CONFORMAL LIGHT-EMITTING DISPLAY ASSEMBLY
A display assembly includes a display unit for displaying an image. The display unit includes a backlight unit configured to provide light. A color conversion layer is positioned adjacent to and configured to receive the light from the backlight unit. A structural layer is positioned adjacent to the color conversion layer and configured to support the display unit. A first stack is positioned adjacent to the structural layer and includes a first thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer, a color filter layer and a first liquid crystal layer. The display unit is configured to be bendable to a fixed shape such that the display unit retains the fixed shape.
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This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/451,913 filed on Mar. 7, 2017 that claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/320,070, filed on Apr. 8, 2016. The disclosures of each of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
INTRODUCTIONThe disclosure relates generally to a conformal light-emitting display assembly. Many devices include various forms of display units having a liquid crystal layer. The display units are generally rectangular and have a flat surface to accommodate the electronic circuitry and other components.
SUMMARYA display assembly includes a display unit for displaying an image. The display unit includes a backlight unit configured to provide light. A color conversion layer is positioned adjacent to and configured to receive the light from the backlight unit. A structural layer is positioned adjacent to the color conversion layer and configured to support the display unit. A first stack is positioned adjacent to the structural layer and includes a first thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer, a color filter layer and a first liquid crystal layer. The display unit is configured to be bendable to a fixed shape such that the display unit retains the fixed shape.
The first TFT layer is composed of a plurality of thin film transistors deposited on a first substrate. The thin film transistors may be formed from high electron mobility materials, such as polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide, and other metal oxides. The first substrate may be a glass layer having a thickness of about 0.1 mm. The first substrate may be composed of a polymer layer affixed to a relatively thin contaminant blocking layer, the blocking layer being composed of an inorganic oxide material. The color filter layer may include a plurality of color filter patterns formed on a second substrate. The second substrate may be composed of glass with a thickness of about 0.1 mm.
The display unit may further include a spatial light modulator between the first stack and the structural layer. The spatial light modulator is configured to selectively modulate luminance of the light from the backlight unit. The spatial light modulator includes a second stack sandwiched between a second polarizer and a third polarizer. The second stack includes a second TFT layer and a liquid crystal layer. The second TFT layer is composed of another plurality of thin film transistors deposited on a second substrate. The structural layer may include a shock-absorbing material.
The color conversion layer may include a plurality of quantum rods arranged in a first direction and configured to emit visible light polarized in the first direction. The display unit may be non-rectangular. The display unit may include a cover lens having an anti-reflective coating disposed on a front end of the display unit and a first polarizer adjacent to the cover lens. A first stack may be adjacent to the first polarizer and includes a first TFT layer, a color filter layer and a first liquid crystal layer. A second polarizer may be adjacent to the first stack. In another embodiment, the structural layer may be positioned directly adjacent to the second polarizer and configured to support the display unit.
This optimal combination of the various layers allows the display unit to provide a high performance, conformal and perimeter-shaped display at a relatively low cost. Additionally, the image produced by this optimal combination does not suffer from lingering effects, such as for example, organic LEDs.
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to like components,
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The light-emitting diode (LED) source 68 may be configured to produce 454 nm radiation of all polarization states. The exact LED emission wavelength chosen is on the basis of coupling efficiency to the color conversion layer 64. This light may be directed toward the color conversion layer 64. In one example, the color conversion layer 64 includes a plurality of quantum rods aligned in a first direction. Because these rods are aligned, they will absorb the polarization state that is parallel to the polarization axis and will not absorb the perpendicular polarization. The excited quantum rods will emit radiation with a polarization state that is parallel to the axis of the rod. Thus the red and green light is polarized in the alignment direction and the blue light is largely unpolarized.
The first, second, third and fourth substrates 36, 40, 52, 55 may each be composed of a glass layer having a thickness of about 0.1 mm. For the first, second third and fourth substrates 36, 40, 52, 55, Willow Glass, available from Corning Inc. and having a thickness of about 0.1 mm, may be used. Alternatively, the first, second third and fourth substrates 36, 40, 52, 55 may be composed of a polymer layer that has been coated with a thin blocking layer of SiO2 or other suitable inorganic oxide material. The polymer layer may include but is not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and polyimide (PI).
The display unit 14 may include a plurality of optically-clear adhesive layers. Referring to
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The display unit 114 may include a plurality of optically-clear adhesive layers. Referring to
The combination of the various layers allows the display units 14, 114 to provide a high performance, conformal and perimeter-shaped display at a relatively low cost. Additionally, the image produced does not suffer from lingering effects, such as for example, organic LEDs. Referring to
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Look-up tables, databases, data repositories or other data stores described herein may include various kinds of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving various kinds of data, including a hierarchical database, a set of files in a file system, an application database in a proprietary format, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. Each such data store may be included within a computing device employing a computer operating system such as one of those mentioned above, and may be accessed via a network in one or more of a variety of manners. A file system may be accessible from a computer operating system, and may include files stored in various formats. An RDBMS may employ the Structured Query Language (SQL) in addition to a language for creating, storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the PL/SQL language mentioned above.
The detailed description and the drawings or FIGS. are supportive and descriptive of the disclosure, but the scope of the disclosure is defined solely by the claims. While some of the best modes and other embodiments for carrying out the claimed disclosure have been described in detail, various alternative designs and embodiments exist for practicing the disclosure defined in the appended claims. Furthermore, the embodiments shown in the drawings or the characteristics of various embodiments mentioned in the present description are not necessarily to be understood as embodiments independent of each other. Rather, it is possible that each of the characteristics described in one of the examples of an embodiment can be combined with one or a plurality of other desired characteristics from other embodiments, resulting in other embodiments not described in words or by reference to the drawings. Accordingly, such other embodiments fall within the framework of the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A display assembly comprising:
- a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit including: a backlight unit configured to provide light the backlight unit including a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) sources configured to emit light; a color conversion layer positioned adjacent to and configured to receive the light from the backlight unit, a structural layer positioned adjacent to the color conversion layer and configured to support the display unit; and a first stack positioned adjacent to the structural layer and including a first thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer, a color filter layer and a first liquid crystal layer, wherein the display unit is configured to be bendable to a fixed shape such that the display unit retains the fixed shape.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the first TFT layer comprises a plurality of thin film transistors deposited on a first substrate.
3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the first substrate comprises a glass layer having a thickness of about 0.1 mm.
4. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the first substrate comprises a polymer layer affixed to a blocking layer, the blocking layer comprising an inorganic oxide material.
5. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the color filter layer includes a plurality of color filter patterns formed on a second substrate.
6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein the second substrate comprises glass having a thickness of about 0.1 mm.
7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural layer comprises a shock-absorbing material.
8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the color conversion layer includes a plurality of quantum rods arranged in a first direction and configured to emit visible light polarized in the first direction.
9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LED sources are arranged in a matrix.
10. A display assembly comprising:
- a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit including: a cover lens having an anti-reflective coating disposed on an end of the display unit; a first polarizer adjacent to the cover lens; a first stack adjacent to the first polarizer and including a thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer, a color filter layer, and a liquid crystal layer, the TFT layer comprising a plurality of thin film transistors deposited on a first substrate; a second polarizer adjacent to the first stack; a structural layer positioned directly adjacent to the second polarizer and configured to support the display unit; a color conversion layer positioned adjacent to the structural layer and including a plurality of aligned quantum rods; and a backlight unit adjacent to the color conversion layer, the backlight unit including a matrix having a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) sources configured to emit light, wherein the display unit is configured to be bendable to a fixed shape such that the display unit retains the fixed shape.
11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the first substrate comprises a glass layer having a thickness of about 0.1 mm.
12. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the first substrate comprises a polymer layer affixed to a blocking layer, the blocking layer being composed of an inorganic oxide material.
13. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the structural layer comprises a shock-absorbing material.
14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the shock-absorbing material comprises polyurethane.
15. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the plurality of aligned quantum rods is arranged in a first direction configured to emit visible light polarized in the first direction.
16. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the display unit is non-rectangular.
17. The assembly of claim 10, further comprising an air gap between the backlight unit and the color conversion layer.
18. A display assembly comprising:
- a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit including: a cover lens having an anti-reflective coating and being disposed on an end of the display unit; a first polarizer adjacent to the cover lens; a first stack adjacent to the first polarizer and including a thin-film-transistor (TFT) layer, a color filter layer, and a liquid crystal layer, the TFT layer comprising a plurality of thin film transistors deposited on a first substrate, the color filter layer including a plurality of color filter patterns formed on a second substrate; a second polarizer adjacent to the first stack; a structural layer positioned directly adjacent to the second polarizer and configured to support the display unit; a color conversion layer positioned adjacent to the structural layer and including a plurality of quantum rods arranged in a first direction and configured to emit visible light polarized in the first direction; a backlight unit adjacent to the color conversion layer, the backlight unit including a matrix having a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) sources configured to emit light; and an air gap between the color conversion layer and the backlight, wherein the display unit is configured to be bendable to a fixed shape such that the display unit retains the fixed shape.
19. The assembly of claim 18, wherein the first substrate comprises glass having a first thickness of about 0.1 mm and the second substrate comprises glass having a thickness of about 0.1 mm.
20. The assembly of claim 18, wherein the structural layer comprises a shock-absorbing material comprises polyurethane.
Type: Application
Filed: May 28, 2019
Publication Date: Sep 12, 2019
Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC (Detroit, MI)
Inventors: Thomas A. SEDER (Fraser, MI), James A. CARPENTER (Rochester Hills, MI)
Application Number: 16/423,408