Window panel and display device including the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9507191-B2
Application number	US-201414272639-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2014
Priority date	Jan 7, 2014
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

A window panel includes a plurality of unit patterns arranged along a first direction, each of the plurality of unit patterns having a base surface portion, a plurality of inclined portions, the plurality of inclined portions being inclined upwardly from the base surface portion, and a top portion disposed at a top of the inclined portions, wherein a lower edge of a first inclined portion of each unit pattern of the plurality of unit patterns adjoins a lower edge of a second inclined portion of a neighboring unit pattern.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A window panel, comprising:
a plurality of unit patterns arranged along a first direction, each of the plurality of unit patterns including:
a base surface portion,
a plurality of inclined portions, the plurality of inclined portions being inclined upwardly from the base surface portion,
a top portion disposed at a top of the inclined portions, and
a reinforcing member only partially covering the base surface portion,

wherein a lower edge of a first inclined portion of each unit pattern of the plurality of unit patterns adjoins a lower edge of a second inclined portion of a neighboring unit pattern, and
wherein the reinforcing member includes a plurality of discrete portions spaced apart from each other and positioned to overlap adjoined lower edges of neighboring unit patterns.

2. The window panel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the top portion includes a flat surface parallel to the base surface portion.

3. The window panel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the top portion includes a sharp peak.

4. The window panel as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a cover layer covering the unit patterns, the cover layer directly contacting the unit patterns.

5. The window panel as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inclined portions include at least first and second inclined surfaces facing each other, upper and lower edges of each of the first and second inclined surfaces extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a lower edge of the second inclined surface of a unit pattern adjoins a lower edge of a first inclined surface of a neighboring unit pattern in the first direction.

6. The window panel as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the adjoining lower edges of the first and second inclined surfaces of each pair of adjacent unit patterns in the first direction define first bending lines along the second direction, the first and second inclined surfaces on both sides of each of the first bending lines contacting each other when the window panel is bent along the first bending lines.

7. The window panel as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the inclined portions further comprise third and fourth inclined surfaces facing each other and adjoining the first and second inclined surfaces at either side thereof, the unit patterns being arranged in a matrix pattern with a plurality of rows and columns.

8. The window panel as claimed in claim 7 , wherein a lower edge of the third inclined surface of a unit pattern adjoins a lower edge of the fourth inclined surface of a neighboring unit pattern in the second direction.

9. The window panel as claimed in claim 8 , wherein:
the adjoining lower edges of the first and second inclined surfaces of each pair of adjacent unit patterns in the first direction define first bending lines in the second direction,
the adjoining lower edges of the third and fourth inclined surfaces of each pair of adjacent unit patterns in the second direction define second bending lines in the first direction,
the first and second inclined surfaces on both sides of each of the first bending lines contact each other when the window panel is bent along the first bending lines, and
the third and fourth inclined surfaces on both sides of each of the second bending lines contact each other when the window panel is bent along the second bending lines.

10. A display device, comprising:
a display panel; and
a window panel on the display panel, the window panel including a plurality of unit patterns arranged along a first direction, and each of the plurality of unit patterns including:
a base surface,
a plurality of inclined portions, the plurality of inclined portions being inclined upwardly from the base surface portion, and
a top portion disposed at a top of the inclined portions,

wherein a lower edge of a first inclined portion of each unit pattern of the plurality of unit patterns adjoins a lower edge of a second inclined portion of a neighboring unit pattern,
wherein the plurality of unit patterns is arranged such that each of the unit patterns corresponds to at least one sub-pixel disposed therebelow, and
wherein a width of one unit pattern ranges from a width of one sub-pixel to a width of one pixel.

11. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the top portion includes a flat surface parallel to the base surface portion.

12. The display device of claim 10 , wherein the top portion includes a sharp peak.

13. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising a reinforcing member at a bottom of the window panel.

14. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising a cover layer covering the unit patterns.

15. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a first height, a first width, and a first angle defined as a distance between the base surface portion and the top portion, a distance between a pair of adjacent unit patterns, and an angle between the pair of adjacent unit patterns, respectively, satisfy the following equation:

w
=

2
⁢

⁢
d

tan
⁡

(

180
-
θ

2

)

where w, d, and θ denote the first width, the first height, and the first angle, respectively.

16. The display device as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the first angle ranges from about 0.11 degrees to about 1.14 degrees.

17. The display device as claimed in claim 15 , wherein:
the plurality of unit patterns is arranged such that each of the unit patterns corresponds to at least one sub-pixel disposed therebelow, and
when the window panel is bent to define a bending radius, a number of sub-pixels within the bending radius and the first angle satisfy the following equation:

θ
=

180

N
/
3

where N denotes the number of sub-pixels within the bending radius.

18. The display device as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the first angle and a horizontal width of the sub pixels satisfy the following equation:

θ
=

180

π
⁢

⁢
R

×

W
3

where R and W denote the bending radius and the horizontal width of the sub-pixels, respectively.

19. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the inclined portions include at least first and second inc

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Park Sang-Il
• Hwang In Sun
• Lee Jeoung Sub
• Choi Min Hoon

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• H01L27/3293

  Electricity · mapped topic

• Y02E10/549

  Organic PV cells · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

  the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable · CPC title

• G02F1/1333 Primary

  Constructional arrangements; {Manufacturing methods}(G02F1/135, G02F1/136 take precedence) · CPC title