Flexible Display Panel Layout for Stress-Resistant Folding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display panels face structural and functional deformation and damage due to stress concentration in specific regions, leading to deteriorating display quality.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of stretchable and stretch-resistant regions in the display panel, with stretchable thin film transistors and connection wires, allowing the panel to be foldable, bendable, or rollable while reducing stress and maintaining display quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the flexible display panel is made uniformly stretchable to enable folding and bending, then flexibility is improved, but stress concentration occurs in specific regions causing structural and functional deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is designed with different mechanical properties in different regions: stretchable regions allow deformation during folding/bending, while stretch-resistant regions maintain structural integrity and prevent stress concentration. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by enabling flexibility where needed while preserving reliability in critical areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate is segmented into multiple stretchable regions and stretch-resistant regions. The stretch-resistant regions act as stress distribution zones that prevent localized stress concentration, thereby maintaining display quality while allowing overall panel flexibility through the stretchable regions.
2Ease of manufacture
If the display panel uses a uniform substrate structure to simplify manufacturing, then ease of manufacture is improved, but stress distribution is poor leading to structural damage
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate incorporates regions with different mechanical properties (stretchable vs. stretch-resistant) to optimize both manufacturability and structural integrity. The stretch-resistant regions provide necessary strength and stress distribution, while the stretchable regions facilitate flexible deformation, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and structural strength.
3Reliability
If thin film transistors are placed entirely in stretch-resistant regions to maintain electrical performance, then device reliability is improved, but pixel density decreases due to space constraints
Solution Approach 1:
Different types of thin film transistors are strategically placed in different regions: stretch-resistant regions host transistors requiring stable electrical performance, while stretchable regions accommodate transistors that can tolerate some deformation. This spatial differentiation allows higher pixel density while maintaining overall device reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate is segmented into regions with different transistor densities and types. By distributing transistors across both stretchable and stretch-resistant regions, the design achieves higher overall pixel density while critical transistors in stretch-resistant regions maintain reliable electrical performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a flexible display panel and an electronic device including the same, in the flexible display panel that is foldable, bendable, or rollable along at least one axis extending in a first direction, the flexible display panel including a substrate including a stretchable region and a non-stretchable region, a plurality of pixel circuits repeatedly arranged on the substrate, and a unit element array including unit elements repeatedly arranged on the substrate and electrically connected to each of the pixel circuits, wherein each of the pixel circuits includes a plurality of thin film transistors, the plurality of thin film transistors include a first thin film transistor on the stretchable region of the substrate, and a channel length direction of the first thin film transistor is substantially parallel to the first direction flexible display panel.