Flexible Array Substrate Layout for Bend-Resistant Metal Traces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display panels face issues with metal traces breaking and film layers separating during bending, leading to abnormal images and reduced yield rates due to lack of bending resistance and durability.
Innovation Solution
An array substrate design with a bending region and non-bending region, featuring a base layer, buffer layer, functional layer, filling layer, and metal layer, where the functional layer has specific openings and the metal traces are bent inward to reduce stress, and the filling layer is made of organic materials to enhance stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metal traces are made rigid to ensure electrical connectivity, then electrical conductivity is improved, but the metal traces are easily broken during bending causing abnormal images
Solution Approach 1:
The metal traces are designed with bent portions that curve inward toward the inside of the second opening in the bending region. This curved configuration allows the metal traces to accommodate bending deformation without breaking, maintaining electrical connectivity while improving bending resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible filling layer made of organic material that covers and protects the metal traces. This flexible layer allows the metal traces to bend without rigid constraints, preventing breakage while maintaining electrical functionality during dynamic bending.
2Stability of the object's composition
If film layers are bonded tightly to maintain structural integrity, then adhesion is improved, but the film layers are likely to separate after bending reducing yield rate
Solution Approach 1:
The filling layer is constructed from flexible organic materials that can accommodate bending deformation. This flexibility prevents stress concentration at interfaces between film layers, reducing the likelihood of separation while maintaining structural integrity during and after bending operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures with multiple layers including the filling layer, functional layer, and metal layer. The combination of different materials with complementary properties (flexibility, adhesion, conductivity) creates a composite structure that maintains layer bonding during bending while preventing separation.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the display panel structure is made rigid to prevent deformation, then structural stability is improved, but threshold voltage drifts and causes uneven light emission
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible filling layer allows the display panel structure to deform elastically during bending without causing permanent deformation or stress concentration on the thin film transistors. This prevents threshold voltage drift while maintaining overall structural stability and uniform light emission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical properties of the structure by introducing flexible organic materials in the filling layer. This parameter change from rigid to flexible allows the structure to accommodate bending stresses without transmitting excessive stress to the transistors, preventing threshold voltage drift.
Data Source
AI summary
An array substrate and a display device are provided. A functional layer of the array substrate is provided with a first opening in a bending region. A filling layer covering the functional layer fills the first opening and provides a second opening at a position of the first opening. A metal layer of the array substrate includes a plurality of metal traces, and the metal traces are bent toward an inside of the second opening in a region overlapping with the second opening.