PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10943529-B2
Application Number: US-201715840725-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with flexible displays

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis without damage when the display is cold, a portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis may be selectively heated. The portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis may be self-heated by illuminating pixels in the portion of the display that overlap the bend axis or may be heated using a heating element or other heating structure that provides heat to the portion of the display overlapping the bend axis. Control circuitry may engage a latching mechanism that prevents opening and closing of the electronic device when the temperature of the portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis is below a predetermined temperature.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing that bends about a bend axis, wherein the housing has a first housing portion and a second housing portion and wherein the first and second housing portions rotate with respect to each other about the bend axis; 
 a display in the housing; 
 a temperature sensor; 
 control circuitry configured to heat a portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis by illuminating pixels in the portion of the display in response to temperature information from the temperature sensor; and 
 a latch that is controlled by the control circuitry to hold the first housing portion to the second housing portion when the temperature information indicates that a temperature of the portion of the display is below a predetermined threshold temperature. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the latch is a magnetic latch having an electromagnet that is controlled by the control circuitry. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the latch is a mechanical latch having an actuator that is controlled by the control circuitry. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the display is an organic light-emitting diode display having a flexible display portion that overlaps the bend axis. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising an accelerometer, wherein the control circuitry is configured to heat the portion of the display based on information from the accelerometer. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the display has first and second display portions adjacent to the portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis and wherein the control circuitry is configured to heat the portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis by illuminating the pixels in the portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis without illuminating pixels in the first and second display portions. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a heat spreader layer having portions adjacent to the portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising an ohmic heating element that overlaps the bend axis and that extends across the housing parallel to the bend axis. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the portion of the display overlapping the bend axis has an elongated strip shape and extends between opposing edges of the display. 
     
     
       10. An electronic device, comprising:
 first and second housing structures coupled by a flexible structure that lies along a bend axis; 
 a display having first, second, and third portions, wherein the first and third portions are coupled respectively to the first and second housing structures and do not overlap the bend axis and wherein the second portion lies between the first and third portions and has a strip shape extending along the bend axis between opposing edges of the display; 
 a temperature sensor that generates temperature information; 
 control circuitry configured to heat the second portion more than the first and third portions by selectively illuminating pixels in the second portion in response to the temperature information; and 
 a latching mechanism, wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
 engage the latching mechanism to hold the first and second housing structures to each other in response to measuring a temperature with the temperature sensor that is below a predetermined temperature; and 
 disengage the latching mechanism to release the first and second housing portions from each other in response to measuring a temperature with the temperature sensor that is above the predetermined temperature. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  wherein the control circuitry is configured to heat the second portion by displaying a screen saver in the second portion in response to the temperature information. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  wherein the latching mechanism comprises an electromagnet coupled to the first housing structure. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  wherein the latching mechanism includes an actuator controlled by the control circuitry. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  further comprising a motion sensor, wherein the control circuitry is configured to heat the second portion more than the first and third portions by selectively illuminating the pixels in the second portion in response to information from the motion sensor. 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  further comprising a sensor configured to gather user input, wherein the control circuitry is configured to heat the second portion more than the first and third portions by selectively illuminating the pixels in the second portion in response to the user input. 
     
     
       16. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having first and second housing structures that rotate with respect to each other about a bend axis; 
 a display in the housing; 
 a temperature sensor that is configured to determine a temperature of the display; 
 a latch mechanism; and 
 control circuitry that is configured to use the latch mechanism to hold the first housing portion to the second housing portion when the temperature of the display is below a predetermined threshold and to release the first and second housing portions from each other when the temperature of the display is above the predetermined temperature. 
 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the latch mechanism is a magnetic latch having an electromagnet that is controlled by the control circuitry. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the latch mechanism is a mechanical latch having an actuator that is controlled by the control circuitry.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/551,170, filed Aug. 28, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to electronic devices with displays. 
     BACKGROUND 
     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. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis without damage when the display is cold, a portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis may be selectively heated. 
     A temperature sensor in the device may make temperature measurements on the portion of the display overlapping the bend axis. The device may also have user input devices for gathering user input and a motion sensor for determining when the device has been picked up for use. 
     The portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis may be self-heated by illuminating pixels in the portion of the display that overlap the bend axis or may be heated using a heating element or other heating structure that provides heat to the portion of the display overlapping the bend axis. Heating may be initiated based on user input, temperature information, information from a motion sensor, or other factors. 
     Control circuitry may engage a latching mechanism that prevents folding of the electronic device and the display when the temperature of the portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis is below a predetermined temperature. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device having a display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device having a 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 diagram of an illustrative display with an array of light-emitting pixels in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a display in which pixels overlapping a bend axis have been illuminate to heat the portion of the display overlapping the bend axis in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is display in which a screen saver is being presented to help heat a portion of the display overlapping a bend axis in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device with heat conducting structures configured to heat a bendable portion of a display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device with a heating element to heat a bendable portion of a display in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device with an electrically adjustable magnetic latching mechanism in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device with an illustrative electrically adjustable mechanical latching mechanism in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in maintaining a bendable portion of a display above a predetermined temperature in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in heating a bendable portion of a display before the display is bent 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, 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, 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 bend about bend axis  22 . Housing  12  may have first and second housing portions that rotate with respect to each other as device  10  is bent (folded) about bend axis  22  using hinge  20  or other flexible structures joining the first and second housing portions. 
     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 screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive 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., pixels in a thin-film organic light-emitting diode display), or pixels based on other display technologies. Configurations in which display  14  has an array of light-emitting pixels such as an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
     Display  14  may have a portion that overlaps bend axis  22 . To facilitate bending of device  10  about axis  22 , all of display  14  may be formed using flexible structures or at least the portion of display  10  that overlaps bend axis  22  may be formed using flexible structures. A display cover layer or other layer may form the outermost surface of the display. Display layers such these (e.g., display cover layers) may be formed from glass, plastic, and/or other transparent display cover layer structures and may be flexible (at least where these layers overlap bend axis  22  of device  10 ). 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , for example, display  14  may have three portions such as portions  14 A,  14 B, and  14 C. In portions  14 A and  14 C, display  14  may be flexible or may be rigid (e.g., the pixel array in these areas may be rigid and/or the display cover layer structures in these regions may be rigid). Flexible portion  14 B overlaps bend axis  22  and forms a strip that lies between portions  14 A and  14 C and that extends across the width of the display between opposing edges of the display. To ensure that flexible portion  14 B is sufficiently flexible to allow device  10  to bend about axis  22 , display layers such as a display cover layer for display  14  may be formed from a thin flexible glass or polymer layer that accommodates bending of display  14  about axis  22  and underlying display layers (e.g., a polymer substrate, metal traces, a polarizer layer, a touch sensor layer, adhesive layers, and other conducting and dielectric layers in an organic light-emitting diode pixel array) may also be formed from flexible materials and structures. 
     In cold operating environments (e.g., temperatures significantly below room temperature such as temperatures below 10° C., below 0° C., −40° C. to −10° C., or other cold temperatures), materials such as adhesives in flexible portion  14 B may become inflexible. To help avoid damage to flexible portion  14 B when device  10  is bent open or closed about axis  22 , flexible portion  14 B may be heated (e.g., while other portions such as portions  14 A and  14 C of display  14  are not heated or are heated less to conserve energy). Portion  14 B may, for example, be heated by using heat spreading structures that help spread heat from integrated circuits and other components in device  10  to portion  14 B. With another illustrative arrangement, a heating element under portion  14 B may be used to heat portion  14 B. Another illustrative arrangement involves self-heating operations. In a self-heating arrangement, pixels in display  14  are illuminated. For example, the light-emitting diodes in at least those pixels in display  14  that are in portion  14 B may be turned on to produce light and heat. The heat produced by the illuminated pixels can heat portion  14 B (e.g., to room temperature or other suitable temperature that is elevated relative to an initial cold temperature) and help prevent damage to sensitive structures in portion  14 B as portion  14 B is bent about axis  22 . 
     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  50 . Control circuitry  50  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  50  may be used to control the operation of device  10  (e.g., to process sensor signals and other input and to control adjustable components such as a display, a heating element, etc.). 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  52  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. As shown in  FIG. 2 , input-output devices  52  may include display  14 . Display  14  may be a touch screen that incorporates a two-dimensional touch sensor or may be insensitive to touch. A two-dimensional touch sensor for display  14  may be formed from an array of capacitive touch electrodes touch sensor or other touch sensor components (e.g., force sensors, resistive touch sensors, acoustic touch sensors, optical sensors, etc.). 
     Input-output devices  52  may include sensors  56 . Sensors  56  may include a capacitive proximity sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, a magnetic sensor, a force sensor such as a force sensor that gathers user input, a touch sensor for gathering user touch input, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an ambient light sensor, a microphone or other sound sensor that gathers ambient noise measurements and user input such as voice commands, sensors for gathering data on device position and motion such as inertial measurement units that include accelerometers, compasses, and/or gyroscopes, and/or other sensors. 
     Input-output devices  52  may also include other components  54  such as buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, speakers, tone generators, vibrators, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, etc. A user can control the operation of device  10  by supplying user input commands through input-output devices  52  and may receive status information and other output from device  10  using the output resources of input-output devices  52 . 
     Control circuitry  50  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  50  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 . In self-heating arrangements, control circuitry  50  can use display  14  to display patterns of light (e.g., images or other patterns of light) that heat portion  14 B of display. For example, control circuitry  50  can direct the pixel array in display  14  to illuminate some or all of the pixels in portion  14 B so that heat generated by the illuminated pixels will heat portion  14 B. 
     In some configurations for device  10 , device  10  may include an electrically adjustable latching mechanism such as latching mechanism  58 . Latching mechanism  58  may be engaged when it is cold and portion  14 B is therefore sensitive to bending stress (e.g., when adhesive or other materials in portion  14 B have become stiff from the cold and susceptible to damage if flexed). By engaging latching mechanism whenever portion  14 B is cold to prevent device  10  from being unfolded, undesired damage to portion  14 B can be avoided. Latching mechanism  58  may be disengaged when the temperature of portion  14 B is sufficiently high to avoid damage during bending. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , device  10  may be folded (bent 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.  FIG. 4  shows how device  10  may be folded about bend axis  22  so that display  14  is protected within the interior of device  10 . Device  10  may have flexible structures (e.g., a hinge) to allow outward bending of the type shown in  FIG. 3 , to allow inward bending of the type shown in  FIG. 4 , or to 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. 
     Display  14  may have a rectangular shape (i.e., display  14  may have a rectangular footprint and a rectangular peripheral edge that runs around the rectangular footprint) or may have other suitable shapes. A top view of circuitry in an illustrative display with a rectangular shape is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , display  14  may have an array of pixels  42  formed on substrate  36 . Substrate  36  may be formed from glass, metal, plastic, ceramic, or other substrate materials. Pixels  42  may receive data signals over signal paths such as data lines D and may receive one or more control signals over control signal paths such as horizontal control lines G (sometimes referred to as gate lines, scan lines, emission control lines, etc.). There may be any suitable number of rows and columns of pixels  42  in display  14  (e.g., tens or more, hundreds or more, or thousands or more). Each pixel  42  may have a light-emitting diode  26  that emits light  44  under the control of a pixel circuit formed from thin-film transistor circuitry such as thin-film transistors  28  and thin-film capacitors). Thin-film transistors  28  may be polysilicon thin-film transistors, semiconducting-oxide thin-film transistors such as indium gallium zinc oxide transistors, or thin-film transistors formed from other semiconductors. Pixels  42  may contain light-emitting diodes of different colors (e.g., red, green, and blue diodes for red, green, and blue pixels, respectively) to provide display  14  with the ability to display color images. 
     Display driver circuitry may be used to control the operation of pixels  42 . The display driver circuitry may be formed from integrated circuits, thin-film transistor circuits, or other suitable circuitry. Display driver circuitry  30  of  FIG. 2  may contain communications circuitry for communicating with system control circuitry such as control circuitry  50  of  FIG. 2  over path  32 . Path  32  may be formed from traces on a flexible printed circuit or other cable. During operation, the control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry  50  of  FIG. 2 ) may supply circuitry  30  with information on images to be displayed on display  14 . 
     To display the images on pixels  42 , display driver circuitry  30  may supply image data to data lines D while issuing clock signals and other control signals to supporting display driver circuitry such as gate driver circuitry  34  over path  38 . If desired, circuitry  30  may also supply clock signals and other control signals to gate driver circuitry on an opposing edge of display  14  or may use display driver circuitry with other layouts. The configuration of  FIG. 5  is illustrative. 
     Gate driver circuitry  34  (sometimes referred to as horizontal control line control circuitry) may be implemented as part of an integrated circuit and/or may be implemented using thin-film transistor circuitry. Gate lines G (sometimes referred to as horizontal control lines) in display  14  may carry gate line signals (sometimes referred to as scan line signals, emission enable control signals, etc.) for controlling the pixels of each row. There may be any suitable number of control signals per row of pixels  22  (e.g., one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, etc.). 
     During self-heating operations, some or all of pixels  42  in the pixel array of display  14  are illuminated (fully or partially). Turning pixels  42  on in this way creates a pattern of light on display  14 . The pattern of light may include text, icons, a logo or other images, may be a solid or graded block, or may form any other image or abstract pattern (e.g., a solid bright white area, an area of a particular color or pattern of colors, a photograph, etc.). To conserve energy, it may be desirable to only or to primarily illuminate pixels  42  that overlap flexible portion  14 B of display  14 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . With this type of arrangement, the pixels in region  14 B may be configured to output light  44  at their maximum intensity to speed the self-heating process. 
     If desired, portion  14 B may be heated by illuminating pixels  42  in other patterns. As shown in  FIG. 7 , for example, a screen saver element such as illuminated item (screen saver)  60  may be presented on display  14 . Item  60  may be displayed on any suitable portion of display  14  and may, if desired, be moved over time. To self-heat portion  14 B, item  60  passes over portion  14 B. Battery power in device  10  may be conserved by enhancing the amount of time that the illuminated pixels of item  60  spend overlapping overlap portion  14 B. For example, screen-saver item  60  may be moved along a direction such as direction  62  that overlaps portion  12 B, so that the illumined pixels of item  60  help warm portion  12 B more than other portions of display  14 . 
     In general, any suitable pattern of pixels  42  may be illuminated on display  14  to heat portion  12 B (e.g., all of pixels  42  in display  14  may be turned on, only pixels  42  that overlap region  14 B may be turned on, all pixels  42  in portion  14 B may be turned on, a moving object(s) may be used to perform self-heating by at least periodically turning on pixels  42  in portion  14 B, and/or other pixels  42  may be illuminated to generate heat that heats portion  14 B). The examples of  FIGS. 6 and 7  are illustrative. 
     The operations involved in heating portion  14 B by illuminating pixels  42  (e.g., self-heating operations) can be performed in response to detection of use of device  10  (e.g., detection of an accelerometer signal that indicates that a user has picked up device  10  and is therefore expected to use device  10 , detection of a touch sensor input, button press input, microphone input, force sensor input, or other user input, etc.) and/or in response to detected temperature values below a predetermined threshold level. If desired, portion  14 B may also be performed continuously (e.g., whenever the measured temperature drops below a predetermined threshold level). 
       FIG. 8  shows how device  10  may be provided with heat distribution structures  64  that help spread heat from electrical components  66  (e.g., integrated circuits associated with control circuitry  50 , input-output devices  52 , and/or other circuitry in device  10 ) to display portion  14 B. Heat distribution structures  64  may be heat spreading layers formed from laminated layers of heat-conducting and strength-enhancing materials (e.g., copper layers and stainless steel layers, respectively) and/or other heat-conducting sheets (e.g., layers of graphite, etc.). Portions  64 ′ of structures  64  may be formed adjacent to portion  14 B of display  14 , so that portion  14 B is warmed when device  10  is powered and electrical components  66  are producing heat. 
     Another illustrative configuration for heating portion  14 B of display  14  is shown in  FIG. 9 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , heating element  68  may be formed selectively under portion  14 B (e.g., under portion  14 B but not under portions  14 A and  14 C). Heating element  68  may be formed from an ohmic heater that heats upon application of current, may be formed from a Peltier effect heating element, and/or may be formed from other heating structures. During operation, control circuitry  50  may use heating element  68  to selectively heat portion  14 B of display  14 . 
       FIGS. 10 and 11  show how device  10  may have a latching mechanism that is used to hold housing  12  and device  10  in a closed (folded) configuration when portion  14 B of display  14  is cold. In the example of  FIG. 10 , housing  12  has been bent about bend axis  22 , so that end portion (housing structures)  12 A and end portion (housing structures)  12 B of housing  12  face each other. In this example, display  14  has been folded inwardly. Outwardly folding display arrangements may also be used, if desired. 
     When housing  12  is folded so that portions  12 A and  12 B are adjacent to each other, the latching mechanism can be engaged (e.g., to prevent damage to display  14  while portion  14 B is cold). When it is desired to release portions  12 A and  12 B and thereby allow device  10  to be opened for use, the latching mechanism can be disengaged. 
     The illustrative latching mechanism of  FIG. 10  includes first component  70  in device housing portion  12 A and second component  72  in device housing portion  12 B. Components  70  and  72  may interact magnetically when it is desired to hold device  10  in a folded (closed) state. In one illustrative configuration, both of components  70  and  72  are electromagnets. In another illustrative configuration, component  72  may be an electromagnet and component  70  may be a magnetic structure (e.g., a permanent magnet or a magnetic structure formed from iron, ferrite, or other magnetic material). When control circuitry  50  activates the electromagnet(s), housing portion  12 A and housing portion  12 B are held together by magnetic attraction and the user of device  10  will be prevented from unfolding device  10 . When it is desired to disengage the magnetic latching mechanism of  FIG. 10 , control circuitry  50  can turn off the control signals (drive current) applied to the electromagnet(s). 
     The illustrative latching mechanism of  FIG. 11  includes electrically controlled actuator  74  and latch member  76  in housing portion  12 B and a corresponding latch member such as pin  78  in housing portion  12 B. When latch member  76  is placed in the position shown in  FIG. 11 , latch member  76  will engage pin  78  and thereby hold portions  12 A and  12 B to each other. When control circuitry  50  uses actuator  74  to move latch member  76  in direction  79 , latch member  76  will disengage from pin  78 , thereby releasing portions  12 A and  12 B so that device  10  can be unfolded by moving these portions away from each other. 
       FIG. 12  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in maintaining display portion  14 B at a temperature that helps prevent damage to display  14  as display  14  is bent about bend axis  22 . During the operations of block  80 , control circuitry  50  may use a temperature sensor (e.g., a temperature sensor adjacent to portion  14 B) to measure the temperature of device  10  (e.g., portion  14 B). If the temperature is above a predetermined temperature (e.g., a temperature value serving as a threshold), control circuitry  50  may conclude that portion  14 B is sufficiently warm to obviate the need for supplemental heating. Processing may then loop back to block  80  so that additional temperature measurement can be gathered. If the temperature measured during block  80  is below the predetermined temperature, portion  14 B of display  14  and/or other portions of display  14  may be heated during the operations of block  82 . During block  82 , for example, a screen saver element or other pattern of light may be displayed in portion  14 B (e.g., pixels  42  may be illuminated in portion  14 B) to heat portion  14 B, a heating element under portion  14 B may be used to heat portion  14 B, and/or other heating techniques may be used to heat portion  14 B (see, e.g., the heat spreading arrangement of  FIG. 8 ). This process may be continued continuously (e.g., heating or not heating portion  14 B as appropriate based on measured temperature) and/or this process may be started and/or halted based on other factors (e.g., whether device  10  is being carried by user, time of day, usage history, etc.). 
       FIG. 13  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in selectively latching and unlatching device  10  and in heating display portion  14 B. These operations may be performed in response to user input, temperature measurements, measurements from a motion sensor such as an accelerometer that determines when device  10  has been picked up for use, and/or other factors. 
     During the operations of block  84 , control circuitry  50  may use a temperature sensor in sensors  56  to measure the temperature of portion  14 B of display  14  (e.g., by measuring the temperature of device  10 , by measuring the temperature of display  14  at portion  14 B, etc.). 
     During the operations of block  86 , control circuitry  50  may compare the measured temperature to a predetermined temperature (e.g., a threshold temperature). If the temperature is above the predetermined temperature, portion  14 B is not sufficiently cold to warrant heating and is warm enough to allow device  10  to be freely opened and closed. If, however, the temperature is below the predetermined temperature, control circuitry  50  can engage the latching mechanism (e.g., the electromagnetic latching mechanism of  FIG. 10 , the mechanical latching mechanism of  FIG. 11 , etc.), thereby preventing device  10 , display  14 , and housing  12  from being bent. 
     During the operations of block  88 , display  14 B may remain unheated (or, if desired, display  14  can be heated using low amounts of self-heating and/or low amounts of heat from heating element  68  or components  66 , etc.). Control circuitry  50  can use sensors  56  (e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, a touch sensor such as a touch screen sensor, etc.) and/or other components (e.g., buttons that receive user input) to monitor for use of device  10 . If, for example, device  10  is at rest for a long period of time and is suddenly picked up by a user, control circuitry  50  can detect that device  10  has been picked up and is about to be used by analyzing accelerometer data. As another example, device  10  can detect that a user is entering touch input into display  14 , is pressing buttons on device  10 , and/or is otherwise supplying user input to device  10 . 
     When user activity is detected (e.g., by detecting that the user has picked up device  10 , pressed a button, provided touch screen input, or provided other user input indicative of use of device  10 ), control circuitry  50  may, during the operations of block  90  direct pixels  42  in portion  14 B of display  14  to produce light, thereby heating portion  14 B to a safe temperature. When the safe temperature (e.g., a temperature above the predetermined temperature) is reached, control circuitry  50  can disengage the latching mechanism so that the user may open device  10  and use display  14 . If desired, control circuitry  50  may display a warning message on display  14  (e.g., “please wait, display is heating”) in addition to or instead of latching display  14  with the latching mechanism. Heating may be performed by illuminating pixels  42  in portion  14 B and/or using supplemental heating components (e.g., heater  68  of  FIG. 9 , etc.). 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20171213
Publication Date: 20210309
Grant Date: 20210309
Priority Date: 20170828
Inventors: MYERS, SCOTT A.
KOCH, RICHARD H.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G09G3/035", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3208", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/035", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/133305", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G5/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K7/20954", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/041", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0017", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2354/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2330/04", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K7/20963", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/133305", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2354/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1637", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1618", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1694", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0221", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1681", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G5/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/133382", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0626", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/133382", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2330/04", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3208", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/203", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "E05B65/0067", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1652", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/041", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F24C15/022", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1679", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/529", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/5237", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L51/524", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2380/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/133305", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F24C15/022", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2354/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2330/04", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G5/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K7/20963", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G5/14", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/0626", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1679", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0017", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "E05B65/0067", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K7/20954", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G02F1/133382", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1652", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G3/3208", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1681", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1694", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K5/0221", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1618", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L2251/5338", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G09G2320/041", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01L27/3225", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/841", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/84", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/87", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/8794", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 65435924