Porous Metal Support Substrate for Foldable Display Strain Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Foldable display devices face challenges in minimizing pattern recognition in the folding area, maintaining durability and impact resistance, and optimizing the radius of curvature for improved folding properties.
Innovation Solution
A foldable display device design featuring a support substrate made of porous metal or alloy with groove patterns recessed from the bottom surface to the top, eliminating the need for a conventional top plate, which reduces thickness and enhances durability and impact resistance by adjusting pore size to minimize strain during folding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional top plate is used between support substrate and back plate, then structural integrity is maintained, but thickness increases and folding properties deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the conventional top plate from the structure, extracting this component to eliminate the thickness it would add. By taking out the top plate, the device achieves reduced thickness while maintaining structural integrity through the optimized support substrate design with groove patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the support substrate and back plate into a more integrated structure, eliminating the need for a separate top plate. This merging of components allows for reduced overall thickness while maintaining the necessary structural connection between the support substrate and back plate.
2Ease of operation
If groove patterns are formed in support substrate, then folding properties are improved, but pattern recognition from outside increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies groove patterns only in specific local areas of the support substrate where folding occurs, rather than across the entire surface. This localized application of groove patterns provides the necessary folding flexibility while minimizing visible patterns from the outside view.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove patterns are designed with asymmetric characteristics that are not visually apparent from the outside. The grooves are configured to provide folding functionality while their arrangement and depth are optimized to minimize visual recognition, creating a functional-asymmetric design.
3Ease of operation
If support substrate thickness is reduced, then folding properties are improved, but durability and impact resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous or foam-like support substrate material that provides structural support with reduced thickness. The porous structure maintains sufficient strength and impact resistance while allowing for improved folding properties due to the material's inherent flexibility and strain absorption capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The support substrate uses composite material construction combining different materials with complementary properties. This composite structure achieves both reduced thickness for folding and maintained durability through the synergistic properties of the combined materials, such as combining a flexible base material with a reinforcing layer.
4Stress or pressure
If pore size in support substrate is adjusted, then strain during folding is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the pore size parameter within a specific range (50 nm to 10 μm) to achieve the desired balance between strain reduction and manufacturability. By establishing this parameter range, the design reduces strain during folding while maintaining feasibility for standard manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of porous or foam-like materials provides inherent strain reduction capabilities through the material's structure itself, rather than requiring precise control of individual pore dimensions. The macroscopic porous structure naturally absorbs and distributes strain during folding, reducing the need for extremely precise pore size control.
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
The design effectively minimizes pattern recognition, improves folding properties, and maintains durability and impact resistance by regulating the size and distribution of pores in the support substrate, allowing for a decrease in the radius of curvature without compromising structural integrity.
Implementation Method 1
a support substrate disposed under the back plate and made of a metal or alloy including a plurality of pores
Implementation Method 2
The support substrate includes a plurality of groove patterns recessed from a bottom surface toward a top surface of the support substrate and corresponding to the folding area
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable display device includes a display panel including a folding area and non-folding areas on both sides of the folding area and a back plate disposed under the display panel; and a support substrate disposed under the back plate and made of a metal or alloy including a plurality of pores, the support substrate includes a plurality of groove patterns recessed from a bottom surface toward a top surface of the support substrate and corresponding to the folding area, thereby minimizing recognition of the patterns in the folding area of the display panel and improve the folding properties.