Flexible Panel Crease Design for Wearable Display Portability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable devices, such as smart watches, often have small screens that hinder user experience due to limited portability and usability.
Innovation Solution
A flexible panel design with creases that allow display units to be folded and unfolded, increasing screen area for use and facilitating convenient carrying by overlapping when not in use, featuring retractable support members to maintain the unfolded state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the screen size is increased to improve user experience, then the display area is enlarged, but the portability and ease of carrying deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display panel employs dynamic folding mechanisms with creases that allow the screen to transition between unfolded (large display area) and folded (compact for carrying) states. The panel includes support structures that can be extended or retracted to maintain the unfolded state during use, while allowing easy folding when not in use, thus resolving the contradiction between large screen area and ease of carrying.
Solution Approach 2:
The display panel is designed to fold into a compact nested form when not in use, with multiple creases allowing the screen to be folded into a small portable size. The support structures can be nested or retracted into the panel when not needed, enabling the large screen to be stored in a compact form factor that is easy to carry.
2Ease of operation
If the screen is made flexible to enable folding, then portability is improved, but the reliability and resistance to damage during folding deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The display panel incorporates protective layers and support structures positioned at strategic locations to cushion and protect the screen during folding operations. These protective elements are built into the panel structure beforehand to prevent damage to the flexible display during the folding and unfolding process, thus maintaining reliability while enabling portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The display panel uses flexible shell structures and thin film protective layers that allow the screen to bend and fold without breaking. These flexible protective elements maintain the integrity of the display during folding while enabling the panel to be compacted for portable use, resolving the contradiction between portability and damage resistance.
3Ease of operation
If creases are added to enable folding, then the ability to fold and carry conveniently is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The display panel is segmented into multiple sections by creases, allowing each section to be manufactured separately with standard techniques and then assembled through folding. This segmentation enables the complex folding structure to be built from simpler modular components, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining folding capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The creases act as intermediary elements that simplify the connection between different panel sections. By introducing these intermediate folding joints, the panel can achieve complex folded configurations using simple hinge-like connections that are easier to manufacture than rigid complex mechanisms, thus reducing manufacturing complexity while enabling folding.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible panel, a display apparatus and a wearable device are disclosed.The flexible panel comprises a first crease extending in a first direction, a second crease extending in a second direction and intersecting with the first crease, and a plurality of display units divided by the first crease and the second crease, the plurality of display units are folded and/or unfolded by the first crease and the second crease. When the flexible panel is in use, the plurality of display units may be completely unfolded by means of the creases, so that a usable area of the screen may be increased, the user experience can be improved; when the user does not use the flexible panel, the display units may be overlapped by means of the crease, which may change the shape of the panel, and thus the flexible panel is convenient to carry.