Apple's Ultra-Slim Touch Display Technology Patent Revealed

According to foreign media reports, Apple recently revealed another patent application showing that they are researching a new method to make iDevices and even Macs thinner.

Apple’s engineering team has developed a new method to manufacture touch screens using ultra-thin stacked layers. This method can directly reduce the structural layers of the display while also bringing some other advantageous improvements.

Apple has named this new invention the “Ultra-Thin Touch Sensor,” and the research and development technology is related to touch screens with ultra-thin stacks.

Reducing the thickness of the touch screen not only provides a thinner device profile but also improves the optical image on the display by reducing the distance of the cover glass, and can also lighten the weight of the device.

In some examples, the thickness and/or boundary area of the touch screen stack can be reduced by removing flexible circuit connections from the stack.

Flexible substrates can be used for wiring touch electrodes to touch circuits.In some examples, the touch screen stack may include a shielding layer between the touch sensor panel and the display.

Additionally, the thickness of the touch screen stack, including the shielding layer, can be reduced by routing the shielding layer to the shielding electrodes on the touch sensor panel. Then, the shielding layer can be routed to the touch sensing circuit via a flexible substrate.

Furthermore, in certain examples, the touch sensor panel or part of it can also be integrated with a polarizer to reduce the thickness of the touch screen stack.

This is because the touch sensor panel and the polarizer can use the same substrate, thereby replacing each individual substrate for the touch sensor panel and the polarizer.

Thinner display structures can be applied to iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, iPod Touch, and of course, if Apple decides to go this route in the future, this technology can also be applied to MacBooks and iMacs.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office today published Apple’s patent application document 20200201482, which was submitted in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Disclaimer:The article only represents the author’s personal views and is not related to extended information. Readers should only refer to it and are welcome to provide more detailed information.

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