Many devices use display screens to present information to a user. Some of the display screens are liquid crystal displays (LCD's) or the like, which are easily scratched, damaged, or tampered with. For example, an automatic teller machine (ATM) may be accessed by hundreds of users each day. During one or more of the accesses, the display screen on the ATM may be poked, touched, scratched, or worse, and that is just an ATM. In another example, a device having a display screen may be a mobile device which is transported from location to location. Such a mobile device has the opportunity to be dropped, fumbled, bumped, other objects falling onto it, or the like. Therefore, in both cases (e.g., device is stationary or mobile), there is a need to protect the display screen from the harsh effects of both accidental wear-and-tear as well as malicious behavior.
Therefore, most display screens utilize a protective lens cover for the display screen which protects the screen against most blunt or sharp trauma damages. For example, a cover may allow an object up to a predetermined weight to be dropped on the display without incurring major damage. Additionally, the display screen cover may protect a mobile device from damage if it is dropped from a certain height.
However, in addition to damage caused to the display screen, there is also a matter of damage caused by the display screen (or the components operating thereunder). For example, if a user is operating a device having a display screen in an electronic environment, or an environment with restrictions related to electromagnetic fields, it is important that any electromagnetic interference (EMI) emitted by the display screen, or the components operating thereunder, be blocked. For example, if an electronic device having a display screen is used by a laboratory (or bomb squad, or radio tower, or aircraft, or vehicle, or patient with a pacemaker, or the like) the effects of electricity or electric fields caused by EMI leakage from the instrument may incur serious errors or repercussions.
Therefore, a need exists for a display cover which protects the underlying display from damage while also reducing the EMI output from the screen or the underlying components.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds