Mask Frame Assembly With Split Masks And Welding Gaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
In thin film deposition for organic light-emitting display devices, split masks tend to droop due to their weight, leading to deposition defects as they may not adhere closely to the substrate, and installing a supporting bar to prevent drooping results in incomplete adhesion around the welding points.
Innovation Solution
A mask frame assembly with a supporting bar across the opening portion, where split masks are fixed to the frame and the supporting bar with partial cutting portions around the welding points to enhance adhesion, allowing for better alignment and adherence to the substrate during deposition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a supporting bar is installed to fix the center portion of the split mask, then drooping of the split mask is prevented, but the portion around the welding point cannot easily adhere to the substrate
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting bar is segmented into multiple sections rather than being a single continuous structure. This segmentation allows the supporting bar to provide structural support while creating gaps that enable magnetic field penetration and adhesion at the welding points, resolving the contradiction between preventing drooping and ensuring adhesion quality
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting bar has different structural properties at different locations - it provides rigid support in the center portion to prevent drooping, while having gaps or reduced density at the welding point areas to allow adhesion. This local differentiation of structural quality resolves the contradiction between stability and adhesion reliability
2Ease of manufacture
If the split mask is made thin for flexibility, then it can be manufactured easily, but it droops during deposition operation
Solution Approach 1:
The mask frame assembly uses a magnetic adhesion system that dynamically adjusts the mask's state during operation. The magnetic force from the substrate actively counteracts the drooping tendency of the thin split mask during deposition, allowing the mask to remain thin for ease of manufacture while preventing drooping during use through dynamic magnetic support
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
Prevents drooping of split masks and ensures stable, complete adhesion to the substrate, reducing deposition defects and improving the quality of thin film patterns.
Implementation Method 1
the split mask is pulled toward the substrate by a magnetic force from the substrate so as to thereby completely adhere the split mask to the substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A mask frame assembly may be constructed with a supporting bar and a plurality of stick-type split masks installed on a frame while crossing each other. The supporting bar and the split masks are fixed to each other by being welded to each other at points where the supporting bar and the plurality of split masks cross, and a partial cutting portion is formed around each of the welding points by cutting portions of the split masks. By using the supporting bar, the split masks are prevented from drooping, and adhesion between the split masks and a substrate is enhanced.