Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a flexible display device capable of effectively protecting a bending part of the flexible display device and a manufacturing method of the flexible display device.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flexible display device, the flexible display device includes a display panel, a flexible circuit board, a bending portion connecting the display panel and the flexible circuit board, and a hard support piece detachably connected to the display panel, the hard support piece is further detachably connected to the bending portion or the flexible circuit board, the bending portion is provided with a trace electrically connecting the display panel and the flexible circuit board, the flexible display device further has a first soft connection portion and a second soft connection portion respectively disposed at two ends of the hard support piece, the hard support piece is detachably connected to the display panel through the first soft connection portion, the second soft connection portion is connected to the bending portion or the flexible circuit board, when the flexible circuit board is bent to the back of the display panel, the rigid support sheet is removed.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the display panel is connected to the entire first soft connecting portion and is in contact with a portion of the hard support sheet.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the rigid supporting sheet covers all the traces of the bending portion.
As a further improvement of the invention, the number of the hard supporting plates is at least two, and any two hard supporting plates are not parallel.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the hard support sheet is adhesively connected to the display panel, the bending portion, or the flexible circuit board.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the display panel includes a light emitting layer and a polarizing layer, the polarizing layer includes a polarizer and a polarizer protective film covering the polarizer, and the hard support sheet is detachably connected to the polarizer protective film.
As a further improvement of the invention, the hard support sheet is made of a hard plastic material.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a flexible display device, comprising the following steps:
providing a display panel and a flexible circuit board, wherein a bent part positioned at one end of the display panel is connected with the flexible circuit board;
providing a hard support sheet, wherein the hard support sheet is detachably connected with the display panel, and the hard support sheet is also detachably connected with the bent part or the flexible circuit board;
after the hard support sheet is detachably connected to the display panel, the bending portion, or the flexible circuit board, the method for manufacturing the flexible display device further includes:
releasing the connection between the hard support sheet and the display panel;
attaching a cover plate to the front surface of the display panel;
bending the flexible circuit board to the back of the display panel;
releasing the connection between the hard support sheet and the flexible circuit board or the bent portion to remove the hard support sheet.
The invention has the beneficial effects that: according to the flexible display device, the hard support pieces are arranged on the bent parts, and the bent parts are supported and protected by the hard support pieces, so that the phenomenon that wiring in the bent parts is bent and broken due to repeated bending of the bent parts in the manufacturing process of the flexible display device is avoided, and the quality of the flexible display device is protected. Thereby effectively protecting the display panel and the bending part.
Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. These embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and structural, methodological, or functional changes made by those skilled in the art according to these embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention.
Referring to fig. 1 to 9, a plurality of embodiments of the flexible display device and a method for manufacturing the flexible display device according to the present invention are shown, and a detailed description is provided below for a specific structure of the flexible display device and the method for manufacturing the flexible display device.
In the embodiment shown in the present invention, the Flexible display device includes a display panel 100, a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) 200, a bending portion 300 connecting the display panel 100 and the Flexible Circuit 200, and a hard supporting sheet 400 detachably connected to the display panel 100, wherein the hard supporting sheet 400 is further detachably connected to the bending portion 300 or the Flexible Circuit 200, so as to provide a good supporting force and a protection effect for the bending portion 300 located between the display panel 100 and the Flexible Circuit 200, and prevent the bending portion 300 from generating a bending phenomenon during the transfer process of the Flexible display device to cause a wire break of the bending portion 300.
Specifically, referring to fig. 5, in the first embodiment of the present invention, one end of the rigid support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the display panel 100, and the other end is detachably connected to the flexible circuit board 200; referring to fig. 7, in the second embodiment of the invention, one end of the rigid supporting sheet 400 is detachably connected to the display panel 100, and the other end is detachably connected to the bending portion 300.
The flexible display device further has a first soft connecting portion 501 and a second soft connecting portion 502 respectively disposed at two ends of the hard supporting sheet 400, wherein the hard supporting sheet 400 is detachably connected to the display panel 100 through the first soft connecting portion 501, and is connected to the bending portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200 through the second soft connecting portion 502. The first soft connecting part and the second soft connecting part are arranged to prevent the hard support sheet from scratching or damaging the display panel or the flexible circuit board.
As shown in fig. 5, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the display panel 100 is connected to the entire first soft connection portion 501 and is in contact with a portion of the hard support sheet 400, so as to ensure the reliability of the connection between the display panel 100 and the hard support sheet 400, and reduce the risk of scratching the display panel by the hard support sheet.
The rigid support sheet 400 covers all the traces of the bent portion 300 to provide support and protection for all the traces of the bent portion 300, so as to prevent the traces of the bent portion 300 from being bent and broken due to bending.
Further, the number of the hard support plates may be one, or may be multiple, and when the number of the hard support plates 400 is at least two, any two hard support plates 400 are not parallel; preferably, at least two hard support plates 400 are arranged in a crossed manner to provide sufficient support and protection for different directions of the bending part 300, and simultaneously save materials and avoid waste. Specifically, each of the rigid support plates 400 may have a strip-shaped structure, and a plurality of the rigid support plates 400 support and protect the bending portion 300 together, thereby avoiding unnecessary bending in different directions.
Further, the hard support sheet 400 is in adhesive connection with the display panel 100, the bending portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200; specifically, the hard support sheet 400 is adhered to the display panel 100 through the first soft connection portion 501 at one end thereof, and is adhered to the bending portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200 through the second soft connection portion 502 at the other end thereof, so as to facilitate simple and quick connection and separation between the hard support sheet 400 and the display panel 100, the bending portion 300, or the flexible circuit board 200.
Further, the material of the rigid supporting sheet 400 is a rigid plastic material, such as PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), PE (Polyethylene) material, etc., so that the rigid supporting sheet has a certain hardness to provide a sufficient supporting force for the bending portion 300. In the present invention, the display panel 100 includes a light emitting layer 2 and a polarizing layer 5, the polarizing layer 5 includes a polarizer 51 and a polarizer protective film 52 covering the polarizer 51, and the hard support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the polarizer protective film 52, so as to remove the polarizer protective film 52 and simultaneously remove the connection between the hard support sheet 400 and the polarizer protective film 52, which has many functions.
Specifically, referring to fig. 2, the display panel 100 may further include an array substrate 1, the light emitting layer 2 formed on the upper surface of the array substrate 1, a thin film encapsulation layer 3 encapsulating the organic light emitting layer 2, a touch layer 4, the polarization layer 5, and a cover plate 6 covering the polarization layer 5; in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting layer 2 is an organic light emitting layer.
Referring to fig. 3, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the array substrate 1 is a TFT (Thin-film transistor) array substrate, and includes a carrier substrate 12, a flexible substrate 13 formed on the carrier substrate 12, a TFT (Thin-film transistor) array layer 14 disposed on the flexible substrate 13, a planarization layer 15 and an anode layer 16 disposed on the TFT array layer 14, and a pixel definition layer 17. Further, the flexible substrate 13 may be an organic polymer substrate such as a Polyimide (PI) substrate, a polyamide substrate, a polycarbonate substrate, and a polyether sulfone substrate, and the flexible substrate 13 is located in the display region of the display panel 100.
For convenience of illustration, in the present embodiment, the back surface of the display panel 100 is a side of the flexible substrate 13 away from the TFT array layer 14, and the front surface of the display panel 100 is a side opposite to the back surface.
The manufacturing method of the flexible display device comprises the following steps:
step S10: providing a display panel 100 and a flexible circuit board 200, wherein a bending part 300 at one end of the display panel 100 is connected with the flexible circuit board 200;
step S20: a rigid support sheet 400 is provided, the rigid support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the display panel 100, and the rigid support sheet 400 is further detachably connected to the bending portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200.
Specifically, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the rigid support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the flexible circuit board 200; in the second embodiment of the present invention, the rigid support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the bending portion 300.
Further, after the rigid support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the display panel 100, the bending part 300, or the flexible circuit board 200, the method for manufacturing the flexible display device further includes:
step S30: releasing the connection between the hard support sheet 400 and the display panel 100;
step S40: attaching the cover plate 6 to the front surface of the display panel 100;
step S50: bending the flexible circuit board 200 to the back of the display panel 100;
step S60: releasing the connection between the hard support sheet 400 and the flexible circuit board 200 or the bent portion 300 to remove the hard support sheet 400.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, in step S20, the hard support sheet 400 is placed at and covers the connection portion of the bending portion 300, the display panel 100 and the flexible circuit board 200, and two ends of the hard support sheet 400 are detachably connected to the display panel 100, the bending portion 300 and the flexible circuit board 200 through the first soft connection portion 501 and the second soft connection portion 502, respectively, so that the hard support sheet 400 can provide a certain support force for the display panel 100 with the carrier substrate 12 peeled off, and the number of times of bending the bending portion 300 can be reduced in the subsequent transfer process of the flexible display device.
Specifically, in step S10, providing a display panel 100 specifically includes:
step S11: providing an array substrate 1;
step S12: the light emitting layer 2 is formed on the array substrate 1 through evaporation;
step S13: performing thin film encapsulation on the light emitting layer 2 to form the thin film encapsulation layer 3;
step S14: and sequentially manufacturing a touch layer 4 and a polarizing layer 5 on one side of the thin film packaging layer 3 away from the flexible substrate 13.
The thin film packaging layer 3 covers the light-emitting layer 2 to prevent water and oxygen from invading the light-emitting layer 2; the touch layer 4 is used for realizing a touch function of the flexible display device; the polarizer 5 is used to reduce reflection of external incident light.
Further, the thin film encapsulation layer 3 may be one or more layers, and may be an organic film layer or an inorganic film layer, or a stacked structure of an organic film layer and an inorganic film layer. For example, as a preferred embodiment, the thin film encapsulation layer 3 may include two inorganic film layers and an organic film layer disposed between the two inorganic film layers.
In addition, the touch layer 4 and the film encapsulation layer 3, the touch layer 4 and the polarizing layer 5, and the polarizing layer 5 and the cover plate 6 can be bonded together through various adhesive materials including transparent optical adhesive (OCA).
Referring to fig. 4 and 5, further, in step S20, the hard support sheet 400 is detachably connected to the display panel 100, and the hard support sheet 400 is further detachably connected to the bending portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200, which specifically includes:
the hard support sheet 400 covers the bending portion 300 on the front surface of the display panel 100, wherein the display panel 100 is connected to the whole first soft connection portion 501 and is in contact with part of the hard support sheet 400.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the length direction of the rigid supporting sheet 400, the rigid supporting sheet 400 extends beyond the bending portion 300 and makes the extended portion contact with the display panel 100 and the flexible circuit board 200.
The display panel 100 has a first end disposed near the bending portion 300 and a second end disposed opposite to the first end, and the first soft connection portion 501 is connected to the polarizer protection film 52.
In addition, in step S30, the releasing the connection between the rigid support sheet 400 and the display panel 100 may specifically include:
when the hard support sheet 400 is adhesively connected to the display panel 100, the bent portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200, the first and second soft connection portions 501 and 502 are removed from the display panel 100, the bent portion 300 or the flexible circuit board 200, so that the connection between the hard support sheet 400 and the display panel 100 can be released; when the hard support sheet 400 and the display panel 100, the bending portion 300, or the flexible circuit board 200 are connected by vacuum adsorption or other connection methods, the connection between the hard support sheet 400 and the display panel 100 may be released by applying an external force or the like.
Referring to fig. 6, before the cover plate 6 is attached to the front surface of the display panel 100, the method for manufacturing the flexible display device further includes:
the polarizer protection film 52 is removed from the second end of the display panel 100 (as shown in fig. 6) to release the connection between the rigid support sheet 300 and the display panel 100.
In step S40, attaching the cover plate 6 to the front surface of the display panel 100 specifically includes:
the cover plate 6 is attached to one side of the display panel 100 where the polarizer protective film 52 is removed, and the cover plate 6 can protect the whole flexible display device.
Further, after the display panel 100 removes the polarizer protection film 52 and adheres to the cover plate 6, the method for manufacturing the flexible display device further includes:
after the hard support sheet 400 is turned over, the cover plate 6 is continuously covered, so that the first soft connecting portion 501 is connected to the first end of the display panel 100; thereby supporting and protecting the bent portion 300 located at the connection portion again, so that the bent portion 300 is supported and protected throughout the process, and the number of bending times of the bent portion 300 is effectively reduced.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the hard support sheet 400 and the first and second soft connection portions 501 and 502 are an integral structure, and the hard support sheet 400 is made of a hard material and the first and second soft connection portions 501 and 502 are made of a soft material.
In another embodiment of the invention, the hard support sheet 400 and the first and second soft connection portions 501 and 502 are formed by two-step molding, and before the two ends of the hard support sheet 400 are connected to the display panel 100, the bent portion 300, or the flexible circuit board 200, respectively, the method for manufacturing the flexible display device further includes:
adhesive layers are respectively disposed at both ends of the hard support sheet 400 to form the first and second soft connection portions 501 and 502.
Specifically, the adhesive layers are formed at both ends of the hard support sheet 400 by coating or attaching, so that the first and second soft connection portions 501 and 502 have a certain viscosity.
As shown in fig. 8, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the number of the rigid support plates 400 is at least two, and any two rigid support plates 400 are not parallel; preferably, at least two of the rigid support plates 400 are crossed to provide sufficient support and protection for different directions of the bending part 300. Specifically, each of the rigid support plates 400 may have a strip-shaped structure, and a plurality of the rigid support plates 400 support and protect the bending portion 300 together, thereby avoiding unnecessary bending in different directions.
In addition, referring to fig. 9, in a fourth embodiment of the present invention, the flexible display device further includes a flip chip package 600 that encapsulates a chip (not shown) disposed on the bending portion 300, and the rigid support sheet 400 covers the bending portion 300 and the flip chip package 600 in a length direction of the rigid support sheet 400.
In summary, the flexible display device provided by the present invention is formed by the above manufacturing method, the display panel 100 of the flexible display device is bonded to the flexible circuit board 200, and then the carrier substrate 12 is peeled off, the hard support sheet 400 is disposed at the corresponding position of the bending portion 300, and the hard support sheet 400 is used to support and protect the bending portion 300, so as to prevent the bending portion 300 from being subjected to a large stress when being bent, and prevent the traces of the bending portion 300 from being bent and broken, thereby effectively protecting the display panel 100 and the bending portion 300.
In addition, after the cover plate 6 is attached, the hard support sheet 400 is turned over toward the direction close to the cover plate 6 until the hard support sheet covers the bent portion 300 again, so as to support and protect the bent portion 300 again, thereby supporting and protecting the bent portion 300 in the whole process, and effectively reducing the number of times of bending the bent portion 300.
It should be understood that although the present description refers to embodiments, not every embodiment contains only a single technical solution, and such description is for clarity only, and those skilled in the art should make the description as a whole, and the technical solutions in the embodiments can also be combined appropriately to form other embodiments understood by those skilled in the art.
The above-listed detailed description is only a specific description of a possible embodiment of the present invention, and they are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and equivalent embodiments or modifications made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention.