Apple Inc.

Christopher C Bartlow

Dale N Memering

Christopher D Jones

Victor Luzzato

Tyler A Marshall

James R Wilson

Aidan R Doan

Christopher D Prest

Michael Benjamin Wittenberg

Erik G De Jong

Matthew S Rogers

Differentially strengthened cover members for electronic devices are disclosed. The differentially strengthened cover members include at least one chemically strengthened zone that improves the resistance of the cover member to cracking. In some examples, one or more of the chemically strengthened zones covers or at least partially surrounds a portion of the cover member to be protected from damage.

Electronic devices having differentially strengthened cover members

A glass sheet having asymmetric chemical strengthening is disclosed and described. The examples described herein are directed to a cover glass for an electronic device and other glass components that may be used as enclosure elements or may form an enclosure. Within the glass component, localized compressive stress regions may be formed on opposite sides of the glass component, which may help arrest or redirect propagating cracks or defects in the glass. The opposing compressive stress regions may also help maintain the overall flatness of the component while increasing strength and/or impact resistance of the component.

Patterned asymmetric chemical strengthening

Electronic devices including a display layer and a cover layer including a foldable region are disclosed herein. The display layer and the cover layer are configured to be moved between a folded configuration and an unfolded configuration by bending the cover layer along the foldable region. Methods of making a cover layer for an electronic device are also disclosed.

Foldable cover and display for an electronic device

A component for an electronic device including an internal compressive stress region is disclosed herein. The internal compressive stress region may be created in a glass portion of the component or in a glass ceramic portion of the component. Electronic devices comprising the components and method for making the components are also disclosed.

Electronic device having a component with crack hindering internal stress regions

Methods for evaluating a chemically strengthened housing component for an electronic device are disclosed. These methods may allow non-destructive determination of whether the chemical strengthening of the component meets specifications. Systems suitable for use with the methods are also disclosed.

Evaluation of transparent components for electronic devices

Glass articles and methods for producing glass articles for a portable electronic device are disclosed. Properties of the glass articles, such as cover members, are improved through chemical strengthening, thermoforming, or a combination thereof. The glass articles may include barrier layers to prevent diffusion of ions between glass layers of the glass article, internal compressive stress regions, or a combination thereof.

Thermoformed cover glass for an electronic device

A property-enhanced cover sheet, and methods for forming a property-enhanced cover sheet, for a portable electronic device are disclosed. A property-enhanced cover sheet is formed by thermoforming a glass sheet into a specified contour shape while modifying one or more properties of the glass. Other property-enhanced sheets can be formed by layering two or more glass sheets having different material properties, and then thermoforming the layered sheets into a required contour shape. Property enhancement for a cover sheet includes, hardness, scratch resistance, strength, elasticity, texture and the like.

An electronic device may have a display that displays an image and a display cover layer that overlaps the display. The display cover layer may have an image transport layer with an input surface that receives the image and a corresponding output surface to which the image is transported. The image transport layer may be formed from a coherent fiber bundle layer or a layer of Anderson localization material. The display cover layer may have a protective layer such as a protective glass layer that overlaps the image transport layer. A ring-shaped region of the display cover layer may have one or more structures with locally modified properties for arresting crack propagation across the display cover layer. The ring-shaped region may have one or more structures with locally reduced elasticity values or other structures that help arrest cracks.

Electronic devices with damage-resistant display cover layers

Electronic device having a glass component with crack hindering internal stress regions

Components of an electronic device, such as glass articles, are susceptible to breakage, especially in regions where machining a glass article has created flaws. Chemical strengthening can be performed to create deeper compression layers at regions of a glass article that have been machined, include and/or are adjacent to an edge feature, have greater surface roughness, and/or have more or deeper cracks.

Growing community of inventors

Menlo Park, CA, United States of America

Christopher C Bartlow