Liquid Crystal Display Including a Liquid Filled Membrane Cushion and Magnifier

This invention relates generally to liquid crystal displays and, more particularly, to a more break resistant liquid crystal display.

Portable electronic products, and in particular, communication devices are decreasing in size as the rush towards miniaturization continues. Regardless, many of the new displays used in portable products are increasing their share of the surface area of the portable product. One of the major structural weak points in portable communication products is the liquid crystal display (LCD) since the remainder of most portable products consists of rigid plastic. Thus, the LCD is one of the first parts to break physically in a portable product. Therefore, a need exists for an LCD display that will allow for the reduction of the size of the LCD while providing increased protection against breakage.

A liquid crystal display assembly comprises a liquid crystal display, a lens, and a membrane filled with substantially clear liquid between the lens and the liquid crystal display.

FIG. 1 is a liquid crystal display in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another liquid crystal display in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a portable electronic product having a liquid crystal display in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a LCD assembly 10 having an LCD panel 6, a lens 2, and a liquid filled membrane 4 between the LCD and the lens. The liquid filled membrane 4 preferably comprises a bladder containing a transparent or substantially transparent liquid. The bladder preferably comprises of a resilient rubber material that will withstand severe impact on the lens, thermal expansion and contraction of the liquid, and resistance to decomposition to ultra-violet radiation. The bladder would provide the function of cushioning or absorbing impacts to the lens by distributing the load over the entire surface of the LCD assembly. Therefore, the likelihood of breakage is reduced. The bladder could also be arranged and constructed so that the refractive index of the liquid could be used to magnify the characters of the LCD. The liquid filled membrane can have a geometric shape to aide in the magnification of the characters in the LCD such as a convex shape. The liquid filled membrane 4 preferably covers the entire surface area of the LCD panel. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 2, an LCD assembly 20 has an LCD panel 24, a lens 22, and a plurality of liquid filled membranes (26), each preferably covering and magnifying a particular character in the liquid crystal display panel 24. Optionally, portions of the LCD panel 24 are not covered (28) as shown, and thus characters in this area will not be magnified to the same extent as the cushioned portions.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a communication device 30 having a housing 32, and the LCD assembly 20 displaying magnified characters (36) where the liquid filled membranes were used and the smaller, less magnified (due to the lens 22 only) characters 34.