Flexible Display Window Thickness Variation for Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display devices require a window that balances flexibility and durability, as traditional flexible films made of plastic materials compromise on durability while increasing bending stiffness, reducing flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A window structure comprising a flexible film and a hard coating film, with varying thicknesses in flat and bending areas, to enhance durability and maintain flexibility, where the flexible film is thinner in bending areas and thicker in flat areas, and vice versa for the hard coating film, ensuring uniformity and optimal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the window is made of a flexible film to achieve flexibility, then the flexibility is improved, but the durability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a flexible film with a hard coating film to create a window structure that integrates both flexibility and durability. The flexible film provides the necessary flexibility for bending, while the hard coating film enhances durability by providing impact resistance and scratch protection. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by merging materials with complementary properties into a single functional component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating different thickness regions of the flexible film in the flat area versus the bending area. The flexible film has a first thickness in the flat area and a second thickness (different from the first) in the bending area, allowing optimized local properties. This thickness variation enables the window to maintain appropriate flexibility in the bending area while providing sufficient structural integrity in the flat area, thereby resolving the flexibility-durability contradiction through spatially differentiated material properties.
2Reliability
If the thickness of the flexible film is increased to improve durability, then the durability is improved, but the bending stiffness increases, reducing flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the thickness of the flexible film across different regions. The flexible film has a first thickness in the flat area and a second thickness in the bending area, where the thicknesses differ. This local thickness variation allows the film to be thicker (more durable) in the flat area while being thinner (more flexible) in the bending area, thereby resolving the contradiction between durability and flexibility through spatially differentiated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining the flexible film with a hard coating film that has different thickness characteristics. The hard coating film has a first thickness in the flat area and a second thickness in the bending area, working in conjunction with the flexible film's thickness variation. This composite approach allows the system to achieve both durability (through the hard coating) and flexibility (through the flexible film's thickness modulation) simultaneously.
3Reliability
If the thickness of the hard coating film is increased to improve durability, then the durability is improved, but the bending stiffness increases, reducing flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by creating a hard coating film with non-uniform thickness, where the hard coating film has a first thickness in the flat area and a second thickness in the bending area. This local thickness variation allows the hard coating to provide enhanced durability and impact resistance in the flat area while maintaining flexibility in the bending area where the coating is thinner. This spatially differentiated thickness profile resolves the contradiction between durability and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies composite materials by integrating the hard coating film with the flexible film in a multi-layer structure. The hard coating film provides durability enhancement through its protective properties, while the flexible film underlying it provides the necessary flexibility. The combined composite structure resolves the contradiction by allowing each layer to contribute its primary function without compromising the other.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible display device including: a flexible display panel displaying an image; a touch sensing layer provided on the flexible display panel; and a window provided on the touch sensing layer and including a flat area and a bending area. The window includes a flexible film and a hard coating film provided on the flexible film, the thicknesses of the flexible film in the flat area and the bending area differ, and the thicknesses of the hard coating film in the flat area and the bending area also differ.