CAMERA LENS STRUCTURES AND DISPLAY STRUCTURES FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

• US 20120105400A1
• Filed: 10/29/2010
• Published: 05/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mathew, Dinesh C., Hendren, Keith J., Wilson, Thomas W. Jr., Garelli, Adam T.
• Granted Patent: US 9,143,668 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/207
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133528 Polarisers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/58 Arrangements comprising a monitoring photodetector
• 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: H04N 23/54 Mounting of pick-up tubes, electronic image sensors, deviation or focusing coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/57 Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices

Abstract

A camera may be mounted under a display in an electronic device. The display may include a polarizer layer, a color filter layer, and a thin-film-transistor layer. A layer of material such as a glass insert may be attached to an edge of the display. Openings may be formed in the layers of the display and the insert to accommodate the camera. A sleeve structure may be mounted within an opening. The camera may include lens structures formed from a stack of lens elements. One or more layers of the display may be interposed within the lens structures. The glass insert may be mounted within a notch in the color filter layer and thin-film transistor layer or along a straight edge of the color filter layer and thin-film transistor layer. The edge of the color filter layer may be recessed with respect to form a mounting shelf for the insert.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a display having layers; and

a camera including lens structures and an image sensor that receives image light through the lens structures, wherein the lens structures comprise a first portion and a second portion and wherein at least one of the layers of the display is interposed between the first and second portions of the lens structures.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the first portion comprises a plurality of lens elements.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the second portion comprises a plurality of lens elements.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one layer comprises a color filter layer.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one layer comprises a thin-film transistor layer.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one layer comprises a color filter layer and a thin-film transistor layer.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one layer comprises a color filter layer.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one layer comprises a color filter layer and a thin-film transistor layer.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one layer comprises a thin-film transistor layer.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 further comprising traces on the thin-film-transistor layer that are electrically connected to the camera and that run along a plurality of edges of the thin-film-transistor layer.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

a display having a color filter layer and a thin-film-transistor layer, wherein the color filter layer and the thin-film-transistor layer have an opening;

an insert layer mounted over the opening, wherein the insert layer has a camera window; and

a camera having lens structures that are aligned with the camera window.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the insert layer comprises a layer of glass and wherein the camera window comprises an opening in the layer of glass.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein the color filter layer and the thin-film-transistor layer have respective edges and wherein the edge of the color filter layer is recessed with respect to the edge of the thin-film-transistor layer to form a ledge on which the insert layer is mounted.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the display further comprises a polarizer mounted to the color filter layer, wherein a portion of the polarizer overlaps the lens structures.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising an opaque masking layer on the polarizer, wherein the opaque masking layer has an opaque masking layer opening that is aligned with the camera lens structures.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the polarizer has a depolarized window region that is aligned with the opaque masking layer opening and the lens structures.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

a display that includes a polarizer with an opening;

a sleeve that passes through the opening; and

a camera having lens structures that are at least partly contained within the sleeve.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 17 wherein the display comprises a thin-film-transistor layer and a color filter layer, the electronic device further comprising a layer of glass that is attached to the display, wherein the layer of glass has an opening through which the lens structures and the sleeve pass.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 18 wherein the color filter layer and the thin-film-transistor layers have respective edges and wherein the edge of the color filter layer is recessed with respect to the edge of the thin-film-transistor layer to form a ledge on which the layer of glass is mounted.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein the layer of glass has an elongated strip shape and wherein the ledge is straight.

21. The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein the color filter layer and the thin-film-transistor layer have a notch along which the ledge runs and wherein the layer of glass forms an insert that is mounted within the notch in the color filter layer and thin-film-transistor layer.