Display Panel Spacer Design for Crack Prevention
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The reliability of irregularly-shaped display panels is compromised due to encapsulation failures, particularly at hollow portions, where cracks in inorganic material layers can form and spread, leading to reduced encapsulation performance and increased risk of failure during cutting processes.
Innovation Solution
A display panel design featuring a substrate with a display function layer, a hollow portion, and spacer parts with specific orthographic projections, where the encapsulation layer extends to cover the spacer parts' side surfaces, creating a natural disconnection that prevents damage during cutting and reduces crack formation, thereby enhancing the panel's reliability and display performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the encapsulation layer is continuous over the hollow portion, then the encapsulation coverage is improved, but cracks can form and spread during cutting processes
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulation layer is divided into multiple separate encapsulation regions by the spacer part, creating a segmented structure. This segmentation prevents cracks from spreading continuously across the hollow portion, as the spacer acts as a physical barrier that interrupts crack propagation paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer part serves as an intermediary element positioned between the display region and the hollow portion. It mediates the stress distribution during cutting processes and provides a disconnection point for the encapsulation layer, preventing direct stress transmission that would cause cracks.
2Reliability
If the encapsulation layer extends to cover the spacer part side surfaces, then the encapsulation performance is improved, but the complexity of the structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer part combines multiple functions into a single structure: it defines the boundary between the display region and hollow portion, serves as a support structure, and creates the disconnection point for the encapsulation layer. This merging reduces overall structural complexity while maintaining encapsulation performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer part performs multiple functions simultaneously: structural support, region definition, and encapsulation layer disconnection. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components, thereby reducing structural complexity while improving encapsulation performance.
3Adaptability or versatility
If irregularly-shaped display panels are manufactured, then design flexibility is improved, but the reliability is compromised due to cutting processes
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer part is pre-positioned between the display region and hollow portion before final cutting operations. This preliminary action creates a predetermined disconnection point in the encapsulation layer, ensuring that subsequent cutting processes will not cause cracks to propagate into the functional display area.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer part provides preliminary protection by creating a structural barrier that prevents harmful crack propagation during cutting. It acts in advance to counteract the potential damage from irregular cutting processes, thereby maintaining panel reliability despite shape flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A display panel, fabrication method, and a display device are provided. The display panel includes a display region; a substrate panel; a display function layer, in the display region and over the substrate panel; a hollow portion, penetrating through the display panel; and at least one spacer part. The spacer part includes a bottom pattern and a spacer pattern. The bottom pattern is an orthographic projection, on the substrate panel, of a bottom surface of the spacer part close to the substrate panel, and has a side edge close to the hollow portion as a first inner side edge. The spacer pattern is an orthographic projection of the spacer part on the substrate panel, and has a side edge close to the hollow portion as a second inner side edge. The second inner side edge is closer to the hollow portion than the first inner side edge.