It doesn’t look like Apple will launch a folding phone anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t working on one behind the scenes.
A new patent from the company reveals a hinge design which could be used for foldable devices, including a potential foldable iPhone or iPad.
The new foldable system, which was discovered by Patently Apple, includes a flexible screen panel that overlaps one axis. The hinge connects the two casings of the device and makes it possible to open and close the device by rotating these parts around the axis.
USPTO
The hinge consists of a series of interlocking links, made of thin discs of material that form interlocking fingers in a friction clutch. The links have crescent-shaped grooves that accommodate pins. When the device is folded, the pins slide along the grooves, allowing the links to rotate relative to each other about an axis of rotation that is outside the hinge but within the flexible display panel.
Apple states in the patent that the technology is not limited to foldable iPhones. The hinge design can be applied to a variety of foldable devices, including iPads, laptops, monitors and even televisions.
It is not possible to link directly to the patent but it can be found by searching on the patent database.
