TWI786551B - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A display device includes two bodies, a hinge structure and a flexible display panel. The hinge structure includes a hinge assembly and two sliding parts. The two sliding parts are slidably disposed on the two bodies respectively, and the hinge assembly is pivotally connected between the two sliding parts. When the two bodies are relatively unfolded by the pivoting of the hinge assembly, each sliding member is hidden in the corresponding body. When the two bodies are relatively closed by the pivoting of the hinge assembly, each sliding member at least partially protrudes from the corresponding body. The flexible display panel is disposed on the two bodies and is suitable for bending as the two bodies are relatively closed.

Description

display device

The present invention relates to a display device, and in particular to a display device including a pivot structure.

In recent years, flexible display technology has gradually matured, and various manufacturers have begun to apply flexible display panels to various products. A display device using a flexible display panel can achieve a large screen when unfolded and is easy to carry when bent, so it is suitable for display in various fields, such as TVs, monitors, portable phones, ultra-thin mobile personal computers , e-books, and e-paper. Specifically, when the user wants to use the foldable display device, he can unfold it so as to fully expand the flexible display panel and use a larger display screen. When the user wants to move the foldable display device, the foldable display device can be folded to reduce the size of the foldable display device for easy portability.

In the above display devices, the flexible display panel has a non-stretchable design premise. Therefore, the shell of the pivot structure (that is, the bending position) of the display device needs to be elongated to match the length change of the bending section of the flexible display panel, especially when the display device is folded 180 degrees in half to form a closed state, The shell of the pivot structure requires a great amount of elongation. The pivot structure of existing display devices, for example, adopts multi-layer stacking to obtain elongation, but in order to match the length change of the bending section of the flexible display panel, it is often necessary to increase the number of stacked layers, which in turn leads to the thickness of the pivot structure too thick.

The invention provides a display device whose pivot structure has a small thickness.

The display device of the present invention includes two bodies, a pivot structure and a flexible display panel. The pivot structure includes a pivot assembly and two sliding parts, wherein the two sliding parts are slidably arranged on the two bodies respectively, and the pivot assembly is pivotally connected between the two sliding parts. When the two bodies are relatively unfolded through the pivoting of the pivoting assembly, each sliding part is hidden in the corresponding body. When the two bodies are relatively closed by the pivoting of the pivot assembly, each sliding piece at least partially protrudes from the corresponding body. The flexible display panel is configured on the two bodies and is suitable for bending as the two bodies are relatively closed.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the above-mentioned bodies has a slide rail, and each sliding member is slidably disposed on the slide rail of the corresponding body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned pivot assembly includes a first pivot member and two second pivot members, the two second pivot members are respectively pivotally connected to opposite ends of the first pivot member, and the two second pivot members are pivotally connected to opposite ends of the first pivot member. The sliding part is pivotally connected to the two second pivoting parts respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first pivotal member has two sliders, each second pivotal member has an arc-shaped slide rail, and the two sliders are respectively slidably disposed on the two arc-shaped slide rails.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the above-mentioned second pivotal parts is pivotally connected to the first pivotal part by a pivotal axis, and the pivotal axis is located at the center of curvature of the corresponding arc-shaped slide rail.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the above-mentioned second pivotal members and the first pivotal member has an overlapping area, and the size of the overlapping area varies with the relative movement of each second pivotal member and the first pivotal member. Change.

In an embodiment of the present invention, at least one elastic member is further included, wherein at least one elastic member is connected between at least one body and the corresponding sliding member, when the two bodies are relatively closed by the pivoting of the pivot assembly, With the elastic force of at least one elastic element, the corresponding sliding element at least partially protrudes from the corresponding body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned flexible display panel includes two non-bendable sections and a bendable section, wherein the two non-bendable sections are respectively arranged on the two bodies, and the bendable section Connected between two non-bending sections. When the two bodies are relatively closed by the pivoting of the pivoting component, the pivoting component leans against the bendable area by the elastic force of at least one elastic member.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned pivot structure includes a base and two frames, the two frames are rotatably connected to the base, the two bodies are respectively connected to the two frames, the pivot assembly and the two sliding parts cover The seat body and at least part of the two frame bodies.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned seat body has two arc-shaped guide grooves, and each frame body has an arc-shaped section, and the two arc-shaped sections are respectively slidably disposed in the two arc-shaped guide grooves.

Based on the above, in the pivot structure of the present invention, the two sliding parts are respectively slid on the two bodies so that they can be hidden in the body when the electronic device is unfolded, and can protrude from the body when the electronic device is closed. The length of the pivot structure is increased so that the length of the pivot structure can be changed along with the deflection of the flexible display panel. In this way, it is not necessary to design the pivot structure as a stacked structure including too many layers in order to make the pivot structure have sufficient length variation, and the thickness of the pivot structure can be avoided from being too large.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail together with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the two bodies in FIG. 1 being closed. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the display device 100 of this embodiment is a portable electronic device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, and includes two bodies 110 , a pivot structure 120 and a flexible display panel 130 . The two bodies 110 are pivotally connected to each other by the pivot structure 120 so as to be suitable for relative rotation between the open state shown in FIG. 1 and the closed state shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the display device in FIG. 1 . To make the drawing clearer, some components are omitted in FIG. 3 . 4 and 5 are schematic cross-sectional views of different positions of the display device of FIG. 1 . 6 and 7 are schematic cross-sectional views of different positions of the display device of FIG. 2 . To make the drawing clearer, the flexible display panel 130 in FIG. 1 is not drawn in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 . In this embodiment, the pivot structure 120 includes a pivot assembly 121 and two sliding parts 122 , wherein the two sliding parts 122 are slidably disposed on the two bodies 110 respectively, and the pivot assembly 121 is pivotally connected between the two sliding parts 122 . The flexible display panel 130 is disposed on the two bodies 110 and is adapted to flex as the two bodies 110 are closed relative to each other as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 .

Under the above arrangement, when the two bodies 110 are relatively unfolded by the pivoting of the pivot assembly 121 as shown in FIG. 1 , FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , each sliding member 122 is hidden in the corresponding body 110 . When the two bodies 110 are relatively closed by the pivoting of the pivot assembly 121 as shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 6 and FIG. The length of the pivot structure 120 can be changed along with the flexure of the flexible display panel 130 . Thereby, it is not necessary to design the pivot structure 120 as a stacked structure including too many layers in order to make the pivot structure 120 have sufficient length variation, and the thickness of the pivot structure 120 can be avoided from being too large.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 , in this embodiment, each body 110 has a sliding rail 111 , and each sliding member 122 is slidably disposed on the sliding rail 111 of the corresponding body 110 . Specifically, each body 110 has an end 112 facing the pivot assembly 121 , and each slide rail 111 is located at the end 112 of the corresponding body 110 . Each sliding member 122 is adapted to slide along a direction parallel to the corresponding body 110 to be hidden in the corresponding body 110 or at least partially protrude from the end 112 of the body 110 .

In this embodiment, the end of each sliding rail 111 has a stop portion 111 a for limiting the sliding distance of each sliding member 122 . In one embodiment, each sliding rail 111 is formed by a part of the corresponding machine body 110 near the side edge. In other words, each sliding rail 111 is integrally formed with the corresponding machine body 110 . In another embodiment, each slide rail 111 is configured by additional components to be disposed on the corresponding machine body 110 . In other embodiments, each sliding member 122 can be slidably connected to the corresponding machine body 110 by other suitable means, which is not limited by the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the pivot assembly 121 includes a first pivot member 1211 and two second pivot members 1212, and the two second pivot members 1212 are respectively pivotally connected to the first pivot member 1211. At opposite ends, the two sliding members 122 are respectively pivotally connected to the two second pivoting members 1212 . In this embodiment, the two second pivot members 1212 are respectively pivotally connected to the two shaft portions 1211b of the first pivot member 1211 through the two bushings 1212b, and the two sliding members 122 are pivotally connected to the two shaft parts 1221 through the two shaft holes 1221 respectively. The two shaft portions 1212c of the second pivot member 1212 . In other embodiments, the two second pivoting members 1212 can be pivotally connected to the first pivoting member 1211 by other appropriate methods, and the two sliding members 122 can be pivotally connected by other appropriate methods. It is connected to the corresponding two second pivot members 1212 , which is not limited in the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 6. In this embodiment, the first pivotal member 1211 has two sliders 1211a, and each second pivotal member 1212 has an arc-shaped slide rail 1212a. Rail 1212a. Each second pivot member 1212 is pivotally connected to the first pivot member 1211 via a pivot axis A1. The pivot axis A1 is located at the center of curvature of the corresponding arc-shaped slide rail 1212a. The advantage of this design is that by adjusting the position of the axis A1 and the elongation of the two sliding parts 122 , the pivot structure 120 can be adapted to various flexible display panels with different neutral layer positions.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, the flexible display panel 130 of this embodiment includes two non-bending sections 132 and a bendable section 134 and has a neutral layer 130a, wherein the two non-bending sections 132 The bendable section 134 is respectively arranged on the two machine bodies 110 and connected between the two non-bendable sections 132 . The neutral layer 130a extends in the bendable section 134 and the non-bendable section 132 .

The aforementioned neutral layer 130a means that during the bending process of the material, the outer layer is stretched and the inner layer is squeezed, and there must be a transition layer on the cross section of the material that is neither stretched nor compressed, and the stress is almost equal to zero. This transition layer is called the neutral layer of the material. In short, the length of the neutral layer 130a during the bending process remains the same as that before bending. The neutral layer 130a does not refer to the layer at a specific height on the cross-section of the flexible display panel 130, the neutral layer 130a will vary according to the material selected and the thickness of the flexible display panel 130, so the flexible display panel 130 different heights on the section of the display panel 130. In this embodiment, the neutral layer 130 a is the outer surface of the flexible display panel 130 exposed on the two housings 110 . In other embodiments, the neutral layer 130 a may be located inside the flexible display panel 130 . According to different positions of the neutral layer 130 a , the position of the pivot axis A1 and the sliding amount of the slider 122 can be adjusted accordingly, so that the two bodies 110 , the pivot structure 120 and the flexible display panel 130 can move smoothly.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , the display device 100 of this embodiment further includes at least one elastic member 140 (two are shown in the figure), wherein each elastic member 140 is connected between the corresponding body 110 and the corresponding sliding member 122 . In this embodiment, each elastic member 140 is, for example, a torsion spring, and two ends of each elastic member 140 are respectively fixed to the corresponding machine body 110 and the corresponding sliding member 122 by two protrusions. In other embodiments, the elastic member 140 may also be a spring, and the type and fixing method of the elastic member 140 are not limited to the above.

In detail, when the two bodies 110 are turned from the unfolded state shown in FIG. 5 to the closed state shown in FIG. 110 protrudes, and at this time, the pivot component 121 abuts against the bendable area 134 . In other words, a pre-compressed elastic member 140 is placed inside each body 110 and connected to the corresponding sliding member 122 to provide an outward thrust, so that the pivot structure 120 moves outward during the relative closing process of the two bodies 110 to make the pivot joint The component 121 adheres to and protects the surface of the flexible display panel 130 .

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 , the pivot structure 120 of this embodiment further includes a base body 123 and two frame bodies 124 . The two frame bodies 124 are rotatably connected to the base body 123 , and the two machine bodies 110 are respectively connected to the two frame bodies 124 so as to be relatively opened or closed by the rotation of the two frame bodies 124 relative to the base body 123 . Specifically, the seat body 123 has two arc-shaped guide grooves 1231 , and each frame body 124 has an arc-shaped section 1241 , and the two arc-shaped sections 1241 are respectively slidably disposed in the two arc-shaped guide grooves 1231 . The pivot assembly 121 and the two sliding parts 122 can be regarded as appearance parts of the pivot structure 120 to cover the seat body 123 and at least part of the two frame bodies 124 .

In addition, in this embodiment, each second pivotal member 1212 and the first pivotal member 1211 have an overlapping area S as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 . 8A to 8D are schematic diagrams of the operation flow of the display device in FIG. 1 . As the two bodies 110 are opened and closed relative to each other as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8D , the second pivotal components 1212 and the first pivotal components 1211 move relative to each other, and the size of the overlapping area S changes. Specifically, in the unfolded state of the two bodies 110 as shown in FIG. 5 , the overlapping area S thereof is relatively large. In the closed state of the two bodies 110 as shown in FIG. 7 , the overlapping area S is relatively small. Therefore, the effect of changing the extension length of the pivot structure 120 is achieved by the design that the second pivot member 1212 and the first pivot member 1211 can overlap each other.

To sum up, in the pivot structure of the present invention, the two sliding parts are respectively slid on the two bodies so that they can be hidden in the body when the electronic device is in the unfolded state, and can protrude from the body when the electronic device is in the closed state. In order to increase the length of the pivot structure, the length of the pivot structure can be changed with the deflection of the flexible display panel. In this way, it is not necessary to design the pivot structure as a stacked structure including too many layers in order to make the pivot structure have sufficient length variation, and the thickness of the pivot structure can be avoided from being too large. In addition, a pre-compressed elastic piece is placed inside each body and connected to the corresponding sliding piece to provide an outward thrust, so that the pivot structure moves outward during the relative closing process of the two bodies, so that the pivot joint assembly can be fit and protected. The surface of the flexible display panel.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field may make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the scope of the appended patent application.

100: display device 110: body 111: slide rail 111a: stopper 112: end 120: pivot structure 121: Pivot assembly 1211: the first pivot member 1211a: slider 1211b: Shaft 1212: the second pivot member 1212a: Arc slide rail 1212b: shaft sleeve 1212c: Shaft 122: Slider 1221: shaft hole 123: seat body 1231: arc guide groove 124: frame body 1241: arc section 130: flexible display panel 130a: neutral layer 132: Non-bending section 134: bendable section 140: Elastic parts A1: Pivot axis S: overlapping area

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the two bodies in FIG. 1 being closed. FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the display device in FIG. 1 . 4 and 5 are schematic cross-sectional views of different positions of the display device of FIG. 1 . 6 and 7 are schematic cross-sectional views of different positions of the display device of FIG. 2 . 8A to 8D are schematic diagrams of the operation flow of the display device in FIG. 1 .

100: display device 110: body 120: pivot structure 121: Pivot assembly 1211: the first pivot member 1212: the second pivot member 122: Slider

Claims (8)

A display device, comprising: two bodies; a pivot structure, including a pivot assembly and two sliders, wherein the two sliders are respectively slid on the two bodies, and the pivot assembly is pivotally connected between the two sliders , when the two bodies are relatively unfolded by the pivoting of the pivoting assembly, each of the sliding parts is hidden in the corresponding body, and when the two bodies are relatively closed by the pivoting of the pivoting assembly, Each of the sliding parts at least partially protrudes from the corresponding body; and a flexible display panel is disposed on the two bodies and is suitable for flexing as the two bodies are closed relative to each other, and the pivot assembly includes A first pivotal member and two second pivotal members, the two second pivotal members are respectively pivotally connected to opposite ends of the first pivotal member, and the two sliding members are respectively pivotally connected to the two second pivotal members The first pivotal member has two sliders, each of the second pivotal members has an arc-shaped slide rail, and the two sliders are respectively slidably arranged on the two arc-shaped slide rails. The display device according to claim 1, wherein each body has a sliding rail, and each sliding member is slidably disposed on the corresponding sliding rail of the body. The display device according to claim 1, wherein each second pivot member is pivotally connected to the first pivot member by a pivot axis, and the pivot axis is located at the center of curvature of the corresponding arc-shaped slide rail. The display device according to claim 1, wherein each of the second pivotal members and the first pivotal member has an overlapping area, and the size of the overlapping area varies with the size of each of the second pivotal members and the first pivotal member. The relative movement of the parts changes. The display device according to claim 1, comprising at least one elastic member, wherein the at least one elastic member is connected between at least one body and the corresponding sliding member, when the two bodies are pivoted by the pivot assembly When relatively closed, by virtue of the elastic force of the at least one elastic member, the corresponding sliding member at least partially protrudes from the corresponding body. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the flexible display panel includes two non-bendable sections and a bendable section, wherein the two non-bendable sections are respectively arranged on the two bodies, and the flexible display panel The bending section is connected between the two non-bending sections. When the two bodies are relatively closed by the pivoting of the pivoting assembly, the pivoting assembly is resisted by the elastic force of the at least one elastic member. leans against the bendable region. The display device as claimed in item 1, wherein the pivot structure includes a base and two frames, the two frames are rotatably connected to the base, the two bodies are respectively connected to the two frames, and the pivot The assembly and the two sliding parts cover the seat and at least part of the two frames. The display device according to claim 7, wherein the base body has two arc-shaped guide grooves, each of the frame bodies has an arc-shaped section, and the two arc-shaped sections are respectively slidably disposed in the two arc-shaped guide grooves.

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