阅读说明：本技术 柔性电路板、柔性装置及显示设备 (Flexible circuit board, flexible device and display device ) 是由 孙宝锋 祝尚杰 薄赜文 于 2019-06-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开公开了柔性电路板、柔性装置及显示设备,其中,柔性电路板包括：电路板绑定区,平直区,以及位于电路板绑定区和平直区之间弯折区；弯折区具有开口结构。(The present disclosure discloses flexible circuit board, flexible device and display device, wherein, flexible circuit board includes: the circuit board comprises a circuit board binding area, a straight area and a bending area positioned between the circuit board binding area and the straight area; the bending area is provided with an opening structure.)

1. A flexible circuit board, comprising:

a circuit board binding region;

a flat area;

the bending area is positioned between the circuit board binding area and the straight area;

the bending area is provided with an opening structure.

2. The flexible circuit board of claim 1, wherein the circuit board bonding region, the bending region, and the straight region are aligned in a first direction and extend in a second direction; wherein the first direction is different from the second direction.

3. The flexible circuit board of claim 2, wherein the opening structure comprises a plurality of first opening structures;

the orthographic projection of each first opening structure on the flexible circuit board is located in the bending area.

4. The flexible circuit board of claim 3, wherein the plurality of first opening structures are arranged in an array; alternatively, the first opening structures are arranged on a straight line along the second direction.

5. The flexible circuit board of any of claims 2-4, wherein the open structure comprises at least one second set of open structures; at least one of the second opening structure groups comprises two second opening structures;

two second opening structures in the same second opening structure group are oppositely arranged on the edge of the bending area along the second direction.

6. The flexible circuit board of any of claims 2-5, wherein the opening structure comprises a plurality of third opening structures;

the third opening structure extends from the bending area to the circuit board binding area along the first direction.

7. The flexible circuit board of any of claims 2-6, wherein the open structure comprises a plurality of fourth open structures;

the fourth opening structure is arranged along the first direction, and the bent area extends to the edge of one side, deviating from the bent area, of the circuit board binding area.

8. The flexible circuit board of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the flexible circuit board comprises: a flexible circuit substrate; the opening structure penetrates through the flexible circuit substrate.

9. The flexible circuit board of claim 8, wherein the flexible circuit board further comprises: a routing layer on the flexible circuit substrate;

the orthographic projection of the opening structure on the flexible circuit board is not overlapped with the orthographic projection of the routing layer on the flexible circuit board.

10. The flexible circuit board of claim 9, wherein a thickness of the flexible circuit board of the bending region is less than a thickness of the flexible circuit board of the straight region.

11. The flexible circuit board of claim 10, wherein the routing layer is located on a board bonding area, a bending area, and a straight area of the flexible circuit board;

the number of routing layers of the bending area is smaller than that of routing layers of the straight area.

12. The flexible circuit board of any one of claims 9-11, wherein the flexible circuit board further comprises: and the ink layer is positioned on one side of the routing layer, which is far away from the flexible circuit substrate.

13. A flexible device, comprising: the flexible circuit board of any one of claims 1-12.

14. The flexible device of claim 13, wherein the flexible device further comprises: a flexible target substrate having a substrate binding region; the circuit board binding area of the flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the substrate binding area.

15. The flexible device of claim 14, wherein the flexible target substrate further comprises: and the concave structures are close to two sides of the circuit board binding area of the flexible circuit board along the second direction.

16. The flexible device of any one of claims 13-15, wherein the flexible target substrate further comprises: the display device comprises a display area and a touch electrode positioned in the display area.

17. The flexible device of any one of claims 14-16, wherein the flexible device further comprises: the flexible electroluminescent display panel is characterized in that the flexible target substrate is positioned on the light emergent side of the flexible electroluminescent display panel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the flexible target substrate is an array substrate in a flexible electroluminescent display panel.

18. A display device comprising a flexible arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 13-17.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of circuit board technology, and in particular, to a flexible circuit board, a flexible device, and a display apparatus.

Background

During application, a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) is often required to be bent, which causes stress to the FPC in the bent area. Due to the effect of stress, the flexible circuit board which can be bent has a large tilting risk, and the assembly and the transportation of the module comprising the flexible circuit board are not facilitated.

Disclosure of Invention

The disclosed embodiment provides a flexible circuit board, including:

a circuit board binding region;

a flat area;

the bending area is positioned between the circuit board binding area and the straight area;

the bending area is provided with an opening structure.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the circuit board bonding region, the bending region, and the flat region are arranged along a first direction and extend along a second direction; wherein the first direction is different from the second direction.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the opening structure includes a plurality of first opening structures;

the orthographic projection of each first opening structure on the flexible circuit board is located in the bending area.

Optionally, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the plurality of first opening structures are arranged in an array; alternatively, the first opening structures are arranged on a straight line along the second direction.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the opening structure comprises at least one second opening structure group; at least one of the second opening structure groups comprises two second opening structures;

two second opening structures in the same second opening structure group are oppositely arranged on the edge of the bending area along the second direction.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the opening structure includes a plurality of third opening structures;

the third opening structure extends from the bending area to the circuit board binding area along the first direction.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the opening structure includes a plurality of fourth opening structures;

the fourth opening structure is arranged along the first direction, and the bent area extends to the edge of one side, deviating from the bent area, of the circuit board binding area.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible circuit board includes: a flexible circuit substrate; the opening structure penetrates through the flexible circuit substrate.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible circuit board further includes: a routing layer on the flexible circuit substrate;

the orthographic projection of the opening structure on the flexible circuit board is not overlapped with the orthographic projection of the routing layer on the flexible circuit board.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a thickness of the flexible circuit board in the bending region is smaller than a thickness of the flexible circuit board in the straight region.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the routing layer is located on a circuit board binding region, a bending region, and a flat region of the flexible circuit board;

the number of routing layers of the bending area is smaller than that of routing layers of the straight area.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible circuit board further includes: and the ink layer is positioned on one side of the routing layer, which is far away from the flexible circuit substrate.

Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a flexible device, including: the flexible circuit board is provided.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible device further includes: a flexible target substrate having a substrate binding region; the circuit board binding area of the flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the substrate binding area.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible target substrate further includes: and the concave structures are close to two sides of the circuit board binding area of the flexible circuit board along the second direction.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible target substrate further includes: the display device comprises a display area and a touch electrode positioned in the display area.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible device further includes: the flexible electroluminescent display panel is characterized in that the flexible target substrate is positioned on the light emergent side of the flexible electroluminescent display panel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the flexible target substrate is an array substrate in a flexible electroluminescent display panel.

The embodiment of the disclosure also provides a display device, which comprises the flexible device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic top view of some flexible circuit boards according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2a is a schematic cross-sectional view of the flexible printed circuit board shown in FIG. 1 along direction AA';

FIG. 2b is a schematic cross-sectional view of the flexible printed circuit shown in FIG. 1 along the direction BB';

fig. 3 is a schematic top view of a plurality of flexible circuit boards according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic top view of a plurality of flexible circuit boards according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic top view of a plurality of flexible circuit boards according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic top view of a flexible device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are only a few embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all embodiments. And the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present disclosure may be combined with each other without conflict. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the described embodiments of the disclosure without any inventive step, are within the scope of protection of the disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, technical or scientific terms used herein shall have the ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The use of "first," "second," and similar terms in this disclosure is not intended to indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but rather is used to distinguish one element from another. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element or item listed before the word covers the element or item listed after the word and its equivalents, but does not exclude other elements or items. The terms "connected" or "coupled" and the like are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect.

It should be noted that the sizes and shapes of the various figures in the drawings are not to scale, but are merely intended to illustrate the present disclosure. And the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout.

A flexible circuit board is generally assembled in the display device to transmit signals through the flexible circuit board. A wiring layer, an insulating layer, a protective layer and the like for transmitting signals are arranged on the flexible circuit board. When the flexible circuit board is bent, the bending area can generate stress action, the film layer is extruded under stress, the flexible circuit board which is bent can be caused to have larger tilting risk, and then the surface unevenness of the flexible circuit board is caused, and the assembly and the transportation of the module comprising the flexible circuit board are not facilitated.

Based on this, the disclosed embodiments provide some flexible circuit boards for reducing adverse effects caused by stress generated when bending.

The disclosed embodiments provide some flexible circuit boards, as shown in fig. 1 to 2b, the flexible circuit board may include: a circuit board binding area A1, a bending area A2 and a flat area A3; the bending region a2 is located between the circuit board bonding region a1 and the flat region A3, and the bending region a2 has an opening structure 100.

In the flexible circuit board provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the bending region is located between the circuit board binding region and the straight region, so that the circuit board binding region and the straight region are electrically connected through the bending region. Through making the bending area have open structure, when buckling to the bending area of flexible circuit board like this, because the great stress that produces when buckling can conduct to open structure to release through open structure, thereby can reduce the rete stressed extrusion's on the flexible circuit board degree, and then can reduce the risk of bending area perk when buckling, improve the surface smoothness nature, and improve and buckle into power, promote product volume production yield.

It should be noted that the circuit board bonding area of the flexible circuit board has PINs (PIN). When the flexible circuit board is assembled with the device, the flexible circuit board and the device to be assembled (such as a display panel) can be electrically connected through Bonding through pins in a Bonding area of the circuit board.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, the circuit board bonding area a1, the bending area a2, and the flat area A3 may be arranged along a first direction F1, and the circuit board bonding area a1, the bending area a2, and the flat area A3 may respectively extend along a second direction F2; wherein the first direction F1 is different from the second direction F2. Illustratively, the first direction F1 may be made perpendicular to the second direction F2. Of course, in practical applications, the first direction F1 and the second direction F2 may be designed according to practical application environments, and are not limited herein.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 to 2b, the flexible circuit board may include: a flexible circuit substrate 200; the opening structure 100 penetrates the flexible circuit substrate 200. Therefore, the stress generated when the flexible circuit substrate 200 is bent is released through the opening structure 100, the degree of stress extrusion of the film layer on the flexible circuit board is reduced, the risk of warping when bending is reduced, the surface smoothness is improved, the bending power is improved, and the yield of mass production of products is improved.

In specific implementation, in this disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 to fig. 2b, the flexible circuit board may further include: a routing layer 210 on the flexible circuit substrate 200; wherein, the orthographic projection of the opening structure 100 on the flexible circuit board does not overlap with the orthographic projection of the routing layer 210 on the flexible circuit board. This can prevent the opening structure 100 from affecting the traces in the trace layer 210. Illustratively, the orthographic projection of the opening structure 100 on the flexible circuit substrate 200 does not overlap with the orthographic projection of the wiring layer 210 on the flexible circuit board. Further, the routing layer 210 may include a plurality of mutually independent traces 211, and these traces 211 may be used for transmitting signals.

In specific implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, the routing layer 210 is located on the circuit board bonding area a1, the bending area a2, and the flat area A3 of the flexible circuit board. Illustratively, the material of the traces in the trace layer 210 may include a metal material, such as Au, Ag, Au, etc.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 to 2b, the thickness d1 of the flexible circuit board in the bending region a2 may be smaller than the thickness d2 of the flexible circuit board in the flat region A3. This may further reduce the stress in the bending zone.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 to 2b, the number of routing layers 210 in bending area a2 may be smaller than the number of routing layers 210 in flat area A3. Illustratively, the routing layer 210 of the bending region a2 may be provided as one layer, i.e., the routing layer 210 of the bending region a2 may be located on only one side of the flexible circuit substrate 200. And, the routing layers 210 of the flat area a3 are arranged as two layers, which are the routing layer 210_1 on one side of the flexible circuit substrate 200 and the routing layer 210_2 on the other side of the flexible circuit substrate 200. Therefore, the thickness d1 of the flexible circuit board in the bending area A2 is smaller than the thickness d2 of the flexible circuit board in the flat area A3, and the routing layer 210 in the flat area A3 can be arranged into two layers, so that the routing space of routing is increased, and the resistance is reduced.

In specific implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2a and 2b, the flexible circuit board may further include: and the ink layer 220 is positioned on the side of the routing layer 210, which faces away from the flexible circuit substrate 200. This way the routing layer can be protected by the ink layer 220. And, because the material on printing ink layer is printing ink, the material teaching of printing ink is soft, and the ductility is better, and the printing ink layer of formation can be thinner to can further reduce rete stress extrusion's degree, and then can reduce the risk of buckling zone perk when buckling, improve the surface smoothness, and improve and buckle into power, promote product volume production yield.

In particular implementation, in the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the opening structure 100 may include a plurality of first opening structures 110; the orthographic projection of each first opening structure 110 on the flexible circuit board is located in the bending area a 1. Further, the first opening structures 110 may be uniformly dispersed in the bending region a1, so that the stress can be uniformly released. Illustratively, as shown in fig. 1, the first opening structures 110 may be arranged in a straight line along the second direction F2. For example, the plurality of first opening structures may also be arranged in the bending region. Further, the gap between at least two adjacent first opening structures 110 may be made the same. For example, the gap between every adjacent two first opening structures 110 may be made the same. Of course, in practical applications, the first opening structures may be randomly dispersed in the bending region, and are not limited herein.

In practical implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, the opening structure 100 also includes at least one second opening structure group 120_ M (M is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, M and M are positive integers, M represents the total number of the second opening structure groups), and the at least one second opening structure group 120_ M may include two second opening structures 121_ M and 122_ M. For example, as shown in fig. 3, M may be 1, and the opening structure 100 may include a second opening structure group 120_ 1. If M may be 2, the aperture structure 100 may include 2 second aperture structure groups 120_1 and 120_ 2. If M may be 3, the aperture structure 100 may include 3 second aperture structure groups 120_1, 120_2, and 120_ 3. Of course, the value of M may be determined by design according to the actual application environment, and is not limited herein.

In practical implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3, two second opening structures 121_ m and 122_ m in the same second opening structure group 120_ m are oppositely disposed at the edge of the bending region a2 along the second direction F2. Exemplarily, the second opening structure 121_1 is disposed at one edge S1 of the bending region a2 along the second direction F2, the second opening structure 122_1 is disposed at the other edge S2 of the bending region a2 along the second direction F2, and the second opening structures 121_1 and the second opening structure 122_1 are arranged on a straight line along the second direction F2.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 4, the opening structure 100 may also include a plurality of third opening structures 130; the third opening structure 130 extends from the bending region a2 to the circuit board bonding region a1 along the first direction F1. Illustratively, the third opening structures 130 may be arranged in a straight line along the second direction F2.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the opening structure 100 may also include a plurality of fourth opening structures 140; the fourth opening structure 140 extends from the bending region a2 to an edge of the circuit board binding region a1 on a side away from the bending region a2 along the first direction F1. Illustratively, the fourth opening structures 140 may be arranged in a straight line along the second direction F2.

In practical implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first opening structure 110, the second opening structures 121_ m and 122_ m, the third opening structure 130, and the fourth opening structure 140 may be arbitrarily combined, so that the stress may be further reduced. Exemplarily, as shown in fig. 4, the second opening structures 121_ m and 122_ m and the first opening structure 110 may be combined. As shown in fig. 4, the second opening structures 121_ m and 122_ m and the third opening structure 130 may be combined.

It should be noted that, the greater the number of the opening structures, the better the stress releasing effect is, however, the size of the flexible circuit board is generally smaller, and the flexible circuit board also needs to be provided with traces, circuits and the like, so that in order to avoid affecting the signal transmission signals of the flexible circuit board, the values of the opening structures can be reduced as much as possible on the basis of meeting the stress releasing requirement.

Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a flexible device, which may include the flexible circuit board provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. The principle of the flexible device to solve the problem is similar to the flexible circuit board, so the implementation of the flexible device can be referred to the implementation of the flexible circuit board, and repeated details are not repeated here. Moreover, the structure of the flexible circuit board can be referred to the above embodiments, and is not described herein. The following description will be made by taking the structure of the flexible circuit board shown in fig. 5 as an example.

In particular implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 6, the flexible device may further include: a flexible target substrate 300 having a substrate binding region B1; the circuit board bonding area a1 of the flexible circuit board 10 is electrically connected with the substrate bonding area B1. For example, the substrate bonding region B1 of the flexible target substrate 300 may have a plurality of metal terminals (PADs), so that PINs in the circuit board bonding region a1 of the flexible circuit board 10 and PADs in the substrate bonding region B1 may be electrically connected through a bonding process.

In particular implementation, as shown in fig. 6, the substrate bonding area B1 may extend along the second direction F2. In the disclosed embodiment, the flexible target substrate 300 may further include: the recess structures 310, 320 are adjacent to both sides of the circuit board binding region a1 of the flexible circuit board 10 in the second direction F2. Illustratively, the recess structure 310 and the recess structure 320 are respectively located on the flexible target substrate 300, and may be respectively located at two sides of the substrate bonding area B1, for example, one side S1 of the recess structure 310 near the circuit board bonding area a1 along the second direction F2, and the other side S2 of the recess structure 320 near the circuit board bonding area a1 along the second direction F2. Like this through making flexible target substrate 300 set up the sunk structure, can cut off the connection of the both sides on base plate binding district B1 and its edge second direction F2 to can reduce the effort of flexible circuit board to base plate binding district B1, when flexible circuit board buckles, can no longer take up the edge of flexible target substrate 300, and then after encapsulating this flexible device, can further improve the roughness of flexible device.

In particular implementations, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible target substrate may further include: display area B2 and touch electrodes located in display area B2, so that the flexible target substrate may be a touch substrate. Illustratively, the touch electrode can be a self-capacitance electrode, which can enable the flexible target substrate to achieve a touch effect through a self-capacitance technology. The touch control electrode can also be a mutual capacitance electrode, so that the flexible target substrate can realize the touch control effect through the mutual capacitance technology. The Touch electrode can also be a 3D Touch electrode, so that the flexible target substrate can realize the Touch effect through the 3D Touch technology.

Illustratively, in particular implementations, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible device may further include: and the flexible target substrate is positioned on the light emergent side of the flexible electroluminescent display panel. Therefore, the flexible target substrate and the flexible electroluminescent display panel can be assembled in a plug-in mode, so that the assembled flexible device can realize both a display function and a touch function. Generally, after the flexible circuit board is assembled, the bending region of the flexible circuit board is bent, so that the flexible circuit board is bent to the back of the display panel. And the assembled flexible device is packaged, and the stress of the flexible circuit board can be released through the opening, so that the tilting risk of the flexible circuit board can be reduced, and the flatness of the flexible device after packaging can be improved.

The flexible electroluminescent display panel may include an array substrate and an opposite substrate that are oppositely disposed. The array substrate may include a plurality of pixel units, and each pixel unit may include a plurality of sub-pixels. The sub-pixels may include electroluminescent diodes and pixel circuits for driving the electroluminescent diodes to emit light. Further, the electroluminescent diode may include: at least one of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), Micro Light Emitting Diodes (Micro-LED), and Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes (QLED). A general pixel circuit may include a plurality of transistors such as a driving transistor and a switching transistor, and a storage capacitor, and the specific structure and the operation principle thereof may be the same as those in the related art, and are not described herein again.

Illustratively, in particular implementation, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible target substrate may also be provided as an array substrate in a flexible electroluminescent display panel. In this way, the touch electrode may be formed in the flexible electroluminescent display panel in an embedded manner (for example, the touch electrode is disposed in a gap of a sub-pixel of an array substrate of the flexible electroluminescent display panel), so that the flexible electroluminescent display panel may realize both the display function and the touch function. Generally, after the flexible circuit board is assembled, the bending region of the flexible circuit board is bent, so that the flexible circuit board is bent to the back of the display panel. And the assembled flexible device is packaged, and the stress of the flexible circuit board can be released through the opening, so that the tilting risk of the flexible circuit board can be reduced, and the flatness of the flexible device after packaging can be improved.

Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a display device, which includes the flexible device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. The principle of the display device to solve the problem is similar to the flexible device, so the implementation of the display device can be referred to the implementation of the flexible device, and repeated details are not repeated here.

In specific implementation, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the display device may be: any product or component with a display function, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television, a display, a notebook computer, a digital photo frame, a navigator and the like. Other essential components of the display device are understood by those skilled in the art, and are not described herein nor should they be construed as limiting the present disclosure.

According to the flexible circuit board, the flexible device and the display device provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the bending area is located between the circuit board binding area and the flat area so as to electrically connect the circuit board binding area and the flat area through the bending area. Through making the bending area have open structure, when buckling to the bending area of flexible circuit board like this, because the great stress that produces when buckling can conduct to open structure to release through open structure, thereby can reduce the rete stressed extrusion's on the flexible circuit board degree, and then can reduce the risk of bending area perk when buckling, improve the surface smoothness nature, and improve and buckle into power, promote product volume production yield.

While preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the disclosure.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present disclosure fall within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and their equivalents, the present disclosure is also intended to encompass such modifications and variations.