Foldable Cover Window Support Units for Impact and Stretchability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Foldable display devices face challenges with cover windows that are prone to damage from impacts, such as those caused by external objects, and lack sufficient stretchability and impact strength.
Innovation Solution
A cover window design comprising a first member and a second member with defined folding and non-folding portions, featuring support units and stretching units that enhance impact resistance and stretchability, manufactured through a method involving etching and resin filling to create specific cross-sectional shapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a thin glass is used for the cover window to enable folding, then flexibility is improved, but impact strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite structure consisting of a glass member and a support member with resin material. The glass member provides flexibility for folding, while the support member with its rigid resin structures provides impact strength. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by combining materials with complementary properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The support member is divided into multiple support units spaced apart from each other, with each unit having a specific cross-sectional shape. This segmentation allows the structure to maintain flexibility while providing distributed impact resistance across the folding portion.
2Strength
If the cover window is made thicker to increase impact strength, then strength is improved, but stretchability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support units are positioned specifically in the folding portion where reinforcement is needed, rather than uniformly thickening the entire cover window. The cross-sectional shapes (triangular, funnel, hourglass) concentrate support where required while maintaining thinness in non-folding areas, preserving stretchability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing thickness uniformly in one dimension, the patent adds structural complexity in the cross-sectional dimension with varied shapes. This provides strength through geometric configuration rather than mere thickness, maintaining flexibility.
3Reliability
If support units are added to the folding portion to improve impact resistance, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support units are integrated into a single support member that is attached to the glass member as one component. This merging approach provides complex functionality through a unified structure rather than multiple separate components, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent varies the cross-sectional parameters of support units (different shapes like triangular, funnel, hourglass) to optimize impact resistance. By changing geometric parameters rather than adding more components, the solution achieves improved reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A cover window includes a first member and a second member attached to the first member. A folding portion and a non-folding portion are defined in the cover window, the folding portion includes an inner surface which is compressed when the cover window is folded and an outer surface which is stretched when the cover window is folded, the first member is closer to the inner surface than the second member is, and the second member is closer to the outer surface than the first member is. The second member includes a plurality of support units in the folding portion and spaced apart from each other.