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Apple Patents Articulated Hinge for Foldable Devices
An Apple patent application published Dec. 3 and titled "Electronic devices having folding expandable displays," Apple shows some of their work on potential hinge structures. The figure details a foldable device bent at a right angle. with a new multi-link hinge structure with more than just one articulation joint. It is only one such potential hinge that Apple is researching. The hinge structures could include "gear teeth, belts, and/or other movement synchronization structures" and may also sport "members that move relative to each other during bending." Those moving members may compromise bars and links with opposing curved bearing surfaces, including stop surfaces that "prevent excessive rotation of the bars and links with respect to each other." These links could rotate around a pivot point that lies within a display without the actual hinge structure "living within the thickness of the display."
Figure 1: Multi-Link Hinge Structure
An Apple patent application published Dec. 3 and titled "Electronic devices having folding expandable displays," Apple shows some of their work on potential hinge structures. The figure details a foldable device bent at a right angle. with a new multi-link hinge structure with more than just one articulation joint. It is only one such potential hinge that Apple is researching. The hinge structures could include "gear teeth, belts, and/or other movement synchronization structures" and may also sport "members that move relative to each other during bending." Those moving members may compromise bars and links with opposing curved bearing surfaces, including stop surfaces that "prevent excessive rotation of the bars and links with respect to each other." These links could rotate around a pivot point that lies within a display without the actual hinge structure "living within the thickness of the display."
Figure 1: Multi-Link Hinge Structure
The patent also references other expandable or slide-out displays, noting that a device with "housing structures that support folding motions, sliding motions, scrolling motions, and/or other behavior" could provide more screen real estate for users in a compact size. Apple didn’t restrict the display technology to the iPhone, noting that the foldable or expandable device could be applied to a slew of different device types, including wristbands, pedants, laptops, glasses, goggles, embedded kiosk systems, or devices within vehicles. The depiction of the device as a smartphone is just an example, the patent adds.