Foldable Display Hinge Structure With Waterdrop Screen Clearance

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional foldable electronic devices suffer from poor reliability and shortened service life due to excessive squeezing of the flexible display when folded, leading to potential damage during the folding process.

Innovation Solution

The electronic device incorporates a housing apparatus that forms a water drop-shaped screen accommodation space during folding, utilizing a hinge assembly with various components like fixing brackets, swing arms, and damping assemblies to stabilize the folding action and reduce squeezing force.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If the housing apparatus folds the flexible display during folding, then the device achieves compact portability, but the flexible display suffers from excessive squeezing force that damages reliability

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedevice compactnessVSAvoidflexible display reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The housing apparatus forms a water drop-shaped screen accommodation space with curved surfaces during folding, replacing traditional flat or angular structures. This curvature design distributes the folding stress more evenly across the flexible display, reducing concentrated squeezing forces and minimizing damage risk while maintaining compact form factor.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

Solution Approach 2:

The housing apparatus pre-forms a protective water drop-shaped space that cushions the flexible display before excessive squeezing occurs during folding. This preventive structural design absorbs and distributes folding forces, protecting the display from damage while enabling compact folding.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

2Device complexity

If the hinge assembly uses traditional folding mechanism, then the structure is simple, but the squeezing force on the screen is excessive causing damage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehinge assembly structureVSAvoidsqueezing force on screen
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The hinge assembly incorporates a water drop-shaped screen accommodation space with curved surfaces that replace traditional angular or flat folding structures. This curvature design naturally distributes squeezing forces during folding, reducing peak stresses on the screen while maintaining relatively simple mechanical structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

Solution Approach 2:

The hinge assembly changes the geometric parameters of the screen accommodation space to form a water drop shape with specific curvature radii and proportions. This parameter optimization allows the structure to maintain simplicity while effectively distributing folding forces and reducing harmful squeezing on the flexible display.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

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

This design enhances the reliability and extends the service life of the flexible display by minimizing damage from excessive squeezing, ensuring a stable and secure folding mechanism.

Implementation Method 1

hinge assembly with various components like fixing brackets, swing arms, and damping assemblies to stabilize the folding action and reduce squeezing force

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectDamping: Damping

Data Source

PatentEP4395289B1Electronic device
Publication Date: 2026.02.04 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP4395289B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP4395289B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3A
  • EP4395289B1 patent drawingFigure 3B~4B

AI summary

This application discloses an electronic device, including a screen and a housing apparatus configured to bear the screen. The housing apparatus can automatically perform avoidance in a folding process to form screen accommodation space. A folding action performed by the housing apparatus on the screen is stable, and has small squeezing force. This helps reduce a risk that the screen is damaged due to excessive squeezing by the housing apparatus, so that reliability of the screen and the electronic device is high, and a service life of the screen and the electronic device is long.