Supporting substrate, folding screen and foldable electronic equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the utility model provides a supporting substrate, a folding screen and foldable electronic equipment. The technical problems that in the prior art, due to high conductivity of stainless steel materials, a supporting substrate needs extra insulation protection measures, and manufacturing complexity and cost are increased are solved. According to the supporting substrate, a substrate body of the supporting substrate is made of a glass material with excellent insulation performance. The foldable area of the flexible structure matched with the folding assembly of the folding screen is arranged on the glass substrate body of the supporting substrate, and the glass substrate body forming the foldable area is tempered, so that the manufactured supporting substrate has the structural strength, toughness and foldable performance equivalent to those of a stainless steel substrate; and the durability and the safety of frequent bending of the folding screen are met. The support substrate not only meets the requirement of frequent bending of the folding screen, but also has excellent insulation performance, so that additional insulation protection does not need to be carried out on the flexible display layer arranged on the support substrate and a peripheral circuit of the flexible display layer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the utility model relate to the technical field of display screens, and in particular to a supporting substrate, a folding screen and a foldable electronic device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous advancement of information interaction technology, smart electronic devices, such as smartphones, have penetrated into all aspects of people's lives and become an indispensable tool for daily life. The display screens of these smart electronic devices are composed of multiple components, including screen cover, touch layer, display layer and support substrate, which are stacked and assembled in a certain order to form a complete display unit. Among them, the main function of the support substrate is to provide stable support for the display layer to ensure the durability and good visual effect of the screen.

[0003] Although traditional smart electronic devices mostly use straight screen designs, with the development of flexible display technologies such as OLED, flexible screens can maintain excellent display effects even when bent, which greatly expands their use scenarios. Although flexible screens provide more diverse display methods, flat screen designs are more in line with human visual habits and are easier to design and manufacture.

[0004] Taking advantage of the low energy consumption, large screen, lightness and portability of flexible display technology, foldable screen technology has emerged and is seen as the future development trend of display technology. Foldable screens add foldable features to the screen cover and supporting substrate, and combine folding components such as hinges or shafts to achieve inward or outward folding of the screen to meet different display needs.

[0005] In the design of folding screens, the supporting substrate usually uses materials with certain structural strength and toughness, such as engineering plastics or metals. However, due to the poor performance of engineering plastics in stress fatigue resistance, folding screens currently use more stainless steel materials to make supporting substrates to adapt to the frequent bending of the screen.

[0006] However, in the process of implementing the technical solution in the embodiment of the utility model, the inventors found that the existing stainless steel support substrate has at least the following technical problems:

[0007] Due to the high conductivity of stainless steel materials and insufficient insulation performance of the supporting substrate, the flexible display layer of the folding screen and its peripheral circuits require additional insulation protection to achieve electrical isolation, which increases the design and manufacturing complexity of the folding screen and also increases the cost. Utility Model Content

[0008] In view of this, the purpose of the embodiments of the utility model is to provide a support substrate, a folding screen and a foldable electronic device. The support substrate uses a glass substrate with excellent insulation performance to make a substrate body, and the glass substrate body has a grid-like flexible foldable area composed of hollow slot-shaped through holes arranged in rows and columns. The glass substrate body has the structural characteristics of tempered glass through tempering treatment, which is used to solve the technical problem in the prior art that the support substrate needs additional insulation protection measures due to the high conductivity of stainless steel, which increases the manufacturing complexity and cost.

[0009] In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solutions adopted in the embodiments of the present invention are as follows:

[0010] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the utility model provides a support substrate, which is applied to a folding screen; the support substrate comprises a glass substrate body and n foldable regions arranged on the glass substrate body; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the foldable regions cooperate with a folding assembly of the folding screen to realize folding and unfolding of the screen;

[0011] The foldable area is a grid-like area obtained by opening slot-shaped through holes in a row-column arrangement in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body through a laser-induced etching process; wherein the slot-shaped through holes in two adjacent columns are staggered in row position; and the slot-shaped through holes at the edge of the glass substrate body are open-type structures;

[0012] The support substrate is tempered after the foldable area is manufactured.

[0013] Optionally, the support substrate has a thickness of 0.12-0.5 mm.

[0014] Optionally, the glass material used for the support substrate is one of aluminoborosilicate glass and high aluminoborosilicate glass.

[0015] Optionally, the column spacing of the slot-shaped through holes arranged in rows and columns is 0.08-0.2 mm, the spacing between two adjacent slot-shaped through holes in the same column is 0.3-1.2 mm, the total number of columns is 30-80 columns; the length of a single slot-shaped through hole is 2.5-6 mm.

[0016] Optionally, the slot-shaped through hole has a shape of a quasi-rectangular shape, a quasi-rhombus shape, or a quasi-dumbbell shape.

[0017] Optionally, the flexible display layer contact surface of the support substrate is polished.

[0018] Optionally, the flexible display layer contact surface of the support substrate is blackened.

[0019] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a folding screen, including:

[0020] A screen cover; the screen cover has a foldable area;

[0021] A touch layer, disposed below the screen cover, for providing a touch function for user interaction;

[0022] A flexible display layer, disposed below the touch layer, capable of displaying information when the screen is bent;

[0023] The supporting substrate is disposed below the flexible display layer and is used to provide physical support for the flexible display layer.

[0024] Folding component; the folding component cooperates with the foldable area of ​​the screen cover and the foldable area of ​​the supporting substrate to achieve folding and unfolding of the folding screen.

[0025] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the utility model also provides a foldable electronic device, comprising the aforementioned folding screen.

[0026] Based on the above technical solutions, the supporting substrate, folding screen and foldable electronic device in the embodiments of the utility model adopt a glass material with excellent insulating properties to make the substrate body of the supporting substrate. The folding screen is formed by the supporting substrate made of glass material, and there is no need to isolate the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits through an additional insulating protection structure. The foldable area with a flexible structure that cooperates with the folding component of the folding screen is provided on the glass substrate body of the supporting substrate, and the glass substrate body forming the foldable area is tempered, so that the manufactured supporting substrate has structural strength, toughness and foldability comparable to that of a stainless steel substrate, meeting the durability and safety requirements of the frequent bending of the folding screen.

[0027] Compared with the existing support substrate made of stainless steel material, the support substrate in the embodiment of the utility model not only has comparable structural strength, toughness and foldability, and meets the durability and safety of the frequent bending of the folding screen, but more importantly, due to its excellent insulation performance, there is no need for additional insulation protection for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits arranged on the support substrate, thereby reducing the number of components and design complexity of the folding screen, simplifying the manufacturing process of the folding screen, and reducing production costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0029] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a support substrate in an embodiment of the utility model is shown;

[0030] Figure 2 A schematic state diagram showing a supporting substrate in an embodiment of the utility model when it is stretched by force;

[0031] Figure 3 A schematic state diagram showing a support substrate in an embodiment of the utility model when being squeezed by force;

[0032] Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of a folding screen in an embodiment of the utility model is shown;

[0033] Figure 5 A schematic structural diagram of a foldable electronic device in an embodiment of the utility model is shown.

[0034] The corresponding relationship between the reference numerals and component names in the figures is as follows:

[0035] A foldable electronic device 1, a foldable screen 10, a supporting substrate 110, a glass substrate body 111, a foldable area 112, a groove-shaped through hole 1121, a flexible display layer 120, a touch layer 130, and a screen cover 140. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiment of the utility model clearer, the technical solution in the embodiment of the utility model will be clearly and completely described below in combination with actual application and with reference to the drawings of the embodiment of the utility model. Obviously, the described embodiment is a part of the embodiment of the utility model, not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiment of the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model.

[0037] The supporting substrate in the embodiment of the utility model is applied to a folding screen, which can be applied to smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, e-book readers, foldable TVs, foldable displays, wearable devices, and smart home appliances.

[0038] In existing folding screen technology, the stainless steel supporting substrate has high conductivity, so additional insulation protection measures are required for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits arranged thereon, which increases the complexity and cost of folding screen manufacturing.

[0039] After in-depth research, the inventors found that the existing folding screen must use a stainless steel support substrate because only it can meet the frequent bending requirements of the folding screen during use. Although the modified ultra-thin glass has good insulation properties and can meet the needs of frequent bending, it is too thin to provide stable support for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits.

[0040] After further studying the bending mechanism of the supporting substrate, the inventors found that the supporting substrate includes a foldable area and a non-folding area. The structural performance requirements of the non-folding area are basically the same as those of the supporting substrate of the flat-panel display, while the foldable area requires higher toughness. If the glass supporting substrate used in a traditional flat-panel display is designed to have a foldable structure, it can theoretically be used for a folding screen. However, due to the high brittleness of the glass supporting substrate used in traditional flat-panel displays, it is difficult to meet the requirements of screen bending, which limits designers from further exploring this solution.

[0041] In the process of implementing the technical solution in this practical embodiment, the inventor found that although the rigidity of steel is too high to bend, it can be bent after being made into a steel mesh structure. The inventor got inspiration from the steel mesh structure: if the predetermined area of ​​the glass support substrate is improved to a similar steel mesh structure, it can be made foldable. However, further research found that even with this treatment, the toughness and bendability of the glass support substrate are still not enough to meet the needs of the folding screen.

[0042] In order to improve the toughness of the foldable area of ​​the mesh structure, the inventor conducted in-depth research and found that ordinary glass that has been tempered will form a uniform compressive stress layer on its surface and tensile stress inside, effectively improving its bending and tensile strength and toughness. If the glass support substrate with a mesh structure foldable area is tempered, its structural strength, toughness and foldability can be comparable to those of a stainless steel support substrate, meeting the long-term durability and safety of the frequent bending of the folding screen. More importantly, the tempered glass support substrate retains excellent insulation properties, so when designing and manufacturing the folding screen, there is no need to use an additional insulating protection structure to isolate the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits.

[0043] Based on the understanding formed by the above research, the inventor provides a support substrate. The substrate body of the support substrate is made of a glass substrate with excellent insulation performance, and the predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body is converted into a foldable area through a structure to form a hollow grid structure, and the glass substrate body forming the foldable area is tempered to have a structural strength, toughness and foldable performance similar to that of a stainless steel substrate, thereby meeting the long-term durability and safety of the folding screen under frequent bending.

[0044] The technical solution of the utility model will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0045] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a support substrate in an embodiment of the utility model is shown.

[0046] Figure 2 A schematic state diagram of the supporting substrate in an embodiment of the utility model when being stretched by force is shown.

[0047] Figure 3 A schematic state diagram of the supporting substrate in an embodiment of the utility model when being squeezed is shown.

[0048] Now refer to Figure 1 , while combining Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, in an embodiment of the utility model, a supporting substrate is provided, which is applied to a folding screen; the supporting substrate comprises a glass substrate body 111 and n foldable regions 112 arranged on the glass substrate body 111; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the foldable regions 112 cooperate with a folding assembly of the folding screen to realize folding and unfolding of the screen;

[0049] The foldable area 112 is a grid-like area obtained by opening slot-shaped through holes 1121 in a row and column arrangement in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 through a laser induced etching process; wherein the slot-shaped through holes 1121 in two adjacent columns are staggered in row position; and the slot-shaped through holes 1121 at the edge of the glass substrate body 111 are open-type structures;

[0050] The support substrate is tempered after the foldable area 112 is manufactured.

[0051] In the embodiment of the utility model, the technical function of giving the support substrate good insulation, foldability and durability is decomposed into: forming the glass substrate body 111 with good insulation, making the glass substrate body 111 foldable, and making the glass substrate body 111 durable. Among them:

[0052] The sub-technical functions of forming the glass substrate body 111 with good insulation are realized as follows:

[0053] The substrate body of the support substrate is made of a glass material with excellent insulation performance, and the glass substrate body 111 has excellent insulation performance.

[0054] The sub-technical functions for making the glass substrate body 111 foldable are as follows:

[0055] In a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111, the slot-shaped through holes 1121 are opened in a row-column arrangement and staggered in row positions by laser induced etching process, and the slot-shaped through holes 1121 at the edge of the glass substrate body 111 are ensured to adopt an open structure, forming a hollowed-out grid-like structure area, and turning the predetermined area into the foldable area 112. The hollowed-out gaps in the grid-like structure provide deformation space for material bending, giving the foldable area 112 the necessary flexibility and foldability, and realizing a foldable function similar to that of a stainless steel support substrate.

[0056] The sub-technical functions for making the glass substrate body 111 durable are as follows:

[0057] After the foldable area 112 is manufactured, the glass substrate body 111 is tempered to form a uniform compressive stress layer on its surface and tensile stress inside, so that it has the structural characteristics of tempered glass. The tempering treatment gives the foldable area 112 of the glass substrate body 111 good bending strength, tensile strength and toughness, so that the foldable performance of the manufactured support substrate is comparable to that of a stainless steel support substrate, and can meet the long-term durability and safety of the folding screen when it is frequently bent.

[0058] Through the above technical means, the brittle glass support substrate used in traditional flat panel display screens is improved to be able to replace the stainless steel support substrate in the existing folding screen. The support substrate of the tempered glass nature in the embodiment of the utility model not only has the same structural strength, toughness and foldability as the stainless steel substrate, and meets the durability and safety of the frequent bending of the folding screen, but more importantly, it has excellent insulation performance. The folding screen constructed by it does not need to be isolated by an additional insulating protection structure to isolate the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits, which reduces the number of components and design complexity, and simplifies the manufacturing process.

[0059] In the embodiment of the utility model, the glass substrate used to make the glass substrate body 111 of the supporting substrate can be a glass substrate used for the supporting substrate of a conventional flat panel display screen, or an ultra-thin glass substrate within a predetermined thickness range. If the supporting substrate made of glass is used to form a folding screen, it has excellent insulation properties, and thus there is no need to use additional insulation protection measures for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits disposed thereon, which can greatly simplify the manufacturing process of the folding screen and reduce production costs.

[0060] In a possible implementation manner, the thickness of the support substrate is 0.12-0.5 mm.

[0061] The supporting substrate with a thickness of 0.12-0.5mm has sufficient structural strength. After being used to form a folding screen, it can provide stable support for the flexible display layer arranged thereon; the supporting substrate with a thickness of 0.12-0.5mm itself has a certain flexibility, which is conducive to opening the groove-shaped through hole 1121 in the glass substrate body 111 of the supporting base to form the foldable area 112, and the foldable area 112 has good flexibility and foldability.

[0062] For example, the support substrate can be controlled to a predetermined thickness by cutting and grinding techniques, and then chemical etching techniques are used to remove excess material to ensure the consistency of thickness and surface flatness and uniformity of the support substrate.

[0063] In a possible implementation manner, the glass material used for the support substrate is one of aluminoborosilicate glass and high aluminoborosilicate glass.

[0064] Aluminoborosilicate glass and high aluminoborosilicate glass themselves have high heat resistance, low thermal expansion coefficient, good bending strength, excellent scratch resistance and moderate flexibility; the glass substrate body 111 made of aluminoborosilicate glass or high aluminoborosilicate glass, the shape and size of the grooved through holes 1121 in the grid area formed by the laser induced etching process are regular, and the formed foldable area 112 has good flexibility and foldability, and after tempering treatment, it can provide excellent folding durability.

[0065] The foldable area 112 is the area of ​​the support substrate that realizes folding and unfolding. When the number of the foldable area 112 is 1, it means that the support substrate is used for a one-fold screen, and usually the foldable area 112 is set in the middle area of ​​the support substrate; when the number is 2, it means that the support substrate is used for a two-fold screen, and usually two foldable areas 112 are set in about one-third of the area on the left and right ends of the length direction of the support substrate. When the number is 3, it means that the support substrate is used for a three-fold screen, and so on. After the support substrate is assembled on the folding screen, the foldable area 112 of the support substrate and the foldable area of ​​the flexible display layer, as well as the folding components of the folding screen, such as hinges and hinges, overlap up and down in position and cooperate with each other to realize the folding and unfolding of the screen.

[0066] The manufacturing process of the foldable area 112 is specifically as follows:

[0067] First, using ultrafast laser technology, slot-shaped induced through holes are opened one by one in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 according to a pre-designed slot-shaped through hole pattern arranged in rows and columns; wherein the laser pulse width of the laser used in the ultrafast laser technology can be one of the nanosecond, picosecond or femtosecond levels.

[0068] Then, the groove-shaped induction through-holes on the glass substrate body 111 are etched and expanded by a wet etching process, and finally, the predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 is transformed into a grid-shaped flexible foldable area 112 composed of hollowed-out groove-shaped through-holes 1121 arranged in rows and columns. The wet etching is performed in an etching device. The etching solution can be a mixed solution of one or more of hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid, or a mixed solution of one or more of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide.

[0069] The slot-shaped through holes 1121 are hollow gap structures, and the hollow gaps in the grid-like structure provide deformation space for material bending, giving the foldable area 112 the necessary flexibility and foldability. The slot-shaped through holes in two adjacent columns of the pre-designed row and column arrangement of slot-shaped through holes are staggered in row positions, and the slot-shaped through holes at the edge are open-type structures. Among them, the slot-shaped through holes 1121 in two adjacent columns of the foldable area 112 are staggered in row positions, which enhances the structural strength and toughness of the entire foldable area 112; the slot-shaped through holes 1121 at the edge of the glass cover plate body of the foldable area 112 adopt an open-type structure to improve the foldability of the foldable area 112.

[0070] Folding screen applications with different sizes and bending requirements have different structural designs for the foldable area 112 of the supporting substrate.

[0071] In a possible implementation manner, the column spacing of the slot-shaped through holes 1121 arranged in rows and columns is 0.08-0.2 mm, the spacing between two adjacent slot-shaped through holes 1121 in the same column is 0.3-1.2 mm, and the total number of columns is 30-80 columns; the length of a single slot-shaped through hole 1121 is 2.5-6 mm.

[0072] The row-by-row spacing of the slot-shaped through holes 1121 is 0.08-0.2 mm, and the spacing between two adjacent slot-shaped through holes 1121 in the same row is 0.3-1.2 mm, which can ensure that the foldable area 112 has uniform rigidity and flexibility to meet the requirements of different bending degrees.

[0073] The total number of columns is 30 to 80, which allows for selecting an appropriate total number of columns of the slot-shaped through holes 1121 according to the specific size and bending requirements of the folding screen, so that the foldable area 112 of the supporting substrate has appropriate rigidity and foldability.

[0074] The length of a single slot-shaped through hole 1121 is 2.5-6 mm, which not only ensures that the slot-shaped through hole 1121 has enough deformation space to adapt to bending deformation during the folding process, but also ensures the structural stability of the foldable area 112 in the unfolded state.

[0075] The specific process of opening the slot-shaped through holes 1121 in a row-column arrangement in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 is as follows: pre-designing a slot-shaped through hole pattern arranged in rows and columns, using ultrafast laser technology to open slot-shaped induced through holes in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 one by one; in the process of opening the slot-shaped induced through holes, ultrafast laser technology accurately controls the size and shape of the through holes to ensure the uniform distribution and manufacturing accuracy of the slot-shaped induced through holes arranged in rows and columns. Then, the slot-shaped through holes 1121 arranged in rows and columns are formed on the glass substrate body 111 by a wet etching process to obtain the foldable area 112.

[0076] By finely regulating the flexible grid structure of the foldable area 112 of the supporting substrate, the foldable area 112 can provide corresponding flexibility, rigidity and foldability, thereby ensuring good structural performance and stability during folding and unfolding, and meeting the needs of folding screen applications with different sizes and bending requirements.

[0077] Different folding requirements have different requirements on the mechanical properties of the foldable area 112 of the supporting substrate.

[0078] In a possible implementation manner, the shape of the slot-shaped through hole 1121 is one of a quasi-rectangular shape, a quasi-rhombus shape, and a quasi-dumbbell shape.

[0079] The groove-shaped through hole 1121 of the quasi-rectangular structure provides uniform mechanical distribution with its regular geometric shape. The foldable area 112 formed by the groove-shaped through hole 1121 of the quasi-rectangular structure has good stability and consistency, and is suitable for supporting substrates where the foldable area needs to be folded frequently and has relatively consistent mechanical requirements. The manufacturing process of the groove-shaped through hole 1121 of the quasi-rectangular structure is simple.

[0080] The slot-shaped through hole 1121 of the rhombus-like structure increases the torsion resistance of the structure by utilizing the characteristics of its diagonal line, and can better disperse stress during the folding process. The foldable area 112 formed by the slot-shaped through hole 1121 of the rhombus-like structure has good durability and deformation resistance, and is suitable for a supporting substrate where the foldable area needs to withstand multi-directional forces.

[0081] The slot-shaped through hole 1121 of the dumbbell-like structure imitates the shape of a dumbbell, which is wide at both ends and narrow in the middle, and can provide higher local flexibility and high strength at the edge during the folding process. The foldable area 112 formed by the slot-shaped through hole 1121 of the dumbbell-like structure is suitable for a support substrate in which the foldable area needs to concentrate flexibility in a specific area.

[0082] The specific process of opening the slot-shaped through hole 1121 in the predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 is as follows: pre-designing a rectangular, rhombus, or dumbbell-shaped slot pattern, using ultrafast laser technology to open a slot-shaped induced through hole in the predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111 according to the preset pattern, and then forming the final slot-shaped through hole 1121 structure through a wet etching process.

[0083] By selecting the shape of the slot-shaped through hole 1121, the foldable area 112 of the supporting substrate can be given specific mechanical properties, ensuring that the foldable area 112 has flexibility, bending strength, and tensile strength that meet different folding requirements to adapt to the folding needs of corresponding application scenarios.

[0084] In the embodiment of the utility model, the glass substrate body 111 after wet etching needs to be placed in a cleaning device for cleaning to remove dirt and residual etching liquid on its surface.

[0085] In the embodiment of the utility model, the glass substrate body 111 is subjected to a tempering treatment after the foldable region 112 is manufactured, so that a uniform compressive stress layer can be formed on its surface and a tensile stress can be formed inside, so that the glass substrate body 111 has the structural characteristics of tempered glass. The tempering treatment method can specifically adopt chemical tempering or thermal tempering. Both of these tempering treatment methods can improve the structural strength and toughness of the glass substrate body 111.

[0086] Compared with the untempered glass substrate body, the toughness of the foldable area 112 of the tempered glass substrate body 111 is further enhanced, and the bending strength and tensile strength are greatly improved, and the foldability is comparable to that of a stainless steel support substrate. When the foldable area 112 is impacted beyond its bearing capacity, it will not break immediately, but will form small blunt-angle particles, greatly reducing the damage caused by glass breakage.

[0087] In the embodiment of the utility model, the glass substrate body 111 of the support substrate is made of a glass substrate with excellent insulation performance. The glass substrate body 111 has a grid-like flexible foldable area 112 composed of hollow slot-shaped through holes 1121 arranged in rows and columns. The glass substrate body 111 has the structural characteristics of tempered glass after tempering, and the foldable area 112 thereon has the same foldable performance as the foldable area of ​​a stainless steel support substrate. When the foldable screen is formed by using it to provide stable support for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits of the foldable screen, it is no longer necessary to provide an additional insulating protection structure for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits.

[0088] Specifically, in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body 111, a grid structure consisting of hollowed-out slot-shaped through holes 1121 arranged in rows and columns and staggered between two adjacent columns is formed by a laser-induced etching process, so that the predetermined area is transformed into a flexible foldable area 112. The grid-like structure is a flexible structure, which gives the foldable area 112 the necessary flexibility and foldability. When the support substrate constitutes a folding screen and needs to be folded, the hollowed-out gaps in the grid-like structure of the foldable area provide deformation space for continuous bending of the material, thereby achieving folding and unfolding of the folding screen while maintaining the overall structural integrity of the support substrate.

[0089] By tempering the glass substrate body 111 after forming the foldable area 112, a uniform compressive stress layer is formed on its surface and a tensile stress is formed inside, so that the manufactured support substrate has the structural characteristics of tempered glass. The tempering treatment gives the foldable area 112 of the support substrate the same toughness and foldability as the foldable area of ​​a stainless steel support substrate, and the bending strength and tensile strength are also greatly improved, ensuring the long-term durability and safety of the support substrate under frequent bending.

[0090] Through the above structural design, the supporting substrate in the embodiment of the utility model not only has structural performance comparable to that of a stainless steel supporting substrate, but also has excellent insulation performance. Therefore, there is no need to provide additional insulation protection structure for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits in the final folding screen.

[0091] Compared with the existing support substrate made of stainless steel material, the support substrate in the embodiment of the utility model not only has comparable structural strength, toughness and foldability, and meets the durability and safety of the frequent bending of the folding screen, but more importantly, due to its excellent insulation performance, there is no need for additional insulation protection for the flexible display layer and its peripheral circuits arranged on the support substrate, thereby reducing the number of components and design complexity of the folding screen, simplifying the manufacturing process of the folding screen, and reducing production costs.

[0092] In order to enable the flexible display layer of the folding screen to better adhere to the supporting substrate, in a possible implementation manner, the contact surface of the flexible display layer of the supporting substrate is polished.

[0093] The contact surface of the flexible display layer of the support substrate is polished to make the contact surface smoother and more flat. Furthermore, the flexible display layer of the folding screen made of the support substrate can be better attached to the support substrate, with a flatter shape, which can effectively improve the clarity and consistency of the display effect displayed by the flexible display layer. In addition, it can also effectively reduce the friction between the flexible display layer and the support substrate during the folding process, reduce wear, and extend the service life of the display layer.

[0094] In order to improve the display effect of the folding screen, in a possible implementation manner, the contact surface of the flexible display layer of the supporting substrate is blackened.

[0095] The blackened surface of the flexible display layer on the supporting substrate can absorb light better and reduce light reflection, thereby providing a higher contrast ratio when displaying images on the folding screen, making the colors more vivid and the images clearer. In addition, at the edges and folding areas of the screen, the blackened supporting substrate makes the screen more integrated when not activated, and the edges more invisible, improving the overall visual beauty and immersion.

[0096] Figure 4 A schematic structural diagram of a folding screen in an embodiment of the utility model is shown.

[0097] Now refer to Figure 4 As shown, the embodiment of the utility model further provides a folding screen 10, including:

[0098] The screen cover 140 has a foldable area;

[0099] A touch layer, disposed below the screen cover 140, for providing a touch function for user interaction;

[0100] A flexible display layer 120 is disposed below the touch layer and is capable of displaying information when the screen is bent;

[0101] The supporting substrate 110 is disposed below the flexible display layer 120 and is used to provide physical support for the flexible display layer 120;

[0102] Folding component; the folding component cooperates with the foldable area of ​​the screen cover 140 and the foldable area 112 of the supporting substrate 110 to achieve folding and unfolding of the folding screen 10.

[0103] The folding screen 10 in the embodiment of the utility model can be a one-fold screen, a two-fold screen, a three-fold screen, and an n-fold screen; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; an n-fold screen means that the screen cover 140 and the supporting substrate 110 included therein have n corresponding and mutually cooperating foldable areas, and n folding components driving the folding and unfolding of the folding screen 10. The folding screen 10 can be specifically applied to smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, e-book readers, foldable TVs, foldable displays, wearable devices, and smart home appliances.

[0104] It should be understood that the support substrate 110 in the folding screen embodiment of the present invention is the support substrate in the aforementioned support substrate embodiment of the present invention. For the convenience and simplicity of description, the description of the support substrate in the folding screen embodiment of the present invention can refer to the relevant description in the support substrate embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0105] Figure 5 A schematic structural diagram of a foldable electronic device in an embodiment of the utility model is shown.

[0106] Now refer to Figure 5 As shown, an embodiment of the utility model further provides a foldable electronic device 1, comprising the aforementioned folding screen 10.

[0107] Exemplarily, the foldable electronic device 1 in the embodiment of the utility model can be a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an e-book reader, a foldable TV, a foldable display, a wearable device, and a smart home appliance.

[0108] The foldable electronic device 1 is integrated with the foldable screen 10. The foldable screen 10 not only provides touch and display functions, but also allows the device to flexibly change its shape in different usage scenarios through its unique foldable design.

[0109] It should be understood that the folding screen 10 in the embodiment of the foldable electronic device of the present invention is the folding screen in the aforementioned embodiment of the folding screen of the present invention. For the convenience and simplicity of description, the description of the folding screen in the embodiment of the foldable electronic device of the present invention can refer to the relevant description in the embodiment of the folding screen, and will not be repeated here.

Claims

1. A supporting substrate, applied to a folding screen; characterized in that: The support substrate (110) comprises a glass substrate body (111) and n foldable regions (112) arranged on the glass substrate body (111); wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the foldable regions (112) cooperate with a folding component of the folding screen to achieve folding and unfolding of the screen; The foldable area (112) is a grid-shaped area obtained by opening slot-shaped through holes (1121) in a row and column arrangement in a predetermined area of ​​the glass substrate body (111) through a laser induced etching process; wherein the slot-shaped through holes (1121) in two adjacent columns are staggered in row position; and the slot-shaped through holes (1121) at the edge of the glass substrate body (111) are open-type structures; The support substrate (110) is subjected to a tempering treatment after the foldable region (112) is manufactured.

2. The support substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the support substrate (110) is 0.12-0.5 mm.

3. The support substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The glass material used for the support substrate (110) is one of aluminoborosilicate glass and high aluminoborosilicate glass.

4. The support substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The row-and-column arrangement of the slot-shaped through holes (1121) has a row-and-column spacing of 0.08 to 0.2 mm, the spacing between two adjacent slot-shaped through holes (1121) in the same row is 0.3 to 1.2 mm, and the total number of rows is 30 to 80; the length of a single slot-shaped through hole (1121) is 2.5 to 6 mm.

5. The support substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The shape of the slot-shaped through hole (1121) is one of a quasi-rectangular shape, a quasi-rhombus shape, and a quasi-dumbbell shape.

6. The support substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The flexible display layer contact surface of the support substrate (110) is polished.

7. The supporting substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The flexible display layer contact surface of the support substrate (110) has been subjected to blackening treatment.

8. Folding screen, characterized in that: include: A screen cover (140); the screen cover (140) has a foldable area (112); A touch layer, disposed below the screen cover, for providing a touch function for user interaction; A flexible display layer (120), arranged below the touch layer, capable of displaying information when the screen is bent; The supporting substrate (110) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, arranged below the flexible display layer (120), and used to provide physical support for the flexible display layer (120); Folding components; The folding assembly cooperates with the foldable area of ​​the screen cover (140) and the foldable area (112) of the support substrate (110) to achieve folding and unfolding of the folding screen (10).

9. A foldable electronic device, characterized in that: Comprising the folding screen (10) described in claim 8.

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