Patent Description:
Consumer electronics are equipment for everyday use and include devices for entertainment, such as gaming devices; communications, such as cell phones; and home office use, such as personal computers. As consumer electronics internal modules becomes more integrated, and thus more compact, the need for electrometric shielding between components becomes more critical.

<CIT> relates to a flexible organic light emitting diode display device. A flexible display apparatus, comprises a flexible base layer defined with a first area, a second area and a bend allowance section between the first area and the second area of the flexible base layer a plurality of display pixels in the first area of the flexible base layer: and at least one driver integrated circuit (D-IC) placed in the second area of the flexible base laver.

<CIT> relates to a chip on film and display device including the same. A chip on film includes: a driving film, a wire layer formed on a first surface of the driving film, a driving chip connected to the wire layer, and an electromagnetic wave blocking layer formed on a second surface of the driving film, in which a mesh portion may be formed on a portion of the electromagnetic wave blocking layer.

<CIT> relates to shielding structures for wireless electronic devices with displays. Electronic devices such as computers and handheld devices are provided. The electronic devices may have electrical components such as displays that are driven by driver circuitry. During operation, the driver circuitry may generate radio-frequency noise. Communications circuitry in the electronic devices may be shielded from the radio-frequency noise by radio-frequency shielding structures. The shielding structures may be mounted on portions of the display module, on a cover glass layer, or on other structures such as housing structures. The radio-frequency shielding structures may be formed from one or more metal segments. The metal segments may run along edges of the display. A device housing may have a ground formed from a conductive peripheral member that runs around peripheral edges of the housing and a conductive plate that is connected to the conductive peripheral member. The radio-frequency shielding structure may be connected to the ground using conductive structures.

Implementations of the present disclosure are generally directed to a flexible display apparatus employed within, for example, a mobile communication device. More specifically, implementations are directed to a flexible display apparatus and methods of forming the flexible display apparatus. The flexible display apparatus includes a conductive shielding layer at a bending portion of a panel of the display, which prevents or inhibits electromagnetic interference in this area of the device.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flexible display apparatus as set out in claim <NUM>.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication device as set out in claim <NUM>. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a mobile communication device as set out in claim <NUM>.

The coating layer may comprise a polyimide (PI) substrate.

The shielding layer may be a layer of conductive tape positioned around the coating layer.

The conductive tape may have a thickness between <NUM> micrometers (pm) and <NUM> pm, and the coating layer may have a thickness of between <NUM> pm to <NUM> pm.

The panel is attached to either side of the shaft portion with pressure sensitive adhesive.

The conductive shielding layer may comprise a thin conductive layer deposited by sputtering or printing over the bending portion of the panel.

The shielding layer may have a thickness of between <NUM> pm and <NUM> pm.

The shaft portion may comprise a foam material, and the mandrel portion may comprise an empty space.

The shaft portion and the mandrel portion may be portions of a same component, and the same component may comprise a plastic material.

The plastic material may comprise a thermosoftening plastic.

Integrating shielding at a display module level provides, for example, increased effectiveness because the shielding is close to a source of electromagnetic interference. The shielding also saves internal space compared with added shielding at a system level.

A display in a consumer electronic device may have a cushion layer, which includes a layer comprised of a conductive material, such as copper. This cushion layer can be used for shielding from a panel backside. The display may include a bending portion/region around a mandrel. In some implementations, the panel has one layer of polyimide substrate and one metal trace layer at the bending portion. This bending portion, however, may not be shielded. Such a lack of shielding at the bending portion can allow electromagnetic interference to antennas and/or cause desense issues.

In view of the foregoing, implementations of the present disclosure are generally directed to a method and apparatus for shielding a bending portion of a flexible display that can be incorporated in electronic devices, such as a consumer electronic module. In some implementations, the described method adds a second or outer metal trace layer at the bending portion. In some implementations, the described method may also add a second polyimide substrate. In some implementations, the second metal trace layer can be utilized as a shielding layer, while the inner metal trace layer can be used for data, power, and so forth. For example, the shielding layer (e.g., the second metal trace layer) prevents and/or inhibits electromagnetic interference and other desense issues in this area of the device. For example, the shielding layer may prevent or inhibit electromagnetic interference to an antenna employed by a device that is comprised of the described flexible display.

<FIG> illustrate a flexible display which may be incorporated in electronic devices. <FIG> illustrates an isometric view of a flexible display <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a side view of the flexible display <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a side view of a flexible display <NUM>. Flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM> are substantially similar to one another and illustrate different examples of a mandrel portion <NUM> and a shaft portion <NUM> (see the description of <FIG> below for more detail).

The flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM> include D-IC <NUM>, display flex <NUM>, polarizer <NUM>, optically clear adhesive (OCA) <NUM>, pressure-sensitive adhesive <NUM>, mandrel portion <NUM>, shaft portion <NUM>, panel <NUM>, cover glass <NUM>, cushion layer <NUM>, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film <NUM>, and panel bending portion <NUM>. In some implementations, the D-IC <NUM> provides an interface function between a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit chips (ASIC), or a general-purpose peripheral interface and the flexible display <NUM> or <NUM>. In some implementations, the D-IC <NUM> accepts commands and/or other types of data using a general-purpose serial or parallel interface, such as transistor-transistor logic (TTL), complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), recommended standard <NUM> (RS232), serial peripheral interface (SPI), inter-integrated circuit (I2C) and so forth. In some implementations, the D-IC <NUM> generates signals with suitable voltage, current, timing, and demultiplexing to cause the flexible display (e.g., <NUM> or <NUM>) to display or otherwise show the desired text and/or image. In some implementations, the D-IC <NUM> comprises an application-specific microcontroller and may incorporate random-access memory (RAM), flash memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and/or read only memory (ROM), which may be a fixed ROM that includes firmware and/or display fonts.

The display flex <NUM> may be employed to connect data and power between, for example, the system and the display panel <NUM>. In some implementations, display flex <NUM> is a PI based, flexible printed circuit board. In some implementations, the Polarizer <NUM> comprises an optical filter that allows light waves of a specific polarization to pass through while blocking light waves of other polarizations. For example, the polarizer <NUM> can convert a beam of light of undefined or mixed polarization into a beam of well-defined polarization that is polarized light. In some implementations, PSA <NUM> is used for anti-reflection and sun glass readability for organic light emitting diodes (OLED) displays. The Polarizer <NUM> may be produced by venders such as, for example, <NUM>™, Nitto™, and Sumitomo™. In some implementations, OCA <NUM> comprises a layer of an optically clear adhesive that is used to attach the cover glass <NUM> and the polarizer <NUM>. OCA <NUM> may be produced by venders such as, for example, <NUM>™, Nitto™, and Mitsubishi™.

In some implementations, PSA <NUM> bonds the PET film <NUM> to the shaft portion <NUM>. In some implementations, PSA <NUM> is an adhesive which forms a bond when pressure is applied to marry the adhesive with the adherend (e.g., the surfaces of shaft portion <NUM> and the PET film <NUM>). In some implementations, PSA <NUM> forms a bond that holds at room temperatures.

In some implementations, the mandrel portion <NUM> and the shaft portion <NUM> can be used to help form the shape of panel bending portion <NUM>. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the mandrel portion <NUM> and the shaft portion <NUM> may be portions of the same component and may be comprised of a thermoplastic or thermosoftening plastic, such as polycarbonate- Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). Thermoplastic is a plastic material or a polymer that becomes pliable and/or moldable above a specific temperature and solidifies upon cooling. As shown in <FIG>, the shaft portion <NUM> can be an element that is formed of a material and the mandrel portion <NUM> can be empty space. In such embodiments, the shaft portion may be comprised of a foam material, such as polyurethane.

In some implementations, the panel <NUM> is comprised of a conductive material, such as copper or aluminum alloy. The panel <NUM> may also include a substrate (not shown) that is comprised of PI (e.g., plastic) and includes an active area where, for example, images are displayed.

As shown in <FIG>, the panel <NUM> can be wrapped around the mandrel portion <NUM> and the shaft portion <NUM> to form panel bending portion <NUM>. Once wrapped, the panel <NUM> can be adhered to the shaft portion <NUM> with the PSA <NUM>. In some implementations, the PET film <NUM> is applied to the surface of the panel <NUM> that wraps around the shaft portion <NUM>. In such implementations, PSA <NUM> bonds the shaft portion <NUM> to the PET film <NUM> that is applied to the inside surface of panel <NUM>. The layers of the formed panel bending portion <NUM> are shown in greater detail in <FIG>.

The cushion layer <NUM> protects panel <NUM> and provides electrical grounding and thermal dissipation. In some implementations, the cushion layer <NUM> is comprised of adhesion, foam, and conductive (e.g., copper) layers. The cover glass <NUM> is a top layer of flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., the screen) and may be comprised of a hard or toughened glass, such as aluminosilicate glass. Toughened glass is designed to resist shattering and scratching.

<FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> illustrate the panel bending portion <NUM> of flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM> with an added shielding layer at the bending. The shielding layer prevents and/or inhibits electromagnetic interference in this area of the device. For simplicity, the mandrel portion <NUM> and shaft portion <NUM> are illustrated as they are depicted in flexible display <NUM> (e.g., with an empty or air filled mandrel portion <NUM>); however, other examples include the mandrel portion <NUM> and shaft portion <NUM> comprising a single element, such as illustrated in flexible display <NUM> (as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>).

<FIG> illustrates a side view of an example <NUM> of a double layer panel bending, with a shielding layer at the bending. As depicted, the panel bending portion <NUM> is an element of a flexible display, such as flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM>. The example <NUM> includes panel <NUM>, shaft portion <NUM>, mandrel portion <NUM>, and panel bending portion <NUM>, as shown in flexible display <NUM>. As depicted, the panel bending portion <NUM> includes inner panel layer <NUM>, outer layer panel <NUM>, coating layer <NUM>, and grounding pads or vias <NUM>.

In some implementations, the inner panel layer <NUM> and the outer layer panel <NUM> are metal trace layers comprised of a conductive material, such as copper or aluminum. The coating layer <NUM> prevents moisture ingression and adjusts locations of stress in the panel member at the panel bending <NUM>. The coating layer <NUM> may be comprised of a curable epoxy, such as Loctitie. In some implementations, the coating layer <NUM> is <NUM> pm~<NUM> pm thick and the inner panel layer <NUM> has a sub micron thickness.

In the depicted example, the grounding pads <NUM> are embedded in panel <NUM> (in the inner panel layer <NUM>). Grounding pads <NUM> may be employed to electrically connect the outer layer panel <NUM> to the inner panel layer <NUM> (e.g., the metal trace) inside of the panel <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrate respectively a side view of examples <NUM> and <NUM> of a panel bending portion <NUM> in which conductive tape or foil is attached over the bending. As depicted, the panel bending portion <NUM> is an element of a flexible display, such as flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM>. The example <NUM> and <NUM> include panel <NUM>, shaft portion <NUM>, mandrel portion <NUM>, and panel bending portion <NUM> as shown in flexible display <NUM>. The panel bending portion <NUM> includes inner panel layer <NUM>, coating layer <NUM>, conductive tape layer <NUM>, and insulation layer <NUM>. Inner panel layer <NUM> and coating layer <NUM> are substantially similar to the same components of example <NUM>. In some implementations the applied conductive tape or foil includes conductive layer <NUM> and insulation layer <NUM>, which form layers of the panel bending portion <NUM> once the panel is bent around the shaft and mandrel portions.

In some implementations, the conductive tape is <NUM> pm -<NUM> pm thick. The conductive tape may be added to the panel <NUM> before the bending process takes place and after the coating layer <NUM> is applied to the panel <NUM>. The conductive tape may be attached to the panel <NUM> by a conductive PSA, and then bent together with panel <NUM> during a bending process to form panel bending portion <NUM>. In examples <NUM> and <NUM>, the coating layer <NUM> may be thinner (from <NUM> pm to <NUM> pm) than the coating in example <NUM> of <FIG> because of the added extra shielding layer (e.g., conductive tape layer <NUM>). In some implementations, the coating layer <NUM> may be removed completely and replaced by the conductive tape layer <NUM> and insulation tape layer <NUM>.

As depicted in <FIG>, example <NUM> includes grounding pads or vias <NUM>, which are embedded in panel <NUM> (in the inner panel layer <NUM>). Grounding pads <NUM> are substantially similar to the same components of example <NUM> and may be employed to electrically connect the conductive tape layer <NUM> to the inner panel layer <NUM> (e.g., the metal trace) inside of the panel <NUM>. According to an embodiment of the invention, as depicted in <FIG>, the embodiment <NUM> includes opening <NUM>. The opening <NUM> is formed in the insulation tape layer <NUM> to expose a portion of the conductive tape layer <NUM>. The portion of conductive tape layer <NUM> exposed by the opening <NUM> is employed to connect to the system ground for shielding, by, for example, a conductive PSA, paste, or spring finger.

<FIG> illustrates respectively a side view of examples <NUM>, <NUM>, and embodiment <NUM> of a panel bending portion <NUM> in which a thin layer of conductive material, such as copper or aluminum, is deposited by sputtering or printing over a layer of the panel bending portion <NUM>. As depicted, panel bending portion <NUM> is an element of a flexible display, such as flexible displays <NUM> and <NUM>. The examples <NUM>, <NUM>, and embodiment <NUM> include panel <NUM>, shaft portion <NUM>, mandrel portion <NUM>, and panel bending portion <NUM>, as shown in flexible display <NUM>.

As depicted in <FIG>, example <NUM> comprises a panel bending portion <NUM> that includes inner panel layer <NUM>, coating layer <NUM>, and conductive sputtered layer <NUM>. Inner panel layer <NUM> and coating layer <NUM> are substantially similar to the same components of examples <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. In some implementations, conductive sputtered layer <NUM> is deposited as a shielding layer at the panel bending portion <NUM> by sputtering or printing the conductive material inside of the coating layer <NUM> (e.g., before the coating layer <NUM> is applied) and over the inner panel layer <NUM>. In some implementations, the conductive sputtered layer <NUM> is applied to a thickness of between <NUM> pm ~<NUM> pm.

As depicted in <FIG> and <FIG>, example <NUM> and embodiment <NUM> each have a panel bending portion <NUM> that includes inner panel layer <NUM>, coating layer <NUM>, conductive sputtered layer <NUM>, and insulation tape layer <NUM>. Inner panel layer <NUM> and coating layer <NUM> are substantially similar to the same components of examples <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. In some implementations, conductive sputtered layer <NUM> is deposited as a shielding layer at the panel bending portion <NUM> by sputtering or printing the conductive material over the coating layer <NUM> (e.g., after the coating layer <NUM> is applied). In some implementations, the conductive sputtered layer <NUM> is applied to a thickness of between <NUM> pm ~<NUM> pm. Insulating tape layer <NUM> is added over the conductive sputtered layer <NUM>. In some implementations, insulating tape layer <NUM> is comprised of polyester or PI.

As depicted in <FIG> and <FIG>, examples <NUM> and <NUM> each include grounding pads or vias <NUM>, which are embedded in panel <NUM> (in the inner panel layer <NUM>). Grounding pads <NUM> are substantially similar to the same components of example <NUM> and <NUM> and may be employed to electrically connect the conductive sputtered layer <NUM> (whether inside the coating layer <NUM> as depicted in embodiment <NUM> or outside of the coating layer <NUM> as depicted in embodiment <NUM>) to the inner panel layer <NUM> (e.g., the metal trace) inside of the panel <NUM> According to an embodiment of the invention, as depicted in <FIG>, embodiment <NUM> includes opening <NUM>. Similar to embodiment <NUM> in <FIG>, the opening <NUM> is formed in the insulation tape layer <NUM> to expose a portion of the conductive sputtered layer <NUM>. The portion of conductive tape layer <NUM> exposed by the opening <NUM> is employed to connect to the system ground for shielding, by, for example, a conductive PSA, paste, or spring finger.

<FIG> depicts a flow diagram of an example process (<NUM>) employed to manufacture a flexible display as described above. The first step in the described process wraps (<NUM>) a panel, such as panel <NUM>, around a mandrel portion, such as mandrel portion <NUM>, to form a bending portion of the panel. The next step in the process attaches (<NUM>) the wrapped panel on either side of a shaft portion, such as shaft portion <NUM>. The next step positions (<NUM>) the panel and wrapped mandrel portion between a cover glass element, such as cover glass <NUM>, and a D-IC, such as D-IC <NUM>. The next step in the process forms (<NUM>) a shielding layer, such as outer layer panel <NUM>, conductive tape layer <NUM>, or conductive sputtered layer <NUM>, positioned around the bending portion of the panel. The shielding layer is configured to inhibit electromagnetic signals through the bending portion.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular implementations of the invention.

Claim 1:
A flexible display apparatus, comprising:
a cover glass element (<NUM>);
a driver integrated circuit (<NUM>);
a mandrel portion (<NUM>);
a shaft portion (<NUM>); and
a panel (<NUM>), positioned between the cover glass element (<NUM>) and the driver integrated circuit, and comprising an inner panel layer (<NUM>) wrapped around at least a portion of the mandrel portion (<NUM>) to form a bending portion (<NUM>) of the panel (<NUM>), the panel (<NUM>) being attached on either side of the shaft portion (<NUM>);
characterised by further comprising:
a conductive shielding layer (<NUM>, <NUM>) positioned on the inner panel layer (<NUM>) at the bending portion (<NUM>) and configured to inhibit electromagnetic signals through the bending portion (<NUM>);
a coating layer (<NUM>), wherein the coating layer is positioned between the conductive shielding layer (<NUM>, <NUM>) and the inner panel layer (<NUM>);
an insulation layer (<NUM>) positioned over the conductive shielding layer (<NUM>, <NUM>) and
an opening (<NUM>) formed in the insulation layer (<NUM>) to expose a portion of the conductive shielding layer (<NUM>, <NUM>) to connect the conductive shielding layer (<NUM>, <NUM>) to a system ground for shielding.