Granted Patent B2

US 10,209,405 · App. 14/288,989 · Granted Feb 19, 2019

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. An electronic device comprising:

at least one display element having a display surface; and

a cover plate for the at least one display element having at least one transparent display region, wherein the cover plate comprises one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers each having a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 500 microns, wherein the cover plate is affixed to the display surface, and

wherein at least one sapphire layer of the free-standing mechanically ground and polished one or more sapphire layers is prepared by a method comprising the steps of:

i) providing a free-standing layer of sapphire having an initial thickness;

ii) mechanical grinding the free-standing layer of sapphire from the initial thickness to a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 500 microns; and

iii) polishing the free-standing layer of sapphire.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers has a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 400 microns.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers has a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 250 microns.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers has a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 100 microns.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover plate is one free-standing sapphire layer.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover plate comprises more than one free-standing sapphire layer each having a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 500 microns.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers is an exterior layer of the cover plate.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the cover plate further comprises a transparent layer affixed to at least one sapphire layer of the one or more sapphire layers.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one sapphire layer and the transparent layer are affixed by an adhesive layer.

10. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one sapphire layer and the transparent layer are thermally bonded.

11. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one sapphire layer and the transparent layer are fused together.

12. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the transparent layer is a subsurface layer having a front surface, and wherein the at least one sapphire layer is affixed to the front surface of the subsurface layer.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the subsurface layer comprises glass.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the glass is a soda-lime glass.

15. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the glass is a borosilicate glass.

16. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the glass is an aluminosilicate glass.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the aluminosilicate glass is a chemically-strengthened alkali aluminosilicate glass.

18. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the subsurface layer comprises a polymeric material.

19. The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the polymeric material is a polycarbonate.

20. The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the polymeric material is a polymethacryate.

21. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the cover plate further comprises a transparent conducting oxide layer disposed on the subsurface layer.

22. The electronic device of claim 21 , wherein the transparent conducting oxide layer is between the at least one sapphire layer and the subsurface layer.

23. The electronic device of claim 21 , wherein the transparent conducting oxide layer is patterned.

24. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the transparent layer is an exterior surface coating layer.

25. The electronic device of claim 24 , wherein the exterior surface coating layer is an anti-reflective layer.

26. The electronic device of claim 25 , wherein the anti-reflective layer has a thickness of from about 0.01 microns to about 1.5 microns.

27. 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.

28. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers comprises single crystal sapphire prepared in a crystal growth furnace.

29. The electronic device of claim 28 , where the crystal growth furnace is a heat exchanger method furnace.

30. A method of preparing a cover plate of an electronic device, the cover plate having at least one transparent display region and comprising one or more sapphire layers, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

i) providing a free-standing layer of sapphire having an initial thickness;

ii) mechanically grinding the free-standing layer of sapphire from the initial thickness to a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 500 microns;

iii) polishing the free-standing layer of sapphire; and

iv) forming the cover plate from the free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layer.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers is mechanically ground to a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 250 microns.

32. The method of claim 30 , wherein at least one sapphire layer of the one or more free-standing mechanically ground and polished sapphire layers is mechanically ground to a thickness of from about 50 microns to about 100 microns.

Assignments (6)