Articulated hinge structures for foldable iPhone detailed in new research
Articulated hinge structures for foldable iPhone detailed in new research
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A render of what the iPhone Fold could look like. Last updated 12 hours ago. Apple is continuing to develop non-traditional display technology that can fold out and expand along hinge articulation points, likely for a future foldable iPhone. Even though Apple has not released a folding iPhone, it continues to file patent applications on the topic — and, as with this latest one, to get those patents granted. Some of the now wide-ranging patents detail scroll-like or slidable displays that expand.
The newly granted patent is called "Electronic devices having folding expandable displays." In it, Apple continues its foldables research with much more detail about potential hinge structures. An early illustration in the patent, which was first filed back in February 2020, details a foldable device bent at a right angle. Notably, the figure shows a new multi-link hinge structure with more than just one articulation joint.
This is only one such potential hinge that Apple is researching. The patent text indicates that 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.".
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