Portable display device

Abstract

An example mobile computing device includes a display assembly comprising: a display panel that includes light emitting elements; and a backing layer that supports the display panel; and a housing comprising a shelf disposed about an inner perimeter of the housing, wherein the display assembly is attached to the shelf of the housing.

Description

PORTABLE DISPLAY DEVICEBACKGROUND

[0001] Devices that include displays may be referred to as display devices. In general, it may be desirable to increase a size of a display (e.g., the area on which images are displayed) as much as possible. Increasing the size of a display may make the device that includes the display large and unwieldy. For instance, devices with larger displays may not fit in pockets, bags, and the like. One way to increase the size of a display without negatively affecting the portability of the device is to make the device collapsible such that the display can be folded (e.g., in half).SUMMARY

[0002] Foldable devices may struggle with increased thickness, weight, and cost compared to traditional mobile computing devices. For instance, foldable devices may include two separate housings, a hinge assembly, and other components that may increase the thickness, weight, and / or cost.

[0003] In accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure, a foldable device may include modified housing components and a flexible display assembly that performs functions similar to those performed by housing components of non-foldable devices. For instance, one or more housings of a foldable device may omit an integral floor and a backing layer of a flexible display of the foldable device may provide structural support and / or carry components that would have been provided / carried by the integral floor. By omitting the integral floor, a weight, thickness, and / or cost of the housing may be reduced. In this way, this disclosure provides a new approach to the construction and structure of a foldable device that may simultaneously improve the thickness, weight and cost.

[0004] An example mobile computing device includes a display assembly comprising: a display panel that includes light emitting elements; and a backing layer that supports the display panel; and a housing comprising a shelf disposed about an inner perimeter of the housing, wherein the display assembly is attached to the shelf of the housing.

[0005] The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0006] FIGS. 1A and IB are schematic diagrams illustrating a folding device 100 with a flexible continuous display, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure.

[0007] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a foldable computing device that includes hoop housings, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of foldable computing device 300 that include a hoop housing, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a cross section diagram illustrating a display assembly, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure.

[0010] FIGS. 5A-5C are cross sectional diagrams of examples of a backing layer, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] FIGS. 1A and IB are schematic diagrams illustrating a folding device 100 with a flexible continuous display, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure. Examples of device 100 include mobile computing devices such as non-foldable or foldable smart phones, non-foldable or foldable tablets, non-foldable or foldable e- readers, non-foldable or foldable gaming systems, or any other non-foldable or foldable portable device that includes a display.

[0012] As shown in FIGS. 1 A and IB, device 100 includes a first assembly 102, second assembly 104, continuous display 106, and hinge assembly 107 connecting first assembly 102 and second assembly 104. Each of first assembly 102 and second assembly 104 may include an inner surface and an outer surface. The outer surface of first assembly 102 may be visible when looking down at device 100 in the z-axis and the outer surface of second assembly 104 may be visible when looking up at device 100 in the z-axis. The inner surfaces of first assembly 102 and second assembly 104 may not be externally visible when device 100 is closed. As further shown in FIG. 1 A, when folding device 100 is fully open, an inner surface of a first assembly 102 is coplanar with an inner surface of a second assembly 104. FIG. IB shows folding device 100 as fully closed.

[0013] Each of first assembly 102 and second assembly 104 may include one or more housings. For instance, first assembly 102 may include first housing 112 and second assembly 104 may include second housing 114. First housing 112 and second housing114 may be formed of any suitable material, such as aluminum, steel, titanium, etc. In some examples, one or both of first assembly 102 and / or second assembly 104 may include additional housing components. As one example, one or both of first assembly 102 and / or second assembly 104 may include a “back” cover that forms an outer surface of first assembly 102 and / or second assembly 104. For instance, first assembly 102 may include cover 111 that forms the outer surface of first assembly 102. Cover 111 may be formed of a metallic or a non-metallic material. For instance, cover 111 may by formed of a different material than first housing 112 and / or second housing 114, such as glass or carbon fiber. First housing 112 and / or second housing 114 may be monolithic structures (e.g., formed of a single piece of material), or may be formed of multiple pieces of material.

[0014] Computing and / or electrical components of device 100 may be distributed amongst first assembly 102 and second assembly 104. For example, first assembly 102 may include a main logic board and second assembly 104 may include a battery, such as battery 110. This is merely one example arrangement of components amongst first assembly 102 and / or second assembly 104; other arrangements are possible. For instance, both first assembly 102 and second assembly 104 may include respective batteries.

[0015] Continuous display 106 may be capable of rendering data into images viewable by a user of device 100. For example, continuous display 106 may include a matrix of pixels that are individually controllable. Examples of continuous display 106 include, but are not limited to, displays having emitting / emissive elements such as light emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, micro light-emitting diode (microLED) displays, or similar monochrome or color displays capable of outputting visible information to a user of device 100. Continuous display 106 may span hinge assembly 107 from first assembly 102 to second assembly 104. For instance, continuous display 106 may cover a majority of the inner surfaces of first assembly 102 and second assembly 104.

[0016] In some examples, device 100 may include one or more displays in addition to continuous display 106. For instance, device 100 may include a first additional display on the outer surface of first assembly 102. In some examples, device 100 may further include a second additional display on the outer surface of second assembly 104.

[0017] One or more of continuous display 106, the first additional display, and / or the second additional display may be presence-sensitive displays. In some examples, apresence sensitive display may detect an object at and / or near a screen. As one example range, a presence-sensitive display may detect an object, such as a finger or stylus that is within 2 inches of the screen. The presence-sensitive display may determine a location (e.g., an (x,y) coordinate) of a screen at which the object was detected. In another example range, a presence-sensitive display may detect an object within six inches of the screen. Other ranges are also possible. The presence-sensitive display may determine the location of the screen selected by a user’s finger using capacitive, inductive, and / or optical recognition techniques. In some examples, the presence sensitive display also provides output to a user using tactile, audio, or video stimuli.

[0018] A display assembly may include a display and a backing layer that provides structural support for the display. For instance, display assembly 105 may include continuous display 106 and backing layer 108. Backing layer 108 may be a sheet of material attached to a rear of continuous display 106. In some examples, backing layer 108 may be formed from a metallic material, such as aluminum, titanium, or steel (e.g., stainless steel) or a non-metallic material, such as carbon fiber or plastic.

[0019] Some housings of devices may include floors. For example, one or both of first housing 112 and / or second housing 114 may include a floor, which may be a sheet of material at a rear of device 100 (e.g., down the Z-axis from continuous display 106). However, including such a floor may present one or more disadvantages.

[0020] In accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure, one or both of first housing 112 and / or second housing 114 may omit a floor. For instance, as opposed to including a continuous sheet of material, one or both of first housing 112 and / or second housing 114 may be “hoop” enclosures that respectively include shelfs 122 and 124 around their perimeters. Such hoop enclosures may omit an integral floor. Backing layer 108 may be attached to shelfs 122 and 124 (e.g., via adhesive). In some examples, backing layer 108 may be made thicker (e.g., in order to compensate for loss of structure due to the removal of the floors from first housing 112 and / or second housing 114). For instance, a thickness of backing layer 108 may be greater than 0.2 mm. As one example, the thickness of backing layer 108 may be between 0.25 mm and 0.30 mm. By enabling an omission of the integral floor, aspects of this disclosure may enable a reduction in a weight of device 100. Other potential advantages of this disclosure include, but are not limited to, a cost reduction of the two housings (e.g., due to lower material use and machine (e.g., CNC) cycle time), a cost reduction of continuous display 106 due to the use of stainless steel instead of more costly materials, a thickness reduction of device 100(e.g., due to the elimination of the two midframe floors), and / or an improvement in crease quality with a more structural yet still flexible display backer.

[0021] While described with reference to folding devices, aspects of this disclosure (e.g., multi-segment display flex) can also be used in non-folding devices. For instance, a display assembly of a non-foldable device may include a relatively thick stiffening layer (e.g., so as to enable a removal / omission of material from a housing or other enclosure).

[0022] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a foldable computing device that includes hoop housings, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure. Device 200 of FIG. 2 may be an example of device 100 of FIGS. 1A and IB. Similarly, first housing 212, second housing 214, and backing layer 208 of FIG. 2 may be examples of first housing 112, second housing 114, and backing layer 108 of FIGS. 1 A and IB. As shown in FIG. 2, backing layer 208 may be attached to shelf 222 of first housing 212 via adhesive component 223 and shelf 224 of second housing 214 via adhesive component 225.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of foldable computing device 300 that include a hoop housing, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure. Device 300 of FIG. 3 may be an example of device 100 of FIGS. 1A and IB or device 200 of FIG. 2. Similarly, first housing 312, cover 311, display assembly 305 including continuous display 306 and backing layer 308 of FIG. 3 may be examples of first housing 112, cover 111, and display assembly 105 including continuous display 106 and backing layer 108 of FIGS. 1A and IB. Similarly, adhesive component 323 of FIG. 3 may be an example of adhesive component 223 of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, display assembly 305 may be attached to shelf 322 of first housing 312 via adhesive component 323. FIG. 3 may be a cross-section along line A-A of FIG. 1A.

[0024] Continuous display 306, as shown in FIG. 3, may include one or more layers. Example layers include, but are not limited to, emissive element layers, polarizers, digitizers, cover glass, etc.

[0025] In some examples, such as where first housing 312 omits an integral floor, one or more components of computing device 300 may be attached to display assembly 305. For instance, as shown in FIG. 3, component 390 may be attached to backing layer 308 via adhesive 388. Examples of component 390 include, but are not limited to, batteries, circuit boards, sensors, etc. As shown in FIG. 3, a first surface of backing layer 308 may be attached to display 306 (e.g., an upper surface in the reference frame of FIG. 3) andcomponents 390 may be attached to a second surface of backing layer 308 that is opposite the first surface (e.g., a lower surface in the reference frame of FIG. 3).

[0026] As shown in FIG. 3, device 300 may include one or more trim components. For instance, device 300 may include trim component 342 that may be attached to first housing 312 via adhesive 344.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 2, backing layer 208 may be attached to shelf 222 of first housing 212 via adhesive component 223 and shelf 224 of second housing 214 via adhesive component 225.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 3, display assembly 305 may be positioned at a first surface of device 300 (e.g., an upper surface in the reference frame of FIG. 3) and cover 311 may be positioned at a second surface of device 300 that is opposite the first surface (e.g., a lower surface in the reference frame of FIG. 3). Cover 311 may be attached to housing 312.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a cross section diagram illustrating a display assembly, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure. Display assembly 405 of FIG. 4 may be an example of display assembly 105 of FIG. 1A or display assembly 305 of FIG. 3. Similarly, continuous display 406 and backing layer 408 of FIG. 4 may be examples of continuous display 106 and backing layer 108 of FIG. 1 A or continuous display 306 and backing layer 308 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, it may be desirable for backing layer 408 to be able to flex at certain points along continuous display 406. For instance, it may be desirable for backing layer 408 to flex proximate to primary fold 468 and / or secondary folds 470 of continuous display 406 (e.g., to enable continuous display 406 to bend at primary fold 468 and / or secondary folds 470). The cross section of FIG. 4 may be a cross-section along the Z-X plane of FIG. IB (e.g., with device 100 in the closed state).

[0030] In accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure, backing layer 408 may be modified to enable flexing at certain locations. For instance, material may be removed from backing layer 408 proximate to locations at which it is desirable for backing layer 408 to bend. As one example, material is removed from backing layer 408 proximate to where backing layer 408 overlies a hinge assembly (e.g., primary fold 468). In some examples, the material may be removed from backing layer 408 via a chemical or optical process such as etching, or by a mechanical process such as milling or stamping.

[0031] FIGS. 5A-5C are cross sectional diagrams of examples of a backing layer, in accordance with one or more aspects of this disclosure. Each of backing layers 508 A- 508C (collectively, “backing layers 508”) may be an example of backing layer 108 ofFIG. 1 A, backing layer 208 of FIG. 2, backing layer 308 of FIG. 3, or backing layer 408 of FIG. 4.

[0032] As discussed above, material may be removed from a backing layer proximate to locations at which it is desirable for the backing layer to bend. For instance, material may be removed from backing layers 508 at one or more of positions 569 and 571. Positions 569 and 571 of backing layers 508 may correspond to a primary fold and secondary folds of a continuous display (e.g., primary fold 468 and secondary folds 470 of continuous display 406 of FIG. 4). In some examples, the material may be removed from an entirety of a depth of backing layers 508 (e.g., as shown in positions 569 of backing layers 508A- 508C and position 571 of backing layer 508C where material is removed from a full thickness). For instance, backing layers 508 may be etched all the way through at said locations. In some examples, the material may be removed from less than an entirety of a depth of backing layers 508 (e.g., as shown in positions 571 of backing layers 508A and 508B where material is removed from a partial thickness). For instance, backing layers 508 may be etched part of the way through at said locations.

[0033] The depth of material removal may be proportional to the induced flexibility in backing layers 508 (e.g., deeper material removal may provide increased flexibility). For instance, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, more material may be removed at position 569 (e.g., corresponding to a primary fold with a relatively large flex) than at positions 571 (e.g., corresponding to a secondary fold with a relatively small flex).

[0034] In some examples, a backing layer may have material removed from areas not proximate to a location at which a display mounted to the backing layer has a fold (e.g., not proximate to where the backing layer overlies a hinge assembly). For instance, material may be removed from positions 573 of backing layer 508C. Removing material from such portions may desirably reduce a weight of backing layer 508C.

[0035] In some examples, the backing layer may have material removed to create space to accommodate other components. For instance, material may be removed from one or more of backing layer 508 to reduce thickness near tall system components like cameras.

[0036] In some examples, one or more of backing layers 508 may include a structural feature. For instance, a boss may be welded to one or more of backing layers 508. Such a boss may be used to attach other components to backing layers 508, or may be used to attached backing layers 508 to a housing (e.g., to reduce or eliminate a use of adhesive such as adhesive component 323 of FIG. 3).

[0037] The following numbered examples may illustrate one or more aspects of the disclosure:

[0038] Example 1. A foldable computing device comprising: a first housing of a plurality of housing; a second housing of the plurality of housings; a hinge assembly rotatably coupling the first housing and the second housing; a display assembly comprising: a display panel that includes light emitting elements; and a backing layer that supports the display panel; and wherein at least one respective housing of the plurality of housings comprises a shelf disposed about an inner perimeter of the respective housing, wherein the display assembly is attached to the shelf of the respective housing.

[0039] Example 2. The foldable computing device of example 1, wherein the housing omits an integral floor.

[0040] Example 3. The foldable computing device of example 1, wherein a thickness of the backing layer is greater than 0.25 mm.

[0041] Example 4. The foldable computing device of example 1, wherein the respective housing is the first housing, wherein the second housing comprises a shelf disposed about an inner perimeter of the second housing, wherein the display assembly is attached to the shelf of the second housing.

[0042] Example 5. The foldable computing device of example 4, wherein the display assembly is a continuous display that spans the hinge assembly between the first housing and the second housing.

[0043] Example 6. The foldable computing device of example 4, wherein material is removed from the backing layer proximate to where the backing layer overlies the hinge assembly.

[0044] Example 7. The foldable computing device of example 6, wherein at least some of the material is removed from a full thickness of the backing layer.

[0045] Example 8. The foldable computing device of example 6, wherein at least some of the material is removed from a partial thickness of the backing layer.

[0046] Example 9. The foldable computing device of example 6, wherein material is removed from the backing layer from areas not proximate to where the backing layer overlies the hinge assembly.

[0047] Example 10. The foldable computing device of example 6, wherein the material is removed from the backing layer via etching.

[0048] Example 11. The foldable computing device of example 1, wherein a first surface of the backing layer is attached to the display panel, and wherein one or moreother components of the mobile computing device are attached to a second surface of the backing layer that is opposite the first surface.

[0049] Example 12. The foldable computing device of example 11, wherein the one or more other components include a battery.

[0050] Example 13. The foldable computing device of example 1, wherein the display panel is positioned at a first surface of the mobile computing device, and wherein the mobile computing device includes a cover that is attached to the respective housing and positioned at a second surface of the mobile computing device that is opposite the first surface.

[0051] Various aspects have been described in this disclosure. These and other aspects are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A foldable computing device comprising: a first housing of a plurality of housing; a second housing of the plurality of housings; a hinge assembly rotatably coupling the first housing and the second housing; a display assembly comprising: a display panel that includes light emitting elements; and a backing layer that supports the display panel; and wherein at least one respective housing of the plurality of housings comprises a shelf disposed about an inner perimeter of the respective housing, wherein the display assembly is attached to the shelf of the respective housing.

2. The foldable computing device of claim 1, wherein the housing omits an integral floor.

3. The foldable computing device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a thickness of the backing layer is greater than 0.25 mm.

4. The foldable computing device of any of claims 1-3, wherein the respective housing is the first housing, wherein the second housing comprises a shelf disposed about an inner perimeter of the second housing, wherein the display assembly is attached to the shelf of the second housing.

5. The foldable computing device of claim 4, wherein the display assembly is a continuous display that spans the hinge assembly between the first housing and the second housing.

6. The foldable computing device of claim 4 or claim 5, wherein material is removed from the backing layer proximate to where the backing layer overlies the hinge assembly.

7. The foldable computing device of claim 6, wherein at least some of the material is removed from a full thickness of the backing layer.

8. The foldable computing device of claim 6 or claim 7, wherein at least some of the material is removed from a partial thickness of the backing layer.

9. The foldable computing device of any of claims 6-8, wherein material is removed from the backing layer from areas not proximate to where the backing layer overlies the hinge assembly.

10. The foldable computing device of any of claims 6-9, wherein the material is removed from the backing layer via etching.

11. The foldable computing device of any of claims 1-10, wherein a first surface of the backing layer is attached to the display panel, and wherein one or more other components of the mobile computing device are attached to a second surface of the backing layer that is opposite the first surface.

12. The foldable computing device of claim 11, wherein the one or more other components include a battery.

13. The foldable computing device of any of claims 1-12, wherein the display panel is positioned at a first surface of the mobile computing device, and wherein the mobile computing device includes a cover that is attached to the respective housing and positioned at a second surface of the mobile computing device that is opposite the first surface.

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