Foldable Cover with Variable Substrate Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current foldable phone covers cannot simultaneously achieve both hardness and bendability due to the mutual restrictive nature of these properties, where increasing hardness reduces bendability and vice versa.
Innovation Solution
A cover design featuring a substrate with greater thickness in the planar region than in the bending region, combined with a flexible layer and a hard layer, where a groove with a filling layer of silicone optical adhesive or self-healing material is used in the bending region to enhance bendability while maintaining hardness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the thickness of the hard layer is increased to ensure hardness, then the hardness of the cover is improved, but the bendability of the cover deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate thickness is made non-uniform, with a first thickness in the planar region and a second thickness (smaller than the first) in the bending region. This local variation in thickness allows the cover to maintain sufficient hardness in the planar region while achieving better bendability in the folding region, thereby resolving the contradiction between hardness and bendability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is divided into different functional regions: a planar region requiring hardness and a bending region requiring flexibility. By segmenting the substrate into these regions with different thicknesses, the design satisfies both contradictory requirements in their respective areas.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the thickness of the substrate is reduced in the bending region to improve bendability, then the bendability of the cover is improved, but the hardness of the planar region may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the substrate are assigned different thicknesses according to their functional requirements. The planar region maintains a greater thickness to ensure hardness and protective function, while the bending region has a reduced thickness to enable flexibility and foldability, thus resolving the contradiction between hardness and bendability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a groove is defined in the bending region to enhance bendability, then the bendability is improved, but the structural integrity may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
A groove is defined in the bending region of the substrate, and a flexible layer is disposed in the groove. This configuration enhances the bendability of the cover by providing a dedicated flexible element in the folding region, while the groove structure maintains structural integrity by guiding and controlling the bending behavior.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a cover, a manufacturing method of the cover, and a display device. The cover includes a planar region and a bending region. The cover also includes a substrate, a flexible layer, and a hard layer disposed in a stack. A thickness of the substrate in the planar region is greater than a thickness of the substrate in the bending region. Decreasing the thickness of the substrate in the bending region can improve bendability of the cover, and the hard layer can ensure hardness of the planar region at a same time. Combination of the two can make the cover achieve high hardness and good bendability at the same time.