Display-adjacent optical emission or reception using optical fibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11327237-B2
Application number	US-202016905664-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2020
Priority date	Jun 18, 2020
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

An electronic device includes a housing and a display. The housing defines an interior cavity and includes an optically-transmissive housing component. The display is disposed in the interior cavity and is viewable through the optically-transmissive housing component. An optoelectronic component is disposed in the interior cavity. An optical fiber extends between a first end positioned adjacent the optoelectronic component and a second end positioned adjacent the optically-transmissive housing component. The optical fiber defines a non-linear optical path between the first end and the second end. At least a portion of the optical fiber is laterally offset from a lateral edge of the display.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a housing defining an interior cavity and including an optically-transmissive housing component;
a display disposed in the interior cavity and viewable through the optically-transmissive housing component;
an optoelectronic component disposed in the interior cavity; and
an optical fiber extending between a first end positioned adjacent the optoelectronic component and a second end positioned adjacent the optically-transmissive housing component; wherein,
the optical fiber defines a non-linear optical path between the first end and the second end; and
at least a portion of the optical fiber is laterally offset from a lateral edge of the display.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a display stack including the display; wherein,
a substrate of the display stack extends at least partly between the optoelectronic component and the optically-transmissive housing component.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein:
the housing includes a bezel;
the optically-transmissive housing component is attached to the bezel; and
the at least portion of the optical fiber is disposed between the lateral edge of the display and the bezel.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the optoelectronic component comprises an optical detector.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the optoelectronic component comprises an optical emitter.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:
the optical fiber is a first optical fiber;
the optoelectronic component is an optical transceiver comprising an optical emitter and an optical detector;
the first optical fiber routes electromagnetic radiation emitted by the optical emitter to the optically-transmissive housing component;
the electronic device further comprises a second optical fiber extending between a first end positioned adjacent the optical detector and a second end positioned adjacent the optically-transmissive housing component;
the optical emitter and the optical detector have a first baseline separation; and
the second end of the first optical fiber and the second end of the second optical fiber have a second baseline separation, different from the first baseline separation.

7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein:
the housing includes a bezel;
the optically-transmissive housing component is supported by the bezel;
the portion of the first optical fiber is positioned between the lateral edge of the display and the bezel; and
at least a portion of the second optical fiber is positioned between the lateral edge of the display and the bezel.

8. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein:
the lateral edge of the display is a first lateral edge of the display;
the display comprises a second lateral edge, different from the first lateral edge; and
at least a portion of the second optical fiber is laterally offset from the second lateral edge of the display; wherein,
a portion of the display is disposed between the at least portion of the first optical fiber and the at least portion of the second optical fiber.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the positions of the first end of the optical fiber and the second end of the optical fiber are non-line-of-sight positions.

10. An electronic device, comprising:
a housing defining an interior cavity and including an optically-transmissive housing component;
a display disposed within the interior cavity and viewable through the optically- transmissive housing component;
a first optoelectronic component disposed within the interior cavity;
a first optical fiber bundle extending between the first optoelectronic component and the optically-transmissive housing component;
a second optoelectronic component disposed within the interior cavity; and
a second optical fiber bundle extending between the first optoelectronic component and the optically-transmissive housing component; wherein,
a first set of optical fiber ends in the first optical fiber bundle is spatially multiplexed with a second set of optical fiber ends in the second optical fiber bundle.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first set of optical fiber ends is interspersed with the second set of optical fiber ends.

12. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first set of optical fiber ends is optically coupled to the second set of optical fiber ends.

13. An electronic device, comprising:
an enclosure having an optically-transmissive surface;
an optoelectronic component housed within the enclosure;
an optical fiber bundle housed within the enclosure and configured to route electromagnetic radiation between the optoelectronic component and the optically-transmissive surface; and
an optical path routing controller configured to selectively alter a set of one or more routes of a set of one or more optical paths defined by the optical fiber bundle, the optical path routing controller configured to selectively reposition at least one of a first end or a second end of the optical fiber bundle.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the optical path routing controller comprises a piezoelectric actuator in mechanical communication with the optical fiber bundle.

15. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein:
the optoelectronic component is an optical transceiver comprising an optical emitter and an optical detector;
the first end of the optical fiber bundle is positioned adjacent the optical transceiver;
the second end of the optical fiber bundle is positioned adjacent the optically- transmissive surface; and
the optical path routing controller is configured to selectively reposition the second end of the optical fiber bundle and change a baseline between the optical emitter and the optical detector.

16. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the optical path routing controller is configured to selectively alter a propagation of electromagnetic radiation through the set of one or more optical paths.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the optical path routing controller comprises an optical switch.

18. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the optical path routing controller is configured to selectively block or allow the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through the set of one or more optical paths.

19. The electronic device of claim 13 , further comprising:
a display housed within the enclosure and having a lateral edge; wherein,
at least a portion of the optical fiber bundle is positioned laterally adjacent the lateral edge of the display.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Chen Tong
• Winkler Mark T
• Mccord Michael K
• Xu Tingjun
• Zhao Xianwei

Classifications

• G02B6/08 Primary

  with fibre bundle in form of plate · CPC title

• G02B6/3598 Primary

  Switching means directly located between an optoelectronic element and waveguides, including direct displacement of either the element or the waveguide, e.g. optical pulse generation (based on changing the optical properties of the medium G02F1/00; optical pulse generation in optical transmitters H04B10/508; optical pulse generation by controlling laser operation H01S3/00) · CPC title

• H04M1/026

  Details of the structure or mounting of specific components · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title

• H04B10/40

  Transceivers · CPC title