PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10069100-B2
Application Number: US-201615234416-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Flexible device with decoupled display layers

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a display. The device and display may bend about a bend axis. The display may have layers such as an organic light-emitting diode layer or other layer with pixels, a touch sensor layer, a protective layer with a polarizer, and a support layer. Lubrication layers formed from textured surfaces, slippery coatings, and lubricants such as oil may be interposed between the layers of the display so that the display layers slip past each other during bending of the device and display and minimize display stress. A device housing may have a recess or other structures that retain the display within the housing while allowing the display layers to shift relative to each other during bending. Elastomeric gaskets and elastomeric lubricant retention structures may be used to mount the display layers in the housing and to retain liquid lubricant within the layers of the display.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing that bends about a bend axis; 
 a display in the housing that overlaps the bend axis and bends as the housing bends about the bend axis, wherein the display includes display layers separated by at least one layer that allows the display layers to slip past each other as the display bends about the bend axis; and 
 first and second gaskets that hold the display layers in place within the housing while allowing the display layers to shift relative to each other as the display is bent about the bend axis, wherein the display layers extend between the first and second gaskets, wherein the display has an upper surface on which images are displayed, a lower surface opposite the upper surface, and an edge interposed between the upper and lower surfaces, wherein the first and second gaskets are separated by a gap that extends along the edge of the display, and wherein the display layers shift within the gap. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the layer that allows the display layers to slip past each other comprises lubricant. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the lubricant comprises liquid lubricant. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein the display layers have indices of refraction and wherein the liquid lubricant comprise an oil that is index matched to the indices of refraction of the display layers. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  further comprising a lubricant retention structure along at least one edge of the display layers. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 5  wherein the lubricant retention structure is formed from an elastomeric material and is configured to form a reservoir for at least some of the liquid lubricant. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  further comprising an anchor structure that overlaps the bend axis and spans the liquid lubricant to hold the display layers together. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the layer that allows the display layers to slip past each other comprises a biaxial adhesive. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the layer that allows the display layers to slip past each other includes a coating on at least one of the display layers. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the coating comprises a fluoropolymer coating. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the coating has a textured surface. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  wherein the layer that allows the display layers to slip past each other includes liquid lubricant. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 12  wherein the at least one layer that allows the display layers to slip past each other display layers includes first, second, and third slippery layers and wherein the display layers include:
 a support layer; 
 an organic light-emitting diode layer that is separated from the support layer by the first slippery layer; 
 a touch panel that is separated from the organic light-emitting diode layer by the second slippery layer; and 
 a layer that includes a polarizer and that is separated from the touch panel by the third slippery layer. 
 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a recess in the housing that retains the display layers while allowing the display layers to slip past each other as the display is bent about the bend axis. 
     
     
       15. A display, comprising:
 at least first and second layers that bend about a bend axis; 
 a lubrication layer interposed between the first and second layers that allows the first and second layers to slip past each other as the first and second layers are bent about the bend axis; and 
 a lubricant retention structure having a partially hollow interior portion that serves as a reservoir for the lubrication layer, wherein the lubricant retention structure has first and second opposing ends, wherein the first end is coupled to and moves with the first layer, wherein the second is coupled to and moves with the second layer, and wherein the reservoir is interposed between the first and second ends and is aligned with the lubrication layer. 
 
     
     
       16. The display defined in  claim 15  wherein the first layer comprises an organic light-emitting diode display layer having pixels. 
     
     
       17. The display defined in  claim 16  wherein the lubrication layer comprises oil. 
     
     
       18. The display defined in  claim 15  wherein the lubrication layer comprises a liquid lubricant and wherein the first layer has a textured surface in contact with the liquid lubricant. 
     
     
       19. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a display mounted in the housing, wherein the display comprises:
 first, second, third and fourth layers; and 
 a first lubrication layer between the first and third layers, a second lubrication layer between the second and third layers, and a third lubrication layer between the third and fourth layers, wherein the first, second, and third lubrication layers include at least one structure selected from the group consisting of: a fluoropolymer coating, a textured surface, and a liquid lubricant; and 
 
 first and second gaskets that hold the display in place within the housing, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth layers extend between the first and second gaskets, wherein the display has an upper surface on which images are displayed, a lower surface opposite the upper surface, and an edge interposed between the upper and lower surfaces, wherein the first and second gaskets are separated by a gap that extends along the edge of the display, and wherein the first, second, third, and fourth layers shift within the gap.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/232,196, filed Sep. 24, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to electronic devices with displays. 
     Electronic devices often include displays for presenting images to a user. Displays are typically formed from rigid planar substrates. Although satisfactory in many situations, rigid displays such as these may be difficult to integrate into certain devices, such as devices with bendable housings. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved displays for electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a display. The device and display may bend about a bend axis. The display may have flexible layers to accommodate bending. 
     The display layers may include layers such as an organic light-emitting diode layer or other layer with pixels, a touch sensor layer, a protective layer with a polarizer, and a support layer. Lubrication layers formed from textured surfaces, slippery coatings, and lubricants such as oil or other liquids may be interposed between the layers of the display so that the display layers slip past each other during bending of the device and display. This helps prevent stress from building up in the display as the display bends and therefore allows the display to bend without damage. 
     The electronic device may have a housing in which the display is mounted. The housing may have a recess that receives the edges of the display or may have other structures that help retain the display within the housing while allowing the display layers to shift relative to each other during bending. Elastomeric gaskets and elastomeric lubricant retention structures may be used to mount the display layers in the housing and to retain liquid lubricant within the layers of the display. Anchors may be used to hold display layers together during bending. An anchor may, as an example, bridge a layer of liquid lubricant that is interposed between adjacent displayer layers and may overlap the bend axis. 
     Further features will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device having a flexible display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device having a flexible display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are cross-sectional side views of electronic devices with flexible displays in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display layer with a flexible portion in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative flexible display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view adjacent layers in a flexible display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative adjacent layers in a flexible display in a configuration in which a sealing structure such as a lubricant retention structure has been formed along an edge of the display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device with a display retention groove in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display and housing structure in an unbent display configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of the display and housing structure of  FIG. 10  in a bent display configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional side view of a bent display portion showing how anchor structures may be formed between adjacent layers and may bridge a lubrication layer such as a layer of liquid lubricant in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with a flexible display is shown in  FIG. 1 . Electronic device  10  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, an electronic book, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a wearable or miniature device of other types, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a computer display that includes an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , device  10  is a portable device such as a cellular telephone, media player, tablet computer, electronic book, watch or other wrist device, or other portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device  10  if desired. The example of  FIG. 1  is merely illustrative. 
     In the example of  FIG. 1 , device  10  includes a display such as display  14  mounted in housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). Housing  12  may have hinge structures such as hinge  20  to allow device  10  to fold or otherwise bend about bend axis  22  (sometimes referred to as a fold axis, hinge axis, etc.). 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch sensor electrodes for display  14  may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures, metal electrode structures in a display layer, or other conductive electrode structures. A touch sensor may be formed using electrodes or other structures on a display layer that contains a pixel array or on a separate touch panel layer that is attached to the pixel array (e.g., using adhesive). 
     Display  14  may include pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, electrophoretic pixels, microelectromechanical (MEMs) shutter pixels, electrowetting pixels, micro-light-emitting diodes (small crystalline semiconductor die), organic light-emitting diodes (e.g., a thin-film organic light-emitting diode display), quantum dot light-emitting diodes, or pixels based on other display technologies. Configurations in which display  14  is a light-emitting diode display such as an organic light-emitting diode display may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
     Center portion  14 B of display  14  (and, if desired, some or all of the remaining portions of display  14 ) may be flexible to allow display  14  (e.g., rigid outer display portions  14 A and  14 C) to be bent along bend axis  22  of device  10 . Display  14  may include multiple layers. The layers of display  14  may include one or more layers such as an outer protective layer with a polarizer, a touch panel layer, a thin-film transistor layer containing thin-film transistor circuitry and associated organic light-emitting diodes or other pixels on a polymer substrate, and a supporting backing layer. More display layers or fewer display layers and/or different types of layers may be included in display  14 , if desired. 
     Display layers may be formed from plastic (polymer), glass, metal, or other suitable materials. When constructed from sufficiently thin layers of material (e.g., 20 microns or less, 30 microns or less, 50 microns or less, 1-40 microns, or other suitable thicknesses), the display layers will not generally experience potentially damaging plastic deformation or cracking. In a display configuration with multiple thin layers such as these, display  14  may therefore be bent back and forth about a bend axis without damaging display  14 . 
     To prevent adjacent thin layers of display  14  from sticking to each other and thereby increasing undesired stresses within the display layers, adjacent layers of display  14  may be separated by structures that allow the layers to slip past each other during bending. For example, adjacent display layers may be separated by slippery structures. The slippery structures may include slippery textured surfaces, surfaces with slippery coatings, slippery materials (lubricants), and/or other non-stick structures. Index-of-refraction-matching oil may be used to suppress reflections between adjacent display layers while providing lubrication. Decoupling the layers of display  14  from each other in this way allows the layers to slide over each other (e.g., one layer may slip past another with a sheering motion) to prevent excess stress from building up in display  14 . As a result, tight bends may be formed in display  14  without adversely affecting display  14 . 
     A schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device such as device  10  of  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may have control circuitry  16 . Control circuitry  16  may include storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device  10 . The storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry  16  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . The processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry in device  10  such as input-output devices  18  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  18  may include buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators, cameras, sensors, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, etc. A user can control the operation of device  10  by supplying commands through input-output devices  18  and may receive status information and other output from device  10  using the output resources of input-output devices  18 . Input-output devices  18  may include a display such as display  14  of  FIG. 1 . 
     Control circuitry  16  may be used to run software on device  10  such as operating system code and applications. During operation of device  10 , the software running on control circuitry  16  may display images on display  14  (e.g., video, still images such as text, alphanumeric labels, photographs, icons, other graphics, etc.) using an array of pixels in display  14 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , device  10  may be folded (bent outwardly by 180° or other suitable amount) about bend axis  22  so that display  14  is visible from the outside of device  10  in its folded state. In this configuration, a first portion of display  14  faces outwardly from one half of device  10  and a second portion of display  14  faces outwardly from another half of device  10  (and faces away from the first portion).  FIG. 4  shows how device  10  may be folded inwardly by 180° or other suitable amount about bend axis  22  so that display  14  is protected within the interior of device  10 . Device  10  may have hinges that allow outward bending (folding) of the type shown in  FIG. 3 , that allow inward bending (folding) of the type shown in  FIG. 4 , or that allow bending of both the type shown in  FIG. 3  and the type shown in  FIG. 4 . Configurations in which device  10  is flexed by different amounts (e.g., more than 180° or less than 180°) may also be used. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the layers of display  14  (i.e., display layers  24 ) may have outer portions  24 A and  24 C that are formed on opposing sides of center portion  24 B. Outer portions  24 A and  24 C may be rigid planar layers or may be planar flexible layers. Configurations in which portions  24 A and  24 C have non-planar shapes (and are rigid or flexible) may also be used. Between portions  24 A and  24 C of display layers  24 , display layers  24  may have a flexible portion such as portion  24 B. Portion  24 B may bend about bend axis  22  to allow display  14  to bend as housing  12  is bent about hinge  20  (e.g., display portion  14 B may bend about axis  22  to allow display portions  14 A and  14 C to rotate relative to each other). 
     Display  14  may have any suitable number of layers  24 . A cross-sectional side view of display  14  in an illustrative configuration in which display  14  has four layers  24  is shown in  FIG. 6 . If desired, display  14  may have five or more layers  24  or may have fewer than four layers (i.e., two or three). The example of  FIG. 6  is merely illustrative. 
     The bottommost of layers  24  in  FIG. 6  (layer B) may be a supporting layer and may be formed from a material such as metal, plastic, or glass (as examples). This layer may provide the other layers  24  in display  14  with structural support, may help protect display  14  from damage (e.g., damage from impact from a hard object, damage from inadvertent twisting, etc.), may help ensure that display  14  is planar, and may otherwise help strengthen and support display  14 . The thickness of layer B may be about 20-50 microns, less than 50 microns, less than 30 microns, or other suitable thickness (as an example). 
     Topmost display layer T of layers  24  may include functional layers such as layer  32  (e.g., a scratch resistant surface of the type that is sometimes referred to as a hardcoat, an antismudge layer, an antireflection layer, an antistatic layer, layers that perform the functions of two or more of these layers, etc.), a polarizer layer (e.g., layer  36 ), and an interposed supporting layer such as polymer substrate  34 . The thickness of layer T may be, for example, about 15-35 microns, less than 50 microns, less than 30 microns, or other suitable thickness. 
     Layer MB may contain an array of pixels  26  such as pixels based on light-emitting diodes. Layer MB may, for example, include an array of pixels  26  formed from organic light-emitting diodes or other light-emitting diodes on substrate  28 . Pixels  26  may include thin-film transistor circuitry (e.g., pixel circuits for controlling the application of current to light-emitting diodes in pixels  26 ), moisture barrier layers (sometimes referred to as encapsulation layers) that cover the sensitive portions of the pixels, patterned metal lines that form signal interconnects such as data lines and horizontal control lines in the thin-film transistor circuitry, buffer layers that separate the thin-film transistor circuitry from substrate  28 , and/or other organic light-emitting diode display layer structures. Layer MB may sometimes be referred to as an organic light-emitting diode layer or pixel layer. The thickness of layer MB may be about 20 to 25 microns, may be less than 50 microns, may be less than 30 microns, or may have any other suitable thickness. 
     Touch sensor structures may be formed from portions of layer MB (e.g., capacitive touch sensor electrodes may be formed as part of the layers of conductive material in layer MB) or may be formed from a separate touch panel layer such as illustrative touch sensor layer MT. With one illustrative configuration, layer MT includes a polymer substrate with a single-sided or double-sided array of transparent capacitive touch sensor electrodes formed from indium tin oxide, thin (and therefore transparent) metal, or other transparent conductive material. Layer MT of layers  24  may have a thickness of 5-70 microns, 10-25 microns, less than 50 microns, less than 30 microns, or other suitable thickness. 
     Non-stick structures such as slippery layers  30  may be interposed between adjacent layers  24 . Layers  30  may include slippery coatings (e.g., fluoropolymer coatings and/or textured portions) on one or both of the opposing surfaces of a set of adjacent layers  24 , may include layers of lubricants such as oils (e.g., index matching oil having an index of refraction that matches that of adjacent display layers to suppress light reflections), may include combinations of these structures (e.g., nanostructures or other textured surfaces and oil or other lubrication that is retained within recesses in the nanostructures or other textured surface structures), may include any other lubricating layers of material that prevent excess friction between adjacent layers, or may include biaxial adhesive layers (e.g., adhesives that hold layers  24  together along orthogonal direction Z while allowing slippage of adjacent layers  24  laterally in dimensions X and Y), or other layers that allow slippage between adjoining layers. Surface tension effects and other effects associated with oils and other liquid lubricants may help hold layers  24  together. Because layers  30  serve as non-stick structures (layers) that prevent layers  24  from sticking to each other, layers  24  can slide (slip) over each other to relieve stress that would otherwise build up in a thicker display formed from layers  24  that are stuck together with stiff adhesive. As a result, damage to display  14  is avoided, even when display  14  is bent about axis  22 . 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of a pair of adjacent layers  24  each of which has a non-stick coating layer (layers  24 ′). Layers  24 ′ may serve as lubrication layer  30  and may be formed from smooth layers of material and/or layers with patterned ridges and/or grooves, round bumps, round depressions, bumps or depressions with straight and/or curved edges, patterned protrusions and/or recesses of other shapes, nanostructures with pseudorandom patterns and/or other patterns, or other textured surfaces that help reduce friction between layers  24 . Layers  24 ′ may be formed on one or both of the opposing surfaces of layers  24  and may be separated by air, oil (e.g., index-of-refraction matching oil) or other liquid lubricant, lubricating particles, lubricant having particles suspended in liquid, or other lubricant. If desired, layers such as layers  24 ′ may be formed from materials that are slippery (i.e., non-stick materials) such as polytetrafluoroethylene (e.g., Teflon®), other fluoropolymers, slippery polymers and other materials, and/or other non-stick structures. 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of a set of adjacent layers with an intervening slippery layer  30  formed from lubricating layer  30 ′ between coating layers  24 ′ (e.g., slippery coating layers and/or textured coatings for retaining liquid lubricant). Layer  30 ′ may be oil (e.g., index-of-refraction matching oil) or other liquid lubricant, lubricating particles, lubricant having particles suspended in liquid, or other lubricant. Coating layers  24 ′ may be smooth and/or textured layers (e.g., layers such as layers  24 ′ of  FIG. 7 ). 
     To help retain liquid lubricant within the gap between adjacent layers  24  (e.g., to prevent liquid from escaping laterally), a lubricant retention structure such as structure  40  may be formed along the edge of layers  24  (e.g., along one, two, three, or four or more edges of display  14 ). Lubricant retention structure  40  may be formed from silicone or other elastomeric material that can accommodate slippage between layers  24  without becoming detached from layers  24 . Structures such as lubricant retention structure  40  may have the shape of a solid bead of elastomer that runs along the peripheral edge of display  14  or may, as shown in  FIG. 8 , have a partially hollow interior portion that serves as a reservoir  30 R for liquid lubricant. Other lubricant retention structures (sometimes referred to as edge sealing structures) may be used if desired. 
     Device  10  may be provided with structures such as bezel structure or other structures that help retain display  14  within housing  12  and device  10  during bending and lateral movement of layers  24 . In the illustrative example of  FIG. 9 , housing  12  has an interior portion that is used to house internal device components  44  (e.g., integrated circuits, printed circuit boards, input-output devices and control circuitry, a battery, etc.). Housing  12  may also have a sidewall or other portion with a recessed portion such as peripheral inwardly facing housing groove  42 . Groove  42  or other recesses in housing  12  may have a shape that retains the edge of display  14  within housing  12  while allowing layers  24  of display  14  to slip laterally back and forth in dimensions X and/or Y during bending of device  10 . 
     When device  10  is bent about bend axis  22 , layers  24  of display  14  may slip over one another. Edge features of display  14  such as structure  40  may be formed from a material that can deform to accommodate shifting of the relative positions of the edges of layers  24 . This is illustrated in the example of  FIGS. 10 and 11 . 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 10 , device  10  is not bent, so display  14  is in a planar state. In this state, the edges  24 E of layers  24  may be laterally aligned with each other (e.g., edges  24 E may all be aligned along edge location  46  of  FIG. 10 ). Upon bending of device  10  and display  14  about axis  22  of  FIG. 11 , the edge  24 E of the uppermost of layers  24  will be shifted inwardly to position  47  relative to edge position  49  for edge  24 E of the lowermost of layers  24 , leading to lateral displacement D between the edges  24 E of different layers  24 . 
     Structure  40  may be formed from an elastomeric material or other material that can deform to accommodate the lateral shift D between layers  24 . If desired, elastomeric gasket material  48  or other structures that can accommodate shifting of layers  24  relative to housing  12  and each other may be incorporated into device  10 . The use of elastomeric material or other compliant structures for forming display mounting structures such as gaskets  48  may help relieve stress that might otherwise build up between layers  24  and/or between layers  24  and housing  12  during bending. 
     The lateral shift that may result between two decoupled layers  24  in display  14  upon bending is illustrated in the example of  FIGS. 10 and 11 . Elastomeric structures may be used for structures  40  and  48  and/or other structures in device  10  and display  14  to allow layers  24  to slide relative to each other in displays with three or more layers  24  or four or more layers  24 . The example of  FIGS. 10 and 11  in which display  14  includes two layers  24  is merely illustrative. 
     Lateral shifts between adjacent layers  24  will generally be minimized in the portion of display  14  overlapping bend axis  22  (e.g., in portion  14 B of  FIG. 1 ). If desired, inter-layer anchor structures such as illustrative anchor  50  of  FIG. 12  may be used to help hold layers  24  together without defeating the decoupling function provided by layer  30 . Anchors such as anchor  50  may have the shapes of strips, dots, rectangles, or other suitable shapes. Anchor  50  of  FIG. 12  may, for example, include a single strip or a series of segments separated by small gaps running parallel to bend axis across some or all of the width of display  14 . Anchor structures such as anchor  50  of  FIG. 12  may bridge lubricant layer  30  to hold adjacent layers  24  together even when layers  24  are bent. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20160811
Publication Date: 20180904
Grant Date: 20180904
Priority Date: 20150924
Inventors: ZHANG, ZHEN
DRZAIC, PAUL S.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04M1/0268", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1652", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F2203/04102", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09F9/301", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F2203/04102", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y02E10/549", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09F9/301", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1652", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/5237", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/5246", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2251/5338", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F2203/04102", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0268", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09F9/301", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/0097", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/525", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y02E10/549", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K77/111", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/844", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K77/111", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/8426", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/8428", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/84", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0268", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1652", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/8722", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/873", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 56787732