Patent Description:
In an electronic device with a flexible screen, to shrink a lower black border of the electronic device with the flexible screen, a COP (chip on plastic) packaging technology is generally used. When the COP packaging technology is used, a display panel (panel) is bent to form a bent region. To ensure the reliability of the display panel, a specific bending radius needs to be ensured in the bent region formed by bending the display panel.

To control the bending radius of the display panel, the bent region of the display panel may be supported by a support layer. A display driver chip is further disposed in a lower region of the display panel, and the thickness of the display driver chip cannot be reduced, so the thickness of the electronic device with the flexible screen is generally large.

<CIT> discloses a display device including an insulating substrate having flexibility and including a bent portion that is bent at <NUM> degrees or more outside a display area provided with an image display function; and a spacer disposed inside the bent portion and including a curved area around which the bent portion is wrapped and a plane area facing the insulating substrate, wherein the insulating substrate includes a flat portion adjacent to the bent portion and provided so as to face the plane area.

<CIT> discloses a flexible display device with a bend stress reduction member and manufacturing method for the same.

<CIT> discloses a display device including a support structure for a bent area of the display.

Embodiments of this application provide a screen module, a display assembly, and an electronic device, to reduce a thickness of the screen module and a thickness of the display assembly.

According to a first aspect, as defined in independent claim <NUM>, there is provided a screen module. The screen module includes a display panel, a support layer and a display driver chip. The display panel is bent to form a first panel layer and a second panel layer spaced up and down; and the first panel layer and the second panel layer are connected by a bent region. The support layer is located between the first panel layer and the second panel layer. The display driver chip is located on a side of the second panel layer away from the first panel layer. A thickness of the support layer close to the bent region is greater than a thickness of a first region of the support layer; and a projection of the first region of the support layer on the first panel layer overlaps with a projection of the display driver chip on the first panel layer. The screen module is characterised in that the support layer comprises a first support plate and a second support plate, wherein the first support plate and the second support plate are stacked, and the second support plate is located on a side close to the bent region; wherein the second support plate is located on a side of the first support plate away from the first panel layer.

Based on the screen module, the screen module uses a bendable display panel, and a bent display panel, that is, the first panel layer and the second panel layer, is supported by the support layer to ensure a bending radius of the bent region. To reduce a thickness of the screen module, a support layer with a non-uniform thickness is used. That is, a thickness of the support layer close to the bent region is larger, which may ensure the bending radius of the bent region. A thickness of the support layer close to the display driver chip is smaller. After being stacked, the thickness of the screen module may be reduced to meet the user's requirement for a small thickness of an electronic device.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design manner, a length of the second support plate is less than a distance between the display driver chip and the bent region. In this way, after the first support plate and the second support plate are stacked, the thickness of the support layer close to the bent region is a sum of a thickness of the first support plate and a thickness of the second support plate to ensure the bending radius of the bent region; and the thickness of the support layer close to the display driver chip is only the thickness of the first support plate to reduce thicknesses of hierarchical structures after being stacked in the screen module, thereby reducing the thickness of the screen module.

With reference to the first aspect, since the second support plate is located on a side of the first support plate away from the first panel layer, the thickness of the screen module may be reduced, and the structural stability of the screen module may be further improved.

According to a comparative example outside the scope of the invention as claimed but useful for understanding the invention, the support layer may include a first support plate and a second support plate, where the first support plate and the second support plate are disposed side by side; a thickness of the second support plate is greater than a thickness of the first support plate, and the second support plate is disposed close to the bent region; and a length of the second support plate is less than a distance between the display driver chip and the bent region. In this way, after the first support plate and the second support plate are disposed side by side, because the thickness of the first support plate is greater than the thickness of the second support plate, the thickness of the support layer close to the bent region is the thickness of the second support plate to ensure the bending radius of the bent region; and the thickness of the support layer close to the display driver chip is the thickness of the first support plate to reduce thicknesses of hierarchical structures after being stacked in the screen module, thereby reducing the thickness of the screen module.

According to another comparative example outside the scope of the invention as claimed but useful for understanding the invention, the support layer may include a first support plate, and the first support plate is a support plate with a non-uniform thickness.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible design manner, a bending radius of the bent region is less than <NUM> millimeters. Specifically, a bending radius of the bent region may be <NUM> millimeters to <NUM> millimeters.

According to a second aspect, this application provides a display assembly. The display assembly includes a glass cover plate and any possible screen module according to the first aspect, where the glass cover plate covers the screen module and is located on a side of the first panel layer away from the display driver chip.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design manner, the screen module further includes a polarizer layer; and the polarizer layer is located on a side of the first panel layer away from the display driver chip.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible design manner, the polarizer layer of the screen module is adhesively connected to the glass cover plate through an optical clear adhesive layer.

According to a third aspect, this application provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes a battery cover and any possible display assembly according to the second aspect. The battery cover is located on a side of the screen module away from the glass cover plate.

It may be understood that for the beneficial effects that may be achieved by the display assembly according to the second aspect and the electronic device according to the third aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects in the first aspect and any possible design manner thereof, and details are not repeated herein.

Reference numerals: <NUM>-mobile phone; <NUM>-display assembly; <NUM>-subscriber identity module card; <NUM>-mobile phone board; <NUM>-battery cover; <NUM>-screen module; <NUM>-glass cover plate; <NUM>-display panel; <NUM>-first panel layer; <NUM>-second panel layer; <NUM>-bent region; <NUM>-support layer; <NUM>-first support plate; <NUM>-second support plate; <NUM>-display driver chip; <NUM>-polarizer layer; and <NUM>-optical clear adhesive layer.

The terms "first" and "second" mentioned below are merely intended for a purpose of description, and shall not be understood as an indication or implication of relative importance or implicit indication of the quantity of indicated technical features.

Therefore, a feature defined by "first" or "second" can explicitly or implicitly includes one or more features. In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more than two.

In addition, in this application, position terms such as "upper", and "lower" are defined relative to an illustrative position of a component in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these direction terms are relative concepts and are used for relative description and clarification, and may vary accordingly depending on a position change in which components are placed in the accompanying drawings.

Currently, to increase a screen-to-body ratio of an electronic device, a flexible screen is used as a display panel of the electronic device. In the electronic device using the flexible screen, to shrink a black border at a lower bezel of the electronic device, the COP packaging technology is usually used. With the COP packaging technology, part of the display panel of the electronic device is bent, thereby shrinking the bezel.

The following describes a structure of the electronic device by using a mobile phone as an example. Exemplarily, <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of a mobile phone.

As shown in <FIG>, the mobile phone <NUM> includes a display assembly <NUM>, a subscriber identity module (subscriber identity module, SIM) card <NUM>, a mobile phone board <NUM>, and a battery cover <NUM>. The battery cover <NUM>, the mobile phone board, the SIM card, and the display assembly are stacked sequentially. The display assembly includes a glass cover plate <NUM> and a screen module <NUM>, and the glass cover plate <NUM> covers the screen module <NUM>.

It should be understood that a structure of the mobile phone <NUM> is not limited to structures such as the display assembly <NUM>, and may further include other structures, such as a middle bezel, a PCB board, and a camera module, which are not specially limited in the embodiments of this application.

For the screen module <NUM>, the screen module <NUM> includes a display panel (panel) <NUM> that may be bent. To ensure the reliability of the display panel <NUM>, when the COP packaging technology is used for packaging, it is necessary to ensure that a bent portion of the display panel <NUM> has a specific bending radius. To control the bending radius of the display panel <NUM>, the bent region <NUM> of the display panel <NUM> may be supported by the support layer <NUM>, and the bending radius of the bent display panel <NUM> may be controlled by the thickness of the support layer <NUM>. In addition, in the screen module <NUM>, a lower region of the display panel <NUM> is further provided with a display driver chip <NUM>, and a thickness of the display driver chip <NUM> cannot be reduced, so a thickness of the electronic device with the flexible screen (such as the mobile phone shown in <FIG>) is generally large.

The thickness of the screen module <NUM> may be reduced to reduce the thickness of the electronic device. To reduce the thickness of the screen module <NUM>, an embodiment of this application provides an improved screen module. The screen module provided in this embodiment of this application is described in detail below with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG> and the screen module <NUM> includes a display panel <NUM>, a support layer <NUM>, and a display driver chip <NUM>. The display panel <NUM> is a flexible and bendable panel, and the display panel <NUM> is bent to form a first panel layer <NUM> and a second panel layer <NUM> spaced up and down. The first panel layer <NUM> and the second panel layer <NUM> are connected by a bent region <NUM>.

The bent region <NUM> is formed by bending the display panel <NUM>. The support layer <NUM> is configured to form support between the first panel layer <NUM> and the second panel layer <NUM> to ensure the bending radius of the bent region <NUM>. Generally, the bending radius of the bent region <NUM> may be less than <NUM> millimeters, and may be specifically <NUM> millimeters to <NUM> millimeters. Therefore, the support layer <NUM> is located between the first panel layer <NUM> and the second panel layer <NUM>. The display driver chip <NUM> is configured to drive the display panel <NUM> to display characters, patterns, colors, or the like. When the COP packaging technology is used, the display driver chip <NUM> is located below the display panel <NUM>. That is, the display driver chip <NUM> is located on a side of the second panel layer <NUM> away from the first panel layer <NUM>.

For the support layer <NUM>, the thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> is greater than the thickness of the first region in the support layer <NUM>. A projection of the first region of the support layer <NUM> on the first panel layer <NUM> overlaps with a projection of the display driver chip <NUM> on the first panel layer <NUM>. That is, a thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> is larger, which may ensure the bending radius of the bent region <NUM>. A thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the display driver chip <NUM> is smaller. After being stacked, the thickness of the screen module <NUM> may be reduced to meet the user's requirement for a small thickness of an electronic device.

It should be noted that a material of the support layer <NUM> may be a metal material or a non-metal material, such as polyethylene glycol terephthalate (polyethylene glycol terephthalate, PET), foam, silica gel, aluminum alloy, copper alloy, stainless steel, iron, or the like, or a combination of a plurality of different materials. Therefore, the material of the support layer <NUM> is not specially limited in this embodiment of this application. It should be understood that other hierarchical structures such as a substrate and super clean foam (super clean foam, SCF) may be further disposed between the first panel layer <NUM> and the support layer <NUM>, which are not specially limited in the embodiments of this application.

To achieve a larger thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> and a smaller thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the display driver chip <NUM>, this application provides a plurality of implementations shown in <FIG> and <FIG>.

In some embodiments, a solution of two support plates of different sizes is used.

That is, as shown in <FIG>, the support layer <NUM> shown in <FIG> includes a first support plate <NUM> and a second support plate <NUM>, where a size of the first support plate <NUM> is larger and a size of the second support plate <NUM> is smaller. After the first support plate <NUM> and the second support plate <NUM> are stacked, the second support plate <NUM> is located on a side close to the bent region <NUM>, so that the thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> is larger. In addition, the size of the second support plate <NUM> is less than a distance between the display driver chip <NUM> and the bent region <NUM>, so that the second support plate <NUM> is not within an overlapping range of the display driver chip <NUM> and the display panel <NUM>, avoiding increasing the thickness of the screen module <NUM> after the support layer <NUM> and the display driver chip <NUM> are stacked. In this way, after the first support plate <NUM> and the second support plate <NUM> are stacked, the thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> is a sum of a thickness of the first support plate <NUM> and a thickness of the second support plate <NUM> to ensure the bending radius of the bent region <NUM>; and the thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the display driver chip <NUM> is only the thickness of the first support plate <NUM> to reduce thicknesses of hierarchical structures after being stacked in the screen module <NUM>, thereby reducing the thickness of the screen module <NUM>.

Further, because the material of the support layer <NUM> may be a hard material such as stainless steel or iron, the first support plate <NUM> may not be bendable. If the second support plate <NUM> is located on a side of the first support plate <NUM> close to the first panel layer <NUM>, that is, the second support plate <NUM> is located between the first support plate <NUM> and the first panel layer <NUM>, then because the first support plate <NUM> cannot be bent, the thickness of the screen module <NUM> cannot be significantly reduced after the first support plate <NUM> and the second support plate <NUM> are stacked. In addition, if the first support plate <NUM> cannot be bent and the size of the first support plate <NUM> is greater than that of the second support plate <NUM>, then there is a gap between the first support plate <NUM> and the first panel layer <NUM>, which is not conducive to the structural stability of the screen module <NUM>. Therefore, as shown in <FIG>, the second support plate <NUM> is located on a side of the first support plate <NUM> away from the first panel layer <NUM>. In this way, the thickness of the screen module <NUM> may be reduced, and the structural stability of the screen module <NUM> may be further improved.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, a solution of two support plates with different sizes is still used. That is, the support layer <NUM> shown in <FIG> includes a first support plate <NUM> and a second support plate <NUM>. Different from the solution shown in <FIG>, the first support plate <NUM> and the second support plate <NUM> are disposed side by side. As shown in <FIG>, to achieve a thicker support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> and a thinner support layer <NUM> close to the display driver chip <NUM>, the thickness of the second support plate <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> is greater than the thickness of the first support plate <NUM>, and a length of the second support plate <NUM> is less than a distance between the display driver chip <NUM> and the bent region <NUM>. In this way, after the first support plate <NUM> and the second support plate <NUM> are disposed side by side, because the thickness of the first support plate <NUM> is greater than the thickness of the second support plate <NUM>, the thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the bent region <NUM> is the thickness of the second support plate <NUM> to ensure the bending radius of the bent region <NUM>; and the thickness of the support layer <NUM> close to the display driver chip <NUM> is the thickness of the first support plate <NUM> to reduce thicknesses of hierarchical structures after being stacked in the screen module <NUM>, thereby reducing the thickness of the screen module <NUM>.

In the comparative example shown in <FIG>, a support plate with a non-uniform thickness is used as the support layer <NUM> shown in <FIG>, that is, the support layer <NUM> includes the first support plate <NUM>. The first support plate <NUM> is a support plate with a non-uniform thickness, and the first support plate <NUM> has a thickness on a side close to the bent region <NUM> greater than a thickness on a side away from the bent region <NUM>.

It may be understood that in a screen module using a COG process to implement a screen packaging process, a flexible printed circuit (flexible printed circuit, FPC) connected to the display panel (panel) is also bent to form a bent region. To ensure the bending radius of the bent region, a solution of the support layer in <FIG> or <FIG>, is also used to reduce the thickness of the screen module. Similarly, in a screen module using a COF process to implement a screen packaging process, a COF chip on film connected to the display panel (panel) is also bent to form a bent region. To ensure the bending radius of the bent region in the COF chip on film, a solution of the support layer in <FIG> or <FIG>, is also used to reduce the thickness of the screen module.

According to another aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a display assembly. As shown in <FIG>, the display assembly includes a glass cover plate <NUM> and the screen module <NUM> shown in <FIG> and <FIG>. The glass cover plate <NUM> covers the screen module <NUM> and is located on a side of the first panel layer <NUM> away from the display driver chip <NUM>.

In addition, the screen module <NUM> further includes a polarizer layer <NUM>. The polarizer layer <NUM> is located on a side of the first panel layer <NUM> away from the display driver chip <NUM>. In addition, the polarizer layer <NUM> of the screen module <NUM> is adhesively connected to the glass cover plate <NUM> through an optical clear adhesive layer <NUM>.

It should be noted that the glass cover plate <NUM> may be a plane or a curved surface. As shown in <FIG>, when the glass cover plate <NUM> is a curved surface, the bent region <NUM> of the display panel <NUM> and the first panel layer <NUM> are not on the same plane. In this case, the support layer <NUM> in the screen module <NUM> may still use the solution shown in <FIG> or <FIG>, to reduce the thickness of the entire screen module, and the specific solution is not repeated herein.

It should be understood that for the technical effects of the display assembly provided in this embodiment of this application, reference may be made to the technical effects of the screen module <NUM> shown in <FIG> or <FIG>, and details are not repeated herein.

According to still another aspect, this application provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes a battery cover <NUM> and the display assembly shown in <FIG>.

The battery cover <NUM> is located on a side of the screen module <NUM> away from the glass cover plate <NUM>.

It should be understood that for the technical effects of the display assembly provided in this embodiment of this application, reference may be made to the technical effects of the screen module <NUM> shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, and details are not repeated herein.

Claim 1:
A screen module (<NUM>), comprising a display panel (<NUM>), a support layer (<NUM>), and a display driver chip (<NUM>), wherein the display panel (<NUM>) is bent to form a first panel layer (<NUM>) and a second panel layer (<NUM>) spaced apart from one another; the first panel layer (<NUM>) and the second panel layer (<NUM>) are connected by a bent region (<NUM>);
the support layer (<NUM>) is located between the first panel layer (<NUM>) and the second panel layer (<NUM>);
the display driver chip (<NUM>) is located on a side of the second panel layer (<NUM>) away from the first panel layer (<NUM>);
a thickness of the support layer (<NUM>) close to the bent region (<NUM>) is greater than a thickness of a first region of the support layer (<NUM>); and a projection of the first region of the support layer (<NUM>) on the first panel layer (<NUM>) overlaps with a projection of the display driver chip (<NUM>) on the first panel layer (<NUM>);
characterised in that
the support layer (<NUM>) comprises a first support plate (<NUM>) and a second support plate (<NUM>), wherein the first support plate (<NUM>) and the second support plate (<NUM>) are stacked, and the second support plate (<NUM>) is located on a side close to the bent region (<NUM>);
wherein the second support plate (<NUM>) is located on a side of the first support plate (<NUM>) away from the first panel layer (<NUM>).