Segmented Flexible Window Partitions for Display Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible displays using polymer-based windows lack durability against external factors such as vertical stress and friction, which can damage the inner elements due to their softer nature compared to glass windows.
Innovation Solution
A display device design featuring a display panel with a window, partitions, and an adhesive layer, where the partitions are made of materials like curable resin or silicon oxide, providing structural support and maintaining flexibility, and the adhesive is transparent and flexible to ensure robustness and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If glass windows are used in typical display devices, then robustness against external factors is improved, but flexibility is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The window is divided into multiple partitions (first partitions on the display panel, second partitions on the window) spaced apart from each other, allowing the structure to flex while maintaining protective coverage. The partitions are arranged in arrays with spacing that enables bending without breaking, resolving the contradiction between robustness and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses curable resin or perhydropolysilazane (PHPS) materials for the partitions, which can be cured to form protective structures. These materials provide both protective robustness when cured and flexibility during the uncured state and upon curing, enabling the window to resist external factors while maintaining bendability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If polymer-based windows are used to maintain flexibility, then adaptability is improved, but robustness against external factors deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the window into multiple spaced-apart partitions, each partition can independently flex with the polymer substrate while collectively providing enhanced protection. The spacing allows the polymer to bend without concentrating stress on a single continuous structure, maintaining both flexibility and robustness.
Solution Approach 2:
The partitions provide localized protective quality at specific points across the window area, while the spaces between partitions maintain overall flexibility. This local reinforcement strategy allows the polymer window to be robust where needed (at partition locations) while remaining flexible in the intervals between partitions.
3Strength
If partitions are made of rigid materials, then strength is improved, but flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The partitions are formed using curable resin or PHPS materials that can be applied as flexible coatings or thin films. When cured, these form protective partitions that provide structural support while inherently maintaining some flexibility due to their thin-film nature and the elastic properties of the polymer substrate they are applied to.
Solution Approach 2:
By spacing the rigid partitions apart rather than forming a continuous rigid structure, the overall assembly can flex between the partition elements. Each individual partition maintains its structural strength, while the spaced arrangement allows the entire window to bend without the rigid parts interfering with each other.
4Reliability
If adhesive layer is made thick to ensure robustness, then reliability is improved, but flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive layer is applied as a thin film between the partitions and the substrate, providing sufficient bonding strength (robustness) while its thin nature allows it to flex with the underlying polymer substrate. Thick adhesive layers would create stress concentration and prevent bending, but thin adhesive films maintain both adhesion and flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the display device comprises a display panel, a window, a plurality of partitions, and an adhesive. The display panel is configured to display an image. The window is placed over the display panel. The plurality of partitions interposed between the display panel and the window. The adhesive is formed between adjacent partitions.