Patent Publication Number: US-2022221908-A1

Title: Information apparatus and display module

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-4219 filed Jan. 14, 2021, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an information apparatus which has a display and a back-face cover which covers a face which is opposite to a display surface of the display and a display module. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A display chassis in the information apparatus such as a laptop PC and so forth has the display and the back-face cover which covers the face which is opposite to the display surface of the display. A small gap is present between the display and the back-face cover and the display is supported to the back-face cover by a plurality of posts (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-196170). 
     In addition, in a recent display, there are cases where an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting-Diode) is used. In general, the OLED is sandwiched between two sheets of un-tempered glass. Although a self-light-emitting type OLED is thin, it is difficult to maintain sufficient strength simply by sandwiching the self-light-emitting type OLED between the two sheets of the un-tempered glass and the self-light-emitting type OLED is reinforced by attachment of a tempered glass plate (also called top cover glass or a cover window). There are cases where a touch sensor is affixed to the tempered glass plate. 
     SUMMARY 
     Further weight saving and thinning are requested to the information apparatus. Although the tempered glass is favorable for improving the strength and for affixing the touch sensor, in a case where it is not necessary to affix the touch sensor, the tempered glass induces increases in weight and thickness against the request for weight saving and thinning. 
     The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned subject and aims to provide an information apparatus and a display module which make it possible to realize further weight saving and thinning while maintaining the strength. 
     An information apparatus according to one or more embodiments of the present invention includes a display, a back-face cover which covers a face which is opposite to a display surface of the display, and a support member which is formed to fill a space between the face which is opposite to the display surface of the display and an inner face of the back-face cover. 
     In such an information apparatus as above, it becomes possible to maintain the strength by supporting the display by the support member and the back-face cover and use of other reinforcing materials becomes unnecessary and therefore it becomes possible to realize weight saving and thinning. 
     In a case where the support member is made of a foaming material, further weight saving is possible and it is possible to shape the support member into a form which fits the form of the back-face cover. 
     Even in a case where the back-face cover is in the form of a curved surface which is convexly curved toward the face which is opposite to the display surface, it is possible to support the display by the support member. 
     The support member may have a first recessed portion in which a display control component which controls an operation of the display is to be arranged on the side which faces the back-face cover. It becomes possible to appropriately arrange the display control component owing to formation of the first recessed portion and it becomes also possible to make a frame body which surrounds the display thin. 
     The support member may have a second recessed portion in which electric wiring is to be arranged on the side which faces the back-face cover. 
     The display may be either a glass OLED or a plastic OLED. A self-light-emitting type OLED is thin and strength and rigidity of the self-light-emitting OLED are secured by the support member. 
     Even in a case where glass is not installed on the display surface of the display, it is possible to maintain the strength of the display by the support member. 
     In a case where the support member is one integrated component, it becomes possible for the support member to uniformly support almost the entire surface of a rear face of the display in a well-balanced state. 
     A display module according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is attached to a back-face cover and includes a display and a support member which is fixed to a face which is opposite to a display surface of the display, in which the support member is formed to fill a space between the face which is opposite to the display surface of the display and an inner face of the back-face cover. 
     Effects of the Invention 
     One or more embodiments of the present invention can maintain the strength of the display by supporting the display by the support member and the back-face cover and can realize weight saving and thinning because installation of other reinforcing materials becomes unnecessary. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating one example of an information apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional side view illustrating one example of a display chassis. 
         FIG. 3  is a back-face diagram illustrating one example of a display module according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom-face view illustrating one example of the display module. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following, an information apparatus and a display module according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail on the basis of the drawings. Incidentally, it is to be noted that the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating one example of an information apparatus  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The information apparatus  10  includes a display module  11  according to another embodiment of the present invention. The information apparatus  10  is a laptop PC that a main body chassis  12  and a display chassis  14  are coupled together via one pair of left and right hinges  16  to be rotatably movable at respective coupling edge portions  12   c  and  14   a . The present invention is also applicable to, for example, a display and a tablet terminal which are to be connected to a desktop personal computer, not limited to the laptop PC. 
     In the following, as for the display chassis  14 , the display-surface side will be called a forward or front face and the opposite side thereof will be called a rear or back face. In addition, the side that the hinges  16  are installed will be called the bottom and the opposite side thereof will be called the top. 
     The display chassis  14  is a thin-box-shaped chassis and has a forward-face frame  20  which surrounds the forward-face side of a display  18 , a back-face cover  22  which covers a face which is opposite to the display surface of the display  18  and a display controller (a display control component)  24  which is disposed between the display  18  and the back-face cover  22  and controls the operation of the display  18 . Since in the information apparatus  10 , at least the display controller  24  is not arranged in a part which corresponds to the forward-face frame  20 , it becomes possible to make the forward-face frame  20  thin. A camera  26  is installed on a top central part of the forward-face frame  20  of the display chassis  14 . 
     The display  18  is configured by a glass OLED or a plastic OLED. As well known in the art, the OLED spontaneously emits light by vapor-depositing an organic luminous body on a substrate and applying a voltage to the organic luminous body by a minute electrode, is capable of obtaining high brightness and contrast with low power consumption in comparison with a liquid crystal display and so forth and is excellent in visibility, response speed, lightness and so forth. In addition, since the OLED is a self-light-emitting type diode and pixels spontaneously shine in colors, installation of a backlight and a color filter becomes unnecessary and, therefore, it is easy to make the OLED thin. In the glass OLED, glass is used for its substrate and in the plastic OLED, a plastic material is used for its substrate. The display  18  which is a constitutional element of the information apparatus  10  is also a constitutional element of the display module  11 . Details of the display module  11  will be described later. A glass plate which is to be used for reinforcement is not installed on the display surface of the display  18 . 
     The display controller  24  controls the operation of the display  18  at least partially. The display controller  24  is, for example, a timing controller which controls a timing of display on the display  18 . A graphics function unit, a display memory and so forth which are necessary for display control may be provided either in a main board of the main body chassis  12  or in the display controller  24 . The display controller  24  is made long and thin in a crosswise direction and is installed in the vicinity of a lower end of the display chassis  14 . 
     The main body chassis  12  is a thin box-shaped chassis and is configured by putting an upper-face cover  12   a  and a lower-face cover  12   b  together. A keyboard  28  and a touch pad  30  are installed on the upper-face cover  12   a . The main board which is equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) is installed in the main body chassis  12 . The CPU all-inclusively controls the operation of the information apparatus  10 . 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional side view illustrating one example of the display chassis  14 . In  FIG. 2 , illustration of the front-face frame  20  is omitted.  FIG. 3  is a back-face view illustrating one example of the display module  11 .  FIG. 4  is a bottom-face view illustrating one example of the display module  11 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a support member  32  is installed in the display chassis  14 . The support member  32  is fixed to a rear face  18   a  (that is, the face which is opposite to the display surface) of the display  18  with an adhesive, an adhesive tape or the like over an appropriately wide area and configures the display module  11  together with the display  18 . 
     Since the display controller  24  is arranged between the display  18  and the back-face cover  22 , the back-face cover  22  is in the form of a curved surface which is convexly curved toward the rear side (that is, the side which is opposite to the display surface of the display  18 ) in both a side view (see  FIG. 2 ) and a bottom view (see a virtual line in  FIG. 4 ). However, in a case where the display controller  24  is made sufficiently thin, the curved surface of the back-face cover  22  may be either almost planar or may include a completely flattened portion. The back-face cover  22  may be also formed into a flat plate depending on a design condition which is to be adopted. 
     The support member  32  is formed to fill almost the entire space between the face which is opposite to the display surface of the display  18  and an inner face  22   a  of the back-face cover  22 . That is, a front face  32   a  of the support member  32  is a plane which extends along the rear face  18   a  of the display  18  and a rear face  32   b  of the support member  32  is a curved face which is curved along the inner face  22   a  of the back-face cover  22 . 
     Incidentally, the post such as that which is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-196170 is attached on condition that the base portion for attachment is basically plane and there are cases where it is difficult to attach the post in a proper orientation relative to a curved face such as the inner face  22   a  of the back-face cover  22 . In contrast, the support member  32  which is used in the information apparatus  10  is applicable to the back-face cover  22  which is shaped into various curved faces by molding. 
     The support member  32  has an area which is sufficient to abut on almost the entire surface of the rear face  18   a  of the display  18  and supports the display  18  from behind. The display  18  is the self-light-emitting type OLED and therefore it is difficult for the display  18  to maintain sufficient strength and rigidity by itself. However, since the entire surface of the display  18  is supported by the support member  32  from the side of the rear face  18   a , the sufficient strength and rigidity are maintained. Accordingly, it is not necessary to affix the glass plate to the display surface of the display  18  for the purpose of reinforcement and therefore it becomes possible to realize weight saving and thinning. In addition, since the support member  32  supports almost the entire surface of the display  18 , it becomes possible to form the display  18  into a distortion-free planar shape. 
     Incidentally, although basically the entire surface of the rear face  18   a  of the display  18  is supported by the support member  32 , there may exist a portion such as an end portion  18   b  and so forth on which the support member  32  does not abut to such an extent that strength maintenance is not hindered. A region that the support member  32  supports may be limited to, for example, a display active area and a portion which is comparable to the display active area on the display  18 . The end portion  18   b  on which the support member  32  does not abut may be supported by a support stand  22   c  of the back-face cover  22 . In addition, a small through-hole which is oriented in an anteroposterior direction may be formed in the support member  32  for the purpose of weight saving and so forth to such an extent that the strength maintenance is not hindered. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the support member  32  has a first recessed portion  34  in which the display controller  24  is to be arranged and a second recessed portion  38  in which electric wiring  36  is to be arranged in a rear face  32   b  which faces the back-face cover  22 . Since the first recessed portion  34  and the second recessed portion  38  are provided in the rear face  32   b , it becomes possible to widely secure an area across which the front face  32   a  is in contact with the display  18 . 
     The first recessed portion  34  is made long in the crosswise direction so as to make it possible to arrange the display controller  24  therein and is made in a lower end of the support member  32 . Although the first recessed portion  34  is shallow, the first recessed portion  34  has a depth of a degree which makes arrangement of the display controller  24  therein possible. The display controller  24  is fixed to the first recessed portion  34  with an adhesive tape and so forth. 
     The first recessed portion  34  is opened downward so as to make it possible to arrange FPCs (Flexible Printed Circuits)  40 ,  42   a  and  42   b . The FPC  40  connects the main board in the main body chassis  12  and the display controller  24  together. The FPC  40  is connected to a substrate surface of the display controller  24  via a connector  40   a . Since the display controller  24  is arranged in the first recessed portion  34  and the first recessed portion  34  is formed in a lower end of the support member  32 , it becomes possible to make the FPC  40  short. Two FPCs  42   a  and  42   b  make 180-degree turns on a lower-end portion of the display module  11  and directly connect the display controller  24  and the display  18  together. 
     The second recessed portion  38  is formed in the support member  32  via the first recessed portion  34  so as to extend through the support member  32  longitudinally. The electric wiring  36  connects the main board in the main body chassis  12  and the camera  26  (see  FIG. 1 ) together. Although the second recessed portion  38  is narrow and shallow, the second recessed portion  38  has a width and a depth of degrees which make arrangement of the electric wiring  36  therein possible. The second recessed portion  38  is a groove of a fixed depth which extends along the rear face  32   b  and has a curved shape in the side view (see  FIG. 2 ). For this reason, the support member  32  has an appropriate thickness on its vertical central part and thereby the strength is maintained. 
     The support member  32  is configured by a foaming material such as epoxy foams and so forth. The foaming material which is applied to the support member  32  is hard and has a foaming ratio of, for example, about 5 times. Such a foaming material as the above is not only light-weighted but also moderately hard and therefore is preferable to support the display  18 . In addition, the support member  32  is molded by using a die and it is possible to mold the rear face  32   b  into a curved face which fits a curved face of the inner face  22   a  of the back-face cover  22  and it is possible to form the first recessed portion  34  and the second recessed portion  38  in the support member  32 . That is, the first recessed portion  34  and the second recessed portion  38  are formed when molding the support member  32  and it is not necessary to form the first and second recessed portions  34  and  38  later by processing. 
     Although the display model  11  includes the display  18  and the support member  32  as described above, the display controller  24  may be further included as a constitutional element of the display module  11 . In a case where the display controller  24  is disposed in the first recessed portion  34  in advance as the constitutional element of the display module  11 , it becomes easy to handle the display module  11  when fixing the display module  11  to the back-face cover  22  in a process of assembling the display chassis  14  and at the time of maintenance. 
     The display module  11  and the back-face cover  22  are fixed together by interposing the adhesive tape between the rear face  32   b  and the inner face  22   a . This adhesive tape is, for example, elastic and removable and therefore it becomes possible to freely attach and detach the display module  11  by adhering and removing the adhesive tape at the time of maintenance and so forth. 
     Since the support member  32  is fixed to the back-face cover  22  with the adhesive tape, the display  18  is supported also by the back-face cover  22  via the support member  32 . That is, the display chassis  14  has a three-layered structure which is configured by the display  18 , the support member  32  and the back-face cover  22 , the display  18  is supported by two layers of the support member  32  and the back-face cover  22  and therefore the sufficient strength is maintained. 
     As apparent from the respective drawings, the support member  32  is not a divider type member which is configured by a plurality of constitutional elements but one integrated component. By configuring the support member  32  as one integrated component, it becomes possible for the support member  32  to uniformly support almost the entire surface of the rear face  18   a  of the display  18  in the well-balanced state and no distortion occurs on the display surface because there exists no discontinuous portion in the support member  32 . In addition, in a case where the support member  32  is configured as one integrated component in this way, it becomes possible to reduce the number of components and work of attaching the support member  32  to the back-face cover  22  is facilitated. 
     It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and it is possible to freely change the present invention within the range not deviating from the gist of the present invention. Although the disclosure has been described with respect to only a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that various other embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims. 
     DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 
     
         
           10 : information apparatus 
           11 : display module 
           12 : main body chassis 
           14 : display chassis 
           16 : hinge 
           18 : display 
           18   a : rear face 
           20 : forward-face frame 
           22 : back-face cover 
           22   a : inner face 
           24 : display controller (display control component) 
           26 : camera 
           32 : support member 
           32   a : forward face 
           34 : first recessed portion 
           36 : electric wiring 
           38 : second recessed portion 
           40 : FPC