OLED Mask Assembly Corner Support for Wrinkle Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mask assemblies in OLED display manufacturing often result in wrinkles during tensioning, leading to potential damage of the fine metal mask and edge color mixing due to inadequate support, especially in wearable products with smaller dimensions.
Innovation Solution
A mask assembly design featuring a frame with a first and second mask stacked on it, where the first mask includes mask strips with gaps and pixel openings, and the second mask has support strips with gradually increasing widths towards the body, providing enhanced support to reduce wrinkles and prevent edge color mixing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the full mask sheet is tensioned to fit the frame, then the mask assembly can be properly positioned for evaporation, but wrinkles appear at the four corners of the full mask sheet
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing additional support strips specifically at the four corners of the full mask sheet where wrinkles occur. These corner support strips have varying widths (first width at one end, second width at the other end) to locally reinforce the corner regions without affecting the overall mask sheet uniformity. This localized reinforcement prevents wrinkles at critical corner openings while maintaining the flatness of the entire mask sheet.
Solution Approach 2:
The support strips are pre-installed on the frame before the full mask sheet is tensioned and fixed. This preliminary action ensures that the corner regions are already reinforced with appropriate support before the tensioning process begins, preventing wrinkles from forming during tensioning rather than attempting to correct them afterward.
2Strength
If support strips are added to prevent wrinkles, then the structural support is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into multiple independent support strips distributed at the four corners of the full mask sheet. Each support strip is a separate component that can be independently designed and installed. This segmentation allows the support function to be distributed rather than concentrated, providing effective wrinkle prevention while keeping each individual support element simple and manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
The present application provides a mask assembly and an evaporation device to effectively reduce a possibility that wrinkles are generated in a first mask and effectively avoid edge color mixing. The mask assembly includes a frame, and a first mask and a second mask stacked on the frame. The first mask includes a plurality of mask strips disposed along a first direction, and a gap is disposed between two adjacent mask strips. The second mask includes a body and support strips. The support strips include a plurality of first support strips disposed along the first direction and a plurality of second support strips disposed along a second direction. Widths of first ends of outermost first support strips and first ends of outermost second support strips gradually increase along a direction from being away from the body to being close to the body, and the first support strips are disposed corresponding to the gaps. The evaporation device includes the mask assembly.