Flexible Display Cover Hardened Layer Scratch Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display covers made of polymer films are prone to arching, creasing, fatigue fracture, and have low scratch and impact resistance, which limits their durability and reliability in flexible display applications.
Innovation Solution
A flexible display cover comprising a ultra-thin glass layer with a hardened layer and a flexible protective layer, where the glass layer is chemically strengthened and the hardened layer is made of materials like UV resin or silicon dioxide to enhance scratch resistance and impact resistance, and an anti-shatter layer is optionally added for safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a polymer film (PET or PI) is used as a flexible display cover, then flexibility and bendability are improved, but surface hardness, scratch resistance, and impact resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a flexible polymer film substrate with a hardened coating layer. The polymer film provides flexibility and bendability, while the hardened layer (made of materials like silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, or diamond-like carbon) provides surface hardness and scratch resistance. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by integrating the advantages of both materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating a hardened layer only on the outer surface of the polymer film where protection is needed, while the inner polymer substrate maintains its flexibility. The hardened layer is applied selectively to the surface that contacts external objects, providing localized protection without compromising the overall flexibility of the display cover.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a polymer film is used as a flexible display cover, then flexibility is improved, but reliability and durability deteriorate due to creeping, arching, and fatigue fracture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials where the hardened layer provides structural support and resistance to creeping and arching, while the polymer film maintains flexibility. The hardened layer acts as a reinforcing skeleton that prevents the polymer from deforming permanently under its own weight or during bending, thereby improving reliability without sacrificing flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the display cover into two functional layers: a flexible polymer substrate and a protective hardened coating. This segmentation allows each layer to perform its specialized function - the polymer provides flexibility and the hardened layer provides structural integrity and resistance to fatigue, together achieving both flexibility and reliability.
3Strength
If ultra-thin glass (UTG) is used as a flexible display cover, then surface hardness and bending property are improved, but reliability deteriorates due to brittle fracture and cracking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating the hardness and strength properties in a thin hardened coating layer on the outer surface, while the underlying polymer film provides toughness and crack resistance. This localized placement of properties allows the cover to be hard where needed for protection while remaining tough overall to prevent catastrophic failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the polymer film as an intermediary between the hardened coating and the display module. This intermediary layer absorbs impact energy and prevents stress concentration that would otherwise propagate cracks through the hardened layer, thereby improving cracking resistance while maintaining surface hardness.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the thickness of ultra-thin glass is reduced to improve bending property, then flexibility is improved, but reliability decreases and brittle fracture occurs more easily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials where a thin hardened coating provides surface protection and a thicker flexible polymer substrate provides impact resistance and flexibility. This composite structure allows the cover to be thin and flexible like UTG but with the impact resistance of a much thicker material, resolving the contradiction between thinness and reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides improved scratch resistance, impact resistance, and durability, allowing the flexible display cover to maintain its shape and functionality even after repeated bending and reducing the risk of cracking and shattering.
Implementation Method 1
The hardened layer has better hardness and strength, and therefore, can protect the glass layer, to reduce a case in which the flexible display cover is scratched
Implementation Method 2
The glass layer has a high modulus (a modulus of toughened glass may exceed 70 GPa) and high hardness, to stabilize a polymer layer in the display module, reduce occurrence of arching, improve flatness
Implementation Method 3
due to a viscoelasticity nature of a polymer material, after being statically bent for a long period of time or being dynamically bent for a plurality of times, the polymer cover creeps
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides example flexible display cover, module, and apparatus. One example cover covers a flexible display. The flexible display cover includes a glass layer and a hardened layer that are superposed. The hardened layer is located on a side of the glass layer away from the flexible display.