CN218547962U - Display module and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a display module and a terminal device, and relates to the technical field of display. The display module comprises a display panel, a flexible circuit board and a conductive protection layer, wherein a display area of the display panel and a peripheral area positioned outside the display area are arranged, and the peripheral area comprises a bendable fan-out area; the fan-out area is provided with a panel binding part and is provided with a driving chip; the flexible circuit board comprises a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and a substrate which is separated from the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer; the first conductive layer includes a first binding portion, a second binding portion, and a connecting portion connecting the first binding portion and the second binding portion; the second conducting layer is positioned on one side of the first conducting layer, which is far away from the display panel, and at least partially overlaps the first binding part; the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer are connected through a through hole penetrating through the substrate; one end of the flexible circuit board is bound with the panel binding part through the first binding part, and the second binding part is used for binding with the control circuit board; the conductive protection layer covers the driving chip and is connected with the second conductive layer.

Description

Display module and terminal equipment

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of display, in particular to a display module and terminal equipment.

Background

The display module is an indispensable component of electronic equipment such as mobile phones and computers, and the application of the OLED display module using Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) as light emitting devices is relatively wide. However, the current display module is easy to display abnormal due to the interference of static electricity.

It is noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The purpose of the present disclosure is to overcome the defects in the prior art, and provide a display module and a terminal device, which can reduce the risk of abnormal display.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a display module including:

the display panel is provided with a display area and a peripheral area positioned outside the display area, and the peripheral area comprises a bendable fan-out area; the fan-out area is provided with a panel binding part and is provided with a driving chip;

a flexible circuit board including a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and a substrate spaced apart from and between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer; the first conductive layer includes a first binding portion, a second binding portion, and a connection portion connecting the first binding portion and the second binding portion; the second conducting layer is positioned on one side, far away from the display panel, of the first conducting layer and at least partially overlapped with the first binding part; the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are connected through a via hole penetrating through the substrate; one end of the flexible circuit board is bound with the panel binding part through the first binding part, and the second binding part is used for binding with the control circuit board;

and the conductive protection layer covers the driving chip and is connected with the second conductive layer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible circuit board further includes a first protective layer and a second protective layer, the first protective layer covering the first conductive layer and exposing the first and second binding portions; the second protective layer covers a partial region of the second conductive layer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first binding part includes a first alignment mark and a plurality of first pads distributed at intervals, and the first pads are bound to the panel binding part; the second conducting layer is provided with a light hole, and the light hole is overlapped with the alignment mark.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the first alignment marks and the number of the light holes are both multiple, and the first pad is located between two adjacent first alignment marks; the light holes are overlapped with the first alignment marks in a one-to-one correspondence mode.

In an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, the first alignment mark and the first pad are of an integral structure.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the second conductive layer further overlaps the connection part and the second binding part.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the second conductive layer is a mesh structure.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the second conductive layer overlaps only the first binding portion.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are the same material.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a boundary of the conductive protective layer is located within a boundary of the display panel.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the conductive protection layer includes an insulating layer and a conductor layer stacked in a direction away from the display panel, the insulating layer covers the driving chip and is attached to the display panel; and partial areas of the conductor layer extend to one side of the second conducting layer far away from the substrate and are connected with the partial areas of the second conducting layer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the display panel includes:

the driving back plate comprises the fan-out area and a pixel circuit positioned in the display area;

the light-emitting device is arranged on one side of the driving back plate and is positioned in the display area;

an encapsulation layer covering the light emitting device and exposing the driving chip and the panel binding portion;

the anti-reflection layer is arranged on one side of the packaging layer far away from the driving backboard;

a touch layer arranged on one side of the packaging layer far away from the driving backboard

The transparent cover plate is arranged on one side, far away from the driving back plate, of the touch layer, and the boundary of the driving back plate is located within the boundary of the transparent cover plate.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving backplane includes a plurality of data lines extending in a column direction and distributed in a row direction, one of the data lines being connected to at least one column of the pixel circuits; at least part of the data lines are connected with the driving chip.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the display panel further includes:

the supporting layer is arranged on one side, far away from the light-emitting device, of the driving backboard and comprises an adhesive layer, a buffer layer and a metal layer which are sequentially stacked along the direction far away from the driving backboard.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a terminal device including:

the control circuit board is arranged on the backlight side of the display panel;

the display module assembly of any one of the above, wherein the second binding portion is bound with the control circuit board.

This disclosed display module assembly and terminal equipment, the first conducting layer of accessible flexible circuit board realizes being connected of control circuit board and display panel to realize showing the function. Meanwhile, the flexible circuit board further comprises a second conductive layer connected with the first conductive layer, and the conductive protection layer covering the driving chip is connected with the second conductive layer, so that static electricity affecting the driving chip can be conducted to the control circuit board along the path of the conductive protection layer, the second conductive layer and the first conductive layer, the control circuit board can be grounded, static electricity influence is eliminated, and normal work of the driving chip is guaranteed. Meanwhile, the second conducting layer and the first conducting layer play a role in conducting static electricity, static electricity is conducted to the control circuit board without depending on the conducting protection layer, and the conducting protection layer is only connected with the second conducting layer, so that the area of the conducting protection layer is favorably reduced, the conducting protection layer is prevented from enabling the panel binding portion and the first binding portion to be stripped, and the risk of abnormal display is avoided.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is to be understood that the drawings in the following description are merely exemplary of the disclosure, and that other drawings may be derived from those drawings by one of ordinary skill in the art without the exercise of inventive faculty.

Fig. 1 is a top view of a display panel according to an embodiment of the display module of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a fan-out region of an embodiment of a display module according to the disclosure when the fan-out region is not bent.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a fan-out region after bending in an embodiment of a display module of the disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a terminal device of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a fan-out region of another embodiment of a display module of the present disclosure when the fan-out region is not bent.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a fan-out region after bending in another embodiment of a display module of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a terminal device of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a flexible circuit board in an embodiment of a display module according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a top view of a first conductive layer of a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the display module of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a top view of a second conductive layer of a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the display module of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a top view of a second conductive layer of a flexible circuit board in another embodiment of a display module according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is a top view of a second conductive layer of a flexible circuit board in yet another embodiment of a display module according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 is a top view of a display panel and a flexible circuit board of another embodiment of a display module of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a top view of another embodiment of a display module according to the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar structures, and thus their detailed description will be omitted. Furthermore, the drawings are merely schematic illustrations of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

The terms "a", "an", "the", "said" and "at least one" are used to indicate the presence of one or more elements/components/parts/etc.; the terms "comprising" and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements/components/etc. other than the listed elements/components/etc.; the terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels, and are not limiting on the number of their objects.

The row direction X and the column direction Y in this document are only two mutually perpendicular directions, and in the drawings of the present disclosure, the row direction X may be a horizontal direction, and the column direction Y may be a vertical direction, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The "overlapping" of the a-feature and the B-feature in this context means that the orthographic projection of the a-feature on a plane, which is any plane perpendicular to the direction of distribution of a and B, which in this context may be a side of a substrate or a surface of a display panel, etc., and the orthographic projection of the B-feature on this plane at least partly coincide.

In the related art, a display module of a terminal device includes a display panel and a flexible circuit board bound with the display panel, wherein the display panel has a display area and a fan-out area outside the display area, and the fan-out area can be bound with a control circuit board through the flexible circuit board, so that the display panel can be controlled by the control circuit board to display images. The fan-out area may be provided with a driving chip, which may be a source driving chip or the like that inputs a data signal to the pixel circuit in the display area, and the function thereof is not particularly limited.

When the terminal device is used, if a finger touches the driving chip, a large amount of static electricity is generated, and the instantaneously generated static electricity may reach thousands of volts, so that the driving chip fails or is damaged, and therefore, it is necessary to perform electrostatic protection on the driving chip.

In order to protect the driving chip, the driving chip can be covered by a conductive protection layer, the flexible circuit board and the control circuit board are simultaneously covered, static electricity is led out to the control circuit board through the conductive protection layer, and the control circuit board is grounded. However, when the driving chip and the flexible circuit board are covered by the conductive protection layer, an acting force is generated at the binding part of the flexible circuit board and the display panel, which may cause peeling of the flexible circuit board and the display panel, resulting in binding failure, abnormal display, or even no display; however, if the area of the conductive protection layer is reduced, grounding is difficult to achieve, and the influence of static electricity cannot be eliminated.

Based on the above-mentioned related art, the inventor proposes an embodiment of the present disclosure to provide a display module, as shown in fig. 1 to 7, the display module may include a display panel PNL, a flexible circuit board FPC, and a conductive protection layer TAP, wherein:

the display panel PNL has a display area AA and a peripheral area WA located outside the display area AA, the peripheral area WA including a bendable fan-out area FA; the fan-out area FA is provided with a driving chip DIC and a panel binding part PA;

the flexible circuit board FPC includes a first conductive layer ML1, a second conductive layer ML2, and a substrate spaced apart from the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML 2; the first conductive layer ML1 includes a first binding portion BA1, a second binding portion BA2, and a connection portion CP connecting the first binding portion BA1 and the second binding portion BA 2; the second conductive layer ML2 is located on a side of the first conductive layer ML1 away from the display panel PNL, and at least partially overlaps the first binding portion BA 1; the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 are connected by a via hole HO penetrating through the substrate; one end of the flexible printed circuit FPC is bound with a panel binding part PA through a first binding part BA1, and a second binding part BA2 is used for binding with the control printed circuit board PCB;

the conductive protection layer TAP covers the driving chip DIC and is connected to the second conductive layer ML2.

The display module can realize the connection between the control circuit board PCB and the display panel PNL through the first conducting layer ML1 of the flexible circuit board FPC so as to realize the display function. Meanwhile, the flexible circuit board FPC further comprises a second conducting layer ML2 connected with the first conducting layer ML1, and a conducting protection layer TAP covering the driving chip DIC is connected with the second conducting layer ML2, so that static electricity affecting the driving chip DIC can be conducted to the control circuit board PCB along the path of the conducting protection layer TAP-the second conducting layer ML 2-the first conducting layer ML1, the static electricity can be eliminated through grounding of the control circuit board PCB, and normal work of the driving chip DIC is guaranteed. Meanwhile, since the second conductive layer ML2 and the first conductive layer ML1 play a role in conducting static electricity, only the conductive protection layer TAP is connected to the second conductive layer ML2, which is beneficial to reducing the area of the conductive protection layer TAP, and the panel binding portion PA and the first binding portion BA1 are prevented from being peeled off by the conductive protection layer TAP, thereby avoiding the occurrence of the risk of display abnormality.

The following is a detailed description of each part of the display module of the present disclosure:

as shown in fig. 1, the display panel PNL may have a display area AA and a peripheral area WA located outside the display area AA, the display area AA may emit light for an image, the peripheral area WA may be used for arranging circuits and traces, and the peripheral area WA may include a fan-out area FA. The driving chips DIC are disposed in the fan-out area FA, and may be source driving chips DIC, etc., which are not particularly limited herein, and the number of the driving chips DIC may be one or more. The fan-out area FA may include a panel bonding portion PA, which may be disposed on a side of the driving chip DIC away from the display area AA, and may include a plurality of panel pads PINp for bonding with the flexible circuit board FPC, and each of the panel pads PINp may be spaced apart along the row direction X. The number of the fan-out areas FA may be one, two or more, and each fan-out area FA may be bound, i.e., electrically connected, with a flexible circuit board FPC; for example, as shown in fig. 1, for a handheld terminal device such as a mobile phone, the display panel PNL may have only one fan-out area FA as shown in fig. 13 and 14, while for a terminal device such as a television, a notebook computer, etc., the display panel PNL may have a plurality of fan-out areas FA, each fan-out area FA may be bound to one flexible circuit board FPC, and each flexible circuit board FPC may be bound to the same control circuit board PCB.

Meanwhile, the display panel PNL may be a hard panel, which cannot be bent, and the flexible circuit board FPC needs to be bent to the backlight side so as to be bound with the control circuit board PCB. Or, the display panel PNL may be a flexible panel, so that the fan-out area FA may be bent toward the backlight side of the display panel PNL, which is beneficial to narrowing the bezel, and certainly, for the flexible panel, the flexible circuit board FPC may be bent toward the backlight side without being bent, or may be bound to the control circuit board PCB.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the display panel PNL may be an organic electroluminescent display panel PNL, which may include a driving back plate BP, a light emitting device layer OL, and an encapsulation layer TFE, wherein:

as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the driving back plate BP has a driving circuit by which a plurality of light emitting devices of the light emitting device layer OL can be driven to emit light to display an image, wherein: the driving back plate BP may include a substrate and a circuit layer located on one side of the substrate, and the substrate may be a flat plate structure, and may be made of hard materials such as glass, or soft materials such as Polyimide (PI) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Meanwhile, the substrate may be a single layer or a multi-layer structure. For the flexible display panel PNL, the substrate may be a flexible substrate made of a soft material such as polyimide.

In this context, hard means that the sheet cannot be bent in a recoverable manner, and soft means that the sheet can be bent in a recoverable manner, i.e., the sheet can be bent repeatedly.

As shown in fig. 1, the circuit layer may include a driving circuit by which the light emitting device may be driven to emit light. The driving circuit may include a pixel circuit located in the display area AA and a peripheral circuit located in the peripheral area WA, wherein the pixel circuit may be a pixel circuit of 7T1C, 6T1C, or the like, as long as it can drive the light emitting device to emit light, and the structure thereof is not particularly limited. The number of the pixel circuits may be the same as the number of the light emitting devices, and are connected to the respective light emitting devices in a one-to-one correspondence so as to control the respective light emitting devices to emit light, respectively. Where nTmC denotes that one pixel circuit includes n transistors (denoted by the letter "T") and m capacitors (denoted by the letter "C"). Of course, the same pixel circuit may also be connected to a plurality of light emitting devices to simultaneously drive the plurality of light emitting devices to emit light, and is not particularly limited herein.

The peripheral circuit is connected to the pixel circuit for inputting a drive signal to the pixel circuit to control the light emitting device to emit light. The peripheral circuit may include a gate driving circuit and a light emission control circuit, and of course, may include other circuits, and the specific structure of the peripheral circuit is not particularly limited herein.

For example, the peripheral circuit may be connected to the light emitting device through the pixel circuit to apply a first power signal to the first electrode of the light emitting device, and may be connected to the second electrode CAT of the light emitting device to apply a second power signal to the second electrode CAT to control the pixel circuit to control the current passing through the light emitting device LD and thus the brightness of the light emitting device.

Further, in order to facilitate signal transmission, the driving backplane BP may further have a plurality of signal lines extending in the row direction X, the signal lines extending in the row direction X may be distributed in the column direction Y, and at least include a scan line GAL for controlling the transistors to be turned on and off, and the same scan line GAL may be connected to at least one row of pixel circuits. Meanwhile, the driving backplane BP may further include a plurality of signal lines extending in the column direction Y, the signal lines extending in the column direction Y are distributed in the row direction X and at least include a power line and a data line DAL, a column of pixel circuits may be connected to a power line and a data line DAL, the power line may be used to transmit a first power signal, the data line DAL may be used to transmit a data signal, the pixel circuits may control a current passing through the light emitting device according to a magnitude of the data signal, at least a portion of the data line DAL may be connected to a driving chip DIC, the driving chip DIC may be configured to output the data signal, and at this time, the driving chip DIC is a source driving signal. The detailed operation of the pixel circuit is not described in detail here.

The circuit layer may include a plurality of thin film transistors and capacitors, wherein the thin film transistors may be top gate or bottom gate type thin film transistors, each thin film transistor may include an active layer and a gate electrode, channels of the thin film transistors may be located in the same semiconductor layer, and the gate electrodes may be disposed in the same gate layer, so as to simplify the process. Taking a top gate type thin film transistor as an example, the circuit layer may include a semiconductor layer, a first gate insulating layer, a first gate layer, a second gate insulating layer, a second gate layer, an interlayer dielectric layer, a first source drain layer, a passivation layer, a first planarization layer, a second source drain layer, and a second planarization layer, which are sequentially stacked along a direction away from the substrate, a channel of each transistor may be located in the semiconductor layer, at least a portion of the scan line and a first electrode plate of the capacitor are located in the first gate layer, a second electrode plate of the capacitor is located in the second gate layer, and the power line and the data line DAL may be located in the second source drain layer. The specific pattern of each film layer depends on the specific configuration of the driving circuit, and is not particularly limited herein.

As shown in fig. 1, the light emitting device layer OL may be disposed on the side of the driving back plate BP, for example, the light emitting device layer is disposed on the surface of the second flat layer away from the substrate. The light emitting device layer OL may include a plurality of light emitting devices distributed in an array, and the light emitting devices may be located within the display area AA. The light emitting device may be an organic light emitting diode, which may include a first electrode, a light emitting function layer, and a second electrode sequentially stacked in a direction away from the driving back plate BP, wherein:

the first electrode can be arranged on one side of the second flat layer far away from the substrate and is connected with a pixel circuit. The light emitting function layer may include a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a composite light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer, which are sequentially stacked in a direction away from the driving backplane BP. The second electrode may cover the light emitting functional layer and extend to the peripheral area WA for receiving a second power supply signal. The specific principle of light emission of the organic light emitting diode is not described in detail herein.

As shown in fig. 1, in order to define the range of each light emitting device and reduce color cross-talk, the display panel PNL may further include a pixel defining layer, which may be disposed on a surface of the circuit layer away from the substrate, along with the first electrodes, and has a plurality of openings exposing the first electrodes in a one-to-one correspondence. The light emitting functional layer is laminated on the region of the first electrode in the opening. The light emitting function layers of each light emitting device are distributed at intervals and are independent to each other. The light emission colors of the different light emission functional layers may be the same or different. The second electrode covers the light emitting function layer so that the respective light emitting devices can share the same second electrode. Each light emitting device can be defined by the plurality of openings, and the boundary of any light emitting device is the boundary of the light emitting function layer in the corresponding opening.

Of course, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the light emitting function layer of each light emitting device may belong to the same continuous light emitting film layer, the light emitting film layer covers the surfaces of the first electrodes and the pixel defining layer away from the substrate, the light emitting film layer is located in the opening, the area stacked on the first electrodes is the light emitting function layer of the light emitting device, and the two adjacent light emitting function layers are connected through the other area of the light emitting film layer. That is, the light emitting devices may share the light emitting film layer.

The packaging layer TFE can cover the light-emitting device to protect the light-emitting device and prevent the light-emitting device from being corroded by external water and oxygen. Meanwhile, the boundary of the encapsulation layer TFE may extend into the peripheral area WA but expose the driving chip DIC and the panel binding portion PA, for example, the encapsulation layer TFE may expose the fan-out area FA.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the Encapsulation may be implemented by a Thin-Film Encapsulation (TFE), the TFE Encapsulation layer may include a first inorganic layer, an organic layer, and a second inorganic layer, the first inorganic layer covers the light emitting device, the organic layer may be disposed on a surface of the first inorganic layer away from the driving backplane BP, an edge of the organic layer is defined inside a boundary of the first inorganic layer, the second inorganic layer covers the organic layer and the first inorganic layer not covered by the organic layer, water and oxygen intrusion may be blocked by the second inorganic layer, and planarization may be implemented by the organic layer having flexibility.

In addition, the display panel PNL of the present disclosure may further include a transparent cover plate CG, which may be disposed on a side of the encapsulation layer TFE away from the driving back plate BP. The transparent cover plate CG can be made of transparent materials such as glass or acrylic and the like, so that the transparent cover plate CG can play a role in protection, and a user can touch the surface of the transparent cover plate CG, which is far away from the driving back plate BP.

The display panel PNL of the present disclosure may further include a touch layer TL and an anti-reflection layer POL, wherein the touch layer TL may be disposed on a side of the encapsulation layer TFE away from the driving backplane BP, and the transparent cover plate CG is disposed on a side of the touch layer TL away from the driving backplane BP. The touch Layer TL may adopt a self-capacitive or mutual-capacitive touch structure, for example, the touch Layer TL may be an external type, or may also be an On-Cell type such as FMLOC (Flexible Multi-Layer On Cell), and the specific structure thereof is not particularly limited as long as the touch function can be realized. The user can operate on the side of the transparent cover plate CG far away from the driving backboard BP, and the touch position is sensed through the touch layer TL, so that interaction is realized.

The anti-reflection layer POL may be disposed on a side of the touch layer TL away from the driving backplane BP, and is configured to absorb reflection of ambient light inside the display panel PNL, which may be a circular polarizer; or, the anti-reflection layer POL may also adopt a color film layer formed by a filter material, the color film layer may have filter portions corresponding to the light emitting devices LD one to one, and each light emitting device independently emits light, and colors of different light emitting devices LD may be different (not sharing a light emitting function layer), a color of one filter portion may be the same as a light emitting color of the light emitting device corresponding thereto, and ambient light entering the display panel PNL may be reduced by the filter portion, thereby playing a role of reducing reflection of ambient light.

The transparent cover plate CG may be disposed on a side of the anti-reflection layer POL away from the driving back plate BP, and may be bonded to the anti-reflection layer POL through an optical adhesive layer OCA.

The display panel PNL of the present disclosure may further include a support layer SCF which may be provided on a side of the driving back plate BP away from the light emitting device layer OL, for example, the support layer SCF may be provided on a side of the substrate away from the light emitting device layer OL. The supporting layer SCF can comprise a bonding layer EMBO, a buffer layer FL and a metal layer HL, wherein the bonding layer EMBO, the buffer layer FL and the metal layer HL are sequentially stacked along the direction far away from the driving backboard BP, the bonding layer EMBO can be grid glue, the buffer layer FL can be made of flexible materials such as foam, and the buffer layer FL can play a role in absorbing stress. The metal layer HL may be made of a simple metal or an alloy, for example, the metal layer HL may be made of copper or stainless steel (SUS), which may improve strength of the display panel PNL and dissipate heat. In addition, a back film made of an insulating material can be arranged on the side of the driving back plate BP far away from the light-emitting device layer OL, and the supporting layer SCF can be arranged on the side of the back film far away from the driving back plate BP. The fan-out area FA of the display panel PNL is located on the driving back plate BP, and the touch layer TL, the antireflection layer POL and the optical cement can be located outside the fan-out area FA.

The boundaries of the light-emitting device layer OL, the packaging layer TFE, the touch layer TL, the antireflection layer POL and the supporting layer SCF do not exceed the boundary of the driving backplane BP, and the boundary of the driving backplane BP is located within the boundary of the transparent cover plate CG, so that the entire display panel PNL can be protected by the transparent cover plate CG.

As shown in fig. 8 to 12, the flexible circuit board FPC may be a multi-layer structure having at least two conductive layers, for example, the flexible circuit board FPC may include a substrate SU, a first conductive layer ML1, and a second conductive layer ML2, wherein:

the first conductive layer ML1 may be stacked on one side of the substrate SU, and the second conductive layer ML2 may be stacked on the other side of the substrate SU, so that the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 may be separated by the substrate SU. The first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 are both made of a conductive material, and the material may be copper, molybdenum, or the like, as long as the conductive material can conduct electricity, and is not particularly limited herein. Further, in order to make the conductivities of the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 uniform and to manufacture the conductive layers by the same process, the materials of the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 may be the same, for example, the materials of the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 are both copper.

The first conductive layer ML1 includes a first binding portion BA1, a second binding portion BA2, and a connection portion CP connecting the first binding portion BA1 and the second binding portion BA2, wherein:

as shown in fig. 1, the first binding part BA1 may be configured to bind with the panel binding part PA of the display panel PNL, and may include a plurality of first pads PIN1, and the first pads PIN1 may be bound with the panel pads PINp in a one-to-one correspondence, so as to be electrically connected. After the first pads PIN1 are bonded to the panel pads PINp, the first pads PIN1 may be spaced in the row direction X. Meanwhile, as shown in fig. 9, in order to facilitate alignment during binding, the first binding portion BA1 may further include a plurality of first alignment marks Mark1, which may be "T" shaped, or "ten" shaped, and are not limited herein.

As shown in fig. 9, a first alignment Mark1 and a first pad PIN1 may be integrated into a single structure, so that they may be formed simultaneously, which is beneficial to reduce the area to be etched away and reduce the process difficulty.

As shown in fig. 9, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of the first alignment Mark1 may be two, and each of the first pads PIN1 is located between two first alignment Mark1 and is integrally structured with the outermost two first pads PIN1, respectively. Meanwhile, the two first alignment marks Mark1 may be symmetrically distributed.

As shown in fig. 9, the second binding portion BA2 may be used for binding with the control circuit board PCB, and may include a plurality of second pads PIN2, which may be bound with control pads on the control circuit board PCB in one-to-one correspondence. Meanwhile, in order to facilitate binding of the control circuit board PCB and the second binding portion BA2, the second binding portion BA2 may include a second alignment Mark2, and a relationship with the second pad PIN2 may be the same as the first pad PIN1 and the first alignment Mark1, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The connection part CP may connect the first binding part BA1 and the second binding part BA2, and a first pad PIN1 and at least a second pad PIN2 are connected through the connection part CP, the pattern of which is not particularly limited herein.

As shown in fig. 8, the second conductive layer ML2 may at least partially overlap the first binding portion BA1, that is, there is an overlapping area in the orthographic projection of the second conductive layer ML2 and the first conductive portion on the substrate SU. Meanwhile, the first conductive layer ML1 and the conductive layer may be connected by a via hole HO penetrating the substrate SU, the number of the via holes HO may be one or more, and the connection stability may be improved by using a plurality of via holes HO.

It should be noted that the drawings in the present application only schematically show the position of the via hole HO, and the drawings do not limit the via hole HO as long as the via hole HO can connect the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2.

As shown in fig. 12, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second conductive layer ML2 may overlap only with the first binding portion BA1, but not with the connection portion CP and the second binding portion BA2, that is, the second conductive layer ML2 covers only a partial region of the substrate SU, as long as the conductive protection layer TAP and the first conductive layer ML1 can be connected, so that the flexible circuit board FPC has a single-layer conductive structure in a region corresponding to the connection portion CP and the first conductive layer ML1, and has a multi-layer conductive structure only at the second conductive layer ML2, and for a rigid display panel, when the flexible circuit board FPC is bent, the second conductive layer ML2 may not be bent, which is advantageous for improving the flexibility of the flexible circuit board FPC. For the flexible display panel, the second conductive layer ML2 may be bent along with the flexible circuit board FPC, or may not participate in bending if the area is small.

As shown in fig. 10 and 11, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the second conductive layer ML2 may overlap the connection part CP and the second binding part BA2, may cover the entire substrate SU, and may be bent together when the flexible circuit board FPC is bent. Further, as shown in fig. 11, in order to facilitate bending of the flexible printed circuit FPC, the second conductive layer ML2 may be a mesh structure having a plurality of meshes, and the shape of the mesh is not particularly limited herein and may be a circle, a rectangle, or the like, so that the flexibility thereof is increased and the bending is facilitated.

In addition, the second conductive layer ML2 may also include a plurality of conductive units arranged at intervals, each of the conductive units being connected to the first conductive layer ML1 through the via hole HO, and each of the conductive units may conduct static electricity to the first conductive layer ML 1.

Further, as shown in fig. 8, the flexible circuit board FPC may further include a first protective layer CLY1 and a second protective layer CLY2, wherein the first protective layer CLY1 may cover the first conductive layer ML1 and expose the first and second binding portions BA1 and BA2 for binding. For example, the first protection layer CLY1 may be a whole continuous film covering the first conductive layer ML1, binding holes exposing the first pads PIN1 are formed at positions corresponding to the first pads PIN1, and holes may be formed at positions corresponding to the first alignment marks Mark1. Alternatively, the boundary of the first protective layer CLY1 may be aligned with the boundary of the first binding portion BA1 and cover the connection portion CP, exposing each of the first pad PIN1 and the first alignment Mark1, so that it is only necessary to control the boundary of the first protective layer CLY1 without perforating.

The second protective layer CLY2 may cover a partial region of the second conductive layer ML2 so as to be connected with the conductive portion. For example, the second protection layer CLY2 may be a continuous film covering the second conductive layer ML2, and has openings in a partial region corresponding to the second conductive layer ML2. Or, if the second conductive layer ML2 only covers part of the substrate SU, the second protective layer CLY2 may cover a region of the substrate SU not covered by the second conductive layer ML2 and extend to a surface of the second conductive layer ML2 away from the substrate SU, but does not completely cover the second conductive layer ML2, and the purpose of exposing the second conductive layer ML2 can be achieved by controlling an extending boundary of the second protective layer CLY2 without special opening. If the second conductive layer ML2 completely covers the substrate SU, only the area of the second protective layer CLY2 needs to be controlled to be smaller than the second conductive layer ML2, and thus the purpose of exposing the second conductive layer ML2 can be achieved by controlling the extending boundary of the second protective layer CLY2 without specially forming holes.

The materials of the first protective layer CLY1 and the second protective layer CLY2 may be flexible materials such as polyester and polyimide, and may also be insulating ink, and the like, which is not particularly limited herein.

In addition, as shown in fig. 10 and 11, since the second conductive layer ML2 overlaps the first binding portion BA1, in order to avoid the influence of the shielding of the second conductive layer ML2 on the recognition of the first alignment Mark1 and the influence on the alignment, a light-transmitting hole LH penetrating through the second conductive layer ML2 may be formed in the second conductive layer ML2, and the light-transmitting hole LH may overlap the first alignment Mark1, so that the first alignment Mark1 may be recognized through the light-transmitting hole LH, and the alignment may be achieved. For the plurality of first alignment marks Mark1, a plurality of light holes LH may be formed in the second conductive layer ML2, and each light hole LH overlaps each first alignment Mark1 in a one-to-one correspondence manner. Of course, one light-transmitting hole LH may be overlapped with the plurality of first alignment marks Mark1, and the plurality of first alignment marks Mark1 may be identified through the one light-transmitting hole LH. Accordingly, if the second alignment Mark2 exists, a light-transmitting hole LH may be provided at a position corresponding to the second alignment Mark2 to prevent the second alignment Mark2 from being blocked.

The overlapping of a light hole LH and a first alignment Mark Mark1 means that: the orthographic projection of the first alignment Mark1 on the substrate SU and the orthographic projection of the light transmission hole LH on the substrate SU at least partially coincide, so that the first alignment Mark1 can be recognized through the light transmission hole LH. Further, the orthographic projection of the first alignment Mark1 on the substrate SU can be positioned within the orthographic projection of the light hole LH on the substrate SU, that is, the boundary of the first alignment Mark1 is positioned within the boundary of the corresponding light hole LH, so that the second conductive layer ML2 is prevented from shielding the first alignment Mark1.

In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible circuit board FPC may include other conductive layers between the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 in addition to the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2, that is, the flexible circuit board FPC may have three or more conductive layers, and adjacent two conductive layers may be connected through a via hole, so that the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 may be connected. For example, the substrate may include two insulating layers disposed along the distribution direction of the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2, and a conductive layer is disposed between the two insulating layers, and the conductive layer may be connected to the first conductive layer ML1 and the second conductive layer ML2 through vias, respectively, so as to perform a function of switching. Of course, the conductive layer may be patterned to form a circuit, and the specific pattern is not limited herein.

As shown in fig. 2 to 7, the driving chip DIC may be covered with the conductive protection layer TAP, and the conductive protection layer TAP is connected to the second conductive layer ML2, so that static electricity may be absorbed by the conductive protection layer TAP and may be conducted to the control circuit board PCB through the second conductive layer ML2 and the first conductive layer ML1, and finally, grounding may be achieved, thereby preventing static electricity from affecting the driving chip DIC.

As shown IN fig. 2 to 7, IN some embodiments of the present disclosure, the conductive protection layer TAP may be a bendable flexible structure, which may include an insulating layer IN and a conductor layer COL, the insulating layer IN may cover the driving chip DIC and be attached to the display panel PNL, and a material of the insulating layer IN may be a polyester cloth or other insulating fabric or other material. The conductive layer COL may be stacked on the side of the insulating layer IN away from the display panel PNL, and may be made of metal or alloy, such as metal or alloy of nickel and copper, or non-metal conductive material such as graphite. A partial region of conductor layer COL may extend to a side of second conductive layer ML2 away from substrate SU, and may be IN contact with and connected to a partial region of second conductive layer ML2, so that static electricity may be absorbed by conductor layer COL and conducted to second conductive layer ML2, and insulating layer IN may prevent static electricity from being conducted to the driver chip.

Further, as shown in fig. 2 to 4, the display panel PNL is a hard structure, and the flexible circuit board FPC needs to be bent to be bound to the control circuit board PCB. The boundary of the conductive protection layer TAP can be located in the boundary of the display panel PNL, and when the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) is bent, the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) is not bent along with the flexible printed circuit, so that the first binding portion BA1 is prevented from being peeled off from the panel binding portion PA. In order to control the bending radius of the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC), the display module further comprises a spacer layer SPA, and the spacer layer SPA can be positioned between the supporting layer SCF and the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) and abutted against the supporting layer SCF and the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) in the state that the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) is bent to the backlight side of the display panel PNL. From this, accessible spacer layer SPA restriction supporting layer SCF and flexible circuit board FPC's distance to can control flexible circuit board FPC's bending radius, avoid appearing because of flexible circuit board FPC's bending radius undersize and fracture scheduling problem.

As shown in fig. 5 to 7, the display panel PNL is a flexible display panel, and the fan-out area FA needs to be bent and then is bound to the control circuit board PCB. In order to control the bending radius of the fan-out area FA and enhance the reliability of the deformation, in some embodiments of the present application, as shown in fig. 5 to 7, the display module further includes a spacer layer SPA. In a state where the fan-out area FA is bent to the backlight side of the display panel PNL, the spacer layer SPA may be located between the support layer SCF and the flexible circuit board FPC, and abut against the support layer SCF and the flexible circuit board FPC. Therefore, the distance between the supporting layer SCF and the flexible circuit board FPC can be limited by the spacer layer SPA, so that the bending radius of the fan-out area FA can be controlled, and the problems of fracture and the like caused by the fact that the bending radius of the fan-out area FA is too small are avoided.

Further, as shown in fig. 13 and 14, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the display panel PNL has a plurality of fan-out areas FA, and the fan-out areas FA may be spaced apart in the row direction X. A driving chip (not shown) may be disposed in each fan-out area FA. Each fan-out area FA may be bound to a flexible circuit board FPC, and each flexible circuit board FPC may be bound to the same control circuit board PCB. Meanwhile, the flexible circuit boards FPC can be bent at the same time, so that the control circuit board PCB is positioned at the backlight side of the display panel PNL. Each fan-out region FA can be covered by the same conductive protection layer TAP at the same time, thereby shielding each driving chip from static electricity. Of course, it is also possible to cover a separate conductive protection layer TAP for each fan-out area, and the conductive protection layer TAPs may be distributed at intervals along the distribution direction of the fan-out area FA.

The present disclosure also provides a terminal device, which may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device (smart band, watch), a notebook computer, a television or other similar devices with an image display function, and is not listed here. The terminal equipment of this disclosure can include control circuit board PCB and display module assembly, wherein:

the control circuit board PCB may be disposed at the backlight side of the display panel PNL and may be in contact with the support layer SCF. For example, if the terminal device is a mobile phone, the control circuit board PCB may be a main board of the mobile phone, and certainly, the control circuit board PCB may also be an independent circuit board specially used for controlling the display panel PNL.

As shown in fig. 2 to 4, if the display panel PNL is a hard display panel, the flexible circuit board FPC of the display module may be bent to the backlight side of the display panel PNL, and the second binding portion BA2 may be bound to the control circuit board PCB, so that the display panel PNL may be controlled by the control circuit board PCB. At this time, the driving chip DIC is located at the light emitting side of the display panel PNL.

As shown in fig. 5 to 7, if the display panel PNL is a flexible display panel, the fan-out region FA of the display module may be bent to the backlight side of the display panel PNL, and the second binding portion BA2 may be bound to the control circuit board PCB, so that the display panel PNL may be controlled by the control circuit board PCB. At this time, the driving chip DIC may be located on the backlight side of the display panel PNL, but the scheme of the present application may still improve the shielding effect of static electricity in the environment. Of course, as shown in fig. 2 to 4, although the display panel PNL is a flexible display vertical panel, it may be bent only the flexible circuit board FPC to the backlight side of the display panel PNL without bending it, and in this case, the driving chip DIC may be located on the light emitting side of the display panel PNL.

The light exit side of the display panel PNL is a side toward which the light exit direction of the light emitting devices faces, and the backlight side of the display panel PNL is a side opposite to the light exit direction. Taking the light emitting device as a top emission structure as an example, the light emitting device emits light in a direction away from the driving backplane BP, the light emitting side of the display panel PNL is the side of the light emitting device layer OL away from the driving backplane BP, and the backlight side is the side of the driving backplane BP away from the light emitting device layer OL.

The specific structure and the beneficial effects of the terminal device of the present disclosure can refer to the above embodiments of the display module, which are not described in detail herein.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

Claims (15)

1. A display module, comprising:

the display panel is provided with a display area and a peripheral area positioned outside the display area, and the peripheral area comprises a bendable fan-out area; the fan-out area is provided with a panel binding part and is provided with a driving chip;

a flexible circuit board including a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and a substrate spaced apart from the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer; the first conductive layer includes a first binding portion, a second binding portion, and a connection portion connecting the first binding portion and the second binding portion; the second conducting layer is positioned on one side, far away from the display panel, of the first conducting layer and at least partially overlapped with the first binding part; the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer are connected through a through hole penetrating through the substrate; one end of the flexible circuit board is bound with the panel binding part through the first binding part, and the second binding part is used for binding with the control circuit board;

and the conductive protection layer covers the driving chip and is connected with the second conductive layer.

2. The display module according to claim 1, wherein the flexible circuit board further comprises a first protective layer and a second protective layer, the first protective layer covers the first conductive layer and exposes the first binding portion and the second binding portion; the second protective layer covers a partial region of the second conductive layer.

3. The display module assembly of claim 1, wherein the first binding portion comprises a first alignment mark and a plurality of first pads distributed at intervals, and the first pads are bound with the panel binding portion; the second conducting layer is provided with a light hole, and the light hole is overlapped with the alignment mark.

4. The display module according to claim 3, wherein the first alignment marks and the light holes are multiple in number, and the first bonding pads are located between two adjacent first alignment marks; the light holes are overlapped with the first alignment marks in a one-to-one correspondence mode.

5. The display module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first alignment mark is integrally formed with the first pad.

6. The display module of claim 1, wherein the second conductive layer further overlaps the connecting portion and the second bonding portion.

7. The display module according to claim 6, wherein the second conductive layer is a mesh structure.

8. The display module of claim 1, wherein the second conductive layer overlaps only the first bonding portion.

9. The display module according to claim 1, wherein the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are made of the same material.

10. The display module of claim 1, wherein the boundary of the conductive protection layer is located within the boundary of the display panel.

11. The display module according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the conductive protection layer comprises an insulating layer and a conductive layer stacked in a direction away from the display panel, the insulating layer covers the driving chip and is attached to the display panel; and partial areas of the conductor layer extend to one side of the second conducting layer far away from the substrate and are connected with the partial areas of the second conducting layer.

12. The display module according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the display panel comprises:

the driving back plate comprises the fan-out area and a pixel circuit positioned in the display area;

the light-emitting device is arranged on one side of the driving back plate and is positioned in the display area;

an encapsulation layer covering the light emitting device and exposing the driving chip and the panel binding portion;

the touch layer is arranged on one side, away from the driving back plate, of the packaging layer;

the anti-reflection layer is arranged on one side of the touch layer, which is far away from the driving backboard;

the transparent cover plate is arranged on one side, far away from the driving backboard, of the anti-reflection layer, and the boundary of the driving backboard is located within the boundary of the transparent cover plate.

13. The display module as claimed in claim 12, wherein the driving backplane comprises a plurality of data lines extending in a column direction and distributed in a row direction, one of the data lines being connected to at least one of the columns of the pixel circuits; at least part of the data lines are connected with the driving chip.

14. The display module of claim 12, wherein the display panel further comprises:

the supporting layer is arranged on one side, far away from the light-emitting device, of the driving backboard and comprises an adhesive layer, a buffer layer and a metal layer which are sequentially stacked along the direction far away from the driving backboard.

15. A terminal device, comprising:

the control circuit board is arranged on the backlight side of the display panel;

the display module of any one of claims 1-14, the second binding portion being coupled to the control circuit board.

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