CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0016445, filed on Feb. 13, 2019, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure herein relates to a display device that has improved durability and that includes a flexible board having improved bending characteristics, and a method of manufacturing the same.

Recently, various display devices have been made to be thinner and lighter to thereby be miniaturized. Thus, various techniques for mounting driving elements for displaying an image in a limited area of a display device have been studied.

The driving elements for displaying an image in the display device may be mounted directly on a flexible circuit board, or the flexible circuit board may be provided in the form of a tape carrier package (TCP) for connecting a printed circuit board, on which the driving elements are mounted, to a display panel.

In a process where the flexible circuit board is repeatedly bent or where the flexible circuit board is coupled in a bent state, a crack may occur at a circuit pattern formed on the flexible circuit board, or the circuit pattern may be broken by tensile force that is generated during bending.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure may provide a display device that prevents moisture and/or oxygen from permeating between a flexible board and a display substrate, and that does not reduce bending characteristics of the flexible board, and a method of manufacturing the same.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a display device includes a display module configured to display an image, and a flexible board in which a flat area and a bending area arranged in one direction in a plan view are defined, wherein at least a portion of the flat area is connected to the display module, and wherein the flexible board includes a base substrate connected to the display module, a cover member on the flat area, and covering a boundary at which the base substrate and the display module are connected to each other, and a blocking member on the flat area, and in contact with the cover member.

The bending area may be bent about a bending axis, wherein the flexible board includes a bottom surface adjacent the bending axis, and a top surface opposite to the bottom surface, and wherein the cover member and the blocking member are on the bottom surface of the flexible board.

The display device may further include a cover layer contacting the display module and the top surface of the flexible board.

The display module may include a plurality of display elements configured to generate light for displaying the image, and an encapsulation layer covering the plurality of display elements, wherein the cover layer is in contact with at least a portion of the encapsulation layer.

The blocking member may include a first blocking layer on the base substrate, and a second blocking layer on the first blocking layer.

The blocking member may include a first sub-blocking member and a second sub-blocking member, which are spaced apart from each other in the one direction, wherein the cover member fills a space between the first sub-blocking member and the second sub-blocking member.

The display device may further include a printed circuit board under the display module, wherein a first flat area, the bending area, and a second flat area arranged in the one direction in a plan view are defined in the flexible board, wherein the flexible board is connected to the display module at the first flat area, and wherein the flexible board is connected to the printed circuit board at the second flat area.

The blocking member may overlap with the flat area, and may not overlap with the bending area, when viewed in a plan view.

The base substrate may include a base layer, a circuit layer on the base layer and connected to the display module, and a solder resist layer on the circuit layer, wherein the blocking member is on the solder resist layer.

The blocking member may include the same material as the solder resist layer.

The display device may further include a driving element on at least one of the flexible board or the display module.

The display module may include a display surface for displaying the image, a rear surface opposite to the display surface, and one side surface connecting the display surface and the rear surface, wherein the cover member is in contact with the one side surface.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a display device includes a flexible display module in which a display area for displaying an image, and a non-display area adjacent the display area, are defined, a cover member that is on the non-display area, and that does not overlap with the display area, in a plan view, and a blocking member on the non-display area, and in contact with the cover member, wherein the flexible display module includes a display surface for displaying the image, and a rear surface opposite to the display surface, and wherein the cover member and the blocking member are on the rear surface of the flexible display module.

The non-display area may include a flat area adjacent the display area, and a bending area spaced apart from the display area with the flat area interposed therebetween, and bent about a bending axis adjacent the rear surface of the flexible display module, wherein the cover member and the blocking member are on the flat area, and do not overlap with the bending area, when viewed in a plan view.

The display device may further include a support layer on the rear surface of the flexible display module, wherein the cover member is in contact with the rear surface of the flexible display module and a side surface of the support layer.

The display device may further include a printed circuit board under the flexible display module, wherein the cover member and the blocking member are spaced apart from the printed circuit board.

The non-display area may include a first flat area, a bending area, and a second flat area, which are arranged in one direction in a plan view, wherein the cover member and the blocking member are on the first flat area, and wherein the second flat area is connected to the printed circuit board.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing a display device includes preparing a display module configured to display an image, preparing a flexible board in which a blocking member is formed on a base substrate, bonding an end of the flexible board to one edge portion of the display module, forming a cover member contacting a side surface of the one edge portion of the display module connected to the flexible board, and bending the flexible board, wherein the cover member is formed in an area between the blocking member and the side surface of the one edge portion of the display module.

A bending axis may be adjacent a surface of the base substrate on which the blocking member is formed, wherein the flexible board is bent about the bending axis in the bending of the flexible board.

The flexible board may include a bending area bent about the bending axis, and a flat area adjacent the bending area, wherein the blocking member and the cover member are on the flat area.

