Foldable OLED Signal Lines with Waveform and Through Holes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current foldable OLED display panels break easily during folding due to bending stress on signal lines, leading to failure in normal signal transmission and display abnormalities.
Innovation Solution
The foldable OLED display panel incorporates waveform signal lines or signal lines with through holes in the folded region, which are electrically connected to the same material as the source-drain metal layer, improving bending resistance and reducing the risk of cracks by distributing stress and enhancing signal transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If signal lines are configured as straight lines in the folded region, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the signal lines break easily due to bending stress during folding
Solution Approach 1:
The signal lines in the folded region are designed with curved or waveform configurations instead of straight lines. This curvature allows the signal lines to better accommodate bending stress during folding, distributing the mechanical stress along the curved path and preventing concentration at sharp corners, thereby reducing breakage risk while maintaining manufacturing feasibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible substrate with thin-film signal line structures that can bend without breaking. The signal lines are constructed as thin, flexible conductive layers that inherently possess bendability, allowing them to follow the curved folding path while maintaining electrical connectivity and structural integrity
2Reliability
If through holes are added to signal lines to improve bending resistance, then the reliability during folding is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The signal lines are segmented into multiple sections by introducing through holes that create discontinuities. These segmented sections can independently deform during folding, allowing each segment to accommodate bending stress separately. The through holes act as stress relief points, preventing crack propagation along the entire signal line length while maintaining overall electrical connectivity
Solution Approach 2:
The signal lines incorporate a porous structure through the introduction of through holes, creating a hollow or perforated conductive path. This porous configuration reduces the material volume subject to bending stress, allows stress distribution around the holes, and provides flexibility while maintaining electrical conductivity through the perforated structure
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel is provided. The foldable OLED display panel includes a display region having a folded region, and further including a plurality rows of pixel units, a plurality of signal lines, and gate on array (GOA) unit circuits of a plurality of stage, wherein the GOA unit circuits of each stage are electrically connected to the corresponding rows of the pixel units by the signal lines; the signal lines further include first sub-signal lines overlapping the folded region, and the first sub-signal lines are configured to be waveform lines, or surfaces of the first sub-signal lines are provided with through holes.