Display device and method of manufacturing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021282279-A1
Application number	US-202017095022-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 11, 2020
Priority date	Mar 4, 2020
Publication date	Sep 9, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A display device includes a first non-foldable area, a second non-foldable area, and a foldable area. The display device includes a display module including a display panel, a support substrate supporting the display module, including an upper surface facing the display module and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface, and provided with a groove defined in the lower surface to overlap the foldable area, a first support plate disposed under the support substrate, and a second support plate disposed under the support substrate and spaced apart from the first support plate in the foldable area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A display device comprising a first non-foldable area, a second non-foldable area, and a foldable area, the display device comprising:
a display module comprising a display panel; a support substrate supporting the display module, comprising an upper surface facing the display module and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface, and provided with a groove defined in the lower surface to overlap the foldable area in a thickness direction of the support substrate; a first support plate disposed under the support substrate; and a second support plate disposed under the support substrate and spaced apart from the first support plate in the foldable area.

2 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein the groove overlaps an entirety of the foldable area.

3 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein the support substrate further comprises a protective layer disposed along a surface of the groove.

4 . The display device of claim 3 , wherein the protective layer comprises an ultraviolet coating member.

5 . The display device of claim 3 , wherein the protective layer comprises an anti-static material.

6 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein the support substrate has a thickness in the thickness direction greater than a thickness of the first support plate and greater than a thickness of the second support plate.

7 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the support substrate is in a range from about 0.2 millimeters (mm) to about 0.25 mm.

8 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein a depth of the groove in the thickness direction of the support substrate is equal to or smaller than a half of a thickness of the support substrate.

9 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein the groove is provided in plural, and the grooves are arranged continuously or discontinuously in the foldable area.

10 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein the first support plate and the second support plate comprise a metal material.

11 . The display device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first cushion member disposed under the first support plate and overlapping a portion of the foldable area and a portion of the first non-foldable area in the thickness direction; and a second cushion member disposed under the second support plate and overlapping another portion of the foldable area and a portion of the second non-foldable area in the thickness direction.

12 . The display device of claim 11 , wherein each of the first cushion member and the second cushion member has a thickness from about 6 micrometers to about 10 micrometers.

13 . The display device of claim 11 , further comprising:
a first auxiliary plate disposed under the first cushion member and overlapping the first cushion member in the thickness direction; and a second auxiliary plate disposed under the second cushion member and overlapping the second cushion member in the thickness direction.

14 . The display device of claim 1 , wherein the display module has a first state in which the display module is flat and a second state in which the display module in the foldable area is bent such that the first non-foldable area faces the second non-foldable area.

15 . A method of manufacturing a display device, comprising:
providing a display module comprising a first non-foldable area, a second non-foldable area, and a foldable area; providing a support substrate under the display module; and providing a first support plate and a second support plate to be spaced apart from each other in the foldable area under the support substrate, wherein the support substrate comprises an upper surface facing the display module and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface and is provided with a groove defined in the lower surface to overlap the foldable area in a thickness direction of the support substrate.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the providing of the support substrate comprises:
providing a preliminary support substrate; and defining the groove in the preliminary support substrate using a jig.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the providing of the preliminary support substrate comprises coating a foam resin on a release film, and the defining of the groove comprises drying the coated foam resin while pressing the preliminary support substrate with the jig.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the jig comprises a coating layer formed on a surface of the jig and which makes contact with the preliminary support substrate.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the providing of the support substrate further comprises coating a protective layer along a surface of the formed groove.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the jig comprises a protrusion formed on a surface of the jig and which makes contact with the preliminary support substrate to overlap the foldable area and to correspond to the groove in the thickness direction.

21 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the providing of the support substrate comprises:
disposing a first adhesive member on the upper surface of the support substrate; and disposing the display module on the first adhesive member.

22 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the providing of the first and second support plates comprises:
disposing a second adhesive member on the lower surface of the support substrate to overlap the first non-foldable area and the second non-foldable area in the thickness direction; and disposing the first and second support plates on the second adhesive member.

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Min Myungan
• Ko Yonggi
• Lee Hyoung-Jin
• Jang Hyeji

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• B32B2307/732

  Dimensional properties · CPC title

• B32B2255/26

  Polymeric coating · CPC title

• B32B15/08

  of synthetic resin · CPC title

• B32B15/046

  of foam · CPC title