PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11737307-B1
Application Number: US-201916386129-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B1

Title: Electronic devices having curved displays with supporting frames

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a display overlapped by a cover layer. Portions of the surface of the display and cover layer may have curved profiles. The display may include a flexible substrate with bent edge portions protruding from a central region. Gaps may be formed between regions of pixels on a common display substrate or between separate display substrates. A light source may emit light through a gap. Optical components such as sensors may be aligned with windows in the display. The windows may be formed from transparent portions of a display layer that are surrounded by pixels. A frame may be used to support the flexible substrate. The frame may have a metal portion and a polymer portion molded to the metal portion. Openings and other structures in the frame may accommodate components such as optical sensors. Components may be aligned with frame openings and display windows.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device, comprising:
 a display cover layer having four peripheral edges;   an optical component;   a frame with four peripheral edge surfaces, wherein each of the four peripheral edge surfaces has a curved profile, the frame has a metal portion and a polymer portion, and the frame has an opening in the metal portion that is aligned with the optical component; and   a flexible display having a planar portion with first pixels and having four peripheral portions with curved edge profiles that are supported by the frame, wherein the four peripheral portions have second pixels that overlap the four peripheral edge surfaces of the frame.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the display cover layer has a first portion overlapping the first pixels and has a second portion overlapping the second pixels, wherein the second portion is thicker than the first portion, and wherein the second portion has an exterior surface with a curved profile. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the polymer portion is configured to form the four peripheral edge surfaces. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic device defined in  claim 3   wherein the metal portion is overlapped by the first pixels. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device defined in  claim 4   wherein the display cover layer comprises a layer of glass and wherein the flexible display comprises an organic light-emitting diode display. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device defined in  claim 1   wherein the display cover layer has a first portion and a second portion that are coupled at a seam. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device defined in  claim 6   further comprising adhesive configured to couple the first and second portions at the seam. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device defined in  claim 6   wherein the first portion has a transparent sidewall portion with a top and a bottom and wherein the seam is located at the bottom of the transparent sidewall portion. 
     
     
         9 . The electronic device defined in  claim 6   wherein the first portion and second portion each have symmetrical sidewall portions that are joined at the seam with adhesive. 
     
     
         10 . The electronic device defined in  claim 1   wherein the display cover layer has a first sidewall portion and a second sidewall portion, the electronic device further comprising a peripheral metal member between the first and second sidewall portions. 
     
     
         11 . The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the flexible display has a transparent window surrounded by the first pixels, wherein the transparent window does not contain pixels, and wherein the transparent window is aligned with the opening. 
     
     
         12 . The electronic device defined in  claim 11   wherein the optical component comprises a component selected from the group consisting of: an ambient light sensor, an optical proximity sensor, a light-emitting diode, a laser, and a digital image sensor. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device defined in  claim 1   wherein the flexible display has first and second edges separated by a gap and wherein the electronic device comprises a light source overlapped by the gap. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device defined in  claim 1   wherein the display cover layer comprises a layer of glass with a surface of compound curvature that overlaps the flexible display.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/680,757, filed Jun. 5, 2018, 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 such as cellular telephones, tablet computers, and other electronic equipment may include displays for presenting images to a user. 
     If care is not taken, electronic devices with displays may not have a desired appearance or may be difficult to use satisfactorily. For example, displays may be bulky and unattractive or may not accommodate a desired electronic device shape. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a display. The display may be a flexible display such as an organic light-emitting diode display. A display cover layer formed from transparent material may overlap the flexible display. 
     Portions of the surface of the flexible display may be planar and portions of the surface of the flexible display may have curved profiles. For example, the display may have pixels in a central planar portion and may have pixels in a bent edge portion that protrudes from the central portion. Pixels may be formed on a front face of the device, sidewalls of the device, and/or a rear surface of the device. 
     Gaps may be formed between regions of pixels on the edges of a common display substrate or may be formed between regions of pixels on the edges of separate display panels. If desired, a light source may emit light through the gap. 
     Optical components such as sensors may be aligned with windows in the display. The windows may be formed from transparent portions of a display layer that are surrounded by pixels. 
     A frame may be used to support the flexible display. The frame may have a metal portion and a polymer portion molded to the metal portion. Openings and other structures in the frame may accommodate components such as optical sensors and light sources for emitting light through display gaps. Components may be aligned with frame openings and display windows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    is a top view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative planar portion of a display cover layer and pixel array in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative curved portion of a display cover layer and pixel array in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative sidewall portion of an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of an illustrative corner portion of an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  8    is a perspective view of an illustrative corner portion of a flexible display layer in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  9    is a top view of a flexible display layer of the type shown in  FIG.  8    in an unbent configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  10    is a top view of an illustrative corner portion of an electronic device in which a flexible display layer of the type shown in  FIGS.  8  and  9    has been mounted in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  11    is a top view of an illustrative corner portion of a flexible display layer with corner protrusions in an unbent configuration in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  12    is a top view of an illustrative display layer having a central planar panel and a strip-shaped panel that wraps around a peripheral edge of a device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  13    is a diagram showing how a flexible display may be mounted to a supporting frame prior to installation adjacent to an inner surface of a display cover layer in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  14    is a diagram of an illustrative display frame having a metal chassis and an overmolded plastic chassis in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS.  15  and  16    are cross-sectional side views of illustrative edge portions of electronic devices in which flexible displays have been curved around curved outer surfaces of supporting display frames in accordance with embodiments. 
         FIG.  17    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display frame having structures such as recesses configured to receive electrical components in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  18    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device showing how a display frame and display layer may have portions configured to accommodate an electrical component such as an optical sensor or other optical component in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  19    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative corner portion of an electronic device showing how the device may have an optical component such as a light-emitting component that emits light into a display gap in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with displays. The displays may have planar surfaces and curved surfaces. For example, a display may have a planar central portion surrounded by bent edges. The bent edges may have curved surface profiles. Arrangements in which displays exhibit compound curvature may also be used. Electronic devices having displays with curved surfaces may have an attractive appearance, may allow the displays to be viewed from a variety of different angles, and may include displays with a borderless or nearly borderless configuration. Internal frame structures such as frames with curved peripheral edge profiles and/or corner surfaces of compound curvature may be used in supporting flexible displays. In some arrangements, a frame may be configured to accommodate internal device components. 
     A schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device having a display with curved surface portions is shown in  FIG.  1   . Device  10  may be a cellular telephone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wristwatch device or other wearable device, a television, a stand-alone computer display or other monitor, a computer display with an embedded computer (e.g., a desktop computer), a system embedded in a vehicle, kiosk, or other embedded electronic device, a media player, or other electronic equipment. 
     Device  10  may include control circuitry  20 . Control circuitry  20  may include storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device  10 . The storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as 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  20  may be used to gather input from sensors and other input devices and may be used to control output devices. The processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors and other wireless communications circuits, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     To support communications between device  10  and external equipment, control circuitry  20  may communicate using communications circuitry  22 . Circuitry  22  may include antennas, radio-frequency transceiver circuitry, and other wireless communications circuitry and/or wired communications circuitry. Circuitry  22 , which may sometimes be referred to as control circuitry and/or control and communications circuitry, may support bidirectional wireless communications between device  10  and external equipment over a wireless link (e.g., circuitry  22  may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry such as wireless local area network transceiver circuitry configured to support communications over a wireless local area network link, near-field communications transceiver circuitry configured to support communications over a near-field communications link, cellular telephone transceiver circuitry configured to support communications over a cellular telephone link, or transceiver circuitry configured to support communications over any other suitable wired or wireless communications link). Wireless communications may, for example, be supported over a Bluetooth® link, a WiFi® link, a 60 GHz link or other millimeter wave link, a cellular telephone link, or other wireless communications link. Device  10  may, if desired, include power circuits for transmitting and/or receiving wired and/or wireless power and may include batteries or other energy storage devices. For example, device  10  may include a coil and rectifier to receive wireless power that is provided to circuitry in device  10 . 
     Device  10  may include input-output devices such as devices  24 . Input-output devices  24  may be used in gathering user input, in gathering information on the environment surrounding the user, and/or in providing a user with output. During operation, control circuitry  20  may use sensors and other input devices in devices  24  to gather input and can control output devices in devices  24  to provide desired output. 
     Devices  24  may include one or more displays such as display(s)  14 . An output device such as display  14  may be an organic light-emitting diode display, a liquid crystal display, an electrophoretic display, an electrowetting display, a plasma display, a microelectromechanical systems display, a display having a pixel array formed from crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diode dies (sometimes referred to as microLEDs), and/or other display. Display  14  may have an array of pixels configured to display images for a user. The display pixels may be formed on a substrate such as a flexible substrate (e.g., display  14  may be formed from a flexible display panel). Conductive electrodes for a capacitive touch sensor in display  14  and/or an array of indium tin oxide electrodes or other transparent conductive electrodes overlapping display  14  may be used to form a two-dimensional capacitive touch sensor for display  14  (e.g., display  14  may be a touch sensitive display). 
     Sensors  16  in input-output devices  24  may include force sensors (e.g., strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, resistive force sensors, etc.), audio sensors such as microphones, touch and/or proximity sensors such as capacitive sensors (e.g., a two-dimensional capacitive touch sensor integrated into display  14 , a two-dimensional capacitive touch sensor overlapping display  14 , and/or a touch sensor that forms a button, trackpad, or other input device not associated with a display), and other sensors. If desired, sensors  16  may include optical sensors such as optical sensors that emit and detect light, ultrasonic sensors, optical touch sensors, optical proximity sensors, and/or other touch sensors and/or proximity sensors, monochromatic and color ambient light sensors, image sensors, fingerprint sensors, temperature sensors, sensors for measuring three-dimensional non-contact gestures (“air gestures”), pressure sensors, sensors for detecting position, orientation, and/or motion (e.g., accelerometers, magnetic sensors such as compass sensors, gyroscopes, and/or inertial measurement units that contain some or all of these sensors), health sensors, radio-frequency sensors, depth sensors (e.g., structured light sensors and/or depth sensors based on stereo imaging devices), optical sensors such as self-mixing sensors and light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors that gather time-of-flight measurements, humidity sensors, moisture sensors, gaze tracking sensors, and/or other sensors. In some arrangements, device  10  may use sensors  16  and/or other input-output devices to gather user input (e.g., buttons may be used to gather button press input, touch sensors overlapping displays can be used for gathering user touch screen input, touch pads may be used in gathering touch input, microphones may be used for gathering audio input, accelerometers may be used in monitoring when a finger contacts an input surface and may therefore be used to gather finger press input, etc.). 
     If desired, electronic device  10  may include additional components (see, e.g., other devices  18  in input-output devices  24 ). The additional components may include haptic output devices, audio output devices such as speakers, light producing output devices such as light-emitting diodes for status indicators, light sources such as light-emitting diodes (e.g., crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diodes) that illuminate portions of a housing and/or display structure, other optical output devices, and/or other circuitry for gathering input and/or providing output. Device  10  may also include a battery or other energy storage device, connector ports for supporting wired communication with ancillary equipment and for receiving wired power, and other circuitry. 
       FIG.  2    is a front (plan) view of electronic device  10  in an illustrative configuration in which display  14  covers some or all of the front face FR of device  10 . Opposing rear face RR of device  10  may be covered by a housing wall formed from glass, metal, polymer, and/or other materials. Rear face RR may be free of display pixels and/or may be partly or fully covered by display  14 . 
     Device  10  may include a housing (e.g., housing  12 ) that forms sidewall structures for device  10  and/or internal supporting structures (e.g., a frame, midplate member, etc.). In some illustrative arrangements, sidewall portions of device  10  may be covered with portions of display  14 . In the example of  FIG.  2   , device  10  is characterized by four peripheral edges: upper edge T, lower edge B, left edge L, and right edge R. Upper edge T and opposing lower edge B may run parallel to each other and parallel to the X axis of  FIG.  2   . Left edge L and opposing right edge R may run parallel to each other and parallel to the Y axis of  FIG.  2   . Front face FR and rear face RR may be planar (e.g., two parallel planes offset by a distance along the Z axis) and/or may include curved portions. 
     Touch sensor circuitry such as two-dimensional capacitive touch sensor circuitry may be incorporated into one or more display panels in device  10  as separate touch sensor panels overlapping display pixels or may be formed as part of one or more display panels in device  10 . Touch sensors may be formed on front face FR, rear face RR, and/or edges (sidewall faces) T, B, R, and/or L. If desired, icons and other images for virtual buttons may be displayed by the pixels of device. For example, virtual buttons and/or other images may be displayed on front face FR, rear face RR, and/or sidewall structures in device  10  such as edges T, B, R, and/or L and may overlap touch sensor circuitry. Haptic output devices may be used to provide haptic feedback when virtual buttons are selected (as an example). 
     Device  10  of  FIG.  2    has a rectangular outline with four rounded corners. If desired, device  10  may have other shapes. For example, device  10  may have a shape that folds and unfolds along a bend (folding) axis and may include a display that overlaps or that does not overlap the bend axis, may have a shape with an oval footprint or circular outline, may have a cubic shape, may have a pyramidal, cylindrical, or conical shape, or may have other suitable shapes. The configuration of  FIG.  2    is illustrative. 
     If desired, openings may be formed in the surfaces of device  10 . For example, a speaker port and optical windows for an ambient light sensor, an infrared proximity sensor, and a depth sensor may be formed in a region such as upper region  30  of front face FR. A finger print sensor, touch sensor button, force-sensitive button, or other sensor that operates through display  14  may be formed under the portion of display in lower region  32  on front face FR and/or other portions of front face FR and/or other external surfaces of device  10 . An optional opening for a connector (e.g., a digital data connector, analog signal connector, and/or power connector) may be formed in portion  34  of the lower sidewall of device  10  running along lower edge B. This opening may be omitted when power is received wirelessly or is received through contacts that are flush with the surface of device  10  and/or when data is transferred and received wirelessly using wireless communications circuitry in circuitry  22  or through contacts that are flush with the exterior surface of device  10 . 
       FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device. As shown in  FIG.  3   , display  14  may be formed on front face FR and/or rear face RR of device  10 . Display  14  may include one or more transparent protective layers such as display cover layer  40 . Display cover layer  40  may be formed from transparent material such as clear glass, polymer, sapphire or other crystalline material, or other transparent material. Display layers such as layers  42  may have arrays of pixels  44  that form images. The pixel arrays (e.g., layers  42 ) may sometimes be referred to as pixel layers, pixel array layers, displays, display structures, display layers, or display panels. For example, layers  42  may be formed from organic light-emitting diode displays. In the example of  FIG.  3   , device  10  has a first display  14  (or first display portion of a display panel or other display structure) formed from a first pixel array  42  on front face FR. This first pixel array is visible in the -Z direction through display cover layer  40  on front face FR. Device  10  of  FIG.  3    also has a second display  14  (or second display portion of the display panel or other display structure) formed from a second pixel array  42  on rear face RF. This second pixel array is visible in the +Z direction through display cover layer  40  on rear face RR. The front and/or rear surfaces formed by display cover layer(s)  40  may be planar (as shown in  FIG.  3   ) or may have a curved profile. 
     If desired, the second display  14  of device  10  may be omitted. For example, pixel array  42  on rear face RR may be omitted. In this configuration, the inner surface of layer  40  on rear face RR may be coated with a black masking material or other opaque coating and/or may be coated with colored and/or shiny structures. Coating material can be patterned to form logos, text, and other visual elements. This type of arrangement may be used to hide internal components in interior  46  of device from view from the exterior of device  10 . As shown in  FIG.  3   , for example, device  10  may include electrical components  50  in interior  46  (e.g., integrated circuits, sensors and other input-output devices, control circuitry, display layers  42  such as organic light-emitting diode panels or other display layers, etc.). Electrical components  50  may, if desired, be mounted on printed circuits such as printed circuit  48  (e.g., flexible printed circuits and/or printed circuits formed from rigid printed circuit board material). In configurations such as these in which the lower pixel array of device  10  is omitted, the portion of device  10  on rear face RR (e.g., layer  40 ) may be formed from metal (e.g., a stainless steel or aluminum layer). For example, device  10  may have a rear housing wall formed from metal. Device  10  may also have housing walls formed from opaque glass, transparent glass coated with opaque materials such as ink or metal, and/or other housing wall materials. 
     In some configurations for device  10 , an opaque material such as metal or opaque polymer may form some or all of the sidewalls of device  10 . As an example, metal that forms some or all of a rear housing wall on rear face RR of device  10  may protrude upwardly along the edges of device  10  to form some or all of the sidewalls for device  10 . As another example, a peripheral metal band that forms some or all of the sidewalls of device  10  may extend around the rectangular periphery of device  10  (e.g., along upper edge T, right edge R, lower edge B, and left edge L). Sidewalls may have vertically extending planar surfaces and/or may exhibit other surface profiles (e.g., curved profiles). 
     If desired, some or all of the sidewalls of device  10  may be formed from clear material and may overlap light-producing components. This material may, as an example, be part of display cover layers  40  of  FIG.  3    (e.g., an extending piece of glass, polymer, crystalline material, or other transparent display cover layer material). Because clear layers of glass, plastic, crystalline material, and/or other clear layers of material in device  10  may enclose and protect internal device components, these outer layers of material in device  10  serve as an enclosure (housing  12 ) for device  10 . 
     In configurations for device  10  in which sidewalls have transparent portions formed from extending portions of display cover layers  40  or other transparent material, the sidewalls may overlap light-emitting components. Transparent sidewalls may have planar and/or curved surfaces and may be formed from clear glass, clear polymer, transparent crystalline material such as sapphire, and/or other transparent protective material. Displays (pixel arrays), light-emitting diodes covered with diffusing material, light-emitting diodes covered with patterned masks (e.g., opaque coatings with icon-shaped openings or openings of other shapes), and/or other light-emitting devices may be placed under clear sidewalls. 
     During operation, light emitted from the pixels or other light-emitting components under the sidewalls may pass through the sidewalls. In arrangements in which display panels are placed under transparent sidewalls, images may be displayed through the sidewalls. The images may form parts of images being displayed on front face FR and/or rear face RR and/or may be separate images. For example, a photograph may extend across front face FR and some or all of the sidewalls of device  10  and/or a photograph may cover only front face FR while virtual buttons are displayed on the sidewalls of device  10 . In arrangements in which one or more light-emitting diodes and an overlapping diffuser are placed under transparent sidewalls, diffuse light may be emitted through the sidewalls. 
     In addition to optional opaque housing structures such as metal housing walls or opaque walls formed from other materials, device  10  may include display cover layers  40  and other structures formed from transparent glass, transparent polymer, and/or other transparent material. These materials may surround the interior of device  10  and thereby serve as a housing for device  10  as well as serving as protective layers for pixel arrays and other light-emitting components. In the example of  FIG.  3   , the front surface of device  10  is formed by a planar surface of display cover layer  40  on front face FR and the rear surface of device  10  is formed by a planar surface of display cover layer  40  on rear face RR. In general, device  10  may have planar surface portions and/or curved surface portions (surface portions with curved profiles) and these portions may be formed by display cover layers, other layers formed from glass, polymer, sapphire or other crystalline material, ceramic, or other potentially transparent materials, metal, wood, or other materials. 
     Transparent portions of device  10  may overlap pixels or other light-emitting components that emit light that is visible to a user. In the illustrative arrangements of  FIGS.  4  and  5   , an array of pixels  44  in layer  42  is configured to emit light that passes through display cover layer  40  for viewing by viewer  52  (e.g., in direction  54  and/or other directions from the exterior of device  10 ). The inner and outer surface of layers  40  (and other layers enclosing the interior of device  10 ) may be planar and/or curved. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  4   , outer surface  56  of layer  40  and inner surface  58  of layer  40  are planar. Inner surface  58  of  FIG.  4    may be curved or partly planar and partly curved, if desired. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  5   , outer surface  56  of layer  40  is curved and inner surface  58  of layer  40  is curved. Inner surface  58  may, if desired, be planar or may have planar and curved surface profile portions. 
     Device  10  may have upper and/or lower surfaces (e.g., external surfaces  56  on front face FR and rear face RR, respectively) that are planar and/or curved. The edges of device  10  may have sidewalls with planar and/or curved portions (e.g., surfaces with straight and/or curved profiles). As shown in  FIG.  6   , for example, the sidewalls of device  10  along one or more edges such as edge E of device  10  (e.g., left edge L, right edge R, upper edge T, lower edge B, and/or the corners of device  10 ) may have a curved outer surface. 
     Edge E may be transparent (e.g., the entire sidewall of device  10  may be transparent and may be formed from extended portions of upper and lower display cover layer(s)) and/or one or more portions of the curved sidewall of edge E may be opaque (e.g., formed from glass or other material that is coated with opaque material, formed from opaque polymer, formed from metal, and/or formed from other opaque structures). Opaque structures (e.g., metal housing wall portions) may extend along one or more portions of edge E (e.g., metal or other opaque material may form the portion of edge E between locations  60 A and  60 B, between locations  60 B and  60 C, between locations  60 C and  60 D, between locations  60 D and  60 E, between locations  60 A and  60 C, between locations  60 B and  60 D, between locations  60 C and  60 E, or between other suitable locations on edge E. There may be a single strip of metal housing material that runs around all four peripheral edges E of device  10 , there may be a pair of discrete strips of metal housing material that run around all four peripheral edges E in parallel, there may be no non-glass structures on edges E, and/or there may be other suitable structures on edges E. 
     Display layer  42  may be formed from a single panel (e.g., a single flexible organic light-emitting diode display panel having a polyimide substrate or other flexible substrate with bent edge portions), may be formed from multiple panels (e.g., multiple panels separated from one or more gaps), may be formed from panels with slots and other openings, and/or may be formed from other types of displays. Portions of display layer  42  (e.g., all of layer  42  and/or the pixels and/or other structures of layer  42 ) may be omitted wherever layer  42  is overlapped by a metal portion of edge E and/or other opaque structures in edge E. For example, edge E may be formed from glass everywhere except between locations  60 B and  60 D. The portion of edge (sidewall) E between locations  60 B and  60 D may be formed from metal (as an example). In this type of scenario, no display layer  42  (or at least no pixels  44 ) may be overlapped by the metal and pixels  44  and display layer  42  may be present under the glass portions of edge E and/or display cover layer  40  on front face FR and/or rear face RR. 
     If desired, device  10  may have external surfaces with compound curvature. A perspective view of an illustrative corner portion of device  10  is shown in  FIG.  7   . In the example of  FIG.  7   , device  10  has edge portions (sidewalls)  68  and  70  with surfaces that curve about axes  62  and  64 , respectively. These portions extend along the straight sides of device  10  and are characterized by curved surfaces that can be flattened into a plane without distortion (sometimes referred to as developable surfaces). At the corner of device  10 , device  10  has curved surface portions CP with compound curvature (e.g., a surface that can only be flattened into a plane with distortion, sometimes referred to as a surface with Gaussian curvature). Each of the four corners of device  10  may have this arrangement, if desired. 
     Flexible displays such as organic light-emitting diode displays with flexible polyimide substrates or other bendable polymer substrates can be bent about axes such as axes  62  and  64  to form curved surfaces in portions  68  and  70 . In compound curvature regions such as corner regions of device  10 , display  14  can be formed from materials that stretch (e.g., displays formed from mesh-shaped elastomeric substrate material), may be formed from flexible displays that are patterned to create flexible strips and other structures that can be bent to cover at least part of the compound curvature regions, and/or may use optical structures (e.g., lenses, etc.) to redirect light emitted from pixels in a display to surfaces with compound curvature. Configurations in which display surfaces with curved profiles are accommodated using a flexible display layer such as a flexible organic light-emitting diode display are described herein as an example. 
     With one illustrative configuration, a flexible display layer has one or more protrusions that are bent to accommodate portions of the display that are curved. Consider, as an example, flexible display layer  42  of  FIG.  8   . As shown in  FIG.  8   , flexible display layer  42  (e.g., an organic light-emitting diode display) may have a rectangular central portion  42 - 1 . Along one, two, three, or four of the peripheral edges of portion  42 - 1 , display layer  42  has elongated strip-shaped protrusions such as protrusions  42 - 2  and  42 - 3  that run parallel to the edges of display layer  42 . These portions may be bent about bend axes that run parallel respectively to each of the peripheral edges of portion  42 - 1 . One or more protrusions of display layer  42  may be bent to accommodate display surfaces with curved profiles. For example, protrusions such as corner protrusion  42 - 4  of  FIG.  8    may be located in each of the four corners of display layer  42  and may be bent to provide pixels for the rounded corners of display  14 . Corner protrusions such as protrusion  42 - 4  may be overlapped by curved portions of display cover layer  40  (e.g., portions of cover layer  40  with surfaces of compound curvature). 
       FIG.  9    is a top view of flexible display layer  42  of  FIG.  8    in an unbent configuration (prior to bending to form a display with curved edges, corners of compound curvature, etc.).  FIG.  10    is a top view of a corner portion of flexible display layer  42 . As shown in  FIG.  10   , protrusion  42 - 4  (which may sometimes be referred to as a tab) may be curved to accommodate a rounded corner portion of display  14 . Protrusion  42 - 4  may be formed as an integral portion of display layer  42  (e.g., portions  42 - 1 ,  42 - 2 ,  42 - 3 , and  42 - 4  may be formed from a common substrate). If desired, a separate display substrate may be used in forming portion  42 - 4  of display  14 . For example, the pixels of protrusion  42 - 4  may be formed on a display substrate that is separated from portion  42 - 3  at location  72 . 
     In general, any suitable slots or other cuts may be made in flexible display layer  42  to allow display layer  42  to be bent and otherwise folded to form a display with curved portions (e.g., without creating excessive buckling and wrinkling of display layer  42 ). Another illustrative arrangement is shown in  FIG.  11   . In the example of  FIG.  11   , central portion  42 - 1  of display layer  42  has a rectangular shape, four edge protrusions such as edge protrusions  42 - 3  and  42 - 2  run along the four respective peripheral edges of portion  42 - 2 , and the corner of display layer  42  has a series of finger-shaped protrusions  42 - 5  that extend radially outwards from portion  42 - 1  (when display layer  42  is in an unbent configuration as shown in  FIG.  11   ). When it is desired to form display  14 , protrusions  42 - 5  may be bend downwardly to cover the corner of device  10  (e.g., to form portions of display layer  42  that are overlapped by a display cover layer having a corner surface of compound curvature). 
       FIG.  12    is a top view of a display layer arrangement that uses two separate display panels (e.g., two separate organic light-emitting diode display substrates) for forming an upper portion of display  14 . In this arrangement, central portion  42 A may have a rectangular shape. The corners of central portion  42 A may be rounded. To form portions of display  14  that are visible through transparent sidewalls of device  10  (e.g., sidewall portions of display cover layer  40 ) while accommodating the rounded corners of the display, display layer  42  of  FIG.  12    has a strip-shaped sidewall portion  42 B. Portion  42 B may be oriented so that the surface of portion  42 B is vertical (e.g., so that surface normals of portion  42 B are orthogonal to the surface normal of portion  42 A). This allows portion  42 B to wrap around the peripheral edge of portion  42 A without buckling. 
     As these examples demonstrate, display  14  may include one or more display panels (e.g., one or more distinct portions of display layer  42 ) with protrusions that are bent to accommodate the curved surfaces of display  14  while avoiding wrinkling of the flexible substrate material forming display layer  42 . Display layers  42  of this type may be mounted to interior surfaces of display cover layer  40  and/or may be supported by internal frame structures. The inwardly facing surfaces of display cover layer  40  may be concave. To simplify assembly, it may be desirable to mount flexible display layers  42  on a convex outer surface or other supporting surface of a frame structure that is subsequently installed within a recessed portion of display cover layer  40 . 
     Consider, as an example, the assembly operations illustrated in  FIG.  13   . Device  10  may include an internal flexible display support structure such as frame  74 . Frame  74  may be formed from metal, polymer, other materials, and/or combinations of two or more of these materials. For example, frame  74  may have a metal portion and a polymer portion or may be formed solely from metal or solely from polymer (as examples). The outer surfaces of frame  74  may be configured to serve as supporting surfaces for flexible display layer  42  and may be planar and/or may have curved surface profiles (e.g., surfaces of compound curvature). 
     Initially, frame  74  may be uncovered with display structures, as shown in the upper portion of  FIG.  13   . Flexible display layer  42  may then be attached to the outer surface of frame  74  using adhesive (e.g., polymer)  76  or other attachment mechanisms (e.g., clips or other fasteners, etc.), as shown in the middle portion of  FIG.  13   . As shown in the lower portion of  FIG.  13   , display cover layer  40  may be used to cover the outer surface of display layer  42 . If desired, a layer of adhesive  78  may be used in attaching display layer  42  to the inner surface of display cover layer  40 . In areas in which the surface of frame  74  is planar, display layer  42  and the corresponding inner surface of display cover layer  40  may be planar. In areas in which the surface of frame  74  has a curved surface profile (e.g., a surface of compound curvature), display layer  42  may be configured to be attached to this surface without excessive buckling (e.g., using wrapped protrusions, multiple substrate portions, etc.) and display cover layer  40  may have a matching inner surface with a curved surface profile. The outer surface of display cover layer  40  in areas where the inner surface is curved may also be curved (as an example). 
     An illustrative display frame is shown in  FIG.  14   . As shown in  FIG.  14   , display frame  74  may include metal frame portion such as metal portion  74 - 2  and a polymer frame portion such as polymer portion  74 - 1 . Polymer portion  74 - 1  may, if desired, be overmolded onto metal portion  74 - 2  or other attachment mechanisms (adhesive, fasteners, etc.) may be used in coupling portions  74 - 1  and  74 - 2  together. Portions  74 - 1  and/or  74 - 2  may have planar surfaces and/or curved surface profiles to help support display layer  42  in a desired shape. For example, frame portion  74 - 1  may have portions with curved surfaces along four respective display edges (e.g., upper, lower, left, and right edges in  FIG.  14   ) and may have portions with surfaces of compound curvature such as illustrative compound curvature portions  74 - 1 CC in the rounded corners of frame  74 . In the example of  FIG.  14   , frame portion  74 - 2  has openings  79  to help reduce the weight and volume occupied by frame  74 . Configurations without openings or with openings of other shapes may also be used. In device  10 , display layer  42  has pixels that overlap the planar portions of frame  74  formed by portion  74 - 2  and has pixels along the curved edges of device  10  that overlap the curved edge surfaces of frame portion  74 - 1 . 
       FIG.  15    is a cross-sectional side view of an edge portion of device  10  in an illustrative configuration in which display cover layer  40  has a sidewall of enlarged thickness. As shown in  FIG.  15   , display layer  40  may have planar portions that overlap the pixels of planar portions of display layer  42  and may have curved sidewalls such as sidewall portion  40 W. The thickness of sidewall portion  40 W (e.g., the distance from the inner surface of sidewall portion  40 W relative to the opposing ouster surface of sidewall portion  40 W taken along the surface normal of display layer  42 ) may be greater than the thickness of the planar portions of display cover layer  40  to enhance the resistance of display cover  40  to damage during impact events. 
     To facilitate device assembly, display cover layer  40  may have an upper portion  40 A and a mating lower portion  40 B that are joined at seam  80  (e.g., using coupling joint  80 J, which may be formed from adhesive, glass welds, etc.). Seam  80  of  FIG.  15    is formed at the bottom of the sidewall formed from portion  40 W. If desired, seam  80  may be located at other locations along the edge of device  10  or near to the edge of device  10 , as illustrated by illustrative seam locations  80 ′. All of the sidewalls and front and rear faces of display cover layer  40  may be formed from transparent display cover layer material and/or one or more portions of display cover layer  40  may be replaced by metal or other opaque housing structures. As an example, portion  82  of device  10  may be formed from a peripheral metal band or other metal housing member that extends around the rectangular periphery of device  10  (e.g., the four peripheral edges and four rounded corners of device  10 ). 
     Frame  74  of  FIG.  15    includes frame portion  74 - 2  (e.g., a metal frame structure) and frame portion  74 - 1  (e.g., a polymer frame structure). Portion  74 - 1  may, if desired, be formed from polymer that is molded over the edges of frame portion  74 - 2 . Display layer  42  may be attached to the outer surface of frame  74  so that display layer  42  is adjacent to the inner surface of display cover layer  40  when mounted in device  10 . Display layer  42  may cover some or all of the front face of device  10 , some or all of the sidewalls of device  10 , and/or some or all of the rear face of device  10 . If desired, display layer  42  may be omitted from some or all of the front face, sidewall, and/or rear face of device  10 . 
       FIG.  16    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative edge portion of device  10  in a configuration in which display cover layer  40  has symmetrical upper and lower portions. As shown in  FIG.  16   , upper portion  40 A and lower portion  40 B are configured to be joined (e.g., using adhesive, laser welding, etc.) along seam  80 . Seam  80  of  FIG.  16    is located in the middle of the sidewall of layer  40 . If desired, sidewall portions  40 W of display layer portions  40 A and  40 B may have a greater thickness than the planar portions of portions  40 A and  40 B or other configurations may be used for display layer  40 . The arrangement of  FIG.  16    is illustrative. 
       FIG.  17    is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of frame  74  showing how frame  74  may have structures such as recesses that are configured to receive components  50 . Components  50  may be sensors such as ambient light sensors, digital image sensors (e.g., visible light and/or infrared light cameras), light sources such as infrared light sources that emit one or more beams of infrared light, visible light sources, infrared proximity sensors (e.g., proximity sensors using infrared light emitters configured to emit infrared light and infrared light detectors configured to monitor emitted infrared light that is reflected from objects in the vicinity of device  10 ), and/or other electrical components. These components may be optical components that emit and/or receive light through overlapping layers such as layer  84  (e.g., optical sensors, light source, etc.). Layer  84  may include display cover layer  40 , opaque masking material on selected inner surface portions of layer  40 , adhesive layers, touch sensor layers (e.g., touch sensor layers with arrays of capacitive touch sensor electrodes that cover all or part of the front face, rear face, and/or sidewalls of device  10 ), display layer  42 , and/or other structures in device  10 . 
     Another illustrative arrangement for accommodating components in device  10  is shown in  FIG.  18   . In the arrangement of  FIG.  18   , frame  74  is formed from frame portion  74 - 1  (e.g., a polymer frame structure) and frame portion  74 - 2  (e.g., a metal frame structure). Frame portion  74 - 2  may have one or more openings such as opening  86 . Component  50  (e.g., an optical sensor, light source, or other optical component such as one or more of the illustrative optical components described in connection with  FIG.  17   ), may be aligned with opening  86  in frame  74 . Adhesive, a mounting bracket, fasteners, or other mounting structures may be used in coupling component  50  to the inner surface of frame  74  or otherwise supporting component  50  adjacent to the inner surface of frame  74 . Display cover layer  40  may overlap frame  74  and opening  86  in frame portion  74 - 2 . Display layer  42  which may be mounted to the exterior surface of frame  74  using adhesive and may be interposed between display cover layer  40  and frame  74 . As shown in  FIG.  18   , display layer  42  may have a transparent window such as window  88 . Window  88  may be provided with enhanced transparency relative to other portions of display layer  42  by omitting some or all pixels  44  and associated interconnect lines and other supporting circuitry from window  88 . The pixels  44  in display layer  42  that display images for the user of device  10  may surround window  88 . Window  88  may be aligned with opening  86  of frame  74  and component  50 . This allows infrared and/or visible light that is emitted by component  50  to pass through opening  86 , window  88  and display cover layer  40  to the exterior of device  10  and allows infrared and/or visible light from the exterior of device  10  to pass to component  50  through display cover layer  40 , window  88 , and opening  86 . 
     Display layer gaps (e.g., areas without display substrate material and without pixels  44 ) may be created when portions of display layer  42  (and sets of pixels on these display layer structures) are separated from each other. As shown in  FIG.  19   , for example, display layer  42  may have edge portions that are separated by gap G. Gaps such as gap G of  FIG.  19    may, for example, be formed in the seams between distinct display panels (e.g., gaps between sets of pixels on adjacent organic light-emitting diode display substrates that are separated from each other) or may be formed between sets of pixels on nearby edges of a common display panel (e.g., the edges of a single display layer  42  that has been bent around the corner of a device or that has otherwise been formed into a shape in which the pixels of different portions of the display layer are separated by a gap that does not contain pixels and/or other layers of the display such as substrate material). 
     To help blend gap G visually with adjacent structures, gap G may be overlapped by structures such as structure  94 . Structure  94 , which may sometimes be referred to as a gap-overlapping structure, may be formed from colored polymer, polymer coated with an ink or other colored material (e.g., a polymer coating layer with a colorant such as a dye or pigment), may be formed from a thin coating layer on the inner surface of layer  40 , may be formed from multiple structures (e.g., one or more structures formed from polymer, metal, glass, ceramic, other materials, and/or combinations of these materials that create a desired appearance for gap G when viewed from the exterior of device  10  through display cover layer  40 ), or may be formed from other gap-overlapping components. 
     If desired, light-emitting devices may be used to emit light into gaps such as gap G. As an example, structure  94  may be transparent to light. Component  90  may be formed in recess  92  of frame  74  (e.g., in frame portion  74 - 1 ) or may be received and supported by other portions of frame  74 . Component  90  may be an optical component (e.g., a light source or optical sensor) or any other suitable electrical component (see, e.g., components  50  of  FIG.  3   ). In arrangements in which component  90  is a light-emitting component, emitted light from component  90  may pass through structure  94 . Structure  94  may be hazy and may therefore serve as a diffuser. For example, structure  94  may be formed from a transparent material such as glass or plastic that incorporates bubbles, light-scattering particles, surface textures, diffusing coatings (e.g., coatings formed from light-diffusing polymer layers containing bubbles, light-scattering inorganic particles, textures, and/or other light-scattering structures), and/or structures  94  and/or nearby portions of device  10  (e.g., overlapping portions of layer  40 , interposed polymer layers, etc.) may be provided with light diffusing structures. 
     A diffuser formed in this way in device  10  may overlap component  90  and may diffuse emitted light from component  90 , so that gap G emits diffuse light. This may help visually blend gap G with images created by the pixels in adjacent portions of display layer  42  during operation. Component  90  may include one or more crystalline light-emitting diodes of one or more different respective colors, one or more laser diodes of one or more different colors, or other light sources. If desired, light guides (e.g., light guide films, optical fibers, etc.) can be used in guiding light from a light source (e.g., a crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diode or laser) to gap G. At gap G, the light guide may emit the guided light (e.g., through a diffuser overlapping gap G). 
     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: 20190416
Publication Date: 20230822
Grant Date: 20230822
Priority Date: 20180605
Inventors: SOYSEVEN, ALEXIS G.
KAKUDA, TYLER R.
WANG, YING-CHIH
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H10K77/111", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/871", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1652", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/841", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K77/111", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K50/841", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K77/111", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K2102/311", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H10K59/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 87558422