Flexible Display Support Structure With Rigidity Buffer Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display panels become thinner and lighter, leading to reduced bending resistance and impact resistance, compromising their reliability and stability.
Innovation Solution
A supporting structure with a bendable region and fixed regions, where the fixed regions have a higher rigidity than the bendable region, and are designed with hollowed-out holes to distribute stress and reduce rigidity mutations at junctions, ensuring stability and facilitating bending and curling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the flexible display panel is made thinner and lighter, then the flexibility and ease of bending are improved, but the bending resistance and impact resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting structure is divided into multiple regions with different rigidity characteristics: a bendable region with lower rigidity for flexibility, and fixed regions with higher rigidity for strength. This segmentation allows the structure to simultaneously achieve both flexibility and bending resistance by distributing mechanical properties across different zones.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the supporting structure are assigned different local qualities in terms of rigidity. The bendable region has reduced rigidity to facilitate flexing, while the fixed regions maintain high rigidity for structural stability. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing the right mechanical property at the right location.
2Weight of moving object
If the flexible display panel is made thinner and lighter, then the weight reduction is achieved, but the impact resistance and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting structure segments the load-bearing function across multiple regions. The fixed regions with higher rigidity specifically handle impact and reliability requirements, while the overall structure remains lightweight due to the thin design and the presence of hollowed-out holes that reduce mass without compromising the critical support functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting structure employs a composite design combining regions of different rigidity within a single component. This composite approach allows the structure to achieve high impact resistance and reliability through the rigid fixed regions while maintaining overall lightness through the thin profile and hollowed-out features.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the rigidity of the fixed region is increased, then the structural stability is improved, but the rigidity mutation at the junction with the bendable region increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer portion is designed with intermediate rigidity properties that differ from both the highly rigid fixed region and the flexible bendable region. This local quality gradient reduces the abruptness of rigidity transitions at the junction, thereby minimizing rigidity mutation while preserving the structural stability provided by the fixed regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer portion acts as an intermediary element between the rigid fixed region and the flexible bendable region. This intermediate zone with moderate rigidity serves as a transition that mediates the mechanical property differences between the two extreme regions, reducing stress concentration and rigidity mutation at the interface.
4Strength
If hollowed-out holes are added to the supporting structure, then the stress distribution is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting structure incorporates hollowed-out holes to create a porous configuration that improves stress distribution throughout the material. This porous design allows stress to be dispersed across multiple load paths rather than concentrated in solid regions, enhancing the overall strength and resistance to impact while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing approach.
Data Source
AI summary
This application relates to a supporting structure applied to a flexible display panel and a display device. The supporting structure includes: a bendable region having a plurality of first hollowed-out holes, a bendable axis corresponding to the bendable region extending in a first direction; and at least two fixed regions at opposite sides of the bendable region in a second direction intersecting with the first direction. The fixed region has a rigid holding portion and a buffer portion having a plurality of second hollowed-out holes. The buffer portion is connected to the bendable region, and rigidity of the buffer portion is greater than or equal to rigidity of the bendable region. At least part of the rigid holding portion is provided at a side of the buffer portion away from the bendable region, and rigidity of the rigid holding portion is greater than rigidity of the buffer portion.