Mobile device with front camera and maximized screen surface

• US 10,459,481 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2018
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inodyn Newmedia GmbH
• Original Assignee: Inodyn Newmedia GmbH
• Inventors: Pantel, Lothar
• Primary Examiner(s): Elahi, Shan E
• Application Number:
  US16/022,629
• Publication Number:
  US 20180307270A1
• Time in Patent Office: 488 Days
• Field of Search: 348 36
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1605 Multimedia displays, e.g. with integrated or attached speakers, cameras, microphones
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/04 Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/145 related to small screens
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/2092 Details of a display terminals using a flat panel, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto suitable for both CRT and flat panel G09G5/003; specific for a CRT G09G1/165
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0264 for a camera module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 for a display module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/40 OLEDs integrated with touch screens

Abstract

A mobile electronic device, for example a smartphone, may feature thin or curved borders at the left, right, top, and/or bottom edge of the display screen. To accommodate front-facing optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) despite a border that is too thin (e.g., too thin for a front camera module and lens), two or more corners of the display panel have a cutout, and the optical sensor(s) and/or emitter(s) are disposed, at least in part, in the areas of these cutouts at the corners. The cutouts may have a convex shape for the most part, thereby maximizing the remaining screen area. At least one embodiment of the mobile electronic device may have a display panel with at least three curved edges, a maximized screen surface, and minimized outer dimensions.

Claims

1. A method of making a mobile electronic device with a front-facing camera so that the screen surface is maximized while the outer dimensions are minimized, said method comprising:

a) providing a display panel with at least a first cutout at the upper-left corner and a second cutout at the upper-right corner, said display panel having an upper display panel edge, a left display panel edge, and a right display panel edge,

b) providing at least one front-facing camera,

c) disposing said at least one front-facing camera, at least in part, in the area of said first cutout or in the area of said second cutout,

d) bending said upper display panel edge, located between said first cutout and said second cutout, to the rear of said display panel, so that the outer vertical measurement of said display panel is reduced while keeping the utilizable surface area of said display panel,

e) bending said left display panel edge, located below said first cutout, and said right display panel edge, located below said second cutout, to the rear of said display panel, so that the outer horizontal measurement of said display panel is reduced while keeping the utilizable surface area of said display panel,

whereby said first cutout and said second cutout prevent the upper-left corner and the upper-right corner of said display panel from getting crumpled due to the bent upper display panel edge.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a) providing a computer system, said computer system being connected to said display panel and said front-facing camera,

b) configuring said computer system to display a photograph on said display panel, wherein said photograph extends over the entire surface area of said display panel from said left display panel edge to said right display panel edge, and from said upper display panel edge to the lower edge of said display panel, the uppermost part of said photograph being displayed between said first cutout and said second cutout.

3. A mobile electronic device having a front-facing optical sensor, a maximized screen surface, and minimized outer dimensions, said mobile electronic device comprising:

a) a display panel with at least a first cutout at the upper-left corner and a second cutout at the upper-right corner, said display panel having an upper display panel edge, a left display panel edge, and a right display panel edge, wherein;

i) said upper display panel edge, located between said first cutout and said second cutout, is bent to the rear of said display panel, so that the outer vertical measurement of said display panel is reduced while keeping the utilizable surface area of said display panel,

ii) said left display panel edge, located below said first cutout, and said right display panel edge, located below said second cutout, are bent to the rear of said display panel, so that the outer horizontal measurement of said display panel is reduced while keeping the utilizable surface area of said display panel,

whereby said first cutout and said second cutout prevent the upper-left corner and the upper-right corner of said display panel from getting crumpled due to the bent upper display panel edge,

b) at least one front-facing optical sensor disposed, at least in part, in the area of said first cutout or in the area of said second cutout,

c) a computer system connected to said display panel and said front-facing optical sensor.

4. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein said front-facing optical sensor at the location of said first or second cutout fills the void at the level of said display panel at least in part.

5. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, further comprising a mechanical keyboard located below said display panel, said mechanical keyboard being connected to said computer system.

6. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein:

a) said front-facing optical sensor is a first front-facing camera and is disposed, at least in part, in the area of said first cutout,

b) a second front-facing camera is disposed, at least in part, in the area of said second cutout, said second front-facing camera being connected to said computer system,

c) said computer system is configured or programmed to process at least a part of the image data captured by said first front-facing camera and said second front-facing camera, wherein the interaxial separation between said first front-facing camera and said second front-facing camera is used to generate data based on stereoscopic information.

7. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein:

a) at least one optical infrared emitter is disposed, at least in part, in the area of said first cutout or in the area of said second cutout, said optical infrared emitter being capable of illuminating the face of a user at least partially,

b) said computer system is configured or programmed to perform a face recognition using at least a part of the data of said front-facing optical sensor.

8. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein said display panel has a third cutout at the lower-left corner and a fourth cutout at the lower-right corner, and wherein the lower edge of said display panel, located between said third cutout and said fourth cutout, is bent to the rear of said display panel, so that the outer vertical measurement of said display panel is reduced while keeping the utilizable surface area of said display panel.

9. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein a first acoustic emitter is disposed at the location of said first cutout, a second acoustic emitter is disposed at the location of said second cutout, a third acoustic emitter is disposed at the location of said third cutout, and a fourth acoustic emitter is disposed at the location of said fourth cutout, each of said acoustic emitters being connected to said computer system, whereby the user receives sound from all four corners of said mobile electronic device.

10. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, further comprising a touch key located in the area of said first or second cutout in front of said front-facing optical sensor, said touch key being connected to said computer system, wherein said computer system is configured or programmed to execute a function as soon as said touch key is tapped.

11. The mobile electronic device of claim 10, further comprising a printed symbol that is printed on a transparent layer in front of said front-facing optical sensor in the area of said first or second cutout, wherein said printed symbol surrounds said front-facing optical sensor at least in part.

12. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein the height of said first cutout substantially is equal to the width of said first cutout, said first cutout having, at least in part, the shape of a quarter circle, and wherein the height of said second cutout substantially is equal to the width of said second cutout, said second cutout having, at least in part, the shape of a quarter circle, whereby the remaining screen surface of said display panel is maximized.

13. The mobile electronic device of claim 12, wherein said front-facing optical sensor is a front camera module with a front-facing lens, said front-facing lens being disposed, at least in part, in the area of said first cutout or in the area of said second cutout, wherein said front-facing lens is partially surrounded by the border of said first or second cutout substantially at a constant or minimized distance, whereby the remaining screen surface of said display panel is maximized.

14. The mobile electronic device of claim 13, further comprising a casing, wherein, in front view, said casing has rounded corners with a curvature radius that is substantially equal to the curvature radius of said first cutout or said second cutout, such that said front-facing lens essentially is wrapped symmetrically between two rounded corners of said casing and said first or second cutout, whereby the size or the volume of said casing is minimized while the screen surface of said display panel is maximized.

15. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein said computer system is further configured or programmed to:

a) determine the relevance of at least one affected screen object that overlaps with the area of said first cutout or said second cutout,

b) determine the relevance of at least one blocking screen object that blocks the relocatability of said at least one affected screen object,

c) determine the least relevant screen objects from a list of screen objects, said list comprising at least said at least one affected screen object and said at least one blocking screen object,

d) reduce the size of at least one less relevant screen object, and shift at least one affected screen object that overlaps with the area of said first cutout or said second cutout.

16. The mobile electronic device of claim 15, wherein said computer system is further configured or programmed to display a setup option on said display panel, wherein said setup option allows the user to configure the relevance of object categories as a user preference.

17. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein said computer system is further configured or programmed to determine by means of optical character recognition whether an image that overlaps with the area of said first cutout or said second cutout contains relevant symbols or characters in the image area that overlaps with said first or second cutout.

18. The mobile electronic device of claim 17, wherein said computer system is further configured or programmed to move relevant symbols or characters contained in the image area that overlaps with said first or second cutout to another location within said image by means of image processing at the bitmap level.

19. The mobile electronic device of claim 3, wherein:

a) said mobile electronic device is a smartphone,

b) said display panel is a flexible display having a flexible substrate,

c) said front-facing optical sensor is a front-facing camera, a light sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultraviolet sensor, a proximity sensor, a fingerprint sensor, an iris scanner, or a sensor for face recognition, face tracking, or eye tracking.