Foldable Smartphone Display Segments for Compact-to-Tablet Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handheld computing devices with small touch screens face challenges in physical interaction and limited display size, which can make tasks like text input and viewing graphic-intensive applications cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable touch screen computing device with flexible segments that can transform from a compact state to an expanded state, featuring a graphical user interface that facilitates content transition and includes a flexible circuit and folding configuration for optimized expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a flexible display is folded into a compact state, then the device portability is improved, but the display area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display is divided into multiple flexible segments that can be folded relative to each other. Each segment contains its own touch sensor and circuitry, allowing the display to be segmented physically while maintaining functional integrity in both compact and expanded states.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible display segments are nested within each other when folded, with inner segments fitting within the structure of outer segments. This nesting arrangement minimizes the overall device volume while preserving the full display area when unfolded.
2Area of stationary object
If multiple display segments are used to increase display area, then the viewing capacity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple display segments are merged into a single integrated touch screen interface. The segments share common circuitry, control electronics, and mechanical support structures, reducing the overall complexity compared to having separate display devices. The segments can be configured in various arrangements (series, parallel, grid) to optimize the merging of functionality.
3Volume of moving object
If a flexible display radius is used when folded, then the compactness is improved, but the alignment precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
An alignment locking mechanism serves as an intermediary between the flexible display segments and the housing. This mechanism includes alignment features such as guide pins, recesses, and locking elements that ensure precise positioning of segments relative to each other and to the device housing, even when the display is folded into a compact radius.
Data Source
AI summary
Reconfigurable touch screen computing devices with folding configurations that include flexible displays made up of segments reconfigured from a folded state to an expanded state are described. The form factor of the folded state is the size of a handheld phone (including an integrated speaker and microphone). The form factor of the expanded state is the size of a tablet computer. Both states provide a configuration including a touch screen display on a front side and a protective housing on a back side. The computing devices include sensors indicating the state and mechanisms for folding, alignment, and structural support, and magnets for the devices to be locked in the folded or unfolded state. A module attached to at least one segment may contain substantially all processing and memory, and a communications system, all which may be used in either state.