Multiple-element light-bending structures for minimizing display borders

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10551874-B2
Application number	US-201816006714-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2018
Priority date	Sep 28, 2012
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with a display mounted in a housing. The display may have an array of display pixels that provide image light to a user. The array of display pixels may form an active display structure with a rectangular shape. The rectangular active display structure may be surrounded by an inactive border region. Optical structures such as upper structures formed from a sheet of glass and lower optical structures that lie beneath the sheet of glass may be configured to bend light from the display pixels along the periphery of the active display structure. The upper optical structures may have an area that is larger than the area of the active display structure, so that the presence of the optical structures may serve to enlarge the apparent size of the display. The lower and upper optical structures may have curved surfaces for bending the light.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cellular telephone, comprising:
active display structures that include an array of pixels with a peripheral edge, the array of pixels having a first area;
a first optical structure having portions that run along the peripheral edge and configured to convey light from at least some of the pixels along the peripheral edge from a first surface of the first optical structure to a second surface of the first optical structure, wherein the second surface is a concave surface; and
a second optical structure having third and fourth opposing surfaces, wherein the third surface is configured to receive light from the second surface and convey the light to the fourth surface and wherein the first and second optical structures redirect light from the active display structures to a second area that is larger than the first area.

2. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein one of the third and fourth surfaces of the second optical structure has a convex curved edge portion.

3. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the third surface of the second optical structure has a convex curved edge portion and a planar central portion.

4. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the fourth surface of the second optical structure has a convex curved edge portion and a planar central portion.

5. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein one of the third and fourth surfaces of the second optical structure has a concave curved edge portion.

6. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the third surface of the second optical structure has a concave curved edge portion and a planar central portion.

7. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the fourth surface of the second optical structure has a concave curved edge portion and a planar central portion.

8. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
optically clear adhesive formed between the first optical structure and the second optical structure.

9. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the first optical structure has a central opening over the active display structures through which light passes from a portion of the array of pixels without being redirected by the first optical structure.

10. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a touch sensor that is interposed between the first optical structure and the second optical structure.

11. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a glass display cover layer that overlaps the first and second optical structures.

12. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the first optical structure is formed from a transparent material.

13. The cellular telephone defined in claim 1 , wherein the first optical structure comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: glass, plastic, and ceramic.

14. A cellular telephone having a rectangular periphery with first and second opposing edges and third and fourth opposing edges that each extend between the first and second opposing edges, the cellular telephone comprising:
wireless communications circuitry;
an ambient light sensor;
a proximity sensor;
a speaker;
a microphone;
an array of pixels having a first width and extending between the third and fourth edges;
a first optical structure having first and second surfaces, wherein the first optical structure is configured to convey light from the array of pixels from the first surface to the second surface;
a second optical structure having third and fourth opposing surfaces, wherein the third surface is configured to receive light from the second surface of the first optical structure and convey the light to the fourth surface and wherein the first and second optical structures redirect light from the array of pixels to an area that has a second width that is greater than the first width, wherein the third surface has a planar portion and convex curved portions; and
optically clear adhesive interposed between the first and second optical structures.

15. The cellular telephone defined in claim 14 , further comprising:
parallel first and second metal housing sidewalls that extend respectively along the third and fourth edges.

16. The cellular telephone defined in claim 15 , wherein the second optical structure has first and second edge portions that respectively overlap the first and second metal housing sidewalls.

17. The cellular telephone defined in claim 14 , wherein light from the array of pixels is emitted from the entire fourth surface.

18. A cellular telephone with first and second opposing ends and first and second opposing edges that each extend between the first and second ends, the cellular telephone comprising:
a speaker port at the first end;
wireless communications circuitry configured to transmit and receive radio-frequency signals; and
a display that is borderless along the first and second edges, the display comprising:
an array of pixels having a first width and extending between the first and second edges;
a first optical structure that has a first surface adjacent to the array of pixels, that has an opposing second surface, and that is configured to convey light from the first surface to the second surface, wherein the first optical structure comprises a Fresnel lens; and
a second optical structure that has a third surface that is configured to receive light from the second surface of the first optical structure, that has a fourth opposing surface, and that is configured to convey light from the third surface to the fourth surface, wherein the fourth surface has a second width that is greater than the first width, wherein the third surface has a planar portion and convex curved portions, and wherein at least a portion of the planar portion and at least a portion of the convex curved portions overlap the Fresnel lens.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Prest Christopher D
• Yang Tseng-Mau
• Memering Dale N

Classifications

• G06F1/1643 Primary

  the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads (details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615) · CPC title

• G06F3/041

  Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means · CPC title

• G02F1/133388

  with constructional differences between the display region and the peripheral region · CPC title

• G02F1/133526

  Lenses, e.g. microlenses or Fresnel lenses · CPC title

• G02F1/13336

  Combining plural substrates to produce large-area displays, e.g. tiled displays · CPC title