Hybrid display device
View Patent ↗A display includes a front panel and a back panel with a light control material in between. One of the panels includes a rigid substrate, for example made of glass or rigid plastic. The other of the panels includes a flexible substrate, for example made of a flexible plastic film. The panel with the flexible substrate may be made by a roll-to-roll process, with various fabrication operations formed while the flexible substrate is still part of a web of material. The panel with the rigid substrate may be separately fabricated, then combined with the other panel on the web through a pick and place operation that accurately locates the front panel relative to the back panel. The display may be any of a variety of displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and electroluminescent displays, such as polymer light emitting devices (PLEDs) and organic light emitting devices (OLEDs).
1. A display device comprising a front panel and a back panel with a light control material therebetween, wherein one of the panels has a rigid substrate and the other of the panels has a flexible substrate.
2. The display of claim 1 , wherein the rigid substrate is a glass substrate and the flexible substrate is a plastic substrate.
3. The display of claim 2 , wherein the glass substrate has a thickness from 0.2 mm to 1 mm.
4. The display of claim 1 ,
wherein the rigid substrate is a rigid plastic substrate; and
wherein the flexible substrate is a flexible plastic substrate.
5. The display of claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate is opaque.
6. The display of claim 5 , wherein the flexible substrate is black.
7. The display of claim 5 , wherein the back panel includes the flexible substrate, an opaque material layer, and a transparent layer.
8. The display of claim 7 , wherein the flexible substrate includes the opaque material layer and the transparent layer.
9. The display of claim 8 , wherein the opaque material layer and the transparent layer are both polymer material layers.
10. The display of claim 1 , wherein one of the panels includes a sealant ring thereupon.
11. The display of claim 7 , wherein the opaque material layer is a metallic later.
12. The display of claim 7 , wherein the opaque material layer includes a conductive ink.
13. The display of claim 1 , wherein one of the panels includes protrusions for supporting the substrates in a spaced-apart relationship.
14. The display of claim 13 , wherein the protrusions include posts.
15. The display of claim 13 , wherein the protrusions include ribs.
16. The display of claim 13 , wherein the one of the panels includes a plurality of wells surrounded by ridges.
17. The display of claim 13 , wherein the protrusions have straight sides.
18. The display of claim 13 , wherein the protrusions have tapered sides.
19. The display of claim 13 , wherein the protrusions are chemically and physically integral with the one of the panels.
20. The display of claim 13 , wherein the protrusions are made of a curable resin.
21. The display of claim 1 , further comprising spacers for supporting the substrates in a spaced-apart relationship.
22. The display of claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate includes driving electronics embedded therein.
23. The display of claim 22 , wherein the driving electronics include microstructure elements.
24. The display of claim 22 , wherein the driving electronics include thin film transistors.
25. The display of claim 1 , wherein the panels includes respective front and back electrode arrays on the substrates.
26. The display of claim 25 , wherein one of the electrode arrays includes transparent electrodes, and the other of the electrode arrays includes opaque electrodes.
27. The display of claim 26 , wherein the transparent electrodes include indium tin oxide electrodes.
28. The display of claim 26 , wherein the transparent electrodes include silver or an alloy thereof.
29. The display of claim 26 , wherein the opaque electrodes include metal electrodes.
30. The display of claim 26 , wherein one of the electrode arrays is a row electrode array, and the other of the arrays is a column electrode array.
31. The display of claim 1 , wherein one of the panels includes an outer-shell protective layer.
32. The display of claim 31 , wherein the protective layer functions as a moisture barrier.
33. The display of claim 31 , wherein the outer protective layer functions as an oxygen barrier.
34. The display of claim 31 , wherein the outer protective layer is a metallic film.
35. The display of claim 31 , wherein the one of the panels also includes an internal protective layer.
36. The display of claim 35 , wherein the internal protective layer includes an acrylic hard coat layer.
37. The display of claim 35 , wherein the internal protective layer includes polymer material.
38. The display of claim 35 , wherein the internal protective layer functions as a thermal protective layer during laser ablation.
39. The display of claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate includes a metal foil layer laminated to a plastic film.
40. The display of claim 39 , wherein the metal foil layer has a thickness of 25 to 75 microns.
41. The display of claim 39 , wherein the plastic film has a thickness of 50 to 200 microns.
42. The display of claim 39 , further comprising a primer layer between the metal foil layer and the plastic film.
43. The display of claim 42 , wherein the primer layer includes an acrylic coating.
44. The display of claim 42 , wherein the primer layer has a thickness of 1 to 5 microns.
45. The display of claim 1 , wherein the light control material is a light emitting material.
46. The display of claim 45 , wherein the light emitting material includes a hole transport material.
47. The display of claim 46 , wherein the hole transport material has a thickness from 100 to 500 Angstroms.
48. The display of claim 46 , wherein the light emitting material further includes an electron transport material.
49. The display of claim 48 , wherein the electron transport material has a thickness from 100 to 500 Angstroms.
50. The display of claim 46 , wherein the light emitting material does not include an electron transport material.
51. The display of claim 46 , wherein the light emitting material further includes an emitter.
52. The display of claim 51 , wherein the emitter has a thickness from 50 to 100 Angstroms.
53. The display of claim 45 , wherein the light emitting material includes a semiconductor material.
54. The display of claim 45 , wherein the light emitting material includes an organic compound.
55. The display of claim 45 , wherein the light emitting material includes a light emitting polymer.
56. The display of claim 55 , wherein the light emitting polymer has a thickness from 20 to 60 nm.
57. The display of claim 45 , further comprising anodes and cathodes on respective opposite sides of the light emitting material.
58. The display of claim 1 , wherein the light control material is a liquid crystal material.
59. The display of claim 58 , wherein the liquid crystal material includes a cholesteric liquid crystal material.
60. The display of claim 58 , wherein the liquid crystal material includes a twisted nematic liquid crystal material.
61. The display of claim 58 , wherein the liquid crystal material includes a zero field multistable cholesteric liquid crystal mix.
62. The display of claim 58 , wherein the panels include respective alignment layers.
63. A display device comprising:
a front panel;
a back panel;
a light control material between the front panel and the back panel;
wherein one of the panels has a rigid substrate and the other of the panels has a flexible substrate;
wherein the light control material includes a light crystal material;
wherein the flexible substrate is opaque; and
wherein one of the panels includes protrusions for supporting the substrates in a spaced-apart relationship.