Grooved Support Plate for Flexible Display Bending

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Solution Overview

Problem

Flexible display panels experience significant resistance when bent, leading to bubble formation and wrinkle generation, which can result in damage when attached to a support plate, especially with small bending radii.

Innovation Solution

A support plate with grooves on its side, featuring varying included angles and arc-shaped bottoms, designed to reduce deformation resistance by releasing stress when the flexible display panel is deformed, preventing bubbles and wrinkles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If a flat support plate is used to support the flexible display panel, then the support and protection function is provided, but resistance at bending position is large causing bubbles and wrinkles

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesupport strengthVSAvoidbubbles and wrinkles

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The support plate incorporates grooves with different included angles at different locations (smaller included angles in the middle area, larger included angles in the side areas) to create local variations in mechanical properties. This allows the support plate to provide strong support where needed while reducing resistance at bending positions, thereby preventing bubbles and wrinkles without compromising overall support strength.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The grooves are designed with arc-shaped bottoms instead of sharp corners. This curved geometry reduces stress concentration at the groove bottoms and allows the flexible display panel to bend more smoothly over the grooves, reducing resistance and preventing surface defects while maintaining support functionality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

2Ease of manufacture

If the support plate has a flat structure, then manufacturing is simple, but the flexible display panel is likely to be damaged when bent with small radius

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoidpanel damage resistance

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The support plate is segmented with multiple grooves distributed across its surface. These grooves divide the continuous flat structure into regions separated by the grooves, allowing the flexible display panel to bend more easily by deforming around the grooves rather than against a completely rigid flat surface, thus reducing damage risk while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The included angles of the grooves are specifically designed with different values for different areas (smaller angles in the middle, larger angles at the sides) to optimize the balance between support strength and bending flexibility. This parameter variation allows the support plate to adapt to different bending requirements while remaining manufacturable using standard processing techniques.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS11538369B2Support plate, display module, and electronic device

Publication Date: 2022.12.27 WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO LTD

AI summary

The present disclosure provides a support plate, a display module, and an electronic device. The support plate is configured to support a flexible display panel; wherein at least one groove is defined on a side of the support plate away from the flexible display panel, a width of top of the at least one groove is greater than a width of bottom of the at least one groove, and the bottom of the at least one groove is close to the flexible display panel.