Cross-section of display cover layer with other layers Photo Credit: Patently Apple |
Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to a folding iDevice that includes a layer with self-healing properties.
The display cover layer may include a layer of elastomer in
the flexible region of the display cover layer for increased flexibility.
Self-healing may be initiated or expedited by externally applied heat, light,
electric current, or other type of external stimulus.
Apple notes that this possible future electronic device may
have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display
may span the bend axis.
To facilitate bending about the bend axis without damage,
the display may include a display cover layer with a flexible portion. The
flexible portion of the display cover layer may be interposed between first and
second rigid portions of the display cover layer in one example.
During operation of an electronic device, the display cover
layer for the electronic device may be scratched or dented. To improve the
aesthetics of the electronic device, it may be desirable for the presence of scratches
and dents to be minimized.
To help mitigate the number of dents, scratches, or other
imperfections in a display cover layer, the display cover layer may include a
layer of self-healing material.
The layer of self-healing material may be formed across the
entire display cover layer or may be formed only in the flexible region of the
display cover layer. The display cover layer may include a layer of elastomer
in the flexible region of the display cover layer for increased flexibility.
The layer of self-healing material may cover the layer of elastomer in the
flexible region.
Self-healing may occur in the layer of self-healing material
without prompting (e.g., when the self-healing coating is dented, the material
of the coating may fill the dent even without external intervention).
Alternatively, the self-healing may be initiated or
expedited by externally applied heat, light, electric current, or other type of
external stimulus.
When heat is used as a stimulus for the self-healing
process, the display cover layer may include transparent conductors that form a
heating layer in the display cover layer.
The heating layer may be used to generate heat to stimulate
self-healing. The heating layer may be used to generate heat in response to
user input, according to a predetermined schedule, or when the electronic
device is charging.
To promote flexibility in the display cover layer, the
display cover layer may include a transparent dielectric layer with slits. The
slits may be filled with an index-matching material.
Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is general graphic representing
a device that appears like a foldable iPhone, though Apple states that it could
be an iPad or a MacBook; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of a display
that includes a display cover layer with a layer of self-healing material; FIG.
18 is a top view of an illustrative transparent dielectric layer including
slits.
Apple adds that the transparent dielectric layer (#62-2) may
have a plurality of slits #82 (which may sometimes be referred to as holes,
recesses, grooves, openings, etc.) in flexible portion #24B to increase the
flexibility of the display cover layer.
Because transparent dielectric layer has a pattern of slits
in the flexible portion of the display cover glass, the transparent dielectric
layer may sometimes be referred to as a patterned transparent dielectric layer
or a patterned glass layer.
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