A MOBILE ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING A MULTILAYER SAPPHIRE COVER PLATE

• US 20140162043A1
• Filed: 12/09/2013
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GTAT Corporation (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: GT Crystal Systems, LLC (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Inventors: Schmid, Kurt
• Granted Patent: US 9,655,293 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/220
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 17/06 comprising glass as the main or only constituent of a layer, next to another layer of a specific material
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 7/12 using interposed adhesives or interposed materials with bonding properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 for a display module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 13/00 Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or adjusting assemblages of electric components
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/26 Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or component, the element or component having a specified physical dimension

Abstract

An electronic device comprising a cover plate is disclosed. The cover plate comprises one or more glass layers and one or more sapphire layers, wherein the layers are refractive index matched. Also disclosed are methods for preparing the electronic device.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising a cover plate having at least one transparent display region, the cover plate comprising one or more glass layers having a refractive index n_g and one or more sapphire layers having a refractive index n_s, wherein (n_s−

n_g) is not more than 0.05.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein (n_s−

n_g) is not more than 0.03.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein (n_s−

n_g) is not more than 0.02.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the refractive index of the glass layer is substantially the same as the refractive index of the sapphire layer.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sapphire layer has a thickness of less than about 2 mm.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the cover plate has thickness between about 0.3 and 3.0.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the cover plate has thickness between about 0.5 and 1.0.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sapphire layer is an exterior layer of the cover plate.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises at least one display element having a display surface and wherein the cover plate is affixed to the display surface.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises at least one display element having a display surface and wherein the cover plate is a protective layer removably positioned on top of the display surface.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sapphire layer has a back surface, and wherein the glass layer is affixed to the back surface of the sapphire layer.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the glass layer is coated onto the back surface of the sapphire layer.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, where the back surface of the sapphire layer is unpolished.

14. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the cover plate comprises two glass layers each affixed to opposite surfaces of the sapphire layer.

15. The electronic device, of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an electronic media player, a mobile telephone, a personal data assistant, a pager, a tablet, a laptop computer, or an electronic notebook

16. A method of preparing an electronic device comprising the steps of

i) forming a cover plate having at least one transparent display region, the cover plate comprising one or more glass layers having a refractive index n_g and one or more sapphire layers having a refractive index n_s, wherein (n_s−

n_g) is not more than 0.05; and

ii) incorporating the cover plate onto a display element of the electronic device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein (n_s−

n_g) is not more than 0.03.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein (n_s−

n_g) is not more than 0.02.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the refractive index of the glass layer is substantially the same as the refractive index of the sapphire layer.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the sapphire layer has a front surface and a back surface and wherein the step of forming the cover plate comprises affixing the glass layer to the back surface of the sapphire layer.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the glass layer is affixed by coating the glass layer onto the back surface of the sapphire layer.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of forming the cover plate comprises polishing the front surface of the sapphire layer without polishing the back surface.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the cover plate comprises two glass layers having the refractive index n_g.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the sapphire layer has a front surface, a back surface, and edges, and wherein the step of forming the cover plate comprises affixing a glass layer to both the front surface and the back surface of the sapphire layer.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the glass layers are affixed by coating the glass layers onto the front surface and the back surface of the sapphire layer.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the edges of the sapphire layer are coated with a glass layer having the refractive index n_g.

27. The method of claim 16, wherein the display element has a display surface and wherein the step of incorporating the cover plate onto the display element comprises affixing the cover plate to the display surface.

28. The method of claim 16, wherein the display element has a display surface and wherein the step of incorporating the cover plate onto the display element comprises removably positioning the cover plate on top of the display surface as a protective layer.