Laminated aluminum oxide cover component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9718249-B2
Application number	US-201213679493-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2012
Priority date	Nov 16, 2012
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

A cover glass for an electronic display comprises a plurality of layers of sapphire material, each of the layers having a substantially single crystal plane orientation, with adjacent layers having different substantially single crystal plane orientations. One or more interface layers are defined between adjacent layers of the sapphire material, with the adjacent layers of sapphire material bonded together at the one or more interface layers. A display window is defined in the cover glass, and configured for viewing a viewable area of the electronic display through the plurality of layers of the sapphire material bonded together at the one or more interface layers.

First claim

I claim:

1. A cover glass for an electronic display, the cover glass comprising:
a plurality of sapphire sheets directly bonded together by hydrogen bonds at a planar interface between adjacent sapphire sheets; and
a display window defined in the cover glass, the display window configured for viewing the electronic display through the plurality of sheets of substantially single crystal sapphire; wherein
each of the sapphire sheets has a substantially single crystal plane orientation; and
adjacent sapphire sheets have different crystal plane orientations.

2. The cover glass of claim 1 , wherein the adjacent sapphire sheets have substantially orthogonal crystal plane orientations.

3. The cover glass of claim 2 , wherein the adjacent sapphire sheets comprise alternating A plane and C plane orientations.

4. The cover glass of claim 1 , further comprising a metal component in one or more of the sapphire sheets, the metal component selected for one or more physical properties including color, hardness, and thermal or electrical conductivity and resistivity.

5. The cover glass of claim 1 , further comprising a display window layer comprising substantially opaque window border portions and a substantially transparent window portion configured to define the display window in the cover glass.

6. The cover glass of claim 5 , wherein the display window layer is provided between two of the plurality of sapphire sheets.

7. A device comprising:
a display;
a frame disposed about the display;
a back cover coupled to a back of the frame and positioned behind the display;
a front glass coupled to a front of the frame and positioned in front of the display, the front glass comprising a plurality of sapphire sheets directly bonded together by hydrogen bonds at a planar interface between adjacent sapphire sheets; wherein
each of the sapphire sheets has a substantially single crystal plane orientation;
the crystal plane orientations of adjacent sapphire sheets are different; and
a substantially transparent display window is defined in the front glass for viewing the display through the plurality of sapphire sheets.

8. The device of claim 7 , further comprising a display layer disposed between two of the plurality of sapphire sheets, the display layer comprising opaque border portions and a transparent window portion defining the display window in the front glass.

9. The device of claim 7 , wherein the adjacent sapphire sheets have substantially orthogonal crystal plane orientations at the one or more planar interface layers.

10. The device of claim 7 , wherein the back cover comprises a back cover glass formed by bonding two or more layers of substantially single crystal sapphire together across a planar interface, wherein the planar interface defines a transition between different crystal plane orientations in the two or more layers of substantially single crystal sapphire.

11. A cover glass for an electronic device having a display, the cover glass comprising:
a first sapphire sheet having a first substantially single crystal plane orientation;
a second sapphire sheet having a second substantially single crystal plane orientation, the second crystal plane orientation substantially orthogonal to the first crystal plane orientation;
an interface layer defined between the first and second sapphire sheets, bonding the first and second sapphire sheets together at a planar interface by fusing non-single crystal aluminum oxide to the first and second sapphire sheets;
a third sapphire sheet adjacent the second sapphire sheet; and
a display window defined in part by an opening in a mask that is positioned between the second sapphire sheet and the third sapphire sheet, the display window configured for viewing the display through the first and second sapphire sheets bonded together across the interface layer.

12. The cover glass of claim 11 , further comprising a display window layer adjacent the second sapphire sheet, the display window layer comprising substantially opaque side regions and a substantially transparent window region configured for viewing a viewable area of the display through the cover glass.

13. The cover glass of claim 11 , wherein the first, second and third sapphire sheets each have a thickness of about 0.2 mm to about 0.4 mm, and wherein the cover glass has a thickness of 1.0 mm or less.

14. The cover glass of claim 1 , wherein the crystal plane orientations of the plurality of sapphire sheets are selected for one or more physical properties, including at least one of hardness, durability, impact resistance, and scratch resistance.

15. The cover glass of claim 1 , further comprising a coating over a surface of one of the plurality of sapphire sheets, the coating comprising at least one of an optical coating, a scratch coating, an abrasion coating, an anti-reflection coating, an anti-glare coating, a photochromatic coating, and an olephobic coating.

16. The cover glass of claim 2 , wherein the adjacent sapphire sheets comprise alternating M plane and C plane orientations.

17. The device of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the front glass is configured for capacitive touch-sensing across a surface of the front glass.

18. The device of claim 7 , wherein the front glass is coupled to the frame by at least one of an adhesive layer and a mechanical attachment.

19. The cover glass of claim 11 , wherein the interface layer is formed by heating the first and second sapphire sheets and the non-single crystal aluminum oxide to between 2000° C. and 2100° C. and placing the first and second sapphire sheets under compressive stress.

20. The cover glass of claim 11 , wherein the first sapphire sheet comprises an A plane orientation and the second sapphire sheet comprises a C plane orientation.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Kwong Kelvin

Classifications

• C30B29/20 Primary

  Aluminium oxides · CPC title

• Y10T428/24322

  Composite web or sheet · CPC title

• H04M1/0202

  Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets (constructional features of telephone transmitters or receivers, e.g. of speakers or microphones H04M1/03) · CPC title

• Y10T428/24331

  including nonapertured component · CPC title

• C30B33/06

  Joining of crystals · CPC title