Flexible Input-Output Devices with Stretchable Mesh Substrates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional input-output components for electronic devices face challenges in form factor integration, reliability, and stress-induced failures, especially in devices with bendable portions, making it difficult to incorporate traditional displays and touch sensors effectively.
Innovation Solution
A flexible input-output device is developed using an elastomeric substrate with serpentine signal paths and through-hole openings, allowing for stretching and deformation, incorporating micro-light-emitting diodes, sensors, and actuators, and featuring a stretchable lighting structure with serpentine signal paths for enhanced flexibility and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional displays and touch sensors are used in electronic devices with bendable portions, then the device structure is simple and conventional, but the components are subject to stress-induced failures and have poor reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies flexible substrates and thin film structures to create input-output devices that can bend and deform without failure. The display and touch sensor are constructed using flexible substrate layers that accommodate mechanical stress, eliminating the stress-induced failures experienced with traditional rigid components while maintaining component integrity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical parameters of the substrate materials from rigid to flexible states. By using elastomeric and flexible materials with appropriate mechanical properties, the device can undergo deformation, stretching, and bending without compromising component reliability, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional input-output components are used, then manufacturing processes are standard and simple, but form factor integration is difficult and challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the input-output device into multiple functional layers including flexible substrate layers, display elements, and touch sensor components. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized for flexibility and form factor adaptation while maintaining ease of manufacture through standardized layer-by-layer assembly processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures combining flexible substrates with functional components. These composite structures integrate multiple materials with complementary properties to achieve both form factor versatility and manufacturing feasibility, allowing the device to conform to various shapes while using established manufacturing techniques.
3Adaptability or versatility
If rigid input-output components are used, then structural stability is maintained, but the device cannot accommodate deformation and stretching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from static rigid structures to dynamic flexible structures that can adapt their shape and configuration. The flexible substrate and mesh-shaped configurations enable the device to dynamically respond to deformation and stretching while maintaining structural integrity through elastic recovery and flexible connectivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates mesh-shaped and curved structural configurations that naturally accommodate deformation. The mesh pattern provides geometric flexibility allowing the structure to stretch and bend without compromising stability, while curved layouts enable the device to conform to non-planar surfaces and maintain structural coherence during deformation.
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
The solution provides a reliable and flexible input-output system that can conform to various shapes without cracking, enhancing the durability and functionality of electronic devices by accommodating deformation and stress, while maintaining transparency and enabling haptic feedback.
Implementation Method 1
An array of through-hole openings may be formed in the substrate to create a mesh-shaped substrate that can be stretched in one or more dimensions. The signal paths that extend between the openings to interconnect the electrical components may have serpentine shapes that help to accommodate stretching.
Implementation Method 2
The electrical components may each include an interposer having solder pads soldered to the elastomeric substrate. Electrical devices such as micro-light-emitting diodes may be soldered to the interposers.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device may have control circuitry coupled to input-output devices such as a display. A flexible input-output device may be formed from an elastomeric substrate layer. The substrate layer may have signal paths to which components are mounted. Openings may be formed in the elastomeric substrate layer between the signal paths to create a stretchable mesh-shaped substrate. The electrical components may each include an interposer having solder pads soldered to the elastomeric substrate. Electrical devices such as micro-light-emitting diodes may be soldered to the interposers. The electrical components may also include electrical devices such as sensors and actuators. A stretchable lighting unit may have a stretchable light guide illuminated by a stretchable light source.