Flexible Display Hinge with Self-Locking Torque Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wearable flexible displays face issues with torque mechanisms that fail to maintain a stable extended or bent state, suffer from frictional interference leading to uneven bending, and cause abrasion and damage due to sharp protrusions, resulting in operational difficulties and reduced product quality.
Innovation Solution
A hinge device with flexibly bendable plates, pivot shafts, and torque plates that include stop sections and elongated shaft holes to provide self-locking mechanisms, ensuring the display remains stable in extended or bent states, and smooth operation without frictional interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If damping hinges with elongated damping slots are used to provide torque resistance, then the flexible display can be bent, but the shaft sections cannot be held at specific angles and the display cannot maintain extended or bent states
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a synchronizing component with hinge bases and shaft sections as an intermediary mechanism between the case and cover. The shaft sections engage with locating slots in the hinge bases to provide precise angular positioning, while the synchronizing component ensures coordinated movement of multiple damping hinges. This intermediary structure enables both bending capability and stable state maintenance without requiring modification of the original damping hinge design.
2Device complexity
If parallelly arranged cases with flat tops are used, then the structure is simple, but sharp protrusions are formed at joints when bent causing abrasion and damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the flat-top case design with a curved top surface that arches over the damping hinges. This curved configuration eliminates sharp protrusions at the joints between cases and covers, creating smooth transitions that prevent abrasion and damage to the flexible display during bending operations. The curvature distributes mechanical stress evenly across the bending region.
3Volume of moving object
If adjacent hinge bases are movably connected by overlapping, then the structure is compact, but large friction occurs and movement is stuck at specific angular positions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pivot shafts from the overlapping hinge bases and relocates them to the cover, where they connect to the damping hinges through elongated damping slots. This separation eliminates the friction problem caused by overlapping hinge bases, as the pivot shafts now rotate within the cover rather than against each other. The elongated slots guide the shaft sections while minimizing friction during bending operations.
4Device complexity
If damping hinges provide only frictional resistance, then the structure is simple, but the flexible display cannot withstand operational forces and may bend or deform
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dynamic locking mechanism where shaft sections engage with locating slots at specific angular positions to provide rigid support when needed. The synchronizing component coordinates the movement of multiple damping hinges, ensuring they bend uniformly and maintain structural integrity. This dynamic system transitions from flexible damping to rigid support based on the bending state, enabling the display to withstand operational forces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The hinge device maintains the flexible display in stable extended or bent states, preventing deformation and abrasion, ensuring smooth operation and structural integrity under user forces.
Implementation Method 1
there would be a relatively large friction between the adjacent hinge bases when they move
Implementation Method 2
the first and the second torque plates are respectively provided with a first/second front stop section and a first/second rear stop section
Implementation Method 3
The damping slot is used to clamp the shaft section thereto to generate a resistance (torque) to a pivotal rotation of the shaft section
Data Source
AI summary
A hinge device includes a flexible plate, a plurality of pivot shafts connected to a plurality of supports fixed on one surface of the flexible plate, a plurality of torque plates respectively provided with a shaft hole and an elongated shaft hole. The pivot shafts are respectively extended through and pivotally connected to one shaft hole on one torque plate and one elongated shaft hole on an adjacent torque plate, such that the torque plates are arranged alternately to overlap each other. When the flexible plate responds to a force applied thereto 10 to change between an extended state and a rolled state, the pivot shafts are brought by the supports to move in the elongated shaft holes, so as to adapt to a change in the length of two connected adjacent torque plates. A flexible display is connected to another side of the flexible plate to provide a display device.