Displays with bent signal lines

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9939699-B2
Application number	US-201514947880-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2015
Priority date	Aug 21, 2012
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

A display may be provided with an active central region and a peripheral inactive region. The display may have one or more flexible edges in the peripheral inactive region. Conductive lines may pass between components in the active central region such as display pixels and touch sensor electrodes and components in the inactive peripheral region such as gate driver circuitry and patterned interconnect lines. Each conductive line may have an unbent segment on a portion of a display layer in the active central region and may have a segment on the bent edge of the display layer. The display layer may be formed from a polymer or other flexible material. The bent segments may be configured to be less susceptible to increases in resistance from bending than the unbent segments.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display, comprising:
a display layer having an active region and an inactive region, wherein the active region defines a plane, wherein the inactive region has a curved portion that curves out of the plane, and wherein the inactive region has a flat portion adjacent to the curved portion; and
a conductive line on the display layer that extends from the active region to the curved portion and the flat portion of the inactive region, wherein the conductive line comprises a single segment in the inactive area that splits into first and second line segments on the curved portion and that joins back into a single segment on the flat portion.

2. The display defined in claim 1 wherein the first line segment is parallel to the second line segment.

3. The display defined in claim 1 wherein the first line segment has first and second portions and wherein the second portion is at a nonzero angle relative to the first portion.

4. The display defined in claim 3 wherein the second line segment has first and second portions and wherein the second portion is at a nonzero angle relative to the first portion.

5. The display defined in claim 4 wherein the second portion of the first line segment is parallel to the second portion of the second line segment.

6. The display defined in claim 1 wherein the conductive line comprises metal.

7. The display defined in claim 1 wherein the display layer comprises a flexible polymer substrate.

8. The display defined in claim 1 further comprising gate lines and data lines in the active region, wherein the first and second line segments form part of one of the gate lines.

9. The display defined in claim 8 further comprising gate driver circuitry in the peripheral border region.

10. The display defined in claim 9 wherein the first and second line segments are electrically coupled to the gate driver circuitry in the peripheral border region.

11. The display defined in claim 8 wherein the first and second line segments form part of one of the data lines.

12. The display defined in claim 1 further comprising organic light-emitting diode structures in the active region.

13. A display, comprising:
a flexible polymer substrate having first and second flat portions joined by a curved portion;
an array of display pixels on the first flat portion of the flexible polymer substrate;
display circuitry on the second flat portion of the flexible polymer substrate; and
conductive signal paths on the flexible polymer substrate that extend from the array of display pixels on the first flat portion to the display circuitry on the second flat portion, wherein at least one of the conductive signal paths comprises a single segment on the first flat portion that splits into multiple parallel line segments on the curved portion and that joins back into a single segment on the second flat portion.

14. The display defined in claim 13 wherein the multiple parallel line segments are electrically connected to one another.

15. The display defined in claim 13 wherein the display circuitry comprises thin-film-transistor gate driver circuitry.

16. The display defined in claim 13 wherein the display circuitry comprises demultiplexing circuitry.

17. A display, comprising:
a flexible substrate having a central portion that defines a plane and an edge portion that curves out of the plane, wherein the central portion defines an active area of the display and the edge portion defines an inactive area of the display, and wherein the edge portion has a curved region and a flat region;
an array of display pixels on the central portion of the flexible substrate;
display circuitry on the edge portion of the flexible substrate; and
conductive lines on the flexible substrate that convey signals from the display circuitry to the array of display pixels, wherein each of the conductive lines has a single segment in the active area that splits into a plurality of redundant signal paths on the curved region of the flexible substrate, wherein the plurality of redundant signal paths merge into a single segment on the flat region.

18. The display defined in claim 17 wherein the display circuitry comprises gate driver circuitry and the conductive lines comprise gate lines.

19. The display defined in claim 17 wherein the display circuitry comprises demultiplexing circuitry and the conductive lines comprise data lines.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Park Young Bae
• Zhong John Z
• Chang Shih-Chang
• Chen Wei

Classifications

• G02F1/13306

  Circuit arrangements or driving methods for the control of single liquid crystal cells (G02F1/132, G02F1/133382 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02F1/1333

  Constructional arrangements; {Manufacturing methods}(G02F1/135, G02F1/136 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02F1/136286 Primary

  Wiring, e.g. gate line, drain line · CPC title

• G02F1/133305

  Flexible substrates, e.g. plastics, organic film · CPC title

• G02F1/13452

  Conductors connecting driver circuitry and terminals of panels · CPC title