Airbag assembly and method for bending a flexible panel using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11878458-B2
Application number	US-201916603093-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2019
Priority date	Dec 15, 2018
Publication date	Jan 23, 2024
Grant date	Jan 23, 2024

Abstract

A method for bending a flexible panel includes first, providing an airbag assembly; second, inflating the airbag assembly; next, abutting against the bending area with the airbag assembly; and lastly, bending the flexible panel by pivoting on the airbag assembly so that a bent portion of the flexible panel tightly contacts a surface of the airbag assembly, and the terminal area is located behind the flexible panel. The airbag assembly includes a housing and an elastic film. The housing includes at least one outlet and at least one inlet. The elastic film wraps the housing to form a gas chamber. The outlet and the inlet communicate with the gas chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An airbag assembly, configured to bend a flexible panel, comprising:
a housing comprising at least one outlet and at least one inlet;
a rubber film wrapping a periphery of the housing, wherein the housing runs through the rubber film, the periphery of the housing is attached to a proximal end of the rubber film near the at least one inlet and a distal end of the rubber film away from the at least one inlet to form a gas chamber between the housing and the rubber film, the at least one outlet and the at least one inlet communicate with the gas chamber, and the gas chamber is inflatable to bend the flexible panel to a required curvature;
a gas source;
a gas pipeline communicating with the gas source and the at least one inlet of the housing;
a pressure sensor disposed in the gas pipeline;
a pressure-adjusting valve connected to the gas source and the housing through the gas pipeline; and
a controller electrically connected to the pressure sensor and the pressure-adjusting valve and configured to receive an output signal from the pressure sensor and to control the pressure-adjusting valve to be turned on and off.

2. An airbag assembly, configured to bend a flexible panel, comprising:
a housing comprising at least one outlet and at least one inlet; and
an elastic film wrapping a periphery of the housing, wherein the housing runs through the elastic film, the periphery of the housing is attached to a proximal end of the elastic film near the at least one inlet and a distal end of the elastic film away from the at least one inlet to form a gas chamber between the housing and the rubber film, the at least one outlet and the at least one inlet communicate with the gas chamber, and the gas chamber is inflatable to bend the flexible panel to a required curvature.

3. The airbag assembly of claim 2 , further comprising:
a gas source;
a gas pipeline communicating with the gas source and the at least one inlet of the housing;
a pressure sensor disposed in the gas pipeline;
a pressure-adjusting valve connected to the gas source and the housing through the gas pipeline; and
a controller electrically connected to the pressure sensor and the pressure-adjusting valve and configured to receive an output signal from the pressure sensor and to control the pressure-adjusting valve to be turned on and off.

4. The airbag assembly of claim 2 , wherein the elastic film is a rubber film.

5. The airbag assembly of claim 2 , wherein the at least one outlet is linearly arranged on the periphery of the housing at an equal distance to guide airflow into the gas chamber.

6. A method for bending a flexible panel comprising a bending area and a terminal area adjacent to the bending area, the method comprising:
providing an airbag assembly, wherein the airbag assembly comprises a housing comprising at least one outlet and at least one inlet, and an elastic film wrapping a periphery of the housing, the housing runs through the elastic film, the periphery of the housing is attached to a proximal end of the elastic film near the at least one inlet and a distal end of the elastic film away from the at least one inlet to form a gas chamber between the housing and the rubber film, the at least one outlet and the at least one inlet communicate with the gas chamber, and the gas chamber is inflatable to bend the flexible panel to a required curvature;
inflating the airbag assembly;
abutting against the bending area with the airbag assembly; and
bending the flexible panel by pivoting on the airbag assembly so that a bent portion of the flexible panel tightly contacts a surface of the airbag assembly, and the terminal area is located behind the flexible panel.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the airbag assembly further comprises:
a gas source;
a gas pipeline communicating with the gas source and the at least one inlet of the housing;
a pressure sensor disposed in the gas pipeline;
a pressure-adjusting valve connected to the gas source and the housing through the gas pipeline; and
a controller electrically connected to the pressure sensor and the pressure-adjusting valve and configured to receive an output signal from the pressure sensor and to control the pressure-adjusting valve to be turned on and off.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of inflating the airbag assembly comprises:
controlling, by the controller, the pressure-adjusting valve to be turned on;
outputting, by the pressure sensor, a first signal when the pressure inside the gas chamber increases to a predetermined value; and
receiving, by the controller, the first signal and controlling, by the controller, the pressure-adjusting valve to be turned off.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising: causing the airbag assembly to exhaust after the flexible panel is bent.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of causing the airbag assembly to exhaust comprises:
controlling, by the controller, the pressure-adjusting valve to decompress;
outputting, by the pressure sensor, a second signal when the pressure inside the gas chamber decreases to a predetermined value; and
receiving, by the controller, the second signal and controlling, by the controller, the pressure-adjusting valve to stop decompressing.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the flexible panel comprises bonding terminals disposed in the terminal area.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein the flexible panel comprises a plurality of metal signal lines passing through the bending area.

Assignees

• Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shi Youshui

Classifications

• H10W42/121 Primary

  protecting against mechanical damage (H10W76/00, H10W74/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• B29C53/04 Primary

  of plates or sheets {(B29C63/04 takes precedence; bending or folding paper B31F1/0003; folding films B65H45/00)} · CPC title

• B29C53/025

  using a folding bag · CPC title

• B29C53/82

  Cores or mandrels · CPC title

• G09F9/301 Primary

  flexible foldable or roll-able electronic displays, e.g. thin LCD, OLED · CPC title