PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9131037-B2
Application Number: US-201213655315-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device with conductive fabric shield wall

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a housing such as a metal housing. A display may be mounted in the metal housing. Antenna structures may be mounted in the housing under an inactive peripheral portion of the display. Integrated circuits and other electrical components may be mounted in the housing under an active central portion of the display. Shielding structures may be configured to form a wall that extends between the display and the metal housing. The shielding structures may include a sheet of conductive fabric that is shorted to the metal housing and metal chassis structures in the display. The shielding structures may also include a tube of conductive fabric that is capacitively coupled to ground traces in a touch sensor panel. The conductive fabric tube and the sheet of conductive fabric may be shorted to each other using conductive adhesive.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a first interior portion and a second interior portion; 
 antenna structures in the first interior portion; 
 electrical components in the second interior portion; 
 conductive fabric structures that form a shielding wall separating the first interior portion from the second interior portion, wherein the conductive fabric structures comprise a sheet of conductive fabric and a tube of conductive fabric; and 
 conductive adhesive that attaches the tube of conductive fabric to the sheet of conductive fabric. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the housing comprises a metal housing and wherein the sheet of conductive fabric is shorted to the metal housing. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  further comprising a display, wherein the conductive fabric structures extend between the metal housing and the display. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  further comprising a touch panel having a ground trace and having a dielectric substrate, wherein the tube of conductive fabric is mounted adjacent to the dielectric substrate to capacitively couple the tube of conductive fabric to the ground trace. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  further comprising a display module having a metal chassis structure, wherein the sheet of conductive fabric has a portion that overlaps that metal chassis structure. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 5  wherein the sheet of conductive fabric has a vertical planar portion that extends from the metal housing towards the display and wherein the sheet of conductive fabric is bent at an angle with respect to the vertical planar portion to form the portion of the sheet of conductive fabric that overlaps the metal chassis structure. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6  wherein the sheet of conductive fabric further has a portion that runs along an inner surface of the metal housing. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a ground structure, wherein the conductive fabric structures are electrically shorted to the ground structure. 
 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8 , wherein the ground structure comprises a conductive portion of the housing. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising an electrical component having a dielectric layer and a metal trace. 
     
     
       11. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a first interior portion and a second interior portion; 
 antenna structures in the first interior portion; 
 electrical components in the second interior portion; 
 conductive fabric structures that form a shielding wall separating the first interior portion from the second interior portion; and 
 an electrical component having a dielectric layer and a metal trace, wherein the conductive fabric structures are capacitively coupled to the metal trace. 
 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11  wherein the electrical component having the dielectric layer and the metal trace comprises a touch panel and wherein the metal trace comprises a ground trace in the touch panel. 
     
     
       13. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a first interior portion and a second interior portion; 
 antenna structures in the first interior portion; 
 electrical components in the second interior portion; and 
 conductive fabric structures that form a shielding wall separating the first interior portion from the second interior portion, wherein the electrical components comprise at least one integrated circuit in the second interior portion and the conductive fabric structures are configured to shield the antenna structures from the electrical components. 
 
     
     
       14. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a first interior portion and a second interior portion; 
 antenna structures in the first interior portion; 
 electrical components in the second interior portion; 
 conductive fabric structures that form a shielding wall separating the first interior portion from the second interior portion, wherein the antenna structures include a first wireless local area network antenna and a second wireless local area network antenna; and 
 a button located between the first wireless local area network antenna and the second wireless local area network antenna. 
 
     
     
       15. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a first interior portion and a second interior portion; 
 antenna structures in the first interior portion; 
 electrical components in the second interior portion; and 
 conductive fabric structures that form a shielding wall separating the first interior portion from the second interior portion, wherein the antenna structures include first and second antennas, the first antenna comprises a first flexible printed circuit with first patterned antenna traces, and the second antenna comprises a second flexible printed circuit with second patterned antenna traces. 
 
     
     
       16. The apparatus defined in  claim 15  further comprising first and second dielectric carriers that respectively support the first and second flexible printed circuits. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus defined in  claim 16  further comprising:
 a display cover layer; and 
 foam interposed between the first dielectric carrier and the first flexible printed circuit that biases the first flexible printed circuit against the display cover layer. 
 
     
     
       18. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a first interior portion and a second interior portion; 
 antenna structures in the first interior portion; 
 electrical components in the second interior portion; 
 conductive fabric structures that form a shielding wall separating the first interior portion from the second interior portion; and 
 a display, wherein the first interior portion is formed under an inactive portion of the display.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to grounding structures for antennas and components in electronic devices. 
     Electronic devices such as portable computers and handheld electronic devices are often provided with wireless communications capabilities. For example, electronic devices may use long-range wireless communications circuitry to communicate using cellular telephone bands. Electronic devices may use short-range wireless communications links to handle communications with nearby equipment. Electronic devices are also often provided with electronic components such as integrated circuits and other components. 
     It can be difficult to incorporate antennas and electrical components successfully into an electronic device. Some electronic devices are manufactured with small form factors, so space is limited. Integrated circuits and other components can produce interference signals, which have the potential to disrupt antennas, particularly when sources of interference signals are placed in close proximity to antennas. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved arrangements for incorporating antennas and electronic components into electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a housing such as a metal housing. A display may be mounted in the metal housing. Antenna structures may be mounted in the housing under an inactive peripheral portion of the display. Integrated circuits and other electrical components may be mounted in the housing under an active central portion of the display. 
     Shielding structures may be configured to form a wall that that separates the antenna structures under the inactive portion of the display from components such as integrated circuits under the active portion of the display. The shielding structures may extend vertically between the display and the metal housing. 
     The shielding structures may include a sheet of conductive fabric that is shorted to the metal housing and that is shorted to conductive components such as metal chassis structures in the display. The sheet of conductive fabric may have a planar vertical portion and bent edge portions. The shielding structures may include a tube of conductive fabric that is capacitively coupled to ground traces in a touch sensor panel. The conductive fabric tube and the sheet of conductive fabric may be shorted to each other using conductive adhesive. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with shielding structures for antennas and components in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of an illustrative electronic device with antennas, electrical components, and structures for electrically isolating the antennas and electrical components in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an interior end portion of an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device showing how a shielding structure may be formed between an antenna and electrical device components in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative shielding structures that include a sheet of conductive fabric and a tube-shaped conductive fabric structure that is capacitively coupled to a ground conductor in a component such as a touch sensor panel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may be provided with antennas for transmitting and receiving wireless radio-frequency signals. Electronic devices may also be provided with electrical components such as integrated circuits and other devices that have the potential to interfere with antenna operation. For example, an integrated circuit such as a display driver integrated circuit may produce fundamental and harmonic signals that can produce or contribute to interference that falls within a communications band of interest. Interference may be generated, for example, that falls within a wireless local area network communications band, a cellular telephone band, or other communications band being used by an electronic device. 
     To reduce the potentially harmful effects of undesired electromagnetic interference, an electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  may be provided with electromagnetic interference shielding structures. These structures, which may sometimes be referred to as grounding structures or shields, may help prevent interference that is produced by an aggressor such as an integrated circuit from being received by a victim such as a radio-frequency receiver. 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , device  10  has the shape of a portable device such as a cellular telephone or other handheld device, tablet computer, or other portable equipment. In general, electronic devices  10  may be desktop computers, computers integrated into computer monitors, portable computers, tablet computers, handheld devices, cellular telephones, wristwatch devices, pendant devices, other small or miniature devices, televisions, set-top boxes, or other electronic equipment. 
     Device  10  may include one or more antenna resonating elements. For example, device  10  may include one or more wireless local area network antennas such as IEEE 802.11 (WiFi®) antennas operating at 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz that are located at one end of device  10  such as end  6  and may include one or more antennas operating at cellular telephone frequencies that are located at an opposing end of device  10  such as end  8 . Antennas may also be located at other positions around the periphery of device  10 , in the center of device  10 , or in other suitable locations. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  10  may have a display such as display  14 . Display  14  may be mounted on a front (top) surface of device  10  or may be mounted elsewhere in device  10 . Device  10  may have a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12  may have strait walls or curved portions that form the edges of device  10  and a relatively planar portion that forms the rear surface of device  10  (as an example). Housing  12  may also have other shapes, if desired. 
     Housing  12  may be formed from conductive materials such as metal (e.g., aluminum, stainless steel, etc.), carbon-fiber composite material or other fiber-based composites, glass, ceramic, plastic, other materials, or combinations of these materials. Antennas may be mounted under a radio-transparent portion of display  14 , adjacent to a radio-transparent dielectric antenna window in a metal housing, or adjacent to a dielectric housing. Antenna window structures may be formed from plastic, glass, ceramic, or other dielectric materials. 
     Device  10  may have user input-output devices such as button  16 . Display  14  may be a touch screen display that is used in gathering user touch input. The surface of display  14  may be covered using a display cover layer such as a planar cover glass member or a clear layer of plastic or other dielectric member. If desired, the outermost layer of display  14  may be formed from a portion of a color filter layer or other display layer. The central portion of display  14  (shown as region  20  in  FIG. 1 ) may be an active region that contains an array of display pixels for displaying images and that contains a touch sensor array that is sensitive to touch input. The peripheral portion of display  14  such as region  22  may be an inactive region that is free from touch sensor electrodes and display pixels and that does not display images. 
     A layer of opaque masking material such as opaque ink or plastic may be placed on the underside of display  14  in peripheral region  22  (e.g., on the underside of the cover glass or other display cover layer). The opaque masking material layer may be transparent to radio-frequency signals. The conductive touch sensor electrodes in region  20  and the conductive structures associated with the array of display pixels in region  20  may tend to block radio-frequency signals. However, radio-frequency signals may pass through the display cover layer and the opaque masking layer in inactive display region  22 . Antenna structures may therefore transmit and receive antenna signal through inactive display region  22 . 
     For example, antennas such as antenna  24 A and  24 B of  FIG. 1  may transmit and receive radio-frequency wireless signals through inactive border region  22  of display  14  at end  6  of housing  12 . Antennas  24 A and  24 B may be, for example, wireless local area network (WLAN) antennas such as IEEE 802.11 (WiFi®) antennas. There may be any suitable number of wireless local area network antennas in device  10 . The configuration of  FIG. 1  in which there are two antennas at end  6  of housing  12  is merely illustrative. 
     With one suitable arrangement, housing  12  may be formed from a metal such as aluminum. In this type of configuration, radio-frequency antenna signals for antennas  24 A and  24 B may pass primarily or exclusively through inactive portion  22  of display  14  at end  6 . If desired, portions of housing  12  may be formed from dielectric in the vicinity of antennas  24 A and  24 B or housing  12  may be formed entirely from dielectric. Examples of dielectric materials of the type that may be used in forming housing  12  or an antenna window in a metal housing include polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), PC/ABS blends, and other plastics (as examples). 
     A schematic diagram of an illustrative configuration that may be used for electronic device  10  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry  36 . Control circuitry  36  may include storage and processing circuitry for controlling the operation of device  10 . Control circuitry  36  may, for example, 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. Control circuitry  36  may include processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio codec chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Control circuitry  36  may be used to run software on device  10 , such as operating system software and application software. Using this software, control circuitry  36  may, for example, transmit and receive wireless data, tune antennas to cover communications bands of interest, process proximity sensor signals, adjust radio-frequency transmit powers based on proximity sensor data, control which antennas are active to enhance wireless performance in real time, and may perform other functions related to the operation of device  10 . 
     Input-output devices  38  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  38  may include communications circuitry such as wired communications circuitry. Device  10  may also use wireless circuitry such as radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  32  and antenna structures  24  to communicate over one or more wireless communications bands. 
     Input-output devices  38  may also include input-output components with which a user can control the operation of device  10 . A user may, for example, supply commands through input-output devices  38  and may receive status information and other output from device  10  using the output resources of input-output devices  38 . 
     Input-output devices  38  may include sensors and status indicators such as an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an accelerometer, and light-emitting diodes and other components for gathering information about the environment in which device  10  is operating and providing information to a user of device  10  about the status of device  10 . Audio components in devices  38  may include speakers and tone generators for presenting sound to a user of device  10  and microphones for gathering user audio input. Devices  38  may include one or more displays such as display  14 . Displays may be used to present images for a user such as text, video, and still images. Sensors in devices  38  may include a touch sensor array that is formed as one of the layers in display  14  (i.e., display  14  may be a touch screen display that includes a touch panel having an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensors such as resistive touch sensors, light-based touch sensors, acoustic touch sensors, or force-sensor-based touch sensors). During operation, user input may be gathered using buttons and other input-output components in devices  38  such as touch pad sensors, buttons, joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, touch sensors such as a touch sensor array in a touch screen display or a touch pad, key pads, keyboards, vibrators, cameras, and other input-output components. 
     Device  10  may include wireless communications circuitry such as radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  32 , power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive radio frequency components, one or more antennas such as antenna structures  24 , and other circuitry for handling radio frequency wireless signals. The wireless communications circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuits for handling multiple radio-frequency communications bands. For example, wireless communications circuitry in device  10  may include transceiver circuitry  32  for handling cellular telephone communications, wireless local area network signals, and satellite navigation system signals such as signals at 1575 MHz from satellites associated with the Global Positioning System. Transceiver circuitry  32  may handle 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) communications and may handle the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® communications band. Circuitry  32  may use cellular telephone transceiver circuitry for handling wireless communications in cellular telephone bands such as the bands in the range of 700 MHz to 2.7 GHz (as examples). 
     The wireless communications circuitry in device  10  can include circuitry for other short-range and long-range wireless links if desired. For example, wireless communications circuitry in device  10  may include wireless circuitry for receiving radio and television signals, paging circuits, etc. In WiFi® and Bluetooth® links and other short-range wireless links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over tens or hundreds of feet. In cellular telephone links and other long-range links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over thousands of feet or miles. 
     Antenna structures  24  may include one or more antennas such as antennas  24 A and  24 B. Antenna structures  24  may include inverted-F antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, monopoles, dipoles, single-band antennas, dual-band antennas, antennas that cover more than two bands, or other suitable antennas. As an example, device  10  may include one or more antennas such as single band or dual band inverted-F antennas formed from metal structures. Metal structures for forming antenna resonating elements for antenna structures  24  may include metal traces formed directly on a plastic carrier or other dielectric carrier or may include metal traces formed on a printed circuit. Printed circuit substrates having metal antenna traces may be supported by a plastic carrier or other dielectric carrier. 
     To provide antenna structures  24  with the ability to cover communications frequencies of interest, antenna structures  24  may be provided with tunable circuitry. Antenna structures  24  may also include antennas that are not tuned during operation. For example, antennas  24 A and  24 B may be wireless local area network antennas that cover 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands without using antenna tuning circuitry. 
     During operation, path  34  may be used to convey data between control circuitry  36  and radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  32  (e.g., when transmitting wireless data or when receiving and processing wireless data). 
     Transceiver circuitry  32  may be coupled to antenna structures  24  by signal paths such as signal paths  30 A and  30 B. Signal paths  30 A and  30 B may each include one or more transmission lines. Signal path  30 A may be a transmission line including positive signal path  28 A and ground signal path  26 A. Signal path  30 B may be a transmission line including positive signal path  228 B and ground signal path  26 B. 
     Transmission line paths  30 A and  30 B may form parts of a coaxial cable, parts of a microstrip transmission line, or parts of other transmission line structures. The impedance of transmission lines  30 A and  30 B may be 50 ohms (as an example). Matching network circuits formed from components such as inductors, resistors, and capacitors may be used in matching the impedance of antenna structures  24  to the impedances of transmission lines  30 A and  30 B. Matching network components may be provided as discrete components (e.g., surface mount technology components) or may be formed from housing structures, printed circuit board structures, traces on plastic supports, etc. 
     Transmission line  30 A may be coupled to antenna feed structures associated with antenna  24 A and transmission line  30 B may be coupled to antenna feed structures associated with antenna  24 B. As an example, antenna structures  24 A and  24 B may each include an inverted-F antenna having an antenna feed with a positive antenna feed terminal (+) and a ground antenna feed terminal (−). Other types of antenna feed arrangements may be used if desired. The illustrative feeding configuration of  FIG. 2  is merely illustrative. 
     To help electromagnetically isolate antenna structures  24  from other components in device, one or more electromagnetic interference shielding structures may be provided in device  10  such as shielding structures  42 . Structures  42  may be formed from metal housing structures, conductive portions of a display or other components, metal tape or other flexible metal structures, sheet metal structures, or other conductive structures. As an example, conductive structures formed from conductive fabric may be used in forming shielding structures  42 . Shielding structures  42  may be coupled to a metal housing or other conductive structure within device  10  that serves as a source of ground potential (e.g., a metal structure such as metal housing  12  may serve as ground) and may therefore sometimes be referred to as grounding structures. Shielding structures  42  may help prevent undesired electromagnetic interference. As an example, shielding structures  42  may help prevent radio-frequency interference signals that are generated by circuitry  36  or  38  from being received by antennas  24 A and  24 B and thereby passed to circuitry  32 . 
       FIG. 3  is a top view of an end portion of device  10  of  FIG. 1  showing how shielding structures  42  may be interposed between central interior portion  48  of housing  12  in device  10  and end interior portion  50  of housing  12  at end  6  of device  10 . Interior portion  48  may include components such as components  44 . Components  44  may include circuitry of the type show in  FIG. 2  (e.g., one or more integrated circuits such as memory and processor circuits, display driver integrated circuits, etc.). Components  44  may be mounted on one or more substrates such as substrate  46 . Substrate  46  may be a rigid printed circuit board (e.g., a fiberglass-filled epoxy board), a flexible printed circuit (e.g., a printed circuit having a flexible printed circuit substrate such as a layer of polyimide or a sheet of other flexible polymer), a plastic carrier, or other dielectric support structure. Components such as battery structures, display and touch sensor structures, and other devices may also be mounted in region  48 . 
     Components such as button  16  may be mounted in region  50 . Antennas such as antennas  24 A and  24 B may also be mounted within region  50 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , antenna  24 A may have a support structure such as dielectric support structure  58 A. Antenna  24 B may have a support structure such as dielectric support structure  58 B. Support structures  58 A and  58 B may be formed from materials such as glass, ceramic, and plastic. As an example, support structures  58 A and  58 B may be formed from hollow or solid molded plastic parts. 
     Antenna  24 A may include flexible printed circuit  60 A. Flexible printed circuit  60 A may include a substrate and patterned metal traces such as traces  62 A. Metal traces  62 A may be patterned to form antenna structures such as an inverted-F antenna resonating element. 
     Antenna  24 B may include flexible printed circuit  60 B. Flexible printed circuit  60 B may include a flexible printed circuit substrate having patterned metal traces  62 B. Metal traces  62 B may be patterned to form antenna structures such as an inverted-F antenna resonating element. 
     Flexible printed circuits  60 A and  60 B may be mounted to support structures  58 A and  58 B using foam, adhesive, or other mounting structures. 
     During operation, the presence of shielding structures  42  may prevent interference signals from components  44  in region  48  from being received by antennas  24 A and  24 B and may help block antenna signals from antennas  24 A and  24 B that might otherwise pass into region  48 . 
     A cross-sectional side view of device  10  at an end such as end  6  of  FIG. 3  is shown in  FIG. 4 . In the example of  FIG. 4 , a flexible printed circuit such as flexible printed circuit  60  (e.g., flexible printed circuit  60 A or  60 B of  FIG. 3 ) is being supported by dielectric carrier  58  (e.g., carrier  58 A or carrier  58 B of  FIG. 3 ). Antenna resonating element traces for an antenna may be contained within flexible printed circuit  60 , as described in connection with traces  62 A and  62 B of antennas  24 A and  24 B of  FIG. 4 . Display  14  may include a display module such as display module  86  and a display cover layer such as display cover layer  52 . Display cover layer  52  may be formed from a layer of clear material such as a transparent glass sheet or a transparent plastic member. Opaque masking material may be formed on the underside of display cover layer  52  in inactive region  22  of display  14 . In active display region  20 , display module  86  of display  14  may use an array of display pixels  88  for displaying images for a user. 
     To ensure consistent antenna performance from device to device, a biasing structure such as foam layer  56  may be interposed between antenna resonating element flexible printed circuits such as flexible printed circuit  60  and dielectric carriers such as dielectric carrier  58 . A foam layer such as foam layer  56  may press antenna resonating element flexible printed circuit  60  upwards into a known position relative to display cover layer  52 , thereby helping to ensure mounting consistency and reducing antenna performance fluctuations due to manufacturing variations. 
     Dielectric carrier  58  may be hollow. For example, interior portion  74  of dielectric carrier  58  may be filled with air. Components may be mounted within the interior of dielectric carrier  58 . For example, speaker driver  76  may be mounted within interior  74  of dielectric carrier  58 . During operation, speaker driver  76  may produce sound (i.e., cavity  58  may serve as a speaker box for driver  76 ). Interior  74  of speaker box  58  may serve as speaker box cavity. Openings such as opening  70  in speaker box carrier  58  and opening  72  in housing  12  may be used to allow sound from speaker driver  76  to exit the interior of device  10 . 
     Portions of speaker driver  76  such as housing  78  or other structures in speaker driver  76  may be formed from conductive structures such as metal structures. Conductive foam  82  may be used to form a conductive grounding path the grounds speaker driver  76  to housing  12 . Conductive foam  82  may also serve as a biasing structure that helps push carrier  58  (and therefore flexible printed circuit antenna resonating element  60  upwards against the interior of display cover glass  52 . 
     Display module  86  may have one or more display layers. For example, display module  86  may have liquid crystal display layers such as a light guide plate, diffusing films, prism films, and other backlight structures, a thin-film-transistor layer, a liquid crystal layer, a color filter layer, and upper and lower polarizer layers. These layers may be assembled to from a module. The module may include plastic chassis structures (sometimes referred to as a p-chassis) and metal chassis structures (sometimes referred to as an m-chassis). Display module  86  may, for example, have a metal chassis such as m-chassis structure  90  of  FIG. 4 . If desired, display module  86  may be formed using an array of organic light-emitting diodes or other display structures (e.g., structure for an electrophoretic display, structures for an electrowetting display, structures for a plasma display, etc.). The use of liquid crystal display pixels in forming display module  86  is merely illustrative. 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 4 , display  14  is a touch screen display that includes touch panel  96 . A layer of adhesive such as adhesive layer  94  may be used to attach touch panel  96  to the underside of display cover layer  52  in active area  20 . Touch panel  96  may be formed from a substrate such as a layer of polyimide or other flexible polymer layer. Indium tin oxide capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor structures may be formed on touch panel  96 . If desired, touch sensor structures such as an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes may be formed directly on the underside of display cover layer  52  or other layers in display  14 . The configuration of  FIG. 4  in which display  14  has been provided with touch sensor functionality by attaching a touch panel to the inner surface of display cover layer  52  is merely illustrative. 
     Display module  86  may include a rectangular array of display pixels  88  in the central active portion of display  14 . For example, in a configuration in which display module  86  is a liquid crystal display module, display pixels  88  may each include electrode structures and an associated thin-film transistor for controlling signals applied to the electrode structures. The magnitude of the signals applied to the electrode structures may be used to adjust the optical properties of the liquid crystal layer and thereby control the amount of light that is transmitted through each pixel of the display. 
     In general, shielding structures  42  may be formed from one or more pieces of conductive material. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 4 , shielding structures  42  of  FIG. 3  have been implemented using conductive structures such as conductive structures  42 A and  42 B. Conductive structures  42 A may be formed from a layer of metal tape, a thin sheet metal layer, or a layer of conductive fabric (as examples). Shielding layer portion  42 B may be formed from a tube of conductive fabric or other conductive material (e.g., metal tape, etc.). 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , conductive structures  42 A may be formed from a sheet of material having a first planar portion such as vertical planar portion  42 A- 1 . Vertical planar portion  42 A- 1  may extend vertically between structures such as conductive housing wall  12  in the lower portion of device  10  and structures such as display  14  (e.g., touch panel  96  of display  14 ) in the upper portion of device  10 . Bends may be formed in the sheet of material used to form conductive structures  42 A. For example, structures  42 A may have a lower end that is bent so that horizontal portion  42 A- 2  of structures  42 A extends along metal housing wall  12  and thereby grounds conductive structures  42 A to housing  12 . Structures  42 A may also have an upper end that is bent to form horizontally extending portion  42 A- 3 . 
     If desired, conductive adhesive may be used in coupling conductive structures  42 A to adjacent metal structures in device  10 . For example, conductive adhesive may be interposed between portion  42 A- 2  and housing wall  12  and/or portions  42 A- 3  and portions of display module  86 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , horizontally extending portion  42 A- 3  of structures  42 A may be electrically connected to an overlapping portion of display module  86  such as metal chassis  90 . This grounds metal chassis  90  to housing  12 . An optional layer of conductive adhesive may be used in coupling portion  42 A- 3  of structures  42 A to metal chassis  90 . Conductive structures  42 B may be electrically grounded to housing  12  using structures  42 A. If desired, conductive adhesive such as conductive adhesive layer  120  may be interposed between structures  42 B and structures  42 A to help attach and short structures  42 B to structures  42 A. 
     Touch sensor layer  96  may include a touch sensor substrate layer such as substrate  100 . Substrate  100  may be formed from a layer of polyimide or other polymer. Capacitive touch sensor electrodes such as indium tin oxide electrodes or electrodes formed from other conductive transparent material may be formed on the upper and/or lower surfaces of substrate  100 . For example, capacitive touch sensor electrodes  104  may be formed on the upper surface of substrate  100  and capacitive touch sensor electrodes  106  may be formed on the lower surface of substrate  100 . Adhesive  94  may be used to attach touch sensor  86  to the underside of display cover layer  52  ( FIG. 4 ). 
     Conductive structure  42 B may be formed from a hollow tube of conductive fabric that runs along the edge of touch sensor  96  (i.e., along an axis that extends into the page of  FIG. 5 ). Touch sensor layer  96  may include ground conductors such as ground traces  102  on substrate  100 . Conductive shielding structure  42 B may be electrically coupled to ground traces  102  via capacitive coupling, as illustrated schematically by capacitance  110  of  FIG. 5 . By capacitively coupling touch sensor ground traces  102  conductive structures  42 B, traces  102  may be grounded to housing  12  through conductive structures  42 A, thereby shorting structures  42  to the top of device  10  (at display  14 ). Structures  42 A may also be shorted to the bottom of device  10  at housing  12 , so that structures form a vertical conductive shielding wall. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20121018
Publication Date: 20150908
Grant Date: 20150908
Priority Date: 20121018
Inventors: CORBIN SEAN S.
GILBERT TAYLOR H.
GOMEZ ANGULO RODNEY A.
LI QINGXIANG
MCCLURE STEPHEN R.
QUINTERO JULIO C.
SAMARDZIJA MIROSLAV
SCHLUB ROBERT W.
ZHU JIANG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/026", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K9/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/523", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/523", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/026", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H05K9/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 50485354