While waiting to launch a device with a foldable screen, Apple has just filed a patent on a hinge system that avoids large creases in the center of the panel when you close a smartphone. Perhaps this is a clue to the arrival of an iPhone that folds
After Samsung, Motorola or Huawei, Apple will he embark on the adventure of the smartphone to Collapsible screen ? As often, the Cupertino company is in an observation phase, leaving the competition to wipe the plasters and disappointments , but it does not forget to file patents on this technology.
This was discovered by MacRumors who reports that Apple has filed with the US Patent Trademark Office (equivalent to the INPI) a patent on the closure of a foldable screen for an electronic device. Among the Apple products, we obviously think of the iPhone and iPad ; and what the firm wants to patent is a process that would prevent the slab from suffering from kinks. Thus, we see that the latter would not be fully folded in the center of the device since it would form a “U” and finally, only, the outer edges would touch.
Reinforcement of the slab
This choice is not trivial since the engineers had to compile the problems encountered by the competition, and the complaints of users on these folds too visible in the middle of the smartphone. The animation below shows the principle very well, and it must still be very flexible for it to be positioned in the hinges.
Another process patented by Apple: a system, always linked to the hinges, which supports the slab when it is unfolded. On the sketches, this process recalls that which can be found on a ping-pong table or on a garden table equipped with an extension. Two small “legs” are positioned on each side of the slab to support and strengthen it. For now, we do not know if it is for a future iPhone or iPad, and it is also rather a foldable tablet that would be in the boxes of the brand.