Electronic devices having a display support

Abstract

We provide electronic devices including displays such as flexible displays. [Solution] The display cover layer may overlap the display layer within the display. The display may have an active area and an inactive area. Reinforcements may support the cover layer in the inactive area, and end caps may be bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area. The end caps may be separated from the display layer by a gap. The reinforcements may be metal reinforcements or thickened portions of the cover layer. The reinforcements may include openings for forming windows for optical components. Lenses may be bonded to the reinforcements and / or the cover layer within the openings. Trims may be interposed between the edge of the cover layer and the device housing, and the edge of the cover layer may be separated from the trim by a gap.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application generally relates to electronic devices, including electronic devices having a display. (Cross-reference to Related Applications) This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 19 / 280,001, filed on July 24, 2025, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 694,062, filed on September 12, 2024, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Background Art

[0002] Electronic devices often include a display for presenting images to a user. The display may have one or more flexible display layers.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] An electronic device may include a display, such as a flexible display, having a first portion, a second portion aligned with a bending axis, and a third portion. The second portion may be interposed between the first portion and the third portion, the first portion may be configured to bend relative to the third portion about the bending axis, and the flexible display may have a peripheral portion. The display may include a display layer and a cover layer overlapping the display layer.

[0004] The display may have an active area and an inactive area. A reinforcement may support the cover layer in the inactive area, and an end cap may be coupled to the display cover layer in the inactive area. The end cap may be separated from the display layer by a gap, and the reinforcement may extend across the gap. The end cap may support the display cover layer in a region of the inactive area.

[0005] The reinforcing material may be a rigid reinforcing material such as a metal reinforcing material, or it may be a thickened portion of the cover layer. The reinforcing material may include an opening for forming a window for optical components in an inactive area. The lens may be bonded to the reinforcing material and / or the cover layer within the opening. A trim may be interposed between the edge of the cover layer and the device housing, and the edge of the cover layer may be separated from the trim by a gap. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of an exemplary electronic device having a display according to several embodiments.

[0007] [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of an exemplary electronic device having a display, according to several embodiments.

[0008] [Figure 3] This is a perspective view of an exemplary electronic device having a display with an array of pixels, according to several embodiments.

[0009] [Figure 4] This is a side view of an electronic device having a flexible display according to several embodiments. [Figure 5] This is a side view of an electronic device having a flexible display according to several embodiments.

[0010] [Figure 6] This is a front view of an exemplary electronic device having a display with different inactive area regions, according to several embodiments.

[0011] [Figure 7A]Perspective view of an exemplary electronic device having a display cover layer supported by a display layer in a first non-active area region and by an end cap attached to the display layer in a second non-active area region, according to some embodiments.

[0012] [Figure 7B] Perspective view of an exemplary electronic device having a display cover layer supported by a display layer in a first non-active area region and by an end cap attached to a housing in a second non-active area region, according to some embodiments.

[0013] [Figure 8] Side view of an exemplary electronic device including an end cap that supports a display cover layer, according to some embodiments.

[0014] [Figure 9] Side view of an exemplary electronic device including a reinforcement that supports a display cover layer, according to some embodiments.

[0015] [Figure 10] Side view of an exemplary electronic device including a reinforcement and an end cap that support a display cover layer, according to some embodiments.

[0016] [Figure 11] Side view of an exemplary electronic device including a wedge-shaped reinforcement that supports a display cover layer, according to some embodiments.

[0017] [Figure 12] Side view of an exemplary electronic device having a wedge-shaped display cover layer with a flat outer surface, according to some embodiments.

[0018] [Figure 13]Side view of an exemplary electronic device having a wedge-shaped display cover layer with a flat inner surface, according to some embodiments.

[0019] [Figure 14A] Side view of an exemplary electronic device having a display cover layer that is thinner at the bending axis than at the periphery of the device, according to some embodiments. [Figure 14B] Side view of an exemplary electronic device having a display cover layer that is thinner at the bending axis than at the periphery of the device, according to some embodiments.

[0020] [Figure 15] Front view of an exemplary electronic device having a display with an active area, an opaque masking area, and a trim, according to some embodiments.

[0021] [Figure 16] Side view of an exemplary electronic device including a reinforcement member that supports a display cover layer and has an optical component window opening, according to some embodiments.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] The electronic device may include a display such as a flexible display. For example, the electronic device may be bendable / foldable, and the flexible display may enable bending / folding of the electronic device. The flexible display may include a cover layer (e.g., a flexible display cover layer). The cover layer may extend across the active area and the non-active area of the flexible display.

[0023] In some parts of the inactive area, the cover layer may be supported by an underlying display layer that extends into the inactive area. However, in other parts of the inactive area, the flexible display may have display interconnects (e.g., printed circuits) that wrap around the edges of the flexible display. In these panel bends, the underlying display layer may be prevented from extending into the inactive area by the display interconnects.

[0024] Therefore, in order to support the cover layer at these panel bends, end caps can be attached to the extended display layer in the portion adjacent to the inactive area. The end caps may contain the same display layer as the flexible display, or they may contain an elastomer having similar shear stiffness to the display layer.

[0025] Alternatively or additionally, reinforcing materials may be used in the panel bends. These reinforcing materials may be metal reinforcements bonded to the cover layer in the panel bends, thicker portions of the cover layer in the panel bends, or any other suitable reinforcing material. One or more openings may be formed in the reinforcing materials to form windows for underlying optical components.

[0026] Figure 1 shows an exemplary electronic device that may have a flexible display. Electronic device 10 may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor including an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device; a smaller device such as a wristwatch, a pendant, or other type of wearable or miniature device; a computer display without an embedded computer; a computer display including an embedded computer; a gaming device; a navigation device; a head-mounted device; an embedded system such as a system with an electronic device having a display mounted in a kiosk or automobile; a device that implements two or more of the functions of these devices; or other electronic device. In the exemplary configuration of Figure 1, device 10 is a portable device such as a mobile phone, a media player, a tablet computer, a watch or other wrist device, or another portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device 10 if desired. The embodiment in Figure 1 is for illustrative purposes only.

[0027] In the example shown in Figure 1, the device 10 includes a display, such as a display 14, mounted within a housing 12. The housing 12, often referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed from plastic, glass, ceramic, fiber composite, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or any two or more combinations of these materials. The housing 12 may be formed using a unibody configuration in which part or all of the housing 12 is machined or molded as a single structure, or it may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures forming the external housing surface, etc.). Part of the housing 12 may be formed from a flexible material (e.g., an elastomer material such as silicone and / or other flexible polymers) and / or may include a hinge structure.

[0028] The housing 12 may have a hinge on an axis to allow the device 10 to bend. The hinge may include one or more hinge mechanisms, such as a swivel structure, a single-bar or multi-bar link mechanism, and / or other hinge mechanisms. Using these hinge mechanisms, the housing 12 may bend about a bending axis (sometimes called a bending axis, folding axis, or flexing axis). The housing 12 may have a first housing portion and a second housing portion that rotate relative to each other when the device 10 is bent (folded) about a bending axis, using a hinge and / or other flexible structure that joins the first housing portion and the second housing portion.

[0029] The display 14 may be a touchscreen display incorporating a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.), or it may be a non-touch-sensitive display. The capacitive touchscreen electrodes may be formed from indium tin oxide pads or arrays of other transparent conductive structures. The touch sensors may be formed using electrodes or other structures on the display layer containing the pixel array, or on a separate touch panel layer attached to the pixel array (e.g., using adhesive).

[0030] The display 14 may include pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, electrophoretic elements, micro-electromechanical (MEM) shutter pixels, electrowetting pixels, micro-light-emitting diodes (e.g., small crystalline semiconductor dies), organic light-emitting diodes (e.g., pixels in thin-film organic light-emitting diode displays), or pixels based on other display technologies. A configuration in which the display 14 has an array of light-emitting pixels, such as an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels, may be described as an example herein.

[0031] The display 14 may have a portion that overlaps with the bending axis. To facilitate bending of the device 10 around the bending axis, the entire display 14 may be formed using a flexible structure, or at least a portion of the display 14 that overlaps with the bending axis may be formed using a flexible structure. A display cover layer or other layer may form the outermost surface of the display. Such a display layer (e.g., a display cover layer) may be formed from glass, plastic, and / or other transparent display cover layer structures, and may be flexible (at least if these layers overlap with the bending axis of the device 10). In other words, the display cover layer may be a flexible display cover layer.

[0032] As shown in Figure 1, for example, the display 14 may have three parts. In particular, the left part of the display 14 may overlap with the left part of the housing 12, the right part of the display 14 may overlap with the right part of the housing 12, and the central part of the display 14 may overlap with the bent region of the housing 12 aligned with the bending axis. In the left and right parts of the housing 12, the display 14 may be flexible or rigid (for example, the pixel array in these areas may be rigid, and / or the display cover layer structure in these areas may be rigid). The part of the display 14 that overlaps with the bending axis may form a strip between the parts of the display 14 that overlap with the left and right parts of the housing 12, and may extend across the width of the display between the opposing edges of the display. To ensure that the portion of the display 14 that overlaps the bending axis is flexible enough to allow the device 10 to bend around the bending axis, display layers such as the display cover layer of the display 14 may be formed from a thin, flexible glass or polymer layer that adapts to the bending of the display 14 around the bending axis, and the underlying display layers (e.g., polymer substrates, metal traces, polarizer layers, touch sensor layers, adhesive layers, and other conductive and dielectric layers in an organic light-emitting diode pixel array) may also be formed from flexible materials and structures.

[0033] A schematic diagram of an exemplary electronic device, such as device 10 in Figure 1, is shown in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2, the electronic device 10 may have a control circuit 50. The control circuit 50 may include storage and processing circuits to support the operation of device 10. The storage and processing circuits may include storage devices such as hard disk drive storage devices, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, or other electrically programmable read-only memory configured to form a solid-state drive), and volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access memory). The processing circuits within the control circuit 50 can be used to control the operation of device 10 (e.g., to process sensor signals and other inputs, and to control adjustable components such as displays and heating elements). The processing circuit configuration may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application-specific integrated circuits, etc.

[0034] Input / output devices within device 10, such as input / output device 46, may be used to enable data to be supplied to device 10 and to enable data to be supplied from device 10 to an external device. As shown in Figure 2, input / output device 46 may include a display 14. The display 14 may be a touchscreen incorporating a two-dimensional touch sensor or may be non-touch responsive. The two-dimensional touch sensor for the display 14 may be formed from a capacitive touch electrode touch sensor or an array of other touch sensor components (e.g., force sensors, resistive touch sensors, acoustic touch sensors, optical sensors, etc.).

[0035] The input / output device 46 may include a sensor 40. The sensor 40 may include a capacitive proximity sensor, an optical proximity sensor, a magnetic sensor, a force sensor such as a force sensor for collecting user input, a touch sensor for collecting user touch input, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an ambient light sensor, a microphone or other sound sensor for collecting user input such as ambient noise measurements and voice commands, a sensor for collecting data on device position and motion such as an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, a compass, and / or a gyroscope, one or more of any desired number of these sensors, and / or other sensors.

[0036] The input / output device 46 may also include other components 48 such as buttons, joysticks, scroll wheels, touchpads, keypads, keyboards, speakers, sound sources, vibrators (sometimes called haptic output devices), cameras, light-emitting diodes, and other status indicators, data ports, etc. The user can control the operation of device 10 by supplying user input commands via the input / output device 46, and can receive status information and other outputs from device 10 using the output resources of the input / output device 46.

[0037] The control circuit 50 may be used to execute software such as operating system code and applications on the device 10. While the device 10 is operating, the software running on the control circuit 50 may use the array of pixels in the display 14 to display images on the display 14 (for example, still images such as videos, text, alphanumeric labels, photographs, icons, and other graphics).

[0038] Figure 3 shows some perspective views of exemplary electronic devices that may include a flexible display. In the example in Figure 3, device 10 includes a display such as display 14 mounted within a housing 12.

[0039] Openings may be formed in the device 10. For example, openings may be formed in the display 14 to accommodate buttons, speaker ports such as the exemplary speaker port 18 in Figure 3, and / or other components. Openings may be formed in the housing 12 to form communication ports (e.g., audio jack ports, digital data ports, etc.), openings for buttons, openings for microphones and speakers, etc.

[0040] The display 14 may be a liquid crystal display, an electrophoretic display, an organic light-emitting diode display, or another display having an array of light-emitting diodes, a plasma display, an electrowetting display, a micro-LED display, a display based on micro-electromechanical system (MEM) pixels, or any other suitable display. The display 14 may have an array of pixels 28 within an active area AA. The pixels 28 in the active area AA can display an image for the user of the device 10. The active area AA may be rectangular or have any other suitable shape. In some configurations, the display 14 may have a flexible polymer substrate, such as a polyimide substrate, on which an array of pixel structures, such as an array of organic light-emitting diodes, and associated pixel circuits are formed. The flexible polymer substrate can be easily bent. However, the use of a flexible polymer substrate to enable bending is merely illustrative. In general, the display 14 may be a foldable display having any suitable flexible display substrate.

[0041] An inactive boundary area IA (also referred to herein as an inactive area IA) may extend along one or more edges of the active area AA. The inactive boundary area IA may include circuits, signal lines, and other structures that do not emit light to form an image. Masking structures (e.g., a layer of black ink) may be used to conceal inactive circuits and other components within the inactive area IA from the user of device 10. However, including an inactive area IA is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, device 10 may not include an inactive area such as an inactive area IA around the edges of the active area AA. For example, the active area AA may extend between opposing edges of device 10 and / or across (or substantially across) the entire front surface of device 10.

[0042] In some configurations, the inactive area IA may protrude into the active area AA and / or form one or more isolated islands of inactive areas within the active area AA. Input / output components such as cameras, ambient light sensors, infrared depth sensors, light emitters (e.g., visible light emitters such as camera flashes, infrared light emitters that emit infrared light patterns for depth measurement, etc.), proximity sensors, speakers, microphones, and / or other input / output components may be housed in the protruding portion or island of the inactive area. By housing inputs and outputs in the protruding portion or island of the inactive area within the active area, the active area available for displaying images can be expanded.

[0043] Light-based components within the device 10 (e.g., light-emitting diodes for status indicator lights and camera flashes, light-based sensors, and / or other optical components) may overlap with one or more windows, such as window 30 in Figure 3. Windows such as window 30 may be formed in a transparent portion of the display 14 (e.g., a portion of the inactive area IA), through holes passing through an array of pixels within the display 14 (e.g., within the active area of ​​the display 14), and / or from a transparent material such as glass or sapphire mounted within the housing 12 (e.g., on the rear wall of the housing 12). In some configurations, a thin layer of masking structure (e.g., a thin black ink layer) may overlap with an optical window that is otherwise transparent (e.g., to help conceal optical components such as ambient light sensors from view). In such configurations, light transmission may be reduced, but enough light still passes through to allow the optical window with the thin ink coating to function as an optical window for the optical component (e.g., the ambient light sensor in this example).

[0044] In some configurations, device 10 may have a front and a rear surface, such as the front surface F and rear surface R shown in Figure 3. When device 10 is in an unfolded configuration, the front and rear surfaces may be on parallel planes on either side of device 10. The display 14 may be mounted on the front surface F within the housing 12, while the flat rear housing wall within the housing 12 forms the rear surface R. In a folded configuration, the portions of the front surface F may face each other, while the portions of the rear surface R may face each other separately. Alternatively, in a folded configuration, the portions of the rear surface R may face each other, while the portions of the front surface F may face each other separately.

[0045] Figure 4 is a side view of a portion of the device 10 showing how the display 14 may overlap with hinges in the housing 12, such as hinge 42, in the bendable region 36. The housing 12 may have first and second housing portions, such as a first housing portion 12A and a second housing portion 12B (corresponding to the left and right portions of the housing 12 described above in relation to Figure 1, respectively). The hinge 42 extends along the bending axis 32 and allows the first housing portion 12A and the second housing portion 12B to rotate relative to each other about the bending axis 32, as shown in Figure 5. The display 14 may include a first display region 14A overlapping the first housing portion 12A and a second display region 14B overlapping the second housing portion 12B. The display 14 may extend continuously along the bending axis 32, if desired, so that an image can be displayed uninterrupted across the housing portions 12A and 12B.

[0046] Device 10 can bend by 180°, for example, so that portions of the housing 12 fold over themselves. The hinge 42 may be configured to support other amounts of bending (e.g., more or less than 180° about the axis 32), if desired. The hinge 42 may include a rotational linkage structure, a multi-element linkage mechanism, a flexible material sheet that bends about the axis 32 and thus functions as a hinge structure, a bellows-like and / or selectively thinned material layer to facilitate bending, and / or other suitable hinge structures to support rotation of portions of device 10 about the axis 32.

[0047] A portion of the display 14 may be hidden from view when the device 10 is folded (for example, when the first and second halves or other parts of the housing 12 rotate until they are adjacent to each other and overlap). The other portion of the display 14 may be configured to remain exposed when the device 10 is folded.

[0048] As shown in Figure 5, the display 14 may include a display layer 14P superimposed by a display cover layer such as a cover layer 14C. The display layer 14P may include an intermediate plate (e.g., a structural member supporting the rest of the display layer 14P), a force sensor, a back film (e.g., a metal back film), an adhesive, an OLED layer (or a light-emitting layer of another preferred display technology), and / or any other preferred display layer.

[0049] The cover layer 14C may be a transparent cover layer having high transparency (for example, transparency of over 80%, over 90%, over 95%, over 99%). The cover layer 14C may have thicknesses of less than 200 microns, less than 100 microns, less than 50 microns, less than 30 microns, more than 10 microns, more than 20 microns, more than 50 microns, 20 to 90 microns, 10 to 200 microns, etc.

[0050] The display cover layer 14C may be attached to the display layer 14P using one or more optically transparent adhesive layers, if desired. The display cover layer 14C may include one or more transparent layers of glass, polymer, sapphire, adhesive, and / or any other desired material. The display cover layer 14C may have high transparency (e.g., greater than 80%, greater than 90%, greater than 95%, greater than 99%, etc.). The display cover layer 14C may have thicknesses such as less than 200 microns, less than 100 microns, less than 50 microns, less than 30 microns, greater than 10 microns, greater than 20 microns, greater than 50 microns, 20 to 90 microns, 10 to 200 microns, etc.

[0051] In some embodiments, the cover layer 14C may be supported by an underlying display layer (e.g., display layer 14P) that extends into the inactive area. However, in other parts of the inactive area, the display 14 may have a display interconnect that wraps around the edges of the flexible display. In these panel bends, the underlying display layer may be prevented from extending into the inactive area by the display interconnect. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 6.

[0052] As shown in Figure 6, the display 14 may be formed from a display panel attached to a flexible printed circuit 64. For example, the display panel may be attached to a plurality of flexible printed circuit 64 (also referred to herein as a display interconnect) along one or more edges of the display (e.g., edges parallel to the bending axis 32). The display panel, which may be formed from a display layer (e.g., display layer 14P in Figure 5), may be a flexible display panel comprising an array of pixels. The display panel may have portions attached to the flexible printed circuit 64 in the bonding region. The flexible printed circuit 64 may be used to provide signals to the display panel (e.g., from a display driver integrated circuit and / or timing controller), such as gate driver signals and / or data signals. As an example, a display driver integrated circuit (DDIC) may be mounted on the flexible printed circuit 64 and provide signals to the display panel via traces within the flexible printed circuit 64. The flexible printed circuit 64 has a bend and wraps around the display panel.

[0053] The edge 110 of the display 14 within the inactive area IA may include a region 110-1 aligned with the printed circuit 64 and a region 110-2 interposed between regions 110-1. Figure 6 shows an edge portion 110 along a single edge of the display 14, but one or more peripheral edges of the display 14 may include regions 110-1 and 110-2. For example, two edges of the display 14 parallel to the bending axis 32 may include regions 110-1 and 110-2. Alternatively, two edges of the display 14 perpendicular to the bending axis 32 may include regions 110-1 and 110-2, or all four edges of the display 14 may include regions 110-1 and 110-2. In region 110-2, the display layer within the display 14 (e.g., display layer 14P in Figure 5) may support the cover layer 14C (Figure 5) within the edge 110. However, in region 110-1, the display layer within the display 14 may be prevented from being supported by the printed circuit 64. Therefore, one or more end caps can be used to support the cover layer 14C in region 110-1. An exemplary example of an end cap that can support the cover layer is shown in Figure 7A.

[0054] As shown in Figure 7A, the display 14 of device 10 may include a display layer 14P supporting the display cover layer 14C within region 110-2. The display cover layer 14C may be a glass or polymer layer having a thickness of, for example, at least 30 microns, at least 50 microns, 30 to 60 microns, at least 100 microns, 10 to 100 microns, at least 90 microns, less than 200 microns, or another preferred thickness. Generally, the display cover layer 14C may have any preferred thickness that protects the display layer 14P while allowing device 10 (and display 14) to be folded / bent. In other words, the cover layer 14C may be a flexible cover layer.

[0055] The extension of the display layer 14P in region 110-2 can support the display cover layer 14C in the inactive area of ​​the display 14. The display layer 14P may include an intermediate plate (e.g., a structural member supporting the rest of the display layer 14P), a force sensor, a back film (e.g., a metal back film), an adhesive, an OLED layer (or an emissive layer of another preferred display technology), and / or any other preferred display layer.

[0056] However, due to the presence of the printed circuit 64 folded over itself within region 110-1, the display layer 14P cannot extend from the active area of ​​the display 14 to the inactive area within region 110-1. Therefore, an end cap 66 may be added to support the display cover layer 14C within region 110-1. The end cap 66 may include one or more layers 70 formed on the support 68 (e.g., deposited, glued, or otherwise formed).

[0057] A support 68, which may be formed from a metal, polymer, or other suitable material, may be attached to the bottom layer of the display layer 14P within region 110-2. For example, an intermediate plate of the display layer 14P may be formed at the bottom of the display layer 14P within region 110-2, and the support 68 may be attached to the intermediate plate. However, this is merely illustrative. In general, the support 68 may be attached to any suitable layer within the display layer 14P within region 110-2, a portion of the housing 12 (Figure 1), and / or another suitable portion of the device 10. The support 68 may be attached to the display layer 14P within region 110-2 using adhesives such as pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), gap-filling liquid adhesive, welding, and / or any other suitable fasteners.

[0058] One or more layers 70 of the end cap 66 may include additional display layers, such as the same layers as the display layer 14P. In other words, layer 70 may include an intermediate plate (e.g., a structural member supporting the rest of the display layer 14P), a force sensor, a back film (e.g., a metal back film), an adhesive, an OLED layer (or a light-emitting layer of another preferred display technology), and / or any other preferred layers also included in the display layer 14P in region 110-2. In other words, layer 70 may include the same material as the display layer 14P. Thus, layer 70 may have the same properties as the display layer 14P, such as the same shear stiffness. By matching the shear stiffness of the entire display (e.g., by matching the shear stiffness of the display layer 14P), the end cap 66 may allow the display 14 to translate during folding / unfolding while supporting the display cover layer 14C in region 110-1. However, this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, one or more layers 70 may include one or more elastomer layers, polymer layers, and / or layers of other suitable materials that match (or are similar to) the properties of the display layer 14P, such as the shear stiffness of the display layer 14P. In other words, layer 70 may be formed from an elastomer having the same shear stiffness as the display layer 14P.

[0059] The top surface 71 of layer 70 may be attached to the inner surface of the display cover layer 14C in region 110-1. For example, layer 70 may be attached to the display cover layer 14C using an adhesive such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), a gap-filling liquid adhesive, and / or any other suitable fastener. In this way, the display cover layer 14C may be supported by the end cap 66 in region 110-1.

[0060] Figure 7A shows a single region 110-2 and a single region 110-1, but the end caps may support the display cover layer 14C in any number of regions 110-1, such as all of region 110-1 in Figure 6 or at least a portion of region 110-1. End caps in multiple regions 110-1 may be formed on a single support 68 or on separate supports such as support 68.

[0061] Furthermore, Figure 7A shows an end cap 66 coupled to the display layer 14P, but this is merely an example. In some embodiments, the end cap 66 may be coupled to the housing of the device 10. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 7B.

[0062] As shown in Figure 7B, the end cap 66 including layer 70 can be attached to the housing 12. In particular, the end cap 66 can be attached to the housing 12 by bonding, for example, using a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), gap-filling liquid adhesive, welding, and / or any other suitable fastener.

[0063] In the example shown in Figure 7B, the housing 12 has a ledge 12L to which the end cap 66 is attached. However, this is merely an example. In general, the end cap 66 can be attached to any suitable part of the housing 12.

[0064] The end cap 66 is shown in Figure 7B as being bonded to the housing 12, but this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, a portion of the housing 12 may form the end cap 66. In other words, the end cap 66 may be integrated with the housing 12 to form a unibody structure that supports the cover layer 14C.

[0065] Whether the end cap 66 is attached to the display layer 14P (shown in Figure 7A) or to the housing 12 (shown in Figure 7B), the end cap 66 may be continuous or discontinuous. In other words, the end cap 66 may be a single structure supporting the cover layer 14C in multiple or all of the regions 110-1, and therefore may be continuous. Alternatively, the device 10 may include multiple end cap 66 structures, each supporting one of the regions 110-1, and therefore the end cap 66 may be discontinuous.

[0066] Figure 8 shows a side view of an exemplary device having an end cap. As shown in Figure 8, the display 14 may include a display cover layer 14C extending between the active area AA (e.g., the area where pixels in the display 14 emit light to form an image for the user of the device 10) and the inactive area IA. The portion of the display 14 shown in Figure 8 may correspond to one of the regions 110-1 in Figures 6 and 7. In other words, the display layer 14P may support the cover layer 14C in part of the active area AA and the inactive area IA. In particular, the display layer 14P may be attached to the cover layer 14C using an adhesive 76 which may be a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), a gap-filling liquid adhesive, and / or any other suitable fastener. The display layer 14P may be supported by one or more layers 78 extending between the display layer 14P and the rear of the printed circuit 64. One or more layers 78 may include support layers (e.g., intermediate plate layers such as a metal or polymer intermediate plate layer, adhesive layers, sensor layers, and / or any other suitable layers).

[0067] However, the display layer 14P may be prevented from supporting the cover layer 14C by the printed circuit 64 in the remainder of the inactive area IA within region 110-1. Therefore, the end cap 66 can support the cover layer 14C in the remainder of the inactive area IA (e.g., the portion of the inactive area IA opposite the printed circuit 64 from the display layer 14P). The end cap 66 may include one or more layers 70 attached to the cover layer 14C using an adhesive 74 which may be a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), a gap-filling liquid adhesive, and / or any other suitable fastener.

[0068] The bottom of layer 70 may be attached to a support 72. The support 72 may be a metal layer, a polymer layer, or any other suitable layer supporting one or more layers 70. For example, the support 72 may be attached to the support 68 in Figure 7A, or the support 72 may correspond to the support 68 in Figure 7A. The support 72 may, alternatively or additionally, be part of the housing 12 (Figure 3), or be attached to part of the housing 12. In this way, the cover layer 14C may be supported by the end cap 66 in the region 110-1 of the inactive area IA.

[0069] The end cap 66 may be separated from the display layer 14P by a gap G. The gap G may be less than 2 mm, less than 1.5 mm, 1 mm to 2 mm, 1.7 mm, or another preferred distance. The gap G may also be formed by the presence of the printed circuit 64 and may be small enough to ensure that the cover layer 14C is adequately supported by the display layer 14P and the end cap 66.

[0070] In addition to incorporating the end cap 66 into region 110-1 of the inactive area IA, or alternatively, a reinforcing material may support the cover layer 14C in region 110-1. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 9.

[0071] As shown in Figure 9, the reinforcing member 80 may extend over at least a portion of the inactive area IA. The portion of the display 14 shown in Figure 8 may correspond to one of the regions 110-1 in Figures 6 and 7. In other words, the display layer 14P may support the cover layer 14C in the active area AA and a portion of the inactive area IA, and the reinforcing member 80 may support the cover layer 14C in the remaining portion of the inactive area IA. However, in some embodiments, the reinforcing member 80 may extend over regions 110-1 and 110-2 of the inactive area IA.

[0072] The reinforcing material 80 may be formed from metals such as steel (e.g., stainless steel, tungsten, titanium), carbon, carbon fiber, ceramic zirconia, diamond, borosilicate glass, another high-strength metal, rigid polymer, alloy, and / or any other suitable material. The reinforcing material 80 may have a Young's modulus of over 50 GPa, over 100 GPa, over 200 GPa, over 400 GPa, over 800 GPa, and over 1000 GPa. In some embodiments, the reinforcing material 80 may be formed from a rigid material such as metal embedded in an opaque masking layer or incorporated in other ways. In other words, since the reinforcing material 80 is formed within the inactive area IA, the reinforcing material 80 may be opaque (e.g., the reinforcing material 80 may not need to pass light from the display layer 14P).

[0073] The opaque masking layer may be formed from ink, a thin-film interference filter formed from a dielectric layer having alternating refractive indices, and / or any other suitable material. For example, the opaque masking layer may be a black masking layer that hides the inactive area IA, including the printed circuit 64, from the user of the device 10. The opaque masking layer (sometimes called a black masking layer) may have low transparency (e.g., less than 30%, less than 20%, less than 10%, less than 5%). The opaque masking layer may extend in a ring shape around the display 14.

[0074] The reinforcing member 80 may be attached to the cover layer 14C by adhesive, formed on the cover layer 14C (for example, formed directly on the cover layer 14C or formed on a buffer layer on the cover layer 14C), or attached to the cover layer 14C by other means. In this way, the reinforcing member 80 can support the cover layer 14C in region 110-1 (and, optionally, region 110-2) of the inactive area IA.

[0075] In some embodiments, the end cap (e.g., the end cap 66 in Figure 8) and the reinforcing member 80 may be bonded to the cover layer 14C in region 110-1. The reinforcing member 80 can extend across the gap G (Figure 8) and provide additional support to the cover layer 14C.

[0076] Whether or not end caps such as end cap 66 and / or reinforcing members such as reinforcing member 80 are used to support the cover layer 14C in the inactive area IA, the support structure may be coupled to the housing 12 of the device 10. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 10.

[0077] As shown in Figure 10, the reinforcing members 80 and end caps 66 can support the cover layer 14C in the inactive area IA (e.g., region 110-1 of the inactive area IA). Additionally, the trim 84 may overlap the edge 89 of the cover layer 14C, or be interposed between the edge 89 of the cover layer 14C and the housing 12. In particular, the trim 84 may be a polymer trim, an elastomer trim, a silicone trim, and / or any other suitable trim material. In some embodiments, the trim 84 may be an opaque structure (e.g., a black structure) formed from a compliant / compressible material such as silicone. However, in some embodiments, the trim 84 may include both compliant and rigid materials, such as polycarbonate, polymers, metals, and / or other suitable rigid materials.

[0078] The trim 84 may be separated from the edge 89 of the cover layer 14C by a gap 86. The gap 86 may be at least 0.3 mm, at least 0.5 mm, between 0.25 mm and 0.75 mm, less than 1 mm, or another preferred size. For example, the gap 86 may be large enough to allow the cover layer 14C to move within the gap 86 when the display 14 is folded or unfolded.

[0079] The end cap 66 can be attached to a support structure 88 which may be any other suitable support layer, such as a metal layer, a polymer layer, or an adhesive. The trim 84 can be attached to the support structure 88 with an adhesive 90 which may be PSA, a liquid adhesive, and / or any other suitable adhesive.

[0080] In the example shown in Figure 10, the support structure 88 is attached to the ledge 12L using adhesive 92. The adhesive 92 may be PSA, liquid adhesive, or other suitable adhesive. However, this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, the support structure 88 may be separated from the ledge 12L and / or another part of the housing 12 by a gap.

[0081] Furthermore, although the support structure 88 is shown to be separated from the support 72 and separated from the housing 12, this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, the support structure 88 may be formed integrally with the support 72. In other words, the trim 84 may be directly attached to the support 72. Alternatively, the support structure 88 may be formed integrally with the housing 12.

[0082] By supporting the cover layer 14C using the reinforcing material 80 and end cap 66, the cover layer 14C can be supported within the inactive area IA (for example, within region 110-1 of the inactive area IA). Additionally, by covering the edge 89 of the cover layer 14C with the trim 84 and leaving a gap 86 between the edge 89 and the trim 84, the cover layer 14C can move when the display 14 is folded or unfolded.

[0083] In the example shown in Figure 10, the reinforcing member 80 is a planar reinforcing member (for example, a reinforcing member with a constant thickness). However, this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, the reinforcing member 80 may be a wedge-shaped reinforcing member whose thickness gradually increases between the edge of the display layer 14P and the end cap 66. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 11.

[0084] As shown in Figure 11, the display 14 may include a reinforcing member 94 between the lower surface of the cover layer 14C and the display layer 14P. The reinforcing member 94 may be a wedge-shaped reinforcing member having a first thickness between the cover layer 14C and the display layer 14P (for example, adjacent to the display layer 14P in the active area AA) and a second thickness greater than the first thickness between the cover layer 14C and the end cap 66 (for example, adjacent to the end cap 66 at the edge 89). The thickness may increase monotonically and continuously between the first and second thicknesses, or it may increase between the first and second thicknesses in any other preferred manner.

[0085] The reinforcing material 94 may be formed from metals such as steel (e.g., stainless steel, tungsten, titanium), carbon, carbon fiber, silicon carbide, diamond, borosilicate glass, another high-strength metal, rigid polymer, alloy, and / or any other suitable material. The reinforcing material 94 may have a Young's modulus greater than 50 GPa, greater than 100 GPa, greater than 200 GPa, greater than 400 GPa, greater than 800 GPa, and greater than 1000 GPa. In some embodiments, the reinforcing material 94 may be formed from a rigid material such as metal embedded in or otherwise incorporated into an opaque masking layer. The opaque masking layer may be formed from ink, a thin-film interference filter formed from a dielectric layer having alternating refractive indices, and / or any other suitable material. For example, the opaque masking layer may be a black masking layer that hides the inactive area IA, including the printed circuit 64, from the user of the device 10.

[0086] The reinforcing member 94 may be attached to the cover layer 14C by adhesive, formed on the cover layer 14C (for example, formed directly on the cover layer 14C or formed on a buffer layer on the cover layer 14C), or attached to the cover layer 14C by other means. In this way, the reinforcing member 94 can support the cover layer 14C in region 110-1 of the inactive area IA.

[0087] To accommodate the wedge-shaped reinforcement 94, the display layer 14P may be bent downward, and one or more layers 78 may have reduced thickness (and / or the number of layers may be reduced). If desired, one or more layers 70 of the end cap 66 may have reduced thickness to accommodate the wedge-shaped reinforcement 94.

[0088] Generally, by increasing the thickness of the reinforcing material 94 as it extends further from the active area AA, the reinforcing material 94 can provide additional support to the cover layer 14C within the inactive area IA (for example, within region 110-1 of the inactive area IA).

[0089] Instead of including the wedge-shaped reinforcement 94 or reinforcement 80, or in addition thereto, the cover layer 14C itself may have an increased thickness in the inactive area IA to reinforce the cover layer 14C in the inactive area IA. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 12.

[0090] As shown in Figure 12, the cover layer 14C may have a wedge-shaped region 96. In particular, the thickness of the wedge-shaped region 96 may increase as the cover layer 14C extends from the active area AA. Since the wedge-shaped region 96 of the cover layer 14C has a greater thickness than the cover layer 14C in the active area AA, the cover layer 14C may have increased strength in the inactive area IA.

[0091] Although not shown in Figure 12, reinforcing materials such as reinforcing material 80 can be attached to the inner surface of the cover layer 14C within the inactive area IA if desired.

[0092] In the example shown in Figure 12, the wedge-shaped region 96 extends inward (for example, toward the interior of the device 10). In other words, the outer surface 98 of the cover layer 14C may be flat across the active area AA and the inactive area IA. However, in some embodiments, the cover layer 14C may have a wedge-shaped region extending outward. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 13.

[0093] As shown in Figure 13, the cover layer 14C may have a wedge-shaped region 96 having a flat inner surface 100 and an angled outer surface 98. Since the wedge-shaped region 96 of the cover layer 14C has a greater thickness than the cover layer 14C in the active area AA, the cover layer 14C may have increased strength in the inactive area IA.

[0094] Figures 12 and 13 show that the thickness of the cover layer 14C increases only in the inactive area IA, but this is merely illustrative. In some embodiments, the thickness of the cover layer 14C may increase in the active area AA and / or inactive area IA. Exemplary embodiments are shown in Figures 14A and 14B.

[0095] As shown in Figure 14A, the cover layer 14C is a plane with a constant thickness in the inactive area IA. However, as shown in Figure 14B, the cover layer 14C may have an increasing thickness in the active area AA. In particular, the cover layer 14C may have a minimum thickness at the center 102, which may overlap with the bending axis 32 of the device 10 (Figure 1). The cover layer 14C may have wedge-shaped portions 104A and 104B that extend away from the bending axis 32 with gradually increasing thickness. Figure 14A shows the cover layer 14C with a constant thickness in the inactive area IA, but if desired, the wedge-shaped portions 104A and 104B may continue to increase in thickness in the inactive area IA.

[0096] The size of the trim 84 can be reduced by using end caps such as end cap 66, and / or reinforcing materials such as reinforcing material 60, wedge-shaped reinforcing material 94, or a cover layer with increased thickness. An exemplary embodiment is shown in Figure 15.

[0097] As shown in Figure 15, the display 14 may have an active area AA and an inactive area IA extending around the active area AA (for example, the inactive area IA may surround the active area AA). The inactive area IA may include an opaque masking region 106 which may be formed from ink, a thin-film interference filter formed from a dielectric layer having alternating refractive indices, and / or other suitable opaque materials. Generally, the opaque masking region 106 can hide underlying components such as the peripheral areas of the printed circuit 64 and the display layer 14P (Figures 7 to 14) from view.

[0098] In some embodiments, reinforcing members, such as reinforcing member 80 or reinforcing member 94 (Figures 9 to 11), may be included in the opaque masking region 106. For example, the reinforcing member may extend around the entire perimeter of the active area AA (for example, the reinforcing member may be present along the entire opaque masking region 106). Alternatively, the reinforcing member may extend over a portion of the opaque masking region 106, or it may be divided into individual parts that extend together around the entire opaque masking region 106.

[0099] The trim 84 may extend around the opaque masking region 106 (for example, the trim 84 may surround the opaque masking region 106). In other words, the trim 84 may extend from the opaque masking region 106 to the edge of the device 10.

[0100] The trim 84 may have a width 85 (for example, the width when the device 10 is viewed from the front). The width 85 may be less than 2 mm, less than 1.9 mm, 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm, 1.8 mm, or another preferred width. Generally, by supporting the cover layer 14C using end caps 66 and / or reinforcements (Figures 6 to 14), the portion of the inactive area IA covered by the cover layer (e.g., cover layer 14C) can be increased, thereby reducing the width that must be covered by the auxiliary trim (e.g., trim 84).

[0101] In some embodiments, it may be desirable to include optical components in the inactive area IA. Therefore, windows such as window 108A and / or 108B may be formed in the opaque masking area 106. In the example of Figure 15, window 108 is shown along two edges of the display 14. However, any number of preferred windows 108 may be formed along any number of preferred edges of the display 14. An exemplary example of an optical component window is shown in Figure 16.

[0102] As shown in Figure 16, the window 108 may be formed in the inactive area IA. An opening 109 can be formed in the reinforcing member 80 to accommodate the window 108. The opening 109 may be a circular opening (for example, as shown by window 108A in Figure 15), an elliptical opening (for example, as shown by window 108B in Figure 15), or an opening with any other preferred shape.

[0103] The lens 111 may be attached to the reinforcing member 80 and extend across the opening 109. The lens 111 may be, for example, a glass lens, a sapphire lens, a ceramic lens, an acrylic lens, or a lens of other suitable transparent material. The lens 111 may have a flange 112 which may be a flange extending around the lens 111. The flange 112 may be attached by bonding to the reinforcing member 80 (e.g., around the opening 109), the display layer 14P, and / or layer 70, for example, by using an optically transparent adhesive (OCA). Alternatively or additionally, the central upper surface of the lens 111 may be attached by bonding to the cover layer 14C, for example, by using OCA (in these embodiments, the flange 112 may be maintained from or omitted from the lens 111). In this way, the lens 111 can be mounted in the device 10.

[0104] The optical component 114 may operate through the lens 111 and window 108. The optical component 114 may be a camera (e.g., a visible light camera or an infrared camera), an ambient light sensor, a three-dimensional sensor (e.g., a three-dimensional camera), a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor, or any other suitable optical component that emits and / or receives light through the lens 111 and window 108. Generally, the window 108 may be transparent to at least one wavelength (or at least one wavelength range) of light in which the optical component 114 operates.

[0105] Figure 16 shows the lens 111 as a planar lens overlapping the optical component 114, but this is merely an example. In some embodiments, the lens 111 may be integrated with the optical component 114, and the optical component 114 and / or the lens 111 may be attached to surrounding layers within the electronic device 10 to keep the lens 111 within the window 108. For example, the optical component 114 may have a flange for bonding and attaching the component 114 to one or more surrounding layers.

[0106] According to one embodiment, the display has an active area and an inactive area, and the display includes a display layer in the active area, a display cover layer overlapping the display layer and extending across the active and inactive areas, a reinforcing member bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area, and an end cap bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area. The end cap is separated from the display layer by a gap, and the reinforcing member extends across the gap.

[0107] According to another embodiment, the display layer optionally comprises a first material, and the end cap optionally comprises a second material matching the first material of the display layer.

[0108] According to another embodiment, the display layer optionally comprises an elastomer having a first shear stiffness, and the end cap optionally comprises an elastomer having a second shear stiffness matching the first shear stiffness.

[0109] According to another embodiment, the reinforcing material optionally includes a metal reinforcing material attached to the display cover layer.

[0110] According to another embodiment, the metal reinforcement has a certain thickness, which can be optionally selected.

[0111] According to another embodiment, the metal reinforcement is optionally a wedge-shaped reinforcement having a first thickness adjacent to the display layer and a second thickness adjacent to the end cap, wherein the second thickness is greater than the first thickness.

[0112] In another embodiment, the reinforcing material optionally extends across the gap from the display layer to the end cap.

[0113] According to another embodiment, the reinforcing material optionally has an opening in an inactive area to form an optical component window.

[0114] According to another embodiment, the display optionally further includes a lens that fills an opening in the reinforcing material.

[0115] According to another embodiment, the lens optionally includes a flange, which is attached by bonding to a reinforcing material around the opening.

[0116] According to another embodiment, the lens is optionally attached to the display cover layer by bonding.

[0117] According to one embodiment, the electronic device includes a housing and a display within the housing, the display having an active area and an inactive area. The display includes a display layer, a printed circuit coupled to the display layer in a first area of ​​the inactive area, a display cover layer overlapping the display layer and the printed circuit, wherein the display layer is coupled to the display cover layer in a second area of ​​the inactive area between the first areas, and an end cap coupled to the display cover layer in the first area.

[0118] According to another embodiment, the end cap optionally includes a support extending from a first region to a second region, the support being bonded to a display layer in the second region.

[0119] According to another embodiment, the end cap optionally further includes an additional display layer separated from the display layer by a gap.

[0120] According to another embodiment, the electronic device optionally further includes a trim that overlaps the edge of the display cover layer and is interposed between the display cover layer and the housing.

[0121] According to another embodiment, the edges of the display cover layer are optionally separated from the trim by a gap.

[0122] According to another embodiment, the electronic device optionally further includes a reinforcing member bonded to the display cover layer, the reinforcing member extending from the display layer to the end cap.

[0123] According to another embodiment, the display cover layer optionally has a first thickness in the active area and optionally has a second thickness greater than the first thickness at the edges.

[0124] According to another embodiment, the end cap is optionally coupled to the housing and is discontinuous.

[0125] According to another embodiment, the end cap is optionally coupled to the display layer.

[0126] According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes a housing and a display within the housing, the display having an active area and an inactive area. The display includes a display layer in the active area, a display cover layer overlapping the display layer and extending across the active and inactive areas, a reinforcing member bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area, and an end cap bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area, the end cap being separated from the display layer by a first gap. The electronic device also includes a trim interposed between the edge of the display cover layer and the housing, the edge of the display cover being separated from the trim by a second gap.

[0127] According to another embodiment, the reinforcing material optionally includes an opening that forms a window, the display optionally further includes a lens that fills the opening, and the electronic device optionally further includes an optical component configured to operate through the lens.

[0128] The above is merely illustrative, and various modifications may be made to the described embodiments. The aforementioned embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Claims

1. A display having an active area and an inactive area, wherein the display is The display layer of the active area, A display cover layer overlapping the display layer and extending across the active area and the inactive area, In the inactive area, a reinforcing material is bonded to the display cover layer, A display comprising an end cap bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area, wherein the end cap is separated from the display layer by a gap, and the reinforcing material extends across the gap.

2. The display according to claim 1, wherein the display layer comprises a first material, and the end cap comprises a second material matching the first material of the display layer.

3. The display according to claim 1, wherein the display layer has a first shear stiffness, and the end cap comprises an elastomer having a second shear stiffness matching the first shear stiffness.

4. The display according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing material includes a metal reinforcing material attached to the display cover layer.

5. The display according to claim 4, wherein the metal reinforcing material has a certain thickness.

6. The display according to claim 4, wherein the metal reinforcing material is a wedge-shaped reinforcing material having a first thickness adjacent to the display layer and a second thickness adjacent to the end cap, the second thickness being greater than the first thickness.

7. The display according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing material extends from the display layer across the gap to the end cap.

8. The reinforcing material has an opening in the inactive area to form an optical component window, and the display is The display according to claim 1, further comprising a lens for filling the opening of the reinforcing material.

9. The display according to claim 8, wherein the lens comprises a flange, and the flange is attached to the reinforcing material by bonding around the opening.

10. The display according to claim 8, wherein the lens is attached to the display cover layer by adhesive bonding.

11. It is an electronic device, Housing and A display within the housing, having an active area and an inactive area, the display is The display layer, A printed circuit coupled to the display layer in the first region of the inactive area, A display cover layer overlapping the display layer and the printed circuit, wherein the display layer is coupled to the display cover layer in a second region of the inactive area between the first regions, An electronic device comprising: an end cap bonded to the display cover layer in the first region.

12. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the end cap comprises a support extending from the first region to the second region, the support is bonded to the display layer in the second region, and the end cap further comprises an additional display layer separated from the display layer by a gap.

13. The electronic device according to claim 11, further comprising a trim that overlaps the edge of the display cover layer and is interposed between the display cover layer and the housing.

14. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the edge of the display cover layer is separated from the trim by a gap.

15. The electronic device according to claim 13, further comprising a reinforcing member bonded to the display cover layer, the reinforcing member extending from the display layer to the end cap.

16. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the display cover layer has a first thickness in the active area and a second thickness greater than the first thickness at the edge.

17. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the end cap is coupled to the housing and is discontinuous.

18. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the end cap is bonded to the display layer.

19. It is an electronic device, Housing and A display within the housing, having an active area and an inactive area, the display is The display layer of the active area, A display cover layer overlapping the display layer and extending across the active area and the inactive area, In the inactive area, a reinforcing material is bonded to the display cover layer, An end cap bonded to the display cover layer in the inactive area, the end cap separated from the display layer by a first gap, An electronic device comprising a trim interposed between the edge of the display cover layer and the housing, wherein the edge of the display cover is separated from the trim by a second gap.

20. The reinforcing material includes an opening that forms a window, the display further comprises a lens that fills the opening, and the electronic device is The electronic device according to claim 19, further comprising an optical component configured to operate through the lens.

Images