Electronic devices with adjustable display windows

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11079797-B1
Application number	US-202016874557-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 14, 2020
Priority date	May 14, 2020
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

An electronic device may have a display with an array of pixels for displaying images. The display may have a window region. During operation, a component such as an optical component may operate through the window region. The window region may overlap a movable portion of the display. The window region may be operated in open and closed states. In the closed state, the movable portion of the display overlaps the window region and pixels in the movable display portion emit light through the window region. In the open state, the movable portion of the display is moved away from the window region so that light for the optical component may pass through the window region. The optical component may be a camera or other component that receives light through the window region or may be an optical component that emits light through the window region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a housing;
a display cover layer;
a component;
an actuator; and
a display configured to display an image, wherein
the display is mounted under the display cover layer and wherein the display has a window that is operable in a closed state in which a portion of the display is in the window and displays a portion of the image and an open state in which the actuator moves the portion of the display away from the window and the component operates through the window.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the component comprises an optical component.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the optical component is configured to receive light that passes through a portion of the display cover layer overlapping the window.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the optical component comprises a camera.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the display comprises a flexible display and wherein the portion of the display is an integral portion of the flexible display that is configured to bend away from the window in the open state.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the portion of the display has a rigid substrate, the electronic device further comprising a hinge coupled to the rigid substrate.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the portion of the display is configured to slide between a first position in the closed state and a second position in the open state.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 7 further comprising at least one roller configured to receive the display as the display slides.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 7 wherein the display has pixels, wherein the display is configured to slide in a first direction at a speed, and wherein the display is configured to move the image across the pixels at the speed in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction to synchronize sliding movement of the displayed image with physical sliding movement of the display.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the portion of the display is moved away from the window by rolling the portion of the display about a roller.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a reflective structure on the portion of the display.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the reflective structure comprises a thin-film dielectric stack configured to reflect light received through the window to the component in the open state and wherein the component comprises a camera.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the display has a rigid portion and a flexible portion and wherein the flexible portion wraps around a roller when the portion of the display is moved away from the window.

14. An electronic device, comprising:
a housing having a transparent layer;
a display overlapped by the transparent layer; and
an optical component configured to receive light through a window region in the display, wherein the display has at least one movable portion that moves between a first position in which the movable portion covers the window region and a second position in which the movable portion does not cover the window region and the light passes through the window region to the optical component.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising a mirror aligned with the window region, wherein the mirror is configured to reflect the light that has passed through the window region.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising a coating on the movable portion, wherein the coating is configured to reflect the light that has passed through the window region to the optical component and is configured to pass light that is emitted from pixels in the movable portion.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising an actuator configured to move the optical component from a first position when the window region is covered to a second position when the window region is not covered.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 14 wherein the optical component is aligned with the window and is configured to directly receive the light that passes through the window region.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 14 wherein the optical component is configured to emit light that passes through the window region when the movable portion is in the second position.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 14 wherein the display comprises a flexible display and wherein the movable portion comprises a bendable flap of the flexible display.

21. An electronic device, comprising:
a display having an array of pixels and having a window region surrounded by pixels in the array of pixels;
an actuator; and
an optical component configured to operate through the window region, wherein the display has a display portion that is configured to be moved by the actuator between a first position in which pixels in the display portion emit light in the window region and a second position in which the pixels in the display portion do not emit light in the window region.

22. The electronic device defined in claim 21 wherein the optical component comprises a camera configured to receive light that passes through the window region while the display portion is in the second position.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Remez Roei
• Yosub Shay
• Kim Hoon Sik
• Avraham Assaf
• Eden Omer
• Drzaic Paul S
• Ambar Rafi
• Della Pergola Refael

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• G06F3/1407 Primary

  General aspects irrespective of display type, e.g. determination of decimal point position, display with fixed or driving decimal point, suppression of non-significant zeros · CPC title

• G06F1/1686

  the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

  the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable · CPC title

• G06F1/1637

  Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing · CPC title