Flexible electronic devices

• US 8,929,085 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Franklin, Jeremy C., Myers, Scott A., Rappoport, Benjamin M., Lynch, Stephen Brian, Ternus, John P., Wodrich, Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): Phillips, Forrest M
• Application Number:
  US13/250,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20130083496A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: 361/749
• US Class Current: 361/749
• 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 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1677 for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04103 Manufacturing, i.e. details related to manufacturing processes specially suited for touch sensitive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/027 Arrangements or methods related to powering off a display
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/035 for flexible display surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/20 for presentation of an assembly of a number of characters, e.g. a page, by composing the assembly by combination of individual elements arranged in a matrix no fixed position being assigned to or needed to be assigned to the individual characters or partial characters
• 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: G09G 3/3208 organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED]
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0436 Small-sized flat cells or batteries for portable equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/30 Batteries in portable systems, e.g. mobile phone, laptop
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/105 Pouches or flexible bags
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/213 : adapted for cells having curved cross-section, e.g. round or elliptic H01M50/209, H01M50/216 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/216 : adapted for button or coin cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/293 : characterised by the material
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/409 : Separators, membranes or diaphragms characterised by the material
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/469 : tubular or cylindrical
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0216 : Foldable in one direction, i.e. using a one degree of freedom hinge
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0262 : for a battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0268 : including a flexible display panel
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/311 : Flexible OLED
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/40 : OLEDs integrated with touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 77/111 : Flexible substrates
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 : Organic PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 : Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 : Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

Flexible electronic devices may be provided. A flexible electronic device may include a flexible display, a flexible housing and one or more flexible internal components configured to allow the flexible electronic device to be deformed. Flexible displays may include flexible display layers, flexible touch-sensitive layers, and flexible display cover layers. The flexible housing may be a multi-stable flexible housing having one or more stable positions. The flexible housing may include a configurable support structure that, when engaged, provides a rigid support structure for the flexible housing. The flexible internal components may include flexible batteries, flexible printed circuits or other flexible components. A flexible battery may include flexible and rigid portions or may include a lubricious separator layer that provides flexibility for the flexible battery. A flexible printed circuit may include flexible and rigid portions or openings that allow some rigid portions to flex with respect to other rigid portions.

Claims

1. A flexible electronic device, comprising:

a flexible housing;

a flexible display;

a flexible battery; and

a printed circuit having at least one flexible portion, wherein the flexible display, the flexible battery and the printed circuit are mounted in the flexible housing, wherein the flexible housing, the flexible display, the flexible battery, and the printed circuit are configured to permit deformation of at least a portion of the flexible electronic device, wherein the flexible housing comprises a multi-stable flexible housing having at least first and second stable positions, and wherein the deformation of the at least a portion of the flexible electronic device deforms the flexible housing from the first stable position to the second stable position.

2. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible housing is formed from a deformable material.

3. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the flexible housing comprises flexible housing sidewalls formed from the deformable material and a flexible rear housing wall formed from the deformable material.

4. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the printed circuit comprises a flexible printed circuit.

5. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the printed circuit comprises at least one rigid portion and at least one flexible portion.

6. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the printed circuit comprises a rigid printed circuit board having an opening, a rigid central portion, and at least one additional rigid portion, wherein the opening is formed at least partially between the rigid central portion and the at least one additional rigid portion and wherein the opening allows the at least one additional rigid portion to flex with respect to the rigid central portion.

7. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 6, further comprising a first electronic component mounted to the rigid central portion and a second electronic component mounted to the at least one additional rigid portion.

8. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible battery comprises a plurality of cylindrical battery cells and a plurality of flexible portions.

9. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible battery comprises a plurality of battery coin cells mounted on a flexible sheet.

10. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible battery comprises:

a plurality of cathode layers;

a plurality of anode layers;

a plurality of separator layers each of which is interposed between a respective one of the plurality of anode layers and a respective one of the plurality of cathode layers; and

at least one lubricious separator layer that is interposed between at least one of the plurality of cathode layers and at least one of the plurality of anode layers and that is more lubricious than each of the plurality of separator layers.

11. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 10, further comprising a battery pouch, wherein the plurality of cathode layers, the plurality of anode layers, the plurality of separator layers and the at least one lubricious separator layer form a roll of battery layers in the pouch.

12. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible housing comprises:

a cavity; and

a fluid that partially fills the cavity, wherein the flexible housing has a flexibility that allows the flexible electronic device to be deformed, and wherein the flexibility is configured to decrease during deformation of the flexible electronic device due to an increasing pressure of the fluid in the cavity during deformation of the flexible electronic device.

13. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1, further comprising an internal component configured to sense the deformation.

14. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 13, further comprising an additional internal component, wherein the additional internal component is configured to sense a distance between the additional internal component and the internal component and to change an operating mode of the flexible electronic device when the distance falls below a predetermined threshold due to the deformation.

15. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the internal component comprises a switch and wherein the deformation of the at least a portion of the flexible electronic device moves the portion of the flexible electronic device into contact with the internal component to operate the switch.

16. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible display comprises:

a flexible display layer; and

a flexible touch-sensitive layer.

17. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible housing comprises:

at least one rigid portion; and

at least one elastomeric portion that permits the deformation of the portion of the flexible electronic device.

18. The flexible electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible housing comprises:

a flexible sheet having a flexibility; and

a support structure having a flexibility that is less than the flexibility of the flexible sheet, wherein the support structure is attached to the flexible sheet and extends along a dimension of the flexible sheet to reduce flexing about an axis that runs perpendicular to the dimension.

19. An electronic device, comprising:

a flexible display;

a flexible housing; and

a configurable support structure for the flexible housing having a first configuration that allows the configurable support structure to form a rigid support structure for the flexible housing and a second configuration that allows the flexible housing to be deformed.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein the configurable support structure comprises:

a rigid spine;

a locking hinge on the rigid spine; and

at least one segmented arm, wherein in the first configuration the locking hinge is locked and in the second configuration the locking hinge is unlocked, and wherein in the first configuration the at least one segmented arm is engaged in a rigid state by the locking hinge.

21. The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein the configurable support structure comprises:

a plurality of cavities in the flexible housing; and

a fluid in the plurality of cavities, wherein in the first configuration the fluid is pressurized in the plurality of cavities, and wherein in the second configuration the fluid is unpressurized in the cavities.

22. The electronic device defined in claim 19, further comprising a switch that changes a configuration of the configurable support structure from the first configuration to the second configuration.