Flexible Touch Screen Display Segmentation for Portability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handheld touch screen devices face challenges with precise physical interaction and limited viewing capacity due to their small size, which restricts the usability of graphic-intensive applications and text input.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable touch screen computing device with a flexible circuit and multiple segments that can transform from a compact phone state to an expanded tablet or laptop state, incorporating a graphical user interface to facilitate content transition and physical interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the display size is increased to improve viewing capacity and physical interaction precision, then the device size and portability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The display device transitions from a static single-size design to a dynamic multi-size configuration. The flexible display can be folded or unfolded to change its effective display area, allowing the device to adapt between a compact portable state and an expanded viewing state, thus resolving the contradiction between display area and portability
Solution Approach 2:
The display is divided into multiple flexible segments or panels that can be folded relative to each other. This segmentation allows the display to be collapsed into a compact form for portability while expanding to provide a larger display area when needed, effectively addressing both requirements simultaneously
2Ease of operation
If a flexible display is folded to a compact position, then portability is improved, but the display cannot achieve a completely flat and compact configuration due to folding radius
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible display is divided into multiple rigid or semi-rigid panels connected by hinges or folding mechanisms. This segmentation allows each panel to be relatively flat while the overall structure can be folded compactly, overcoming the limitation of a single flexible display maintaining curvature when folded
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple display panels are designed to nest within each other when folded, with each panel fitting into the structure of adjacent panels. This nesting configuration enables the display to achieve a more compact and flatter folded state compared to a single flexible display, improving both portability and flatness
Data Source
AI summary
Reconfigurable touch screen computing devices with folding configurations that include flexible displays which are made up of segments that can be reconfigured from a compact state to an expanded state. The form factor of the compact state is roughly the size of a typical handheld phone, with an integrated speaker and microphone. The form factor of the expanded state is roughly the size of a tablet. Both states may provide a configuration which includes a touch screen display on a front side and a protective housing on a back side. The computing devices may further include sensors to indicate the state of configuration and mechanisms for alignment, locking, and structural support. In one embodiment, a module attached to, situated within, or otherwise associated with at least one segment may contain all or substantially all processing and memory, along with a communications system, all of which may be used in either state.