Flexible Display Panel Border Reduction via Bending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile electronic devices with touch screens have limited display and interactive touch areas due to the presence of non-interactive border areas that house signal routing for the display and touch sensor panels, which occupy valuable space and hinder the maximization of the active area without increasing the device's overall size.
Innovation Solution
The use of a flexible substrate for the display and touch sensor panels allows for bending of their edges, reducing the border area and enabling more space for the active area, with options to pattern perforations or thin areas to minimize residual stress during bending.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If a rigid substrate is used for the display and touch sensor panels, then the structural stability is maintained, but the border area cannot be reduced and the active area is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies flexible substrate technology to replace traditional rigid substrates for manufacturing display panels and touch sensor panels. This flexibility enables the panels to be bent into three-dimensional configurations, allowing the border areas to be folded away from the front surface of the device. Consequently, the active display area can be enlarged without increasing the overall device footprint, directly resolving the contradiction between maximizing active area and minimizing border area.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions the border area from a two-dimensional planar layout to a three-dimensional folded structure. By bending the flexible substrates, the border regions are relocated to the sides or back of the device, effectively utilizing the third dimension (depth) to accommodate routing and structural requirements. This dimensional transformation allows the front surface to be maximized for active display purposes.
2Area of moving object
If the flexible substrate is bent to reduce border area, then the active area is maximized, but residual stress may cause deformation or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible substrate is divided into multiple segments or zones with different flexibility characteristics. Rigid portions are positioned in areas requiring structural stability, while flexible portions are located where bending is needed to reduce border area. This segmentation allows the substrate to accommodate bending stresses without compromising overall structural integrity, preventing deformation and damage while maximizing active area.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate structure is optimized with varying local properties - certain regions are designed with enhanced rigidity or reinforcement to withstand bending stresses, while other regions maintain high flexibility to enable the border folding. This localized quality differentiation ensures that stress concentrations are managed appropriately, maintaining reliability during the bending process that reduces border area.
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
This approach effectively reduces the non-interactive border areas, allowing for a larger display and touch-active area without increasing the device's size, or enabling a smaller device form factor with unchanged active area dimensions.
Implementation Method 1
a flexible substrate can be used to fabricate the display panel and/or the touch sensor panel so that the edges of the display panel and/or the touch sensor panel can be bent
Implementation Method 2
the flexible substrate can be patterned with perforations or made thinner at certain areas during the manufacturing process to reduce the residual stress when the flexible substrate is bent
Data Source
AI summary
A circuit panel of an electronic device is disclosed. The circuit panel includes a substantially flat surface including an active area of the electronic device; a bent border area contiguous with and extending from the active area of the substantially flat surface; and a plurality of traces coupled to the active area and routed in the bent border area.