Water jet shaping of displays and structures for electronic devices

US8801889B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Apple Inc. · US

Inventors

• Jun Qi · Cupertino, US
• Wayne H. Fu · Mountain View, US
• Chenhui Wang · Cupertino, US
• Kuanying Lin · Mountain View, US
• Nathan K. Gupta · San Francisco, US
• Victor H. Yin · Cupertino, US
• Silvio Grespan · Shanghai, CN

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 4, 2011
• Grant date: Aug 12, 2014
• Expiry date: Oct 2, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T156/1062
• WIPO field: Machine tools
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

Structures such as display structures and other electronic device structures may be shaped using water jet cutting equipment. The water jet cutting equipment may be used to produce a water jet. The water jet may be used to cut layer of material such as display layers and other structures. Water jet cutting may form edge cuts, cuts for openings in the structures, chamfers, and other features. Multiple layers may be simultaneously cut using water jet cutting. Positioning equipment may be used to control the position of a workpiece relative to a water jet nozzle. The positioning equipment may be controlled using a control unit. During water jet cutting operations, the workpiece may be trimmed, openings may be formed, and features such as chamfers may be created. A workpiece may include a cover glass, a color filter array, a thin-film transistor layer, and other display layers and device structures.