Patents by Inventor Victor H. Yin

Victor H. Yin has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Electronic device with light-emitting diode array
    Patent number: 9739929
    Abstract: Electronic devices may be provided with displays. A display may have a light guide plate. Backlight for the display may be launched into the light guide plate from an array of light-emitting diodes. The light-emitting diodes may be mounted on a metal core printed circuit board having a dielectric layer and a metal layer. The metal core printed circuit board may have an elongated shape that extends along the surface of a metal structure. A weld may be formed along a seam between the metal layer of the metal core printed circuit board and the metal structure. The metal structure may be an electronic device housing, a display chassis member, a heat spreader, a heat pipe, or other structures in an electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Adam T. Garelli, Christopher L. Boitnott, Dinesh C. Mathew, Jun Qi, Nicholas A. Rundle, Victor H. Yin, Nathan K. Gupta
  • Adaptive RGB-to-RGBW conversion for RGBW display systems
    Patent number: 9728124
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a display having an array of display pixels. Each display pixel may include a red subpixel, a green subpixel, a blue subpixel, and a white subpixel. The display may be controlled using display control circuitry. The display control circuitry may convert frames of display data from a red-green-blue (RGB) color space to a red-green-blue-white (RGBW) color space. The display control circuitry may supply data signals corresponding to a frame of display data in the RGBW color space to the array of display pixels. A frame of display data may be converted from the RGB color space to the RGBW color space based on an amount of color saturation in the frame of display data, based on information identifying what code is running on control circuitry in the electronic device, and/or based on ambient lighting condition information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jun Qi, Gabriel Marcu, Victor H. Yin
  • Display having backlight with narrowband collimated light sources
    Patent number: 9719639
    Abstract: A display has an array of display pixels formed from display layers such as one or more polarizer layers, a substrate on which an array of display pixel elements such as color filter elements and downconverter elements are formed, a liquid crystal layer, and a thin-film transistor layer that includes display pixel electrodes and display pixel thin-film transistors for driving control signals onto the display pixel electrodes to modulate light passing through the display pixels. A light source such as one or more laser diodes or light-emitting diodes may be used to generate light for the display. The light may be launched into the edge of a polymer layer or other light guide plate structure. A light guide plate may include phase-matched structures such as holographically recorded gratings or photonic lattices that direct the light upwards through the array of display pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Mingxia Gu, Chenhua You, Jun Qi, Yanming Li, Young Cheol Yang, Jean-Jacques Drolet, Wei Chen, Victor H. Yin
  • Displays with polarizer layers for electronic devices
    Patent number: 9690024
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display. Inactive portions of the display may be masked using an opaque masking layer. An opening may be provided in the masking layer. A camera may receive light through the opening in the opaque masking layer. The display may include upper and lower polarizers, a color filter layer, and a thin-film transistor layer. The upper polarizer may have an unpolarized window aligned with the opening in the opaque masking layer for the camera, a logo, or another internal structure. The unpolarized window may be formed from openings in polarizer layers such as a polyvinyl alcohol layer and optical retarder layers. The openings may pass through all or less than all of the polarizer layers. The openings may be filled with transparent filler material. The polarizer may include a try-acetyl cellulose layer that continuously covers the opening in other polarizer layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Meizi Jiao, Jun Qi, Victor H. Yin
  • Electronic Device Display With Polarizer Windows
    Publication number: 20170176657
    Abstract: Electronic devices may be provided with displays that have polarizers. A polarizer may have a polymer layer that has a portion covered with a dichroic dye to form a polarized region and a portion that is free of dichroic dye to form an unpolarized region. The unpolarized region may be formed by masking the polymer layer during a dye coating process. Masks may be formed from polymers. The shape of the mask may define the shape of the unpolarized region. The mask may be left in place within the polarizer or may be removed from the polarizer during fabrication. Unpolarized regions may also be formed by light bleaching, chemical bleaching, and material removal techniques. Bleached areas may be chemically stabilized. A moisture barrier layer may be incorporated into the polarizer to help prevent the unpolarized region from reverting to a polarized state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2017
    Publication date: June 22, 2017
    Inventors: Cheng Chen, Masato Kuwabara, Christopher L. Boitnott, Jun Qi, Nathan K. Gupta, Victor H. Yin, John Z. Zhong
  • Methods for Fabricating Display Structures
    Publication number: 20170147036
    Abstract: An electronic device display may have a color filter layer and a thin film transistor layer. A layer of liquid crystal material may be interposed between the color filter layer and the thin film transistor layer. A layer of polarizer may be laminated onto the surface of the color filter layer. Laser trimming may ensure that the edges of the polarizer are even with the edges of the color filter layer. The thin film transistor layer may have an array of thin film transistors that control pixels of the liquid crystal material in the display. Driver circuitry may be used to control the array. The driver circuitry may be encapsulated in a planarized encapsulant on the thin film transistor layer or may be mounted to the underside of the color filter layer. Conductive structures may connect driver circuitry on the color filter layer to the thin film transistor layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2017
    Publication date: May 25, 2017
    Inventors: Dinesh C. Mathew, Thomas W. Wilson, JR., Victor H. Yin, Bryan W. Posner, Chris Ligtenberg, Brett W. Degner, Peteris K. Augenbergs, John Z. Zhong, Steve Hotelling, Lynn Youngs, Kuo-Hua Sung
  • Display with opaque border resistant to electrostatic discharge
    Patent number: 9638950
    Abstract: A display may have a color filter layer and a thin-film transistor layer. A liquid crystal layer may be located between the color filter layer and the thin-film transistor layer. The display may have an active area surrounded by an inactive area. The opaque border layer may contain first and second opaque layers in the inactive area. The first opaque layer may have an opening in the inactive area that is overlapped by an isolation layer. The second opaque layer may be located in the inactive area and may overlap the opening in the first opaque layer to block light in the inactive area. The isolation layer may be interposed between the first and second opaque layers and may prevent static charge from an electrostatic discharge event along the edge of the display from migrating to the active area through the opaque border in the inactive area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Young Cheol Yang, Xinyu Zhu, Jin Yan, Cheng Chen, Po-Wen Chiu, Jun Qi, Victor H. Yin
  • Electronic device display with polarizer windows
    Patent number: 9618669
    Abstract: Electronic devices may be provided with displays that have polarizers. A polarizer may have a polymer layer that has a portion covered with a dichroic dye to form a polarized region and a portion that is free of dichroic dye to form an unpolarized region. The unpolarized region may be formed by masking the polymer layer during a dye coating process. Masks may be formed from polymers. The shape of the mask may define the shape of the unpolarized region. The mask may be left in place within the polarizer or may be removed from the polarizer during fabrication. Unpolarized regions may also be formed by light bleaching, chemical bleaching, and material removal techniques. Bleached areas may be chemically stabilized. A moisture barrier layer may be incorporated into the polarizer to help prevent the unpolarized region from reverting to a polarized state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Cheng Chen, Masato Kuwabara, Christopher L. Boitnott, Jun Qi, Nathan K. Gupta, Victor H. Yin, John Z. Zhong
  • KEYBOARD WITH ADAPTIVE INPUT ROW
    Publication number: 20170090654
    Abstract: Embodiments related to an electronic device having an adaptive input row. The adaptive input row may be positioned within an opening of a device and include a cover for receiving a touch and a display that is configured to present an adaptable set of indicia. The adaptive input row may also include one or more sensors for detecting the location of a touch and/or the magnitude of a force of the touch. The adaptive input row may be positioned adjacent or proximate to a keyboard of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Mikael M. Silvanto, Erik A. Zweigle, Jun Qi, Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Robert Y. Cao, Bartley K. Andre, Molly J. Anderson, ByoungSuk Kim, Dinesh C. Mathew, Victor H. Yin
  • KEYBOARD WITH ADAPTIVE INPUT ROW
    Publication number: 20170090596
    Abstract: Embodiments related to an electronic device having an adaptive input row. The adaptive input row may be positioned within an opening of a device and include a cover for receiving a touch and a display that is configured to present an adaptable set of indicia. The adaptive input row may also include one or more sensors for detecting the location of a touch and/or the magnitude of a force of the touch. The adaptive input row may be positioned adjacent or proximate to a keyboard of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Mikael M. Silvanto, Erik A. Zweigle, Jun Qi, Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Robert Y. Cao, Bartley K. Andre, Molly J. Anderson, ByoungSuk Kim, Dinesh C. Mathew, Victor H. Yin
  • Displays with Asymmetric Backlight Structures
    Publication number: 20170090105
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display including an array of display pixels and a backlight assembly that provides backlight for the array of pixels. The backlight assembly may include a light guide layer having first and second opposing sides. The first side of the light guide layer may receive light from a first light source and the second side of the light guide layer may receive light from a second light source. To avoid overheating the first light source, the light emitted by the first light source may be less bright than the light emitted by the second light source. To compensate for the reduced brightness of the first light source, light leakage promotion features on the light guide layer may have a peak density that is closer to the first side of the light guide layer than the second side of the light guide layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Victor H. Yin
  • ILLUMINATION STRUCTURE FOR UNIFORM ILLUMINATION OF KEYS
    Publication number: 20170090104
    Abstract: Described is an illumination structure for a key of a keyboard. The illumination structure is used to uniformly illuminate the key and any glyphs that are present on the key. The illumination structure includes a light guide having various features that increase total internal reflection and also illuminate the glyphs of the key.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Robert Y. Cao, Craig C. Leong, Bradford J. Zercoe, Dinesh C. Mathew, Mahesh Krishnamurthi, Jun Qi, Rong Liu, Victor H. Yin
  • KEYBOARD WITH ADAPTIVE INPUT ROW
    Publication number: 20170090597
    Abstract: Embodiments related to an electronic device having an adaptive input row. The adaptive input row may be positioned within an opening of a device and include a cover for receiving a touch and a display that is configured to present an adaptable set of indicia. The adaptive input row may also include one or more sensors for detecting the location of a touch and/or the magnitude of a force of the touch. The adaptive input row may be positioned adjacent or proximate to a keyboard of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Mikael M. Silvanto, Erik A. Zweigle, Jun Qi, Christiaan A. Ligtenberg, Robert Y. Cao, Bartley K. Andre, Molly J. Anderson, ByoungSuk Kim, Dinesh C. Mathew, Victor H. Yin
  • ILLUMINATION STRUCTURE FOR UNIFORM ILLUMINATION OF KEYS
    Publication number: 20170090106
    Abstract: Described is an illumination structure for a key of a keyboard. The illumination structure is used to uniformly illuminate the key and any glyphs that are present on the key. The illumination structure includes a light guide having various features that increase total internal reflection and also illuminate the glyphs of the key.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Robert Y. Cao, Craig C. Leong, Bradford J. Zercoe, Dinesh C. Mathew, Mahesh Krishnamurthi, Jun Qi, Rong Liu, Victor H. Yin
  • Display Backlight with an Optical Film
    Publication number: 20170052301
    Abstract: A backlight unit may include a turning film that receives light from a light guide layer. The turning film may have a plurality of elongated protrusions that extend across the turning film. Each protrusion may have a concave surface. The concave surface may be a curved surface that curves inward towards the interior of the turning film. Light from the light guide layer may pass through the turning film and be reflected towards a viewer by the concave surfaces of the protrusions. In a liquid crystal display, the turning film may be interposed between the light guide layer and a lower polarizer. In certain embodiments, the turning film may be the only optical layer interposed between the light guide layer and the lower polarizer. In other embodiments, the turning layer and a diffuser layer may be the only optical layers interposed between the light guide layer and the lower polarizer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2015
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: Rong Liu, Yu P. Sun, Jun Qi, Victor H. Yin
  • Methods for fabricating display structures
    Patent number: 9575354
    Abstract: An electronic device display may have a color filter layer and a thin film transistor layer. A layer of liquid crystal material may be interposed between the color filter layer and the thin film transistor layer. A layer of polarizer may be laminated onto the surface of the color filter layer. Laser trimming may ensure that the edges of the polarizer are even with the edges of the color filter layer. The thin film transistor layer may have an array of thin film transistors that control pixels of the liquid crystal material in the display. Driver circuitry may be used to control the array. The driver circuitry may be encapsulated in a planarized encapsulant on the thin film transistor layer or may be mounted to the underside of the color filter layer. Conductive structures may connect driver circuitry on the color filter layer to the thin film transistor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Dinesh C. Mathew, Thomas W. Wilson, Jr., Victor H. Yin, Bryan W. Posner, Chris Ligtenberg, Brett W. Degner, Peteris K. Augenbergs, John Z. Zhong, Steve Hotelling, Lynn Youngs, Kuo-Hua Sung
  • Displays with elevated backlight efficiency
    Patent number: 9568772
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display mounted in a housing. The display may include a liquid crystal display module and a reflective polarizer having an in-plane optical axis. The display may also include a backlight unit that includes a light source, a light guide element, and a reflector film coupled to a backside of the light guide element. The display may also include a light retardation layer such as a quarter wave film. The quarter wave film may be arranged between the reflective polarizer and the reflector film of the backlight unit. Partially polarized light that is output from a front side of the light guide element may have a first component parallel to the in-plane optical axis and a second component perpendicular to the in-plane optical axis of the reflective polarizer. The second component may be reflected from the reflective polarizer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Xinyu Zhu, Jun Qi, Meizi Jiao, Nicholas G. Roland, Victor H. Yin, Wei Chen, Ming Xu, Cheng Chen, Zhibing Ge
  • Displays With Multimode Backlight Units
    Publication number: 20170010407
    Abstract: A display may have a backlight unit that provides backlight illumination. The backlight unit may include a light guide that distributes light through the display. The light guide may include opposing first and second edges. A first light source such as a first row of light-emitting diodes may emit light into the first edge and a second light source such as a second row of light-emitting diodes may emit light into the second edge. In a normal viewing mode, both light sources are active and backlight illumination is provided over a normal range of angles. In a restricted angle-of-view mode, only one light source is active and backlight is emitted in a more concentrated fashion over a restricted range of angles. In a high luminance restricted angle-of-view mode, the active light source is driven at an elevated level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2015
    Publication date: January 12, 2017
    Inventors: Yi Huang, Jun Qi, Rong Liu, Victor H. Yin, Xinyu Zhu
  • Displays with Reduced Driver Circuit Ledges
    Publication number: 20170012095
    Abstract: An electronic device display may have a color filter layer, a thin-film-transistor layer, and a layer of liquid crystal material. The display may have a display cover layer such as a layer of glass or plastic. Adhesive may be used to attach the upper polarizer to the display cover layer. The thin-film transistor layer may have a substrate with upper and lower surfaces. Thin-film-transistor circuitry may be formed on the upper surface. A display driver integrated circuit may be mounted to the lower surface or a flexible printed circuit and may be coupled to the thin-film-transistor circuitry using wire bonding wires. Through vias that are formed through the thin-film-transistor layer substrate may be used in coupling the thin-film-transistor circuitry to the display driver integrated circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Publication date: January 12, 2017
    Inventors: John Z. Zhong, Cheng Chen, Shih-Chang Chang, Victor H. Yin, Shawn R. Gettemy, Wei Chen
  • Display system with improved graphics abilities while switching graphics processing units
    Patent number: 9542914
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for improving graphics abilities while switching between graphics processing units (GPUs). Some embodiments may include a display system, including a plurality of graphics processing units (GPUs) and a memory buffer coupled to the GPUs via a timing controller, where the memory buffer stores data associated with a first video frame from a first GPU within the plurality of GPUs and where the timing controller is switching between the first GPU and a second GPU within the plurality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kapil V. Sakariya, Victor H. Yin, Michael F. Culbert