Patent Description:
In an electronic device such as a smart phone or an AI speaker, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) yarn may be used to fabricate a housing (e.g., a cover or an exterior material) of the electronic device. In similar regards, publication <CIT> relates to electronic devices that form a cover for mobile devices and include a fabric layer that facilitates keyboard functionalities.

In the case of a TPU cover that includes a lighting module, a user is able to view simple information (e.g., time information, message information, alarm information, battery information, etc.) without opening the TPU cover. In this case, the TPU cover may provide information visibility by being fabricated in a flat shape in which a translucent ink (e.g., PU ink) is thinly coated on a transparent film (e.g., a TPU film), but may have restrictions in representing texture on the exterior thereof. For example, when a TPU yarn weaving technique is applied, it is possible to provide a sensation of a woven feeling that cannot be felt in a flat-shaped housing, or to implement multiple colors depending on a weaving method. However, since the light emitted from a light emission module is not naturally (directly) transmitted to the outside, the readability of information provided through the TPU cover may be deteriorated.

According to various example embodiments of the disclosure, a housing for an electronic device includes a woven material including TPU yarns, and a light emission module comprising light emitting circuitry, wherein the light emission module(<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is configured to emit light through the woven material(<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) to display varying information about the electronic device on the surface of the woven material(<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), wherein the TPU yarn includes a transparent core comprising a monofilament and TPU coating surrounding the core, and wherein the light is transmitted through at least one of the TPU yarns.

According to various example embodiments of the disclosure, a housing of an electronic device is provided, corresponding to the appended claims.

The electronic devices may include, for example, and without limitation, a portable communication device (e.g., a smartphone), a computer device, a portable multimedia device, a portable medical device, a camera, a wearable device, a home appliance, or the like.

It should be appreciated that various example embodiments of the present disclosure and the terms used therein are not intended to limit the technological features set forth herein to particular embodiments and include various changes, equivalents, or replacements for a corresponding embodiment. As used herein, each of such phrases as "A or B," "at least one of A and B," "at least one of A or B," "A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," and "at least one of A, B, or C," may include any one of, or all possible combinations (e.g., and/or) of the items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases. It is to be understood that if an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to, with or without the term "operatively" or "communicatively", as "coupled with," "coupled to," "connected with," or "connected to" another element (e.g., a second element), the element may be coupled with the other element directly (e.g., wiredly), wirelessly, or via a third element.

As used herein, the term "module" may include a unit implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combinations thereof, and may interchangeably be used with other terms, for example, "logic," "logic block," "part," or "circuitry".

Wherein, the term "non-transitory" simply means that the storage medium is a tangible device, but this term does not differentiate between where data is semi-permanently stored in the storage medium and where the data is temporarily stored in the storage medium.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example flat TPU cover according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, <FIG> illustrates an electronic device <NUM> in the state of being provided with a cover (e.g., an LED view cover) (e.g., a front surface <NUM> of a cover and a rear surface <NUM> of a cover). An information display region <NUM> may be located on the front surface <NUM> of the cover and information on, for example, and without limitation, at least one of time, a message, an alarm, battery information, or the like, may be displayed by a light emission module mounted on the cover. For example, the material of the cover may be fabricated by thinly coating a translucent ink on a transparent polyurethane (PU) film. In this case, since the method in which the light emission module passes through the material of the cover is used, the exterior appearance of the cover may be concisely processed in a flat surface or a shape similar to a flat surface in order to provide visibility of information.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a cross section of the example flat TPU cover according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, <FIG> illustrates a cross section of the cover shown in <FIG>. The cover of the electronic device <NUM> includes a PU ink <NUM>, a TPU film skin <NUM>, hot melt <NUM>, an injection-molded product <NUM>, and a light emission module (e.g., including light emitting circuitry) <NUM> in this order from the top. For example, the PU ink <NUM> may be translucent, and the TPU film skin <NUM> may be transparent. The injection-molded product <NUM> may be a material having rigidity such that the cover is not easily bent, and may have fine holes such that the light of the light emission module <NUM> can pass therethrough. The hot melt <NUM> may be an adhesive that prevents (and/or reduces a likelihood that) the injection-molded product <NUM> and the TPU film skin <NUM> from being separated from each other in a bonded state. Accordingly, the cover may be divided into an outer appearance region <NUM> that exhibits appearance characteristics (e.g., color, texture and the like) and a base region <NUM> that supports the shape of the cover. Since the cover having the shape illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG> is a cover having a simple shape, it is insufficient to emphasize an emotive aspect to a user.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams each illustrating a TPU material in a woven pattern using a polyfilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, <FIG> may be a cover in which a weave pattern is applied in to add a more emotive element to the cover of the electronic device of <FIG>. Similarly, the woven pattern cover may include an outer appearance region <NUM> that exhibits appearance characteristics and a base area <NUM> that supports the shape of the cover, and may be provided with a light emission module <NUM> that emits light. For example, a woven pattern cover may be advantageous in that the TPU yarns are woven to provide a warm emotive quality. However, in the case of a TPU yarn-woven material, it may be difficult for the light emitted from the light emission module <NUM> to pass through the woven material because the TPU yarns, which are poor in transparency, are alternately arranged. For example, even if light is emitted from the light emission module <NUM>, most of the emitted light may leak through voids <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> that may occur due to the characteristics of the woven material. For example, since the smoothness of the woven material is low due to unevenness in size of holes between the woven yarns and in cross section of the woven material due to the weaving method, the light may be scattered when passing through the woven material. Thus, since the light transmittance differs for each hole in the woven material, light may not evenly pass through the cover, the readability of information provided by the cover may be remarkably deteriorated.

According to various embodiments, as illustrated in <FIG>, a problem in information readability may be caused due to unevenness in size of the holes of and in cross-section of the woven material described with reference to <FIG>. For example, a relatively large amount of light can be transmitted in a portion <NUM> in which the size of holes is large or the spacing of TPU yarns is wide. As another example, a relatively small amount of light can be transmitted in a portion <NUM> in which the size of holes is small or the spacing of TPU yarns is narrow. Accordingly, since the light cannot penetrate evenly due to the characteristics of the weaving method, the readability of information provided to the user may be remarkably deteriorated.

According to various embodiments, the readability of information provided to the user may vary depending on the color of the woven material (e.g., brightness of color). Since the light emitted from the light emission module <NUM> does not directly pass through the material, there may be a difference in light illumination depending on the color of the material. For example, referring to reference numeral <NUM> in <FIG>, in a bright material, since light illumination may be provided by a certain level or more, a readability of information may be maintained. As another example, referring to reference numeral <NUM> in <FIG>, in a dark material, since almost no light illumination is provided, it may be difficult to know what kind of information is provided.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams illustrating an external appearance and a cross section of an example polyfilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments;.

According to various embodiments, <FIG> and <FIG> illustrate an example TPU coated yarn in which a core formed using polyfilaments is coated with TPU. For example, the TPU yarns may be produced by connecting a core <NUM> to a die <NUM> and coating TPU <NUM> on the connected core <NUM>. For reference, when a TPU yarn is produced, it is possible to adjust the brightness, saturation, color, and so on of the TPU yarn by adjusting the amount, color, and so on of coated TPU. Referring to cross sections <NUM> and <NUM> of TPU yarns, it can be seen that the TPU yarns including TPU coating <NUM> and <NUM> and the polyfilaments <NUM> and <NUM>. For example, in the case of using the polyfilaments <NUM> and <NUM> in the core <NUM>, light may be scattered without being transmitted directly due to the opacity of the core.

<FIG> is diagram illustrating an external appearance of an example monofilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, <FIG> illustrates an example TPU coated yarn in which a core formed using a monofilament is coated with TPU. For example, a core <NUM> may be connected to a die <NUM>, and TPU <NUM> may be coated on the connected core <NUM> to produce a TPU yarn. Referring to an area <NUM> of the TPU yarn, it can be seen that the TPU yarn includes TPU coating <NUM>, and a monofilament <NUM>. For example, in the case of using the monofilament <NUM> in the core <NUM>, light can be directly transmitted through the TPU yarn due to the transparency of the core. This makes it possible to address the readability problem of woven materials fabricated using polyfilament-based TPU yarns.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example woven pattern TPU cover using a monofilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, <FIG> illustrates a cover <NUM> fabricated using a woven material produced using monofilament-based TPU yarns. The cover <NUM> may include an outer appearance region <NUM> that exhibits appearance characteristics and a base region <NUM> that supports the shape of the cover (e.g., hot melt <NUM> and an injection-molded product <NUM>), and may be provided with a light-emission module <NUM> configured to emit light. Since the monofilament-based TPU yarns are used for the cover <NUM>, the light transmittance may be excellent even if the weaving method is used. For example, the readability of information provided by the cover <NUM> may be very good due to the light <NUM> and <NUM> passing through the bodies of the TPU yarns as well as the light <NUM> emitted through the holes produced due to the weaving method. Accordingly, the cover <NUM> is able to provide warm sensibility of the woven material and to improve the readability of information.

<FIG> is diagram illustrating a cross section of an example monofilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, as can be seen from the cross section of the TPU yarn illustrated in <FIG>, the TPU yarn includes TPU coating <NUM> and a monofilament <NUM>. For example, since the monofilament <NUM> is used for the core, the light is directly transmitted without scattered, so that the smoothness can be maintained.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams each illustrating an example woven pattern TPU material fabricated using a monofilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments.

<FIG> and <FIG> show that a cover fabricated using a woven material of mono-type TPU yarns transmits light evenly. The cover may include an outer appearance region <NUM> that exhibits appearance characteristics and a base area <NUM> that supports the shape of the cover, and may be provided with a light emission module <NUM> that emits light. Since the monofilament-based TPU yarns are used for the cover, the light transmittance may be excellent even if the weaving method is used. Accordingly, the light <NUM> emitted from the light emission module <NUM> can be evenly transmitted through the cover. For example, referring information display regions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> in <FIG>, it can be seen that light is evenly transmitted regardless of the holes or the spacing between TPU yarns in the woven material, and the readability of information is excellent.

<FIG>, <FIG> are diagrams each illustrating an example method of utilizing a woven pattern TPU material using a monofilament-based TPU yarn according to various embodiments as a housing of an electronic device.

According to various embodiments, <FIG>, <FIG> illustrate an embodiment utilizing various kinds of woven materials produced using monofilament-based TPU yarns. Although embodiments applied to the cover of the electronic device <NUM> have been described with reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, a woven material fabricated using monofilament-based TPU yarns may also be applied to a housing forming the outer appearance of an electronic device <NUM>. For example, the various embodiments disclosed herein may be utilized in various electronic devices to emphasize the emotive quality in the region that displays information.

According to various embodiments, referring to <FIG>, a front cover <NUM> of a smart phone, which is fabricated using a woven material of monofilament-based TPU yarns, is capable of displaying alarm information <NUM> and/or call information <NUM> in the information display region.

According to various embodiments, referring to <FIG>, a cover <NUM> of a tablet PC, which is fabricated using a woven material of monofilament-based TPU yarns, is capable of displaying battery information and time information in an information display region <NUM>.

According to various embodiments, referring to <FIG>, a rear cover <NUM> of a smart phone, which is fabricated using a woven material of monofilament-based TPU yarns, is capable of displaying battery information in an information display region <NUM>. In this case, it is possible to utilize not only the front surface but also the rear surface of the cover, so that more various information can be provided to the user together with the front surface.

According to various embodiments, referring to <FIG>, a material fabricated using monofilament-based TPU yarns may be utilized as a part or all of the housing of a speaker <NUM> (e.g., an AI speaker). At least one piece of information related to the contents to be reproduced (e.g., title, playback time, volume, playback status, etc.) may be displayed in an information display area <NUM> of the speaker <NUM>.

According to various embodiments, the disclosure is capable of providing a user with an emotive quality through a fabric that is comparable to a conventional plastic PU material. In addition, it is possible to suppress the scattering of light generated in the existing TPU-woven material and to improve the readability of light information. The TPU woven material of the disclosure is able to improve the readability of light information regardless of the brightness of color, so that the color of TPU-woven material can be utilized variously.

A housing of an electronic device according to various embodiments includes include a woven material in which TPU yarns are woven, and a light emission module, in which light emitted from the light emission module is directly transmitted through the woven material to display at least one piece of information about the electronic device.

The TPU yarn includes a core and TPU coating surrounding the core.

The TPU coating may render different brightnesses based on at least one of a transparent liquid phase, a pigment, an opaque additive, and/or carbon black.

The TPU coating may render different saturations based on at least one of a transparent liquid phase, a pigment, an opaque additive, and/or carbon black.

The TPU coating may render different colors based on at least one of a transparent liquid phase, a pigment, an opaque additive, and/or a carbon black.

The electronic device may be a smart phone.

The electronic device may be a tablet PC.

The electronic device may be an AI speaker.

The housing may cover the front surface of the electronic device.

The housing may cover the rear surface of the electronic device.

The housing may enclose the periphery of the display device.

The at least one piece of information may include power information of the electronic device.

The at least one piece of information may include time information of the electronic device.

The at least one piece of information may include alarm information of the electronic device.

The at least one piece of information may include call information of the electronic device.

The at least one piece of information may include content reproduction information of the electronic device.

The at least one piece of information may include emoticon information of the electronic device.

Claim 1:
A housing for an electronic device, the housing comprising:
a woven material (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising TPU, thermoplastic polyurethane, yarns and
holes between the TPU yarns; and
a light emission module (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising light emitting circuitry and disposed
behind a surface of the woven material,
wherein the light emission module (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is configured to emit light through the woven material (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), characterized in that said light emission module (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is further configured to display varying information about the electronic device in a form of variable light pattern, on the surface of the woven material (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), based on the light being transmitted through at least one of the TPU yarns, and in that the TPU yarn includes a transparent core and TPU coating (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) surrounding the core, the core comprising a transparent monofilament (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).