Flexible Display Substrate Corner Geometry for Stress Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display apparatuses face defects and reliability issues due to stress concentration at bending areas, particularly in the corners where acute angles and internal angles intersect, leading to potential cracks in organic and inorganic layers.
Innovation Solution
A flexible display apparatus design featuring a flexible substrate with a main area and adjacent areas that share acute angles, where the display unit is positioned over the main and adjacent areas but not in the corner areas, and a method of manufacturing involving chamfering the corners of the substrate to ensure a sum of internal angles is 180°, reducing stress and defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the flexible substrate has acute angles at the corners where bending lines intersect, then the display unit can be arranged over larger areas, but stress concentration and cracks occur in the bending areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the display unit from the corner area where the first and second bending lines intersect, extracting the problematic region from the display area. This prevents stress concentration and cracks at the intersection of acute angles while maintaining display coverage over the main area and adjacent areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different functional qualities to different regions: the main area and adjacent areas have display functionality, while the corner area where bending lines intersect is excluded from display arrangement to avoid stress concentration. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between maximizing display area and preventing defects.
2Reliability
If the sum of internal angles at the apex is 180°, then stress concentration is reduced, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies that the sum of the first internal angle and second internal angle at the apex must be 180°, transforming the corner area into a straight line configuration. This parameter change optimizes stress distribution by eliminating acute angle stress concentration, while the precise angular specification provides clear manufacturing guidance.
3Reliability
If the display unit is spaced apart from the edge of the flexible substrate, then stress concentration at edges is reduced, but the usable display area decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies spacing between the display unit and substrate edges in critical areas (corner regions and bending line intersections) where stress concentration occurs, while maintaining full coverage in the main area. This partial application of spacing resolves the contradiction by protecting against stress concentration only where necessary.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible display apparatus includes a flexible substrate having a main area having an apex at which a first side and a second side meet, a first area that shares the first side with the main area, and a second area that shares the second side with the main area, wherein a first angle of the first area and a second angle of the second area that share the apex are acute angles, and a display unit arranged over the main area, the first area, and the second area of the flexible substrate.