OLED Mask Plate Gripper Design for Flatness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fine metal mask plates used in OLED evaporation processes face issues with edge upwarping and increased complexity in tensioning due to their design, which affects the flatness and sag of the display area, especially as OLED screen sizes increase, leading to 'M'-shaped wrinkles and higher gripper complexity.
Innovation Solution
A mask plate design with gripper areas positioned at the short sides instead of the edges, featuring sub-gripper areas and grooves, which reduces the minimum horizontal spacing between opposite sides, allowing for more stable clamping and uniform stress distribution, thereby improving flatness and reducing sag during tensioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If gripper areas are positioned at the edges of the mask plate, then the clamping force is sufficient, but the edge materials upwarp and cause 'M'-shaped wrinkles affecting flatness
Solution Approach 1:
The gripper areas are positioned asymmetrically at the short sides of the mask plate rather than at the edges, creating an uneven distribution of clamping points that prevents uniform upwarping while maintaining sufficient clamping force for large-sized plates
Solution Approach 2:
The gripper areas are moved from the edge dimension to the short side dimension, changing the spatial arrangement of clamping points from peripheral to intermediate positioning, which alters the stress distribution pattern and prevents edge upwarping
2Area of stationary object
If the mask plate size is increased for larger OLED screens, then the display area is enlarged, but the number of gripper areas must increase leading to process complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The gripper areas positioned at the short sides serve multiple functions: they provide sufficient clamping force for large-sized plates, maintain flatness by preventing upwarping, and simplify the tensioning process by reducing the number of gripper areas needed compared to edge positioning
3Device complexity
If traditional edge-positioned gripper areas are used, then the structure is simple, but the tensioning process becomes complex and sag increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mask plate is pre-tensioned by positioning gripper areas at the short sides before the evaporation process, creating uniform stress distribution that maintains flatness during subsequent operations and reduces sag without requiring complex tensioning procedures
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments of the present disclosure provides a mask plate, including a rectangular area and two gripper areas which are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the rectangular area, wherein each of the two gripper areas has a first side and a third side which are arranged opposite to each other, and a second side and a fourth side which are arranged opposite to each other, and the first side is disposed on a side of the rectangular area, and a minimum horizontal spacing between the second side and the fourth side is less than a side length of the first side.