Electronic Devices With Flexible Displays

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025028364-A1
Application number	US-202418762440-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 2, 2024
Priority date	Jul 21, 2023
Publication date	Jan 23, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. The device may have a stainless steel and/or carbon fiber reinforced polymer layer with slots. The slots may overlap the bend axis. The slots may have at least one property that varies in a non-linear manner as a function of position on the layer. The device may include an adhesive layer with a cutout that overlaps the slots. An interface that defines the cutout may have a plurality of recesses with varying depths. A flexible printed circuit may be attached to an edge of the display panel. The display cover layer may overlap a bonding region between the flexible printed circuit and the edge of the display panel. A UV-curable gap filler may be interposed between the flexible printed circuit and the display cover layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
a flexible display with a first portion, a second portion that is aligned with a bend axis that extends in a first direction, and a third portion, wherein the second portion is interposed between the first and third portions, wherein the first portion is configured to bend relative to the third portion about the bend axis, and wherein the flexible display comprises an array of pixels and a thin-film transistor circuitry layer with thin-film transistor circuitry that controls the array of pixels; and at least one strain gauge that is part of the thin-film transistor circuitry layer, wherein the at least one strain gauge is aligned with the bend axis.

2 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the strain gauge comprises a Wheatstone bridge.

3 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the strain gauge comprises conductive traces.

4 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the conductive traces are formed from the same metal layer as a data line.

5 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the conductive traces are formed from the same metal layer as a gate line.

6 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the conductive traces are formed from the same metal layer as a gate for a transistor.

7 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one strain gauge comprises a first strain gauge that is aligned with the bend axis at a first edge of the flexible display and a second strain gauge that is aligned with the bend axis at a second, opposing edge of the flexible display.

8 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
control circuitry configured to estimate a temperature associated with the flexible display based on data from the at least one strain gauge.

9 . The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to estimate the temperature using a strain percentage lookup table or a strain relaxation rate lookup table.

10 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein data from the at least one strain gauge is used to determine a speed associated with bending the flexible display and wherein the electronic device further comprises:
an output device configured to output a notification based on the speed associated with bending the flexible display.

11 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a first motion sensor coupled to the first portion of the flexible display; and a second motion sensor coupled to the third portion of the flexible display.

12 . An electronic device comprising:
a flexible display with a first portion, a second portion that is aligned with a bend axis that extends in a first direction, and a third portion, wherein the second portion is interposed between the first and third portions and wherein the first portion is configured to bend relative to the third portion about the bend axis; at least one strain gauge that is aligned with the bend axis, wherein data from the at least one strain gauge is used to determine a speed associated with bending the flexible display; and an output device configured to output a notification based on the speed associated with bending the flexible display.

13 . The electronic device defined in claim 12 , wherein the output device is configured to output the notification based on the speed associated with bending the flexible display and a temperature.

14 . The electronic device defined in claim 13 , further comprising:
a temperature sensor that measures the temperature.

15 . The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the temperature is determined using the data from the at least one strain gauge.

16 . The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the output device is configured to output the notification when the speed associated with bending the flexible display is greater than a maximum recommended speed associated with the temperature.

17 . The electronic device defined in claim 12 , wherein the output device comprises a component selected from the group consisting of: a display, a speaker, and a haptic output device.

18 . An electronic device comprising:
a flexible display with a first portion, a second portion that is aligned with a bend axis that extends in a first direction, and a third portion, wherein the second portion is interposed between the first and third portions and wherein the first portion is configured to bend relative to the third portion about the bend axis; a display cover layer that overlaps the flexible display, wherein the display cover layer has an upper surface and a side surface; a first adhesive layer between the flexible display and the display cover layer; and a second adhesive layer that conforms to and directly contacts the upper surface and the side surface of the display cover layer.

19 . The electronic device defined in claim 18 , further comprising:
a matte layer that is attached to the display cover layer using the second adhesive layer.

20 . The electronic device defined in claim 19 , wherein the matte layer comprises a first microlens of a first size and a second microlens of a second size that is different than the first size.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Zhu Wenyong
• Kim Byoungsuk
• Chen Hao
• Niu Sijun
• Lv Wei
• Chang Han-Chieh
• Zhang Zhen

Classifications

• G06F1/1681

  Details related solely to hinges (hinge details related to the transmission of signals or power are classified in G06F1/1683) · CPC title

• G06F1/1652 Primary

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

• G01L1/2281 Primary

  for temperature variations · CPC title