Flexible Display Camera Openings for Folding Alignment Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Foldable electronic devices with cameras in display openings face issues of window sagging, camera misalignment, and damage due to layer slipping during folding or unfolding, leading to degraded image quality.
Innovation Solution
A flexible display with a housing that includes a bendable structure with specific inner side surfaces and openings to accommodate an image sensor module, ensuring consistent separation distances to protect the camera from impacts and misalignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the flexible display is folded or unfolded, then the display is bendable and adaptable, but the layers may slip and cause camera misalignment or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible protective film covering the camera opening that bends with the display during folding/unfolding. This flexible film prevents layer slippage and camera misalignment while maintaining display adaptability. The film is specifically designed to be flexible yet protective, solving the contradiction between bendability and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective structure is designed in advance to prevent camera damage before it can occur. The flexible film and spacing structure are pre-configured to counteract the slippage forces that occur during folding, thereby preventing misalignment and damage proactively rather than reactively.
2Shape
If a load is applied toward the camera in the opening, then the window may sag, but this exerts impact on the camera
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a protective film and spacing structure as intermediary elements between the window and camera. These intermediaries absorb and distribute the load, preventing the window from directly impacting the camera while maintaining window flatness. The intermediary layer acts as a buffer that decouples the deformation of the window from the camera.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible protective film and spacing structure serve as pre-positioned cushioning elements that protect the camera from impact. This cushioning is in place before any load is applied, allowing it to absorb and mitigate the effects of window sagging and external forces before they can damage the camera.
3Volume of moving object
If the camera is positioned close to the opening for compactness, then device size is reduced, but the camera is more vulnerable to impact and misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible protective film is positioned between the camera and the opening, providing protection without significantly increasing device volume. This thin film allows the camera to remain close to the opening for compactness while still providing reliable protection against impact and misalignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective structure is nested within the existing device architecture, with the flexible film integrated into the display layers and the camera housed within the opening. This nesting approach provides protection without adding significant external volume, maintaining device compactness while improving reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A portable communication device in an embodiment may include a housing which forms an exterior of the portable communication device; a flexible display at least partially received in the housing and bendable with respect to a bending axis, the flexible display including at least one layer, an opening formed in the at least one layer; and an image sensor module at least partially positioned in a space formed by the opening, wherein the at least one layer may include a first inner side surface positioned in a first direction based on the image sensor module and a second inner side surface positioned in a second direction opposite to the first direction based on the image sensor module, as the flexible display is at least partially bent, the first inner side surface may be moved in the second direction, and if the flexible display is substantially flat, a first separation distance between a first side surface of the image sensor module facing the first inner side surface of the at least one layer and the first inner side surface of the at least one layer may be greater than a second separation distance between a second side surface of the image sensor module facing the second inner side surface of the at least one layer and the second inner side surface of the at least one layer.