer 30 close to the light emitting layer 20 and contacts the light emitting layer 20; the side surface 34 is located on the side of the first refractive layer 30 away from the light emitting layer 20. The light emitted by the light emitting layer 20 enters the interior of the first refractive layer 30 from the light incident surface 32 of the first refractive layer 30 and is emitted through the light emitting surface 31 of the first refractive layer 30, thereby refracting part of the light at the edge of the display area AA to the frame area BB, so that the frame area BB of the display panel 1 can also emit light, and while reducing the brightness at the edge of the display area AA, the light emitting area of ​​the display panel 1 can also be reduced, thereby reducing the visual width of the frame area BB and achieving a narrow frame effect.

[0042] The light incident surface 32 and the side surface 34 of the first refractive layer 30 intersect with the light emitting surface 31 and form an internal angle α respectively, and the angle of the internal angle α is less than 60°. Preferably, in order to ensure that enough light can enter the first refractive layer 30 to improve the brightness of the frame area BB, the angle of the internal angle α is less than 30°. For example, the angle of the internal angle can be 10°, 15° or 20°. At the same time, since the angle of the internal angle α between the light incident surface 32 and the side surface 34 of the first refractive layer 30 and the light emitting surface 31 is less than 90°, the width of the bottom surface 33 of the first refractive layer 30 is smaller than the width of its light emitting surface 31, and then the cross section of the first refractive layer 30 in the stacking direction of the display panel 1 is a trapezoid. Among them, the width of the light emitting surface 31 of the first refractive layer 30 is 1-10 mm, and the thickness of the first refractive layer 30 is less than or equal to 20 nanometers. For example, the width of the light emitting surface 31 of the first refractive layer 30 can be 3 mm, 5 mm or 7 mm, and the thickness of the first refractive layer 30 can be 8 nanometers, 12 nanometers or 16 nanometers.

[0043] Further, the first refractive layer 30 includes an insulator 36 and a reflective film 35 .

[0044] The main part of the first refractive layer 30 is an insulator 36, and the refractive index of the insulator 36 in the light-emitting band is smaller than the refractive index of the light-emitting layer 20 and the substrate 10, which causes the light to produce an evanescent wave effect in the insulator 36, thereby preventing the light from disappearing due to total internal reflection after entering the insulator 36, thereby reducing the loss of light.

[0045] The reflective film 35 is attached to the side or bottom surface of the insulator 36 away from the light-emitting layer 20; preferably, the reflective film 35 is attached to the bottom surface of the insulator 36 away from the light-emitting layer 20 and the side surface away from the light-emitting layer 20. The reflection of the reflective film 35 prevents the light incident into the insulator 36 from being emitted from its side and bottom surface, so that more light can be gathered into the insulator 36, thereby reducing the waste of light and further improving the brightness of the frame area BB. Preferably, the material of the reflective film 35 is metal, such as at least one of high reflectivity metals such as gold, silver, copper, and aluminum.

[0046] A groove 11 is provided on the surface of the substrate 10 away from the light emitting layer 20, and the second refractive layer 50 fills the groove 11, that is, the second refractive layer 50 is arranged on the side of the substrate 10 away from the first refractive layer 30. Preferably, the depth of the groove 11 is less than or equal to the thickness of the second refractive layer 50.

[0047] The refractive index of the second refractive layer 50 in the light-emitting wavelength band is lower than the refractive index of the substrate 10 and the air, so that the light at the edge of the display area AA in the substrate 10 is also refracted into the frame area BB, so that more light enters the frame area BB, and the brightness of the frame area BB is further improved. The orthographic projection of the second refractive layer 50 on the light-emitting layer 20 coincides with the orthographic projection of the first refractive layer 30 on the light-emitting layer 20, and the width of the second refractive layer 50 is greater than or equal to the width of the light-emitting surface 31 of the first refractive layer 30, and the thickness of the second refractive layer 50 is less than or equal to 20 nanometers. For example, the width of the second refractive layer 50 can be 7 mm, 10 mm or 13 mm, and the thickness of the second refractive layer 50 can be 8 nanometers, 12 nanometers or 16 nanometers. The material of the second refractive layer 50 includes metal, which can be at least one of gold, silver, aluminum, magnesium, calcium, titanium and copper; preferably, the material of the second refractive layer 50 includes two or more of the above metals.

[0048] A display device is also provided in an embodiment of the present invention, which may be an OLED display device or any display device with a display function, such as a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, etc. The display device includes the display panel 1 as described above, and the display panel 1 is used to display images for the display device.

[0049] In the display panel and the display device provided in the embodiments of the present invention, a first refraction layer is provided to refract the light at the edge of the display area in the light-emitting layer into the frame area, thereby effectively reducing the brightness at the edge of the display area and enabling the frame area of ​​the display panel to emit light, thereby reducing the visual effect of the frame area, increasing the screen-to-body ratio of the display panel, and realizing a narrow-frame display.

[0050] Although the present invention is described herein with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood that these embodiments are merely examples of the principles and applications of the present invention. It should therefore be understood that many modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. It should be understood that the various dependent claims and features described herein may be combined in a manner different from that described in the original claims. It should also be understood that features described in conjunction with individual embodiments may be used in other described embodiments.

Claims

1. A display panel, characterized in that: It has a light-emitting area and a frame area surrounding the light-emitting area; The display panel comprises: substrate; A light-emitting layer, disposed on one side of the substrate and located in the display area; A first refractive layer, which is disposed together with the light-emitting layer on the same side of the substrate and extends from the frame area to the edge of the display area; The refractive index of the first refractive layer is smaller than the refractive indexes of the light emitting layer and the substrate.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein: The first refractive layer has: A light emitting surface, parallel to the light emitting surface of the light emitting layer; A bottom surface, opposite to the light emitting surface; a light incident surface, intersecting the light emitting surface and the bottom surface, and located on a side of the first refractive layer close to the light emitting layer; A side surface intersecting the light emitting surface and the bottom surface and located on a side of the first refractive layer away from the light emitting layer; The light incident surface and the side surface each have an inner angle with the light emitting surface, and the angle of the inner angle is less than 60°; Preferably, the angle of the inner angle is less than 30°.

3. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein: The bottom width of the first refractive layer is smaller than the light emitting surface width; Preferably, the cross section of the first refractive layer in the stacking direction of the display panel is trapezoidal; Preferably, the width of the light-emitting surface of the first refractive layer is 1-10 mm; Preferably, the thickness of the first refractive layer is less than or equal to 20 nanometers.

4. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein: The first refractive layer comprises: an insulator, wherein the refractive index of the insulator is smaller than the refractive indexes of the light-emitting layer and the substrate; A reflective film is provided on the side surface and / or bottom surface of the insulator away from the light-emitting layer; Preferably, the material of the reflective film includes metal.

5. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: A second refractive layer is disposed on a side of the substrate away from the first refractive layer; Preferably, the refractive index of the second refractive layer is smaller than the refractive index of the substrate and air.

6. The display panel according to claim 5, wherein: The orthographic projection of the second refractive layer on the light-emitting layer coincides with the orthographic projection of the first refractive layer on the light-emitting layer; Preferably, the width of the second refractive layer is greater than or equal to the width of the first refractive layer; Preferably, the thickness of the second refractive layer is less than or equal to 20 nanometers.

7. The display panel according to claim 5, wherein: The material of the second refractive layer includes metal; Preferably, the metal includes at least one of gold, silver, aluminum, magnesium, calcium, titanium and copper.

8. The display panel according to claim 5, wherein: Also includes: A groove is provided on a surface of the substrate away from the light-emitting layer and is located in the frame area, and the second refractive layer fills the groove; Preferably, the depth of the groove is less than or equal to the thickness of the second refractive layer.

9. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein: Also includes: The encapsulation layer is arranged on a side of the light-emitting layer away from the substrate.

10. A display device, characterized in that: Comprising a display panel as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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