Packaging substrate, display panel and curved-surface display panel

The present disclosure relates to the field of display technology, and provides a packaging substrate, a display panel and a curved-surface display panel. The packaging substrate includes a base which has a plurality of splice blocks, and the adjacent splice blocks are concatenated to each other by an adhesive material.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. national phase of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2015/085014 filed on Jul. 24, 2015, which claims a priority of the Chinese patent application No. 201510117148.8 filed on Mar. 17, 2015, the disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a packaging substrate, a display panel and a curved-surface display panel.

BACKGROUND

An Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display device is quite unique in the field of flexible display. As compared with a flat panel display device, a curved-surface OLED display device may provide a wider viewing angle and a broader panoramic viewing effect, so curved-surface television (TV) has currently been a representative of high-end TVs.

The curved-surface OLED display device generally includes a packaging substrate and a base substrate. During the manufacture, the packaging substrate is aligned with and adhered to the base substrate through an adhesive, and then the adhesive is cured. Then, an external force is applied onto edges of the resultant substrate to bend it, thereby to obtain the curved-surface OLED display device.

Usually, for the packaging substrate, ultra thin glass, i.e., glass having a thickness of less than 50 μm, is adopted as a base. However, the flexibility of such ultra thin glass is insufficient. When the resultant substrate is bent, cracks will easily occur at the packaging substrate and the packaging substrate will easily be broken.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a packaging substrate, a display panel and a curved-surface display panel, so as to prevent the occurrence of cracks, thereby to prevent the packaging substrate from being broken during the formation of the curved-surface display panel.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments a packaging substrate including a base having a plurality of splice blocks. The adjacent splice blocks are concatenated to each other by an adhesive material.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments a display panel for a curved-surface display device. The display panel includes a base substrate having an organic light-emitting functional layer, and the above-mentioned packaging substrate.

In yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments a curved-surface display panel formed by bending the above-mentioned display panel.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the packaging substrate includes the base having a plurality of splice blocks, and the adjacent splice blocks are concatenated to each other by an adhesive material. During the process of bending the display panel including the above-mentioned packaging substrate to form the curved-surface display panel, when an external force is applied to edges of the display panel, the packaging substrate is deformed. At this time, deformation energy of the packaging substrate may be dispersed to the plurality of splice blocks which are independent from each other, and it is merely necessary for each splice block to absorb a small quantity of deformation energy. As a result, it is able to effectively prevent the occurrence of cracks at the packaging substrate during the formation of the curved-surface display panel by bending the display panel, thereby to prevent the packaging substrate from being broken.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides in some embodiments a packaging substrate including a base having a plurality of splice blocks, and the adjacent splice blocks are concatenated to each other by an adhesive material.

It should be appreciated that, shapes, sizes, quantities, and arrangement modes of the splice blocks are not particularly defined herein. For facilitating the manufacture, the splice blocks may be of an identical shape and an identical size. In addition, although the above-mentioned packaging substrate is primarily applied to a curved-surface display device, it may also be applied to any other flat-panel display devices, which is not particularly defined herein.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the packaging substrate includes the base having a plurality of splice blocks, and the adjacent splice blocks are concatenated to each other by an adhesive material. During the process of bending the display panel including the above-mentioned packaging substrate to form the curved-surface display panel, when an external force is applied to edges of the display panel, the packaging substrate is deformed. At this time, deformation energy of the packaging substrate may be dispersed to the plurality of splice blocks which are independent from each other, and it is merely necessary for each splice block to absorb a small quantity of deformation energy. As a result, it is able to effectively prevent the occurrence of cracks at the packaging substrate during the formation of the curved-surface display panel by bending the display panel, thereby to prevent the packaging substrate from being broken.

Alternatively, each splice block may be made of glass or a metal foil, so as to facilitate the manufacture of the curved-surface display device.

Furthermore, each splice block may be made of glass which has a thickness of less than or equal to 500 μm. It should be appreciated that, when there are a large number of splice blocks, the conventional glass which has a thickness of 200 μm, 300 μm, 400 μm or 500 μm may be adopted, so as to enable the display panel to be bent at a relatively small arc and reduce the cost. Of course, each splice block may also be made of ultra thin glass which has a thickness of less than or equal to 50 μm. Due to the well flexibility of the ultra thin glass, it is able to bend the display panel at a relatively large arc under the effect of an external force.

Alternatively, as shown inFIGS. 1-2, the splice blocks are of an identical shape and arranged in at least one row in a direction shown by line OM. The splice blocks in each row include a first splice block10, and the other splice blocks are symmetrically arranged in a row relative to the first splice block10. Of course, the splice blocks may also be arranged in at least one row in a direction shown by line ON. The following description is given by taking the splice blocks arranged in at least one row along the direction shown by OM as an example.

In this way, on one hand, when the splice blocks are of an identical shape, it is able to facilitate the manufacture of the packaging substrate. On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 3, when the external force is applied to the two edges of the packaging substrate, two sides of the packaging substrate may be bent along directions B1B1′ and B2B2′ respectively. Since the other splice blocks are arranged symmetrically in a row relative to the first splice block10, the first splicer blocks10are located at a top portion of a curved surface of the curved packaging substrate, as to prevent the situation inFIG. 4where a gap occurs at the top portion of the curved surface and between the adjacent splice blocks. In addition, the deformation energy generated at the top portion of the curved surface of the packaging substrate may be dispersed to the first splice blocks, so as to further enhance the crack resistance at the top portion of the curved surface.

Alternatively, as shown inFIGS. 5-6, the packaging substrate includes first splice blocks10. All the splice blocks are of an identical shape, an odd number of splice blocks are arranged in each row in the direction shown by ON, and the other splice blocks in each row are arranged symmetrically relative to the first block10. Of course, the other splice blocks may also be arranged in a row in the direction shown by OM. As shown inFIG. 7, when the external force is applied to the two edges of the packaging substrate, two sides of the packaging substrate may be bent along directions of D1D1′ and D2D2′ respectively. Since the other splice blocks in each row are arranged in a row symmetrically relative to the first splice block10, the first splice blocks10are located at the top portion of the curved surface of the curved packaging substrate, so as to prevent the situation where a gap occurs at the top portion of the curved surface and between the adjacent splice blocks. As a result, it is able to further enhance the crack resistance at the top portion of the curved surface.

Furthermore, as shown inFIGS. 8-11, the two adjacent splice blocks include splice surfaces fitting each other, i.e., the splice surfaces of the two adjacent splice blocks may match each other. For example, as shown inFIG. 8, the splice surfaces of the two adjacent splice block are both sloping surfaces, which may precisely match each other upon being spliced together. In this way, it is able to reduce the gap between the adjacent splice blocks.

To be specific, the adjacent splice blocks may be concatenated to each other by splicing, e.g., as shown inFIG. 12, a lateral surface113of a second splice11may be concatenated to a lateral surface123of a third splice block12by an adhesive material13.

Alternatively, the adjacent splice blocks may be concatenated to each other by lapping, e.g., as shown inFIG. 13, an edge of a lower surface122of the third splice block12may be lapped onto an edge of an upper surface111of the second splicing block11, and a lapping region (a lapping gap) formed due to the lapping may be filled with the adhesive material, such as a sealant. It should be noted that, the third splice block12may be merely lapped onto the second splice block11but concatenated to the other splice block by splicing. Of course, the third splice blocks12may also be lapped onto the second splice block11and the other splice block. Alternatively, all of the splice blocks are concatenated to each other through an identical connection mode, so as to facilitate the manufacture.

It should be further appreciated that, there are advantages and disadvantages for the lapping and splicing modes. To be specific, when the adjacent splice blocks are spliced together, a flat surface may be provided, without any protuberance. When a splice block is lapped onto another splice block, a gap14as shown inFIG. 13may be formed and an adhesive material such as a sealant may be filled into the gap so as to concatenate the splice blocks together in a better manner. However, when one splice block is lapped onto the other, an uneven surface with protuberances may be provided. The connection mode may be selected in accordance with the practical need, which is not particularly defined herein.

Alternatively, when the lateral surfaces of the two adjacent splice blocks are concatenated to each other by splicing, the lateral surfaces may be sloping surfaces as shown inFIG. 8, stair-like surfaces as shown inFIG. 9, upright surfaces as shown inFIG. 10, or arc surfaces as shown inFIG. 11. Alternatively, the lateral surfaces of the splice blocks may be upright surfaces, so as to facilitate the manufacture.

Alternatively, one splice block is lapped onto the other splice block at a lapping length of 1 mm to 2 mm, so as to prevent the occurrence of too many protuberances. As shown inFIG. 13, the lapping length L refers to a distance between the lateral surface of the second splice block11and a projection of the lateral surface of the third splice block12onto the upper surface111of the second splice block11.

The present disclosure further provides in some embodiments a display panel for a curved-surface display device. As shown inFIG. 14, the display panel includes a base substrate21and the above-mentioned packaging substrate20. The base substrate21includes a base210and an organic light-emitting functional layer212formed on the base210.

It should be appreciated that, the above-mentioned packaging substrate and the base substrate may form together a top-emission display panel or a bottom-emission display panel, which is not particularly defined herein.

It should be further appreciated that, such terms as “upper” and “lower” in the embodiments of the present disclosure refer to orientations or positions on the basis of the drawings, and they are merely used to facilitate the description rather to show any orientation at which a device or element is located, constituted or operated. In other words, such terms shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

To be specific, when the packaging substrate includes a color filter layer, the base substrate and the packaging substrate may be arranged opposite to each other to form a top-emission display panel. The base substrate may include thin film transistors (TFTs), an organic light-emitting functional layer, etc. For the top-emission display panel, a light beam from the organic light-emitting functional layer is transmitted outwardly through the packaging substrate.

When the base substrate includes the color filter layer, the base substrate may be directly adhered onto the packaging substrate so as to form a bottom-emission display panel. The base substrate may include thin film transistors (TFTs), the color filter layer, an organic light-emitting layer, and etc. For the bottom-emission display panel, a light beam from the organic light-emitting functional layer is transmitted outwardly through the base substrate.

According to the display panel in the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is able to prevent the occurrence of cracks at the packaging substrate when the display panel is bent to form a curved-surface display panel. It should be appreciated that, although the above-mentioned display panel is primarily applied to the curved-surface display device, it may also be applied to any other flat-panel display device, which is not particularly defined herein.

Alternatively, the base substrate and the packaging substrate may be secured to each other by an adhesive material, e.g., a sealant, so as to facilitate the manufacture and reduce the production cost.

Alternatively, as shown inFIG. 14, the base substrate21further includes a color filter layer211under the organic light-emitting functional layer212, and the organic light-emitting functional layer212includes an electron transport layer2121, a light-emitting layer2122and a hole transport layer2123. In this way, the base substrate21and the packaging substrate20may form together a bottom-emission display panel. The packaging substrate includes a plurality of splice blocks and there is a gap between the adjacent splice blocks. When the display panel is the top-emission display panel, a portion of the light beams may come out from the gaps of the packaging substrate, resulting in deterioration of the image quality. Such a drawback may be overcome by the bottom-emission display panel. Thus, it is preferred to form the bottom-emission display panel by the packaging substrate and the base substrate when the packaging substrate includes a plurality of splice blocks. Of course, the base substrate21may further include a cathode, an anode, TFTs and etc, which is not particularly defined herein.

The present disclosure further provides in some embodiments a curved-surface display panel formed by bending the above-mentioned display panel. The curved surface of the curved-surface display panel is not prone to be broken, and thus it is able to improve the yield thereof.

Alternatively, in the curved-surface display panel, as shown inFIGS. 1-2, the splice blocks of the packaging substrate are of an identical shape and arranged in at least one row in the direction shown by OM. The splice blocks in each row include a first splice block10, and the other splice blocks are symmetrically arranged in a row relative to the first splice block10. Of course, the splice blocks may also be arranged in at least one row in a direction shown by ON. The following description is given by taking the splice blocks arranged in at least one row along the direction shown by OM as an example.

In this way, on one hand, when the splice blocks are of an identical shape, it is able to facilitate the manufacture of the packaging substrate. On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 3, when the external force is applied to the two edges of the packaging substrate, two sides of the packaging substrate may be bent along directions B1B1′ and B2B2′ respectively. Since the other splice blocks are arranged symmetrically in a row relative to the first splice block10, the first splicer blocks10are located at a top portion of a curved surface of the curved packaging substrate, as to prevent the situation inFIG. 4where a gap occurs at the top portion of the curved surface and between the adjacent splice blocks. In addition, the deformation energy generated at the top portion of the curved surface of the packaging substrate may be dispersed to the first splice blocks, so as to further enhance the crack resistance at the top portion of the curved surface.

Alternatively, in the curved-surface display panel, as shown inFIGS. 5-6, the packaging substrate includes first splice blocks10. All the splice blocks are of an identical shape, an odd number of splice blocks are arranged in each row in the direction shown by ON, and the other splice blocks in each row are arranged symmetrically relative to the first block10. Of course, the other splice blocks may also be arranged in a row in the direction shown by OM. As shown inFIG. 7, when the external force is applied to the two edges of the packaging substrate, two sides of the packaging substrate may be bent along directions of D1D1′ and D2D2′ respectively. Since the other splice blocks in each row are arranged in a row symmetrically relative to the first splice block10, the first splice blocks10are located at the top portion of the curved surface of the curved packaging substrate, so as to prevent the situation where a gap occurs at the top portion of the curved surface and between the adjacent splice blocks. As a result, it is able to further enhance the crack resistance at the top portion of the curved surface.

The above are merely the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that, a person skilled in the art may make further improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present disclosure, and these improvements and modifications shall also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.