Apple has just filed a patent in which we learn that it is possible to reduce the thickness of the glass of smartphones while increasing their strength. The actual patent focuses on smartphones equipped with 2.5D curved glass. Apple’s trick is to create a glass pre-frame on which a classic flat glass will rest, with methods of making the separation between the different elements completely invisible.
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The addition of glass in smartphones is fascinating, because it has pushed a whole section of the industry to find ways to make the material of choice for smartphones stronger and less susceptible to scratchess. And this despite some sometimes daring choices, like when Samsung launched the first Edge smartphone with curved edges. To make smartphone glass ever thinner, industry leaders like Corning have developed methods to control the crystallization of glass. And reproduce the phenomenon known as Prince Rupert’s tear (a drop of glass cooled in a short period of time and which exhibits surprising properties thanks to its internal stresses), on a sheet of glass.
For curved glass, on the other hand, it’s a different story. The same procedures can be used to control internal stresses, but the curved is a weak point, and to compensate, manufacturers are forced to make these parts thicker, which then constrains the design of smartphone manufacturers. It is this and the associated costs that drive major players like Apple to iron on flat glass. However, it seems that the firm at the apple has found the trick that the industry was waiting for to create thinner and stronger coatings for smartphones, whether or not they are curved.
Apple imagines a glass frame on which a perfectly flat sheet of glass is placed
The trick is described in a patent recently filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). PInstead of resting the glass directly on the frame as currently, Apple proposes to create a pre-frame in glass on which rests a thinner sheet of perfectly flat glass. Surprisingly, this makes the glass thinner while increasing its strength. It is also possible to use a different glass in this frame and on the glass which covers the screen.
Apple also details techniques to make the separation between these elements invisible.. It is also possible, in the case of curved glass, to use this glass frame made up of multiple elements to create an extremely strong curved, less bulky and which blends perfectly invisibly with the rest of the glass of the smartphone. You can see a representation of the layout in the diagram at the end of the article. Of course, Apple files patents all the time and not all of them lead to marketed products.
Read also: Apple iPhone 12 Pro test – better in photos than the iPhone 11 Pro, but less enduring
This document should therefore not be taken as an advertisement that does not speak its name. Moreover, it is clear that the curved is no longer necessarily something fundamental for customers. No one seems to be complaining, for example, of the change from curved glass on the iPhone 11 to flat glass on the iPhone 12 .. And you, what do you think? Share your opinion in the comments!
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