This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0116850, filed on Aug. 19, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Field
The described technology generally relates to a display device and a method of manufacturing the same.
Description of the Related Technology
In general, when a display device is manufactured, a plurality of display units that are spaced apart from each other are formed on a first mother substrate, a second mother substrate is attached to the first mother substrate. Thereafter, the first and second mother substrates are cut to form a plurality of display panels at the same time.
However, defects can occur when cutting the first and second mother substrates, and accordingly, a plurality of display panels may have defects.
One inventive aspect is a display device that can reduce a defective rate during manufacturing, and a method of manufacturing the display device.
Another aspect is a display device that includes: a first substrate; a display unit disposed on the first substrate; a second substrate located above the first substrate with the display unit between the first and second substrates; and a sealing portion disposed outside the display unit and between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein a first part of the sealing portion, which is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along a first edge of the first substrate comprises an outer side surface that is located at a same surface as an outer side surface of the first substrate.
The display device may further comprise a pad disposed on the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate.
A direction in which the first edge extends may cross a direction in which the third edge extends.
The sealing portion may surround the display unit.
The display device may further comprise a pad disposed on the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate, wherein the pad is located outside of the sealing portion.
A distance between an inner side surface of the first part of the sealing portion and the display unit may be greater than a distance between an inner side surface of a second part of the sealing portion and the display unit, wherein the second part is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along a second edge of the first substrate that is opposite to the first edge of the first substrate.
The sealing portion may bond the first substrate to the second substrate by an irradiated laser beam.
Another aspect is a display device that includes a first substrate; a display unit disposed on the first substrate; a second substrate located above the first substrate with the display unit between the first substrate and the second substrate; and a sealing portion disposed outside the display unit and between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein a first part that is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along a first edge of the first substrate has a width that is greater than a width of a second part that is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along a second edge of the first substrate that is opposite to the first edge of the first substrate.
The display device may further comprise a pad disposed on the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate.
A direction in which the first edge extends may cross a direction in which the third edge extends.
The sealing portion may surround the display unit.
The display device may further comprise a pad disposed on the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate, wherein the pad is located outside of the sealing portion.
An outer side surface of the first part of the sealing portion may be located at a same surface as an outer side surface of the first substrate.
A distance between an inner side surface of the first part of the sealing portion and the display unit may be equal to a distance between an inner side surface of the second part of the sealing portion and the display unit.
The display device may further comprise a metal layer between the first substrate and the sealing portion to correspond to the sealing portion, wherein the metal layer has a width corresponding to the first part of the sealing portion to be greater than a width corresponding to the second part of the sealing portion.
The sealing portion may bond the first substrate to the second substrate by an irradiated laser beam.
Another aspect is a method of manufacturing a display device, that comprises: forming a plurality of display units and a plurality of pads corresponding to the plurality of display units on a first mother substrate; bonding the first mother substrate to a second mother substrate so that the plurality of display units are located inside, and a plurality of sealing portions disposed respectively outside the plurality of display units while surrounding the plurality of display units contact the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate; irradiating a laser beam to the plurality of sealing portions so as to revolve around the plurality of display units along the plurality of sealing portions; and cutting the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate so as to obtain a plurality of display panels respectively including the display units, wherein the cutting of the first and second mother substrates comprises cutting along an outer side surface of a first part that is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along a display unit between two adjacent display units without a pad therebetween.
The plurality of pads may be respectively located outside the plurality of sealing portions.
The plurality of sealing portions may contact the first and second mother substrates in a state where a distance between an inner side surface of the first part of the sealing portion and the display unit is greater than a distance between an inner side surface of a second part that is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along another display unit of the two adjacent display units and the display unit.
Another aspect is a method of manufacturing a display device, that comprises: forming a plurality of display units and a plurality of pads corresponding to the plurality of display units on a first mother substrate; bonding the first mother substrate to a second mother substrate so that the plurality of display units are located inside, and a plurality of sealing portions disposed respectively outside the plurality of display units while surrounding the plurality of display units contact the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate; irradiating a laser beam to the plurality of sealing portions so as to revolve around the plurality of display units along the plurality of sealing portions; and cutting the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate so as to obtain a plurality of display panels respectively including the display units, wherein the plurality of sealing portions contact the first and second mother substrates in a state where a width of a first part that is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along a display unit, between two adjacent display units without a pad therebetween, is greater than a width of a second part that is at least a part of the sealing portion extending along another display unit of the two adjacent display units.
The plurality of pads may be respectively located outside the plurality of sealing portions.
The cutting may comprise cutting the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate along an outer side surface of the first part of the sealing portion.
Another aspect is a display device comprising: a first substrate; a display unit disposed over the first substrate; a second substrate located over the display unit; and a sealing portion disposed outside the display unit and between the first and second substrates, wherein the sealing portion includes a first part extending along a first edge of the first substrate, and wherein the first part comprises an outer side surface that is located on the same surface as an outer side surface of the first substrate.
The above display device further comprises a pad disposed over the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate. In the above display device, the first edge extends in a first direction that crosses a direction in which the third edge extends. In the above display device, the sealing portion surrounds the display unit. The above display device further comprises a pad disposed over the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate, wherein the pad is located outside the sealing portion. In the above display device, a first distance between an inner side surface of the first part of the sealing portion and the display unit is greater than a second distance between an inner side surface of a second part of the sealing portion and the display unit, and wherein the second part extends along a second edge of the first substrate that is opposite to the first edge of the first substrate. In the above display device, the sealing portion bonds the first substrate to the second substrate.
Another aspect is a display device comprising: a first substrate; a display unit disposed over the first substrate; a second substrate located over the display unit; and a sealing portion disposed outside the display unit and between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the sealing portion includes a first part extending along a first edge of the first substrate and having a width that is greater than a width of a second part of the sealing portion extending along a second edge of the first substrate that is opposite to the first edge of the first substrate.
The above display device further comprises a pad disposed over the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate. In the above display device, the first edge extends in a first direction that crosses a direction in which the third edge extends. In the above display device, the sealing portion surrounds the display unit. The above display device further comprises a pad disposed over the first substrate to be adjacent to a third edge of the first substrate, wherein the pad is located outside the sealing portion. In the above display device, an outer side surface of the first part of the sealing portion is located on the same surface as an outer side surface of the first substrate. In the above display device, a first distance between an inner side surface of the first part of the sealing portion and the display unit is equal to a second distance between an inner side surface of the second part of the sealing portion and the display unit. The above display device further comprises a metal layer disposed between the first substrate and the sealing portion to correspond to the sealing portion, the metal layer having a width corresponding to the first part of the sealing portion to be greater than a width corresponding to the second part of the sealing portion. In the above display device, the sealing portion bonds the first substrate to the second substrate.
Another aspect is a method of manufacturing a display device, the method comprising: forming a plurality of display units and a plurality of pads corresponding to the display units over a first mother substrate; bonding the first mother substrate to a second mother substrate so that the display units are located inside, and a plurality of sealing portions disposed respectively outside the display units and surrounding the display units contact the first and second mother substrates; irradiating a laser beam to the sealing portions so as to revolve around the display units along the sealing portions; and cutting the first and second mother substrates so as to obtain a plurality of display panels respectively including the display units, wherein the cutting comprises cutting along an outer side surface of a first part of the sealing portion extending along a display unit between two adjacent display units without a pad disposed therebetween.
In the above method, the pads are respectively located outside the sealing portions. In the above method, the sealing portions contact the first and second mother substrates in a state where the distance between an inner side surface of the first part of the sealing portion and the display unit is greater than the distance between an inner side surface of a second part of the sealing portion extending along another display unit of the two adjacent display units and the display unit.
Another aspect is a method of manufacturing a display device, the method comprising: forming a plurality of display units and a plurality of pads corresponding to the display units over a first mother substrate; bonding the first mother substrate to a second mother substrate so that the display units are located inside, and a plurality of sealing portions disposed respectively outside the display units and surrounding the display units contact the first and second mother substrates; irradiating a laser beam to the sealing portions so as to revolve around the display units along the sealing portions; and cutting the first and second mother substrates so as to obtain a plurality of display panels respectively including the display units, wherein the sealing portions contact the first and second mother substrates in a state where the width of a first part of the sealing portion extending along a display unit, between two adjacent display units without a pad disposed therebetween, is greater than the width of a second part of the sealing portion extending along another display unit of the two adjacent display units.
In the above method, the pads are respectively located outside the sealing portions. In the above method, the cutting comprises cutting the first and second mother substrates along an outer side surface of the first part of the sealing portion.
Another aspect is a display device comprising: a first substrate; a display unit disposed over the first substrate; a second substrate located over the display unit; and a sealing portion disposed outside the display unit and between the first and second substrates, wherein the sealing portion includes a first part extending along a first edge of the first substrate, and wherein the first part comprises an outer side surface that overlaps an outer side surface of the first substrate and an outer side surface of the second substrate in the depth dimension of the display device.
In the above display device, the sealing portion further comprises a second part extending along a second edge of the first substrate that is opposite to the first edge of the first substrate, and wherein the first part has a width larger than that of the second part.
These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail by explaining exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.
Sizes of components in the drawings may be exaggerated for convenience of explanation. In other words, since sizes and thicknesses of components in the drawings are arbitrarily illustrated for convenience of explanation, the following embodiments are not limited thereto. In this disclosure, the term “substantially” includes the meanings of completely, almost completely or to any significant degree under some applications and in accordance with those skilled in the art. Moreover, “formed, disposed over positioned over” can also mean “formed, disposed or positioned on.” The term “connected” includes an electrical connection.
In the following examples, the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis are not limited to three axes of the rectangular coordinate system, and may be interpreted in a broader sense. For example, the x-axis, the y-axis, and the z-axis may be perpendicular to one another, or may represent different directions that are not perpendicular to one another. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.
As shown in
After that, the first mother substrate 10′ and a second mother substrate 30′ (see
As shown in
Here, the first part P1 has a first width W1 and the second part P2 has a second width W2. The first width W1 can be greater than the second width W2. As described above, in a state where the sealing portion 40 includes the first and second parts P1 and P2, the first and second mother substrates 10′ and 30′ are attached to each other so that the sealing portions 40 contact the two substrates 10′ and 30′. The sealing portions 40 may be formed by applying a sealant via a nozzle.
After that, a laser beam is irradiated to the sealing portions 40 so as to revolve around each of the display units 20 along the sealing portions 40, and then, the sealing portions 40 melt and/or harden. In addition, as shown in
When the display devices shown in
When the laser beam is irradiated onto the sealing portion 40, the sealing portion 40 contracts. Therefore, when the laser beam is only irradiated to the sealing portion 40 in the −x direction and is not yet irradiated onto the sealing portion 40 in the +x direction at the sealing portion 40 between the two adjacent display units 40, as shown in
In a state in which the internal stress is distributed in the first and second mother substrates 1 and 3 as described above, when the mother substrates 1 and 3 are cut at a center between the two sealing portions 4 by using the cutting wheel 5, the cutting may be performed abnormally as denoted by PP in
However, according to the method of manufacturing the display device of the present exemplary embodiment, defects may be prevented or minimized. When cutting the first and second mother substrates 10′ and 30′ in a state shown in
In addition, referring to
The display device according to an exemplary embodiment may have a structure illustrated in
Here, the sealing portion 40 is outside the display unit 20. In addition, the first width W1 of the first part P1 that is at least a part of the sealing portion 40 extending along a first edge E1 of the first substrate 10 can be greater than the second width W2 of the second part P2 that is at least a part of the sealing portion 40 extending along a second edge E2 that is opposite to the first edge E1 of the first substrate 10. In addition, the pad 50 is disposed on the first substrate 10 to be adjacent to a third edge E3 from among four edges E1 to E4 of the first substrate 10, and is located outside the sealing portion 40 that surrounds the display unit 20. Here, a direction in which the third edge E3 (x-axis direction) crosses a direction, in which the first edge E1 or the second edge E2 extends (y-axis direction).
In the display device according to the present exemplary embodiment, since the first part P1 of the sealing portion 40 has a greater first width W1, a contact area between the first part P1 of the sealing portion 40 and the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30 is sufficiently large. Therefore, defects such as cracks occurring in the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30 during the manufacturing processes may be effectively prevented. In particular, an outer side surface 41 of the first part P1 of the sealing portion in a direction (−x direction) opposite to the display unit 20 (+x direction) may be on the same surface (e.g., same plane) as an outer side surface 11 of the first substrate 10 and/or an outer side surface 31 of the second substrate 30, and accordingly, defects such as cracks in the first and second substrates 10 and 30 may be effectively prevented. For example, as shown in
Although the sealing portion 40 has a width that varies depending on locations thereof, a distance D1 between an inner side surface 42 of the first part P1 of the sealing portion 40 in the display unit 20 direction (+x direction) and the display unit 20 is substantially equal to a distance D2 between an inner side surface of the second part P2 of the sealing portion 40 in the display unit 20 direction and the display unit 20.
The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display according to the exemplary embodiment includes an OLED 200 including a pixel electrode 210, an intermediate layer 220 including an emission layer, and an opposite electrode 230 on a display area DA, and the OLED 200 is electrically connected to a thin film transistor TFT thereunder to control light emission. The thin film transistor TFT includes a semiconductor layer 130, a gate electrode 150, and source/drain electrodes 170. The thin film transistor TFT is located on a buffer layer 120 on the first substrate 10, a gate insulating layer 140 is disposed between the semiconductor layer 130 and the gate electrode 150, and an inter-insulating layer 160 is disposed between the gate electrode 150 and the source/drain electrodes 170. In addition, if necessary, a protective layer 181 covers the thin film transistor TFT, a planarization layer 182 planarizes an upper surface of the protective layer 181, and the pixel electrode 210 is located on the planarization layer 182. A pixel-defining layer 183 defining an emission area of a pixel may cover edges of the pixel electrode 210.
The buffer layer 120, the gate insulating layer 140, and the inter-insulating layer 160 on the display area DA may extend to a peripheral area PA outside the display area DA, and the buffer layer 120, the gate insulating layer 140, and the inter-insulating layer 160 all may be referred to as insulating layers IL. The insulating layers IL include a plurality of through hole sets ILHS in a lower portion of the sealing portion 40, and each of the plurality of through hole sets ILHS may include a plurality of through holes ILH1 and ILH2. In addition, a metal layer 150′ that may include the same material as that of the gate electrode 150 on the display area DA at the same time may be located on the lower portion of the sealing portion 40. The metal layer 150′ includes through openings 150a′, and the through openings 150a′ may respectively correspond to the through hole sets ILHS.
In the above OLED display, the first width W1 of the sealing portion 40 in the −x direction can be greater than the second width W2 of the sealing portion 40 in the +x direction, and accordingly, a contact area between the first part P1 of the sealing portion 40 and the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30 is sufficiently large. Therefore, defects such as cracks occurring in the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30 during the manufacturing processes may be prevented effectively. Here, the metal layer 150′ in the lower portion of the sealing portion 40 may correspond to the width of the sealing portion 40. In some embodiments, a width of the metal layer 150′ in the −x direction is substantially equal to the first width W1 that is greater than the second width W2 that is equal to a width of the metal layer 150′ in the +x direction. When the laser beam is irradiated onto the sealing portion 40, the metal layer 150′ reflects the laser beam that has passed through the sealing portion 40 toward the sealing portion 40 again, thereby improving an irradiation efficiency of the laser beam.
As shown in
After that, the first mother substrate 10′ and the second mother substrate 30′ (see
In addition, the laser beam is irradiated respectively onto the sealing portions 40 while revolving around the sealing display units 20 along the sealing portions 40, and then, the sealing portions 40 melt and/or harden. In addition, as shown in
As described above with reference to
However, according to the method of manufacturing the display device of the present exemplary embodiment, defects may be prevented or minimized. When cutting the first and second mother substrates 10′ and 30′ in a state illustrated in
Between the two display units 20 shown in
As shown in
The display device according to the exemplary embodiment may have the structure illustrated in
Here, the sealing portion 40 is disposed outside the display unit 20, and the first part P1 that is at least a part of the sealing portion 40 extending along the first edge E1 from among edges of the first substrate 10 has an outer side surface in a direction (−x direction) opposite to the display unit 20 (+x direction) located at the same surface (e.g., same plane) as the outer side surface of the first substrate 10. In addition, the pad 50 is disposed on the first substrate 10 to be adjacent to the third edge E3 from among the edges E1 to E4 of the first substrate 10, and is located outside the sealing portion 40 that surrounds the display unit 20. Here, a direction in which the third edge E3 extends (x-axis direction) crosses a direction in which the first edge E1 extends (y-axis direction).
In the display device according to the present exemplary embodiment, since the outer side surface 41 of the first part P1 in the sealing portion 40 is located at the same plane as the outer side surface of the first substrate 10, the first part P1 is in contact with an end portion of the edge of the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30. Accordingly, defects such as cracks occurring in the outer side surface of the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30 during the manufacturing process may be prevented.
In addition, although the sealing portion 40 has the widths W1 and W2 that are substantially equal to each other, the distance D1 between the inner side surface 42 of the first part P1 of the sealing portion in the direction toward the display unit 20 (+x direction) and the display unit 20 can be greater than the distance D2 between the inner side surface of the second part P2 of the sealing portion in the direction toward the display unit 20 and the display unit 20, so that the first part P1 of the sealing portion 40 may contact the end portion of the edge in the first substrate 10 and/or the second substrate 30 and the display unit 20 may be located at the center of the first substrate 10 in the x-axis direction.
According to at least one of the disclosed embodiments, the display device can reduce a defect rate during manufacturing.
It should be understood that exemplary embodiments described herein should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each exemplary embodiment should typically be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in other exemplary embodiments.
While the inventive technology has been described with reference to the figures, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope as defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2015-0116850 | Aug 2015 | KR | national |