Foldable Cover Window Frame and Protective Member Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cover windows for display devices face challenges in achieving both strength and flexibility, particularly in maintaining surface hardness while being foldable and protecting the display panel from external impacts.
Innovation Solution
A cover window design featuring a frame member made of inorganic materials with a lower thermal expansion coefficient than the protective member, combined with a light blocking member, where the frame and protective members are formed in multiple layers and bent at specific points, with auxiliary fixed members and grooves to enhance flexibility and strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional cover window is made thick and rigid to protect the display panel from external impacts, then strength is improved, but flexibility and foldability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cover window is segmented into multiple functional layers: a flexible substrate layer, a protective member layer with hardened coating, and a frame member layer. Each layer performs specific functions - the substrate provides flexibility, the protective member provides surface hardness, and the frame provides structural support. This segmentation allows the cover window to achieve both strength and flexibility simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover window uses composite material structures including a flexible polymer substrate combined with a hardened protective coating (such as silane-based coating), and a frame member made of flexible metal or polymer alloy. The composite structure integrates the advantages of different materials - flexibility from the polymer substrate and surface hardness from the hardened coating - to resolve the contradiction between strength and flexibility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the cover window is made foldable with multiple layers and bent points, then flexibility is improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional components are merged into an integrated cover window structure. The flexible substrate, protective member, and frame member are combined into a single assembled unit that functions as one cohesive component. The bent points and grooves are integrated directly into the structure rather than being separate elements, reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining foldability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover window employs flexible thin-film structures with controlled bent points and grooves that enable folding without requiring complex mechanical joints or hinges. The thin-film protective member and flexible substrate work together to create a naturally foldable structure, simplifying the overall design compared to traditional rigid cover windows with separate moving parts.
3Strength
If the protective member is coated at high temperature to enhance surface hardness, then strength is improved, but the coating process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The coating process utilizes temperature as a critical parameter to achieve surface hardening. The protective member is coated with a material (such as silane-based coating) that undergoes chemical transformation or physical hardening at elevated temperatures. By controlling the temperature parameter during the coating process, the surface hardness is enhanced while the process remains manageable through standard thermal treatment procedures.
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 foldable cover window with enhanced surface hardness and flexibility, effectively protecting the display panel from external impacts and maintaining a robust structure for mobile devices.
Implementation Method 1
At least a part of the frame member and at least a part of the protective member may be bent
Implementation Method 2
A thermal expansion coefficient of the frame member may be less than a thermal expansion coefficient of the protective member
Data Source
AI summary
A cover window for a display device includes a display area and a non-display area, the cover window including a frame member disposed corresponding to the non-display area, and a protective member disposed on the frame member corresponding to the display area and the non-display area.