Foldable Display Panel Protrusion Layout for Stress Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible electronic devices face challenges in maintaining folding reliability due to structural stress and wear during repeated folding motions, which can lead to degradation of the display panel.
Innovation Solution
The display panel design includes a base layer with defined non-folding areas and a folding area, featuring protrusions and gaps that distribute stress more evenly, along with a drive voltage line configuration that enhances structural integrity and reduces strain on the display area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the display panel is made flexible to enable folding, then portability and user convenience are improved, but folding reliability deteriorates due to structural stress and wear during repeated folding motions
Solution Approach 1:
The display panel is divided into distinct functional zones: a first non-folding area, a folding area, and a second non-folding area. This segmentation allows the folding area to accommodate bending stresses while protecting the non-folding areas containing critical components, thereby maintaining folding reliability while enabling flexible folding capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the display panel are designed with different structural properties. The folding area is designed to be more compliant and stress-resistant, while the non-folding areas maintain structural integrity. The gap between protrusions is specifically designed to be larger in the folding area to accommodate stress, creating local quality variations that resolve the contradiction between flexibility and reliability.
2Reliability
If protrusions are added to the display panel structure to distribute stress, then folding reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion structure is segmented into multiple discrete elements (first protrusion and second protrusion) positioned at specific locations. This segmentation allows stress to be distributed across multiple points rather than concentrated in one area, improving folding reliability while keeping each individual protrusion element simple in design.
Solution Approach 2:
The gap between protrusions is designed to be asymmetric: larger in the folding area and smaller in the non-folding areas. This asymmetric design optimizes stress distribution specifically where needed in the folding area without adding unnecessary complexity to the overall structure, as the asymmetric gap configuration naturally accommodates folding stresses.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a display panel in which a display area and a non-display area are defined. The display panel includes a base layer in which a first non-folding area, a second non-folding area, and a folding area are defined, a plurality of pixels disposed on the base layer and disposed in the display area, a first protrusion disposed on the base layer and disposed in the non-display area, and a second protrusion that is disposed on the base layer and disposed in the non-display area and that surrounds the first protrusion. A first gap between the first and second protrusions that overlap the first non-folding area is greater than a second gap between the first and second protrusions that overlap the folding area.