Displays with coherent fiber bundles
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsTseng-Mau Yang, Christopher D. Prest, Dale N. Memering
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A display may have an array of display pixels that generate an image. A coherent fiber bundle may be mounted on the display pixels. The coherent fiber bundle may have a first surface that is adjacent to the display pixels and a second surface that is visible to a viewer. The coherent fiber bundle may contain fibers that carry light from the first surface to the second surface. The second surface may be planar or may have a central planar region and curved edge regions that run along opposing sides of the central planar region. The fibers may have cross-sectional surface areas with a first aspect ratio on the first surface and a second aspect ratio that is greater than the first aspect ratio on the second surface.
Claims19
An electronic device, comprising:
- an array of pixels configured to emit light;
- and
- a light guiding structure having first and second surfaces, wherein the light guiding structure is configured to guide light from the array of pixels from the first surface to the second surface, the second surface has a planar central portion and curved edge portions, the light guiding structure comprises a fiber bundle having a plurality of fibers that guide the light to the curved edge portions, and each of the curved edge portions comprises multiple fibers of the plurality of fibers that form a single curved profile.
A cellular telephone having a front and a rear, comprising:
- a housing;
- a speaker in the housing, wherein the speaker emits sound through the front;
- a touch-screen display comprising an array of pixels that displays an image at the front of the cellular telephone;
- and
- a light guiding structure having first and second surfaces, wherein the light guiding structure is configured to guide light from the array of pixels from the first surface to the second surface to display the image on the second surface, the light guiding structure comprises a fiber bundle having a plurality of fibers that guide the light to the second surface, at least one of the fibers of the plurality of fibers has a first portion that bends in a first direction and a second portion that bends in a second direction that is different from the first direction, and the light guiding structure has curved edge portions that each includes a plurality of multiple fibers of the plurality of fibers that form a single curved profile.
An electronic device, comprising:
- a housing;
- and
- a display in the housing that comprises:
- an array of pixels that displays an image;
- and
- a light guiding structure having first and second surfaces, wherein the light guiding structure guides light from the array of pixels from the first surface to the second surface to display the image on the second surface, wherein the light guiding structure has a planar portion and a curved portion formed from a plurality of fibers, and wherein the curved portion has a single curved profile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.