Mother Panel Etching Stopping Unit for Crack Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing display panel manufacturing processes face challenges in preventing cracks and damage during etching and handling due to uneven thickness and stress on the boundary areas of mother substrates, leading to reduced productivity and quality.
Innovation Solution
A mother panel design featuring spaced apart substrates with defined usable and unusable areas, a seal pattern, and an etching stopping unit made of epoxy-based resin, which prevents etchant permeation and maintains boundary area thickness, along with a second etching stopping unit between usable areas to support larger panel sizes and prevent cracks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If etching is performed on the mother substrate to reduce thickness, then the display panel can achieve thinner profile, but the boundary area becomes too thin and cracks during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different etching depths to different areas of the mother substrate. The usable area is etched to the required thin thickness for the display panel, while the boundary area is protected by an etching stopping unit that prevents etching, maintaining its original thickness. This local differentiation allows the panel to be thin where needed while keeping the boundary area thick and crack-resistant.
Solution Approach 2:
The etching stopping unit acts as an intermediary element between the etchant and the boundary area of the mother substrate. This unit, formed of epoxy-based resin or other etching-resistant materials, selectively blocks the etchant from reaching the boundary area, thereby protecting it from excessive thinning while allowing the rest of the substrate to be etched to the desired thickness.
2Productivity
If the mother substrate size is increased to produce larger display panels, then productivity improves, but stress and crack risk increase during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains structural robustness in large mother substrates by applying local quality enhancement to the boundary areas. These areas are protected from etching and maintain greater thickness, providing the necessary strength and stress distribution capability to handle large-scale substrates without increasing overall panel thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The etching stopping unit serves as a beforehand cushioning measure, pre-positioned in the boundary areas to prevent stress concentration and crack propagation. By maintaining greater thickness in these critical regions before handling and processing, the substrate can withstand the stresses of manufacturing and handling large-area panels.
3Ease of manufacture
If the boundary area is made thinner to match the usable area, then manufacturing simplicity increases, but crack generation during handling increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent deliberately creates local quality differentiation between the usable area and boundary area. The usable area is etched to thin thickness for the display panel, while the boundary area maintains greater thickness through protective etching stopping units. This non-uniform structure, while adding a manufacturing step, is necessary to prevent cracks in the boundary area.
Data Source
AI summary
A mother panel for a display panel includes a first mother substrate and a second mother substrate that are spaced apart from each other to face each other, each of which includes at least one usable area that is usable as the display panel, and at least one unusable area that surrounds the usable area. The mother panel also includes a plurality of display panel patterns between the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate that are spaced apart from one another in the usable area, a seal pattern that adheres the first mother substrate with the second mother substrate and seals each of the plurality of display panel patterns, and an etching stopping unit that prevents an etchant from permeating between the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate and prevents a boundary area of an etching target surface from being etched.