PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11416029-B2
Application Number: US-201916558756-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with thin display housings

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a housing formed from a rigid material such as metal or fiber-composite material. A display such as an organic light-emitting diode display may be attached to a planar wall portion of the housing using a layer of adhesive. A display cover layer may be attached to the organic light-emitting diode with a layer of adhesive. The adhesive layers may be rigid to enhance device stiffness. The housing may have curved sidewall portions that extend outwardly from the planar wall portion to enhance stiffness. The organic light-emitting diode display may have an array of pixels formed from thin-film transistor circuitry. The thin-film transistor circuitry may be formed on a substrate such as a glass substrate that is attached to the planar wall portion. The organic light-emitting diode display may have a circular polarizer that is attached to the thin-film transistor circuitry.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a planar housing wall portion; 
 a display cover layer; and 
 an organic light-emitting diode display in the housing, the organic light-emitting diode display comprising:
 a polarizer layer attached to the display cover layer with a first layer of adhesive, and 
 thin-film circuitry on a substrate, wherein the substrate is directly attached to the planar housing wall portion with a second layer of adhesive. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the first and second layers of adhesive each have a modulus of elasticity of at least 200 MPa. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the display cover layer is formed from a material selected from the group consisting of: glass, plastic, ceramic, and sapphire. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein the substrate is a polymer substrate and wherein the thin-film circuitry forms an array of pixels on the polymer substrate. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the polarizer layer comprises a circular polarizer that is laminated to the thin-film circuitry. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing comprises glass material. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6  wherein the substrate is formed from glass having a modulus of elasticity between 50 GPa and 90 GPa. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein a combined thickness of the planar housing wall portion, the display cover layer, and the organic light-emitting diode display is less than 2 mm. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing comprises carbon fiber composite material. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the carbon fiber composite material comprises carbon fibers that are in a woven fabric and wherein the carbon-fiber composite material includes a polymer binder in which the woven fabric is embedded. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing has an inner layer and an outer layer. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  wherein the inner layer comprises a layer of metal that is selected from the group comprising: a layer of aluminum and a layer of copper. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 12  wherein the outer layer is a steel cladding layer. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  wherein the inner layer comprises fiber composite material. 
     
     
       15. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a planar housing wall portion and a housing wall that extends from the planar housing wall portion; 
 a display cover layer that overlaps at least a portion of the housing wall; and 
 a display having a first display layer attached to the display cover layer with a first layer of adhesive and a second display layer attached to the planar housing wall portion with a second layer of adhesive, wherein the second display layer has a surface and wherein the second layer of adhesive is in contact with the surface. 
 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  wherein the display is an organic light-emitting diode display comprising a thin-film transistor layer interposed between the first display layer and the second display layer. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the first display layer comprises a polarizer and the second display layer comprises a substrate formed from a material selected from the group consisting of: a polymer material and a rigid material having a modulus of elasticity between 50 GPa and 90 GPa. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  wherein the housing comprises carbon fibers in a woven fabric and a polymer binder in which the woven fabric is embedded. 
     
     
       19. An electronic device having a front and a rear, comprising:
 a first housing and a second housing that rotate relative to each other between an open position and a closed position, wherein the first housing has a first side that faces the front in the open position and a second side that faces the rear in the open position, and the first housing has a housing wall, wherein the housing wall has opposing outer and inner surfaces, and wherein the outer surface forms the second side of the first housing; 
 a display mounted in the first housing, wherein the display is directly attached to the inner surface of the housing wall with a first layer of adhesive; and 
 a display cover layer that overlaps the display, wherein the display is directly attached to the display cover layer with a second layer of adhesive. 
 
     
     
       20. The electronic device defined in  claim 19  wherein the display comprises thin-film circuitry on a substrate that is attached to the first housing with the first layer of adhesive and a polarizer that is attached to the display cover layer with the second layer of adhesive. 
     
     
       21. The electronic device defined in  claim 20  wherein the first housing has a planar housing wall portion and a curved housing wall portion, and wherein the display is directly attached to the planar housing wall portion with the first layer of adhesive.

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/191,416, filed on Jun. 23, 2016, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/277,673, filed on Jan. 12, 2016, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with displays. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electronic devices often contain displays. For example, laptop computers contain displays. 
     Challenges can arise in mounting a display in an electronic device. If the portion of a device housing that receives the display is not sufficiently robust, the display may flex more than desired or may become damaged. At the same time, overly large display housings may be unwieldy and unattractive. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device such as a laptop computer may have a housing. The housing may have portions that are coupled by hinges and that rotate relative to each other about a hinge axis. The housing may be formed from a rigid material such as metal or fiber-composite material. 
     A display such as an organic light-emitting diode display may be attached to a planar wall of the housing using a layer of adhesive. A display cover layer may be attached to the organic light-emitting diode with a layer of adhesive. The adhesive layers may be rigid to enhance device stiffness. Room-temperature-cured adhesives such as two-part adhesives or other adhesive materials may be used in forming the adhesive layers. The adhesive may be optically transparent. For example, the adhesive may be an optically clear adhesive such as a liquid optically clear adhesive. 
     The housing may have curved or planar sidewall portions that extend orthogonally from the planar wall to cover edge surfaces of the display and enhance housing stiffness. The organic light-emitting diode display may have an array of pixels formed from thin-film transistor circuitry. The thin-film transistor circuitry may be formed on a substrate such as a rigid glass substrate that is attached to the planar wall. The organic light-emitting diode display may have a circular polarizer that is attached to the thin-film transistor circuitry. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of an illustrative display housing showing how the housing may have edges with curved profiles in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device display housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of an illustrative display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device having a display cover layer that protects underlying display layers in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device of the type shown in  FIG. 5  without a display cover layer in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device having a display mounted in a housing with sidewall portions in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram of an illustrative display housing showing how fiber composite material for forming the housing may have fibers that run parallel to the edges of the display housing or that run at non-zero angles with respect to the edges of the display housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrative display housing having multiple layers of material in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with displays. A display for an electronic device may be mounted in a housing. The housing and display may be configured to minimize the thickness of the electronic device while preserving a desired amount of display stiffness. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may include a display. Electronic device  10  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, 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 headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user&#39;s head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain 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, an accessory (e.g., earbuds, a remote control, a wireless trackpad, etc.), or other electronic equipment. 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , device  10  is a laptop computer. As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  10  may have a first housing portion such as upper housing portion  12 A, which may sometimes be referred to as a display housing or display housing portion and a second housing portion such as lower housing portion  12 B, which may sometimes be referred to as a base housing or base housing portion. Display  14  may be mounted in housing  12 A. Components such as keyboard  16  and touchpad  18  may be mounted in housing  12 B. Device  10  may have hinge structures  20  that allow upper housing  12 A to rotate in directions  22  about rotational axis  24  relative to lower housing  12 B. Hinge structures  20  may include two or more hinges such as hinge  20 A at the lower left corner of display  14  and hinge  20 B at the lower right corner of display  14  or may contain other structures that couple upper and lower housings  12 A and  12 B for rotational motion in directions  22  about axis  24 . Upper housing  12 A may be placed in an open or closed position by rotating upper housing  12 A towards lower housing  12 B about rotational axis  24 . 
     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 display  14 . Display  14  has been mounted in housing  12  (i.e., in display housing  12 A). Housing  12  (e.g., housing  12 A and/or housing  12 B), which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites (e.g., carbon fiber composites formed from carbon fibers in a polymer binder or other fiber composite materials), metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, nickel-iron alloys such as Invar, 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.). Openings may be formed in housing  12  to form communications ports, holes for buttons, and other structures. 
     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 may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures, metal lines, or other structures that do not block light being emitted by display  14 . 
     Display  14  may include an array of pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels or other light-emitting diode pixels, an array of electrowetting pixels, or pixels based on other display technologies. To help reduce the thickness of device  10  (i.e., to reduce the thickness of the portion of device  10  formed from housing  12 A), it may be desirable to form display  14  from display layers that are relatively thin. Illustrative configurations in which display  14  is formed from thin organic light-emitting diode display layers may therefore sometimes be described herein as an example. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass, clear plastic, transparent ceramic, sapphire or other transparent crystalline material, or other transparent layer(s). The display cover layer may have a planar shape, a convex curved profile, a concave curved profile, a shape with planar and curved portions, a layout that includes a planar main area surrounded on one or more edges with a portion that is bent out of the plane of the planar main portion, or other suitable shape. One or more openings may be formed in the display cover layer or the display cover layer may be free of openings. 
     Housing  12  (e.g., housing portions  12 A and/or  12 B) may have planar portions. For example, housing  12 A may have a planar wall that supports the innermost surface of display  14 . At the periphery of housing  12 A, sidewall portions of housing  12 A may extend out of the plane in which the planar wall portion of housing  12 A lies. The sidewalls may extend out of the plane of the planar wall portion of housing  12 A (e.g., orthogonally to the planar wall portion of housing  12 A). Orthogonal sidewalls may have a curved shape that extends orthogonally from the main planar wall portion of housing  12 A, may be planar sidewalls that extend vertically out of the plane of the planar wall (i.e., orthogonal sidewalls may be flat and have planar shapes that extend perpendicularly with respect to the main planar wall portion of housing  12 A), or may have other suitable shapes. Illustrative configurations for housing  12  in which the edges of housing  12 A have curved shapes (curved profiles) may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
       FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of a portion of housing  12 A showing how housing sidewall portions (i.e., walls such as sidewalls  12 SW) may be formed from curved sidewall structures that extend from planar wall  12 P and that run along the peripheral edges of planar wall  12 P. In general, sidewalls  12 SW may have a curved profile, a straight profile (e.g., a profile associated with a vertical planar shape), a profile with straight and curved portions, or other suitable shape. Arrangements for housing  12 A that do not have sidewalls  12 SW and that only have portions such as planar portion  12 P may also be used in forming housing  12 A. 
     A cross-sectional side view of a portion of device  10  showing how display  14  may be mounted within housing  12 A is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , display  14  may be supported by planar housing wall  12 P of housing  12 A. Planar housing wall  12 P may be formed metal, glass, ceramic, polymer, or other suitable materials. For example, housing wall  12 P may be formed from a fiber-composite material having fibers  50  (e.g., carbon fibers, glass fibers, etc.) that are embedded within binder  52 . Binder  52  may be formed from a polymer (e.g., a thermoplastic or thermoset polymer) or other suitable material. Fibers  50  may be randomly oriented or may form part of a fabric having a predetermined set of fiber orientations. As an example, fibers  50  may be formed from a woven fabric having perpendicular warp and weft fibers. Wall  12 P may be formed by molding fiber-composite material or other material into a desired shape (e.g., using compression molding, injection molding, etc.) and/or by cutting, bending, stamping, machining, or otherwise patterning a solid piece of material into a desired housing shape. 
     One or more layers of adhesive may be used in coupling the structures of device  10  together within the portion of device  10  formed by upper housing  12 A. As an example, one or more layers of adhesive may be used in coupling display  14  to housing  12 A and/or in coupling together layers of material within display  14 . In the illustrative configuration of device  10  of  FIG. 3 , the layers of material in display  14  are attached to housing wall  12 P using adhesive layer  54 . Adhesive layer  54  may be formed from any suitable adhesive. Rigid adhesives such as rigid epoxy or other rigid adhesive (e.g., adhesive with an elastic modulus of more than 3 GPa, more than 5 GPa, more than 10 GPa, or less than 50 GPa) may be used to help stiffen device  10 . Adhesives that are less stiff may also be used (e.g., an adhesive with a modulus of elasticity of 1 MPa to 1 GPa, an adhesive with a modulus of elasticity of at least 200 MPa, an adhesive with a modulus of 0.5 GPa or more, an adhesive with a modulus of 1 GPa or more, etc.). Layer  54  may be a two-part epoxy that cures at room temperature and/or that cures at elevated temperatures, or may be other rigid adhesive. In situations in which it is possible to apply ultraviolet light or other light to the adhesive, a light cured adhesive material may be used. An advantage of using a two-part epoxy or other adhesive that cures at room temperature or close to room temperature is that this helps avoid stresses that might otherwise develop when heating materials in display  14  that have mismatched coefficients of thermal expansion. In general, any suitable adhesive may be used in forming adhesive layer  54 . 
     Display  14  may be formed from one or more layers of material. In the example of  FIG. 3 , display  14  has one or more layers (sublayers) that form organic light-emitting diode display layer  14 A (sometimes referred to as organic light-emitting diode display). A protective layer such as display cover layer  14 B may be used to protect organic light-emitting diode display layer  14 A. Layer  14 B may be formed from a rigid material such as glass, transparent ceramic, sapphire or other crystalline transparent materials, stiff plastic, or other suitable transparent materials. 
     During operation of display  14 , light  62  may be emitted in outward direction  64  by an array of pixels in display layer  14 A to form images that are viewed by a user (e.g., a viewer such as viewer  58  who is viewing display  14  in direction  60 ). Display cover layer  14 B may be attached to organic light-emitting diode display layer  14 A by adhesive layer  56 . Adhesive layer  54  may be formed from any suitable adhesive (e.g., a layer of rigid epoxy or other rigid adhesive having an elastic modulus of more than 3 GPa, more than 5 GPa, more than 10 GPa, or less than 50 GPa) or an adhesives that is less stiff (e.g., an adhesive with a modulus of elasticity of 1 MPa to 1 GPa, an adhesive with a modulus of elasticity of at least 200 MPa, an adhesive with a modulus of 0.5 GPa or more, an adhesive with a modulus of 1 GPa or more, etc.). To avoid obscuring images that are produced by the pixels of display layer  14 A, adhesive  56  may be a layer of optically clear adhesive (e.g., liquid optically clear adhesive that is cured by application of heat, ultraviolet light, etc.). 
     Organic light-emitting diode display layer  14 A may be a top emission or bottom emission display. In a top emission organic light-emitting diode display, light  62  is emitted outwardly from an array of thin-film organic light-emitting diode pixels without passing through an intervening substrate layer. In a bottom emission organic light-emitting diode display, light  62  is emitted through a transparent substrate (e.g., a clear polymer layer, a transparent glass layer, or other transparent substrate layer). In configurations in which display layer  14 A is a bottom emission display, the transparent substrate of layer  14 A may face outwardly and may serve to protect thin-film pixel circuitry for display  14 . In this scenario, the use of protective outer structures such as display cover layer  14 B and other protective outer layers can be minimized or eliminated (if desired). Display cover layer  14 B may also be omitted in top emission displays (e.g., by providing the outer surface of a top emission display with a protective hard coat (e.g., one or more inorganic coating layers or other protective films). 
     To suppress ambient light reflections from reflective thin-film circuitry in an organic light-emitting diode display (e.g., reflections from metal lines, etc.), it may be desirable to cover the surface of the organic light-emitting diode display with a circular polarizer. A circular polarizer for display  14  may contain one or more layers of material (e.g., an iodine-doped stretched polyvinyl alcohol layer, supporting substrate layers such as triacetate cellulose layers, adhesive layers, etc.). The circular polarizer may be attached to the other layers of an organic light-emitting diode display using heat and pressure (e.g., by laminating the polarizer to underlying display layers using a layer of adhesive, etc.). 
     An exploded perspective view of organic light-emitting diode display (display layer)  14 A in a configuration in which display  14 A has a circular polarizer layer is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , display  14 A may have a substrate layer such as substrate  66  (e.g., a layer of polyimide or other polymer, a layer of rigid material such as glass, or a layer of other material(s)). In configurations in which substrate  66  is formed from a rigid material such as glass (modulus 50-90 GPa), the overall stiffness of display  14  and housing  12 A may be enhanced. A layer of thin-film transistor circuitry such as layer  68  may be formed on substrate  66 . Circular polarizer layer  70  may be laminated to the upper surface of the layer of thin-film transistor structures (e.g., layer  70  may be attached to layer  68  using adhesive). 
     Layer  68  may include buffer layers and other thin-film dielectric layers, thin-film semiconductor layers, and thin-film metal layers and other conductive layers. Patterned organic emissive layer materials may be used in forming light-emitting portions of organic light-emitting diodes in layer  68 . Moisture barrier layer structures may be formed on top of the thin-film circuitry. The thin-film structures of layer  68  may be patterned to form organic light-emitting diodes, transistors, capacitors, and other circuitry for display  14 . For example, the thin-film circuits of layer  68  may be patterned to form pixel circuits for an array of pixels  72 . Pixels  72  may each include a respective light-emitting diode and a circuit for controlling current flow through that light-emitting diode and thereby adjusting the amount of light  62  that is emitted by that diode and pixel. 
     A cross-sectional side view of an upper portion of device  10  in a configuration in which housing  12 A does not have sidewall portions is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , display  14  may be mounted in housing  12 A using adhesive  54 . Display  14  may be mounted so that the peripheral edge of display  14  is aligned with peripheral edge  12 E of planar housing wall  12 P of housing  12 A. With this type of arrangement, housing  12 A does not have any portions (or has only minimal portions) that cover the exposed edge surface of display  14 . Display  14  may have a display cover layer such as layer  14 B. Layer  14 B may be attached to display layer  14 A by adhesive  56  (as an example). Layer  14 A may include substrate  66 , thin-film transistor layer  68 , and circular polarizer  70 . 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 6 , display  14  has a peripheral edge that is aligned with edge  12 E of housing wall  12 P of housing  12 A, but does not have optional display cover layer  14 B. 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of display  14  and housing  12 A in a configuration for device  10  in which housing  12 A has a curved portion (see, e.g., curved housing wall  12 SW) or other sidewall portion that extends integrally outward from planar housing wall  12 P (i.e., curved housing wall  12 SW extends outwardly in direction  64  toward viewer  58  and curves away from the plane in which housing wall  12 P lies). The edge surface of tip portion  12 T of wall  12 CW may be aligned with the peripheral edge surface of optional display cover layer  14 B. Display cover layer  14 B may be attached to display layer  14 A using adhesive  56 . Display layer  14 A may include layers such as substrate layer  66 , thin-film transistor layer  68  (e.g., a layer of circuitry on substrate  66  that forms an array of pixels  72 ), and polarizer  70 . Display layer  14 A may be coupled to rear housing wall  12 P using adhesive  54 . 
     As with the arrangement of  FIG. 5 , display cover layer  14 B of display  14  of  FIG. 7  need not be used in situations in which display  14 A includes other forms of protection (e.g., a hard coat, a clear glass substrate in a bottom emission display or other substrate that can serve as a protective layer). 
     The total thickness T of the layers of display  14  may be 1 mm (e.g., when display cover layer  14 B is omitted), may be 1.5 mm (e.g., when display cover layer  14 B is attached to layer  14 A using adhesive  56 ), may be 0.5-2 mm, may be more than 1 mm, may be more than 2 mm, may be 0.7 to 3 mm, may be more than 3 mm, may be less than 10 mm, may be less than 5 mm, may be less than 4 mm, may be less than 3 mm, may be less than 2.5 mm, may be less than 2 mm, or may have other suitable thickness. The individual layers of device  10  (e.g., housing  12 P, display  14 A, and optional display cover layer  14 B) may have thicknesses of 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm, 0.3 mm to 0.7 mm, 0.2 mm to 1 mm, more than 0.3 mm, more than 0.5 mm, less than 0.3 mm, less than 0.5 mm, less than 0.7 mm, less than 1 mm, or other suitable thickness. Adhesive layers  54  and  56  may have thicknesses of 0.01 to 0.1, less than 0.3, less than 0.075, more than 0.01, or other suitable thickness. 
     In general, stiffer configurations for the upper portion of device  10  are preferably to flexible configurations, because stiff configurations allow the thickness T of the upper portion of device  10  to be minimized. Arrangements that may be used to enhance stiffness include forming layer  12 P from a stiff material such as metal (stainless steel, Invar, aluminum, fiber-composites such as carbon fiber composite material, etc.), forming cover layer  14 B from a stiff material such as glass, and forming some or all of display  14 A from stiff materials (e.g., forming substrate  66  from glass). Adhesive layers  54  and  56  may also be formed from stiff polymers and, if desired, a lip may be formed in housing  12 A (see, e.g., curved housing wall portion  12 CW of  FIG. 7 , which is an integral portion of planar wall  12 P but which extends outwardly in direction  64  out of the plane of planar wall  12 P). Any one or more, two or more, three or more, or four or more of these stiffness enhancing arrangements may be used to ensure that the upper portion of device  10  (housing  12 A, display  14 , etc.) has sufficient stiffness. This allows a user to open the upper portion of device  10  by pulling upward on housing  12 A and/or display  14  to rotate housing  12 A and display  14  about axis  24  without excessively bending housing  12 A and display  14 . 
     In fiber composite configurations for display housing  12 A, the orientation of fibers  50  may influence how easily housing  12 A bends in certain usage scenarios. As shown in  FIG. 8 , housing  12 A may have edges that run parallel to an X axis and a perpendicular Y axis. Carbon fibers or other fibers in a fiber-composite material for housing  12 A can be oriented parallel to the X and Y axes, respectively (see, e.g., fibers  50 ″ which are aligned with axes  50 D″) or can be oriented along direction A 45  (and a direction that is perpendicular to A 45 ). Direction A 45  may be oriented at an angle A of 45° with respect to the X and Y axes or may be oriented in another direction that lies between the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction (see, e.g., fibers  50 ′ which are aligned with axes  50 D′ which are oriented at non-zero angles with respect to the edges of housing  12 A). Fibers such as fibers  50 ′ and fibers  50 ″ may be provided in a woven fabric or other material that is embedded with polymer binder to form a fiber-based composite material for housing  12 A. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the lower corners of housing  12 A may be anchored to housing  12 B using hinges  20 A and  20 B. In this scenario, orienting fibers  50 ′ so that at least some of the fibers (e.g., a set of warp fibers or a set of weft fibers in a woven fabric of fibers  50 ) are oriented in a direction that extends diagonally across housing  12 A (e.g., along direction A 45 ) may help to stiffen housing  12 A when a user pushes or pulls on a corner of housing  12 A (see, e.g., corner  12 AC). 
     Housing  12  may be formed from more than one type of material. Housing  12  may, for example, include multiple layers of material that are attached to each other using adhesive, by forming one layer as a coating on another layer, by laminating layers together under heat and/or pressure, by attaching layers together using welds, fasteners or other attachment mechanisms, etc. A cross-sectional side view of housing  12 A in an illustrative configuration in which housing  12 A includes multiple layers such as inner layer  12 A- 1  and outer layer  12 A- 2  is shown in  FIG. 9 . If desired, housing  12 A may have three or more layers. The arrangement of  FIG. 9  in which housing  12 A has a pair of layers is merely illustrative. 
     The layers of housing  12 A may include one or more plastic (polymer) layers, metal layers, layers of glass, layers of ceramic, layers of carbon-fiber composite material, fiberglass, and/or other fiber composites, and/or other suitable layers of material. As an example, the innermost layer of housing  12 A (e.g., layer  12 A- 1  in the example of  FIG. 9 ) may be formed from a material such as aluminum or fiber composite material (e.g., carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc.). The outermost layer of housing  12 A (e.g., layer  12 A- 2  in the example of  FIG. 9 ) may be formed from a stiff layer such as a layer of steel. In configurations such as these, the inner layer would be formed from a material that provides structural support while helping to save weight. The steel layer in these configurations would serve as an outer cladding layer for the inner layer (e.g., the steel layer would form a cladding for an inner aluminum or fiber composite layer). A steel outer layer or a cladding layer of other materials may be used help enhance housing stiffness and/or to enhance device aesthetics. 
     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: 20190903
Publication Date: 20220816
Grant Date: 20220816
Priority Date: 20160112
Inventors: MATHEW, DINESH C.
GARELLI, ADAM T.
SILVANTO, MIKAEL M.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G06F1/1656", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1637", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1616", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0226", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0017", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/5246", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L27/3244", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0017", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/5281", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1637", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0226", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/5237", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2251/5338", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2251/301", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/8426", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1637", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/86", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/84", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/12", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/87", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/8791", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 68063675