Flexible display panel and flexible display apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10707429-B2
Application number	US-201916238335-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 2, 2019
Priority date	Dec 28, 2016
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

A flexible display panel and a display apparatus are provided. The flexible display panel includes a flexible substrate, a first buffer layer disposed on one side of the flexible substrate, a thin-film transistor layer disposed on a side of the first buffer layer away from the flexible substrate, a planarization layer disposed on a side of the thin-film transistor layer away from the flexible substrate, and an organic light-emitting layer disposed on a side of the planarization layer away from the flexible substrate, where the flexible display panel includes at least one bending area, and in the at least one bending area, at least one groove is formed in at least one of the first buffer layer and the thin-film transistor layer, and

W
≥

n

180
°

⁢
π
⁢

⁢

R
.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible display panel, comprising:
a flexible substrate;
a first buffer layer disposed on one side of the flexible substrate;
a thin-film transistor layer disposed on a side of the first buffer layer away from the flexible substrate;
a planarization layer disposed on a side of the thin-film transistor layer away from the flexible substrate; and
an organic light-emitting layer disposed on a side of the planarization layer away from the flexible substrate, wherein:
the flexible display panel includes at least one bending area,
in the at least one bending area, at least one groove is formed in at least one of the first buffer layer and the thin-film transistor layer, and
a bottom width W of the at least one groove is set as

W
≥

n

180
°

⁢
π
⁢

⁢
R

,

wherein n is a maximum bending angle of the at least one bending area, 0°<n≤180°, and R is a bending radius of the at least one bending area, so as to reduce a thickness of the flexible display panel in the bending area and a bending stress in the bending area of the flexible display panel.

2. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
the bottom width W of the at least one groove is W≥πR.

3. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
the bending radius R is greater than or equal to about 0.1 mm.

4. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
a depth of the at least one groove is smaller than or equal to a thickness of a non-recessed area of the at least one of the first buffer layer and the thin-film transistor layer where the at least one groove is formed.

5. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
in the at least one bending area, the at least one groove is formed in the first buffer layer, and
along a direction perpendicular to a plane of the flexible display panel, the at least one groove passes through the first buffer layer.

6. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first buffer layer is made of a material including one of silicon oxide and silicon nitride, or
the first buffer layer includes a composite layer containing silicon oxide and silicon nitride.

7. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
the thin-film transistor layer includes a plurality of thin-film transistors,
a thin-film-transistor of the plurality of thin-film transistors includes a semiconductor active layer, a gate electrode, a source-drain electrode, a gate insulating layer disposed between the semiconductor active layer and the gate electrode, and an interlayer insulating layer disposed between the gate electrode and the source-drain electrode, and
in the at least one bending area, the at least one groove is formed in at least one of the following:
the gate insulating layer, wherein the at least one groove passes through the gate insulating layer along a direction perpendicular to a plane of the flexible display panel, and
the interlayer insulating layer, wherein the at least one groove passes through the interlayer insulating layer along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the flexible display panel.

8. The flexible display panel according to claim 7 , wherein:
the thin-film transistor layer includes a plurality of capacitors and an interlayer dielectric layer,
one capacitor of the plurality of capacitors includes two plates oppositely disposed,
the interlayer dielectric layer is disposed between the gate electrode and one layer where one of the two plates of the capacitor is disposed, and
in the at least one bending area, the at least one groove is formed in the interlayer dielectric layer.

9. The flexible display panel according to claim 8 , wherein:
the at least one groove passes through the interlayer dielectric layer, along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the flexible display panel.

10. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a passivation protective layer disposed between the thin-film transistor layer and the planarization layer, wherein:
in the at least one bending area, the at least one groove is formed in the passivation protective layer.

11. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a passivation protective layer;
a bending protective layer; and
a power supply voltage line, wherein:
the passivation protective layer is disposed between the thin-film transistor layer and the planarization layer,
the bending protective layer is disposed between the passivation protective layer and the planarization layer,
at least a portion of the power supply voltage line is disposed between the bending protective layer and the planarization layer, and
in the at least one bending area, the at least one groove is formed in the bending protective layer.

12. The flexible display panel according to claim 11 , wherein:
the bending protective layer is made of a material including at least one of benzocyclobutene, acrylamide polymer and polyimide.

13. The flexible display panel according to claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one bending area includes a plurality of grooves; and
the plurality of the grooves is arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to an extension direction of the at least one groove.

14. A display apparatus, comprising a flexible display panel according to claim 1 .

15. A flexible display panel, comprising:
a flexible substrate;
a first buffer layer disposed on one side of the flexible substrate;
a thin-film transistor layer disposed on a side of the first buffer layer away from the flexible substrate;
a planarization layer disposed on a side of the thin-film transistor layer away from the flexible substrate; and
an organic light-emitting layer disposed on a side of the planarization layer away from the flexible substrate,
wherein:
the flexible display panel includes at least one bending area,
in the at least one bending area, at least one groove is formed in at least one of the first buffer layer and the thin-film transistor layer, and

W
≥

n

180
°

⁢
π
⁢

⁢
R

,

where W is a bottom width of the at least one groove, n is a maximum bending angle of the at least one bending area, 0°<n≤180°, and R is a bending radius of the at least one bending area,
wherein the flexible display panel further includes at least one of a first curved line and a second curved line, wherein:
a bottom of the at least one groove transitions to a side wall of the at least one groove through the first curved line, and
the side wall of the at least one groove transitions to a non-recessed

Assignees

• Shanghai Tianma Am Oled Co Ltd
• Tianma Micro Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jin Jian
• Su Congyi
• Liu Gang
• Yu Shaorong

Classifications

• H10K59/873

  Encapsulations · CPC title

• H10K77/111

  Flexible substrates · CPC title

• H10K59/131 Primary

  Interconnections, e.g. wiring lines or terminals · CPC title

• H10K59/124

  Insulating layers formed between TFT elements and OLED elements · CPC title

• H10K50/80

  Constructional details · CPC title