IP Library Granted Patent US 12,730,478
Granted Patent B2
US 12,730,478 · App. 18/483,653 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Stretchable display

Inventors: Prashant Mandlik (Sunnyvale, CA); Bhadrinarayana Lalgudi Visweswaran (San Mateo, CA); Mahendra Chhabra (Los Gatos, CA); Chia-Hao Chang (Taoyuan, TW); Shiyi Liu (San Jose, CA); Siddharth Harikrishna Mohan (Aurora, IL); Zhen Zhang (Sunnyvale, CA); Han-Chieh Chang (Sunnyvale, CA); Yi Qiao (San Jose, CA); Yue Cui (Campbell, CA); Tyler R Kakuda (San Francisco, CA); Michael Vosgueritchian (San Francisco, CA); Sudirukkuge T Jinasundera (San Jose, CA); Warren S Rieutort-Louis (Cupertino, CA); Tsung-Ting Tsai (San Jose, CA); Jae Won Choi (San Jose, CA); Jiun-Jye Chang (Cupertino, CA); Jean-Pierre S Guillou (San Diego, CA); Rui Liu (San Jose, CA); Po-Chun Yeh (Sunnyvale, CA); Chieh Hung Yang (Taipei, TW); Ankit Mahajan (Los Gatos, CA); Takahide Ishii (Taoyuan, TW); Pei-Ling Lin (New Taipei City, TW); Pei Yin (Taoyuan, TW); Gwanwoo Park (Seoul, KR); Markus Einzinger (Sunnyvale, CA); Martijn Kuik (Santa Clara, CA); Abhijeet S Bagal (Sunnyvale, CA); Kyounghwan Kim (San Jose, CA); Jonathan H Beck (San Francisco, CA); Chiang-Jen Hsiao (New Taipei City, TW); Chih-Hao Kung (Hsinchu, TW); Chih-Lei Chen (Tai Chung, TW); Chih-Yu Chung (Zhongli, TW); Chuan-Jung Lin (Yunlin, TW); Jung Yen Huang (Taoyuan, TW); Kuan-Chi Chen (Hsinchu, TW); Shinya Ono (Santa Clara, CA); Wei Jung Hsieh (Taoyuan, TW); Wei-Chieh Lin (Hsinchu, TW); Yi-Pu Chen (New Taipei City, TW); Yuan Ming Chiang (Zhubei, TW); An-Di Sheu (Taipei, TW); Chi-Wei Chou (New Taipei City, TW); Chin-Fu Lee (Yuanlin, TW); Ko-Wei Chen (New Taipei City, TW); Kuan-Yi Lee (New Taipei City, TW); Weixin Li (Sunnyvale, CA); Shin-Hung Yeh (Taipei, TW); Shyuan Yang (San Jose, CA); Themistoklis Afentakis (San Jose, CA); Asli Sirman (San Jose, CA); Baolin Tian (San Jose, CA); Han Liu (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
G06F1/1652H10K59/131H10K59/40H10K77/111H10K2102/311
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,730,478
App. No.
18/483,653
Filed
Oct 10, 2023
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2817
USPC
257/40
Abstract

A display may have a stretchable portion with hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands. A flexible interconnect region may be interposed between the hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands. The hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands may include organic light-emitting diode (OLED) pixels. A conductive cutting structure may have an undercut that causes a discontinuity in a conductive OLED layer to mitigate lateral leakage. The conductive cutting structure may also be electrically connected to a cathode for the OLED pixels and provide a cathode voltage to the cathode. First and second inorganic passivation layers may be formed over the OLED pixels. Multiple discrete portions of an organic inkjet printed layer may be interposed between the first and second inorganic passivation layers.

Claims (55)

1 . A display comprising:

a first organic light-emitting diode pixel comprising a first electrode;

a second organic light-emitting diode pixel comprising a second electrode;

a common electrode for the first and second organic light-emitting diode pixels;

a conductive layer that has a first portion that forms part of the first organic light-emitting diode pixel and a second portion that forms part of the second organic light-emitting diode pixel; and

a conductive structure that is interposed between the first and second electrodes, wherein the conductive structure has an undercut that causes a discontinuity in the conductive layer and wherein the conductive structure is electrically connected to the common electrode.

2 . The display defined in claim 1 , wherein the first electrode is a first anode, wherein the second electrode is a second anode, and wherein the common electrode is a cathode.

3 . The display defined in claim 2 , wherein the conductive layer is a hole injection layer.

4 . The display defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

a first inorganic passivation layer that is formed over the common electrode.

5 . The display defined in claim 4 , further comprising:

a second inorganic passivation layer that is formed over the first inorganic passivation layer.

6 . The display defined in claim 5 , further comprising:

an organic layer with multiple discrete portions between the first and second inorganic passivation layers.

7 . The display defined in claim 6 , wherein the organic layer is an inkjet printed layer.

8 . The display defined in claim 6 , further comprising:

an encapsulation layer that is formed over the second inorganic passivation layer.

9 . The display defined in claim 8 , further comprising:

an inorganic layer that is formed over the encapsulation layer.

10 . The display defined in claim 9 , further comprising:

a touch sensor metal layer that is formed on the inorganic layer and that overlaps the undercut of the conductive structure.

11 . The display defined in claim 10 , further comprising:

a black pixel definition layer that is formed over the inorganic layer and the touch sensor metal layer, wherein the black pixel definition layer has apertures; and

color filter elements formed in the apertures.

12 . The display defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

an insulating layer, wherein the first and second electrodes are formed on the insulating layer; and

a layer of shielding metal, wherein the insulating layer is interposed between the first electrode and the layer of shielding metal.

13 . The display defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of rigid pixel islands, wherein a first rigid pixel island of the plurality of rigid pixel islands includes the first and second organic light-emitting diode pixels; and

a flexible interconnect region that is interposed between the plurality of rigid pixel islands.

14 . The display defined in claim 13 , wherein the flexible interconnect region comprises a flexible polymer layer and serpentine conductive signal lines.

15 . A display comprising:

a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel has a respective anode;

a common cathode for the plurality of pixels;

organic light-emitting diode layers for the plurality of pixels that are interposed between the anodes and the common cathode;

a first inorganic passivation layer that is formed over the common cathode;

a second inorganic passivation layer that is formed over the first inorganic passivation layer; and

an organic layer with multiple discrete portions between the first and second inorganic passivation layers, wherein no portions of the organic layer are included between the first and second inorganic passivation layers in some portions of the first and second inorganic passivation layers.

16 . The display defined in claim 15 , wherein the plurality of pixels is hermetically sealed by at least the first and second inorganic passivation layers.

17 . The display defined in claim 15 , wherein at least one of the multiple discrete portions of the organic layer is formed underneath a particle.

18 . The display defined in claim 15 , further comprising:

a touch inorganic layer that covers side surfaces of the organic light-emitting diode layers, the common cathode, the first inorganic passivation layer, and the second inorganic passivation layer.

19 . The display defined in claim 15 , further comprising:

a substrate, wherein the plurality of pixels are formed on the substrate; and

a cathode dewetting layer at an edge of the substrate.

20 . A display comprising:

a plurality of hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands; and

a flexible interconnect region that is interposed between the plurality of hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands, wherein each hermetically sealed rigid pixel island comprises:

at least one organic light-emitting diode pixel with organic light-emitting diode layers interposed between first and second electrodes; and

a conductive cutting structure that causes a discontinuity in one of the organic light-emitting diode layers and that is electrically connected to the second electrode.

21 . The display defined in claim 20 , wherein each hermetically sealed rigid pixel island further comprises:

a first inorganic passivation layer that is formed over the second electrode;

a second inorganic passivation layer that is formed over the first inorganic passivation layer; and

an organic inkjet printed layer with multiple discrete portions between the first and second inorganic passivation layers.

22 . The display defined in claim 20 , wherein the plurality of hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands is formed on a flexible polymer layer and wherein the flexible interconnect region comprises signal lines on the flexible polymer layer.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 25, 2023
From: LIN, WEI-CHIEH; CUI, YUE; ZHANG, ZHEN; HSIEH, WEI JUNG; LI, WEIXIN; BAGAL, ABHIJEET S; KIM, KYOUNGHWAN; BECK, JONATHAN H; CHEN, CHIH-LEI; KUNG, CHIH-HAO; HUANG, JUNG YEN; CHUNG, CHIH-YU; LIN, CHUAN-JUNG; ONO, SHINYA; CHEN, KUAN-CHI; HSIAO, CHIANG-JEN; LEE, KUAN-YI; SHEU, AN-DI; LEE, CHIN-FU; CHOU, CHI-WEI; CHEN, KO-WEI; YEH, SHIN-HUNG; TIAN, BAOLIN; YANG, SHYUAN; AFENTAKIS, THEMISTOKLIS; SIRMAN, ASLI; LIU, HAN; QIAO, YI; CHIANG, YUAN MING; CHEN, YI-PU; MANDLIK, PRASHANT; CHHABRA, MAHENDRA; VOSGUERITCHIAN, MICHAEL; LALGUDI VISWESWARAN, BHADRINARAYANA; CHANG, JIUN-JYE; CHANG, CHIA-HAO; LIU, SHIYI; KAKUDA, TYLER R; GUILLOU, JEAN-PIERRE S; HARIKRISHNA MOHAN, SIDDHARTH; LIU, RUI; JINASUNDERA, SUDIRUKKUGE T; CHOI, JAE WON; CHANG, HAN-CHIEH; RIEUTORT-LOUIS, WARREN S; TSAI, TSUNG-TING; PARK, GWANWOO; KUIK, MARTIJN; EINZINGER, MARKUS; MAHAJAN, ANKIT; LIN, PEI-LING; YEH, PO-CHUN; ISHII, TAKAHIDE; YANG, CHIEH HUNG; YIN, PEI
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 065344/0620 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63476496 · Dec 21, 2022
Related Publication 20240210995A1 · Jun 27, 2024
References Cited (35)
US 7864136B2 · Matthies et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8217571B2 · Lee et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 10199448B2 · Kim et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10304906B2 · Hack et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10468637B2 · Defranco et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10879327B2 · Tanaka · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 11145700B2 · Choi et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11309372B2 · Choi et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20120007067A1 · Kaneta et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120091482A1 · Uchida · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20140103385A1 · Hatano et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140183501A1 · Kim et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150048328A1 · Kato et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160266295A1 · Cho et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160268354A1 · Xiong et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170309693A1 · Pang · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180212191A1 · Jin · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190058022A1 · Baik et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190088906A1 · Park · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190123112A1 · Lee · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190326372A1 · Han et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200066815A1 · Choi et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
CN 108074951A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 109360900A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
CN 112133198B · 2022 [cited by applicant]
EP 3767682A1 · 2021 [cited by applicant]
JP 2008091071A · 2008 [cited by applicant]
JP 2013033728A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
JP 2014044938A · 2014 [cited by applicant]
JP 2014082132A · 2014 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020130007971A · 2013 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020140140484A · 2014 [cited by applicant]
KR 20210095087A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
WO 2018212960A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
WO 2020192083A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]