Apple has been granted a patent for the laminated window assembly it uses as the surface for its iPhone, iPad and iPod touch displays.
The patent describes a process where the display layers are laminated together to minimize the possibility of peeling apart if the device is dropped. Apple’s process also reduces the chance of the display corners and edges peeling apart, which just so happen to be the weakest points in traditional lamination.
Apple first used its freshly patented lamination process in the original iPhone back in 2007, but already had plans to use the same procedure to build the displays in the iPod touch and iPad — both of which hadn’t been announced yet.
Along with its iPhone display lamination patent, Apple was also granted patents for its aluminum keyboard with number pad and USB connection, and a system for automatically handling the steps in a visual programming tool. Automator wasn’t specifically mentioned in the patent, but that’s most likely the application Apple was targeting.
[Thanks to Patently Apple for the heads up.]