Gear Slider Hinge for Foldable Display
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display devices face issues with bending, leading to malfunction, breakage, and uneven surfaces due to excessive folding, and existing hinge mechanisms are complex, prone to breakage, and result in larger, thicker devices with limited versatility.
Innovation Solution
A hinge assembly with a slider mechanism and set of gears that transfers rotational movement into translational movement, allowing the flexible display to fold without damage and maintaining attachment to housings, enabling a versatile and thin foldable display device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a hinge mechanism is used to fold the flexible display, then the display can be bent and folded, but the display may lift or curl during folding causing malfunction and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
A slider mechanism is introduced as an intermediary component between the rotating housing and the flexible display. The slider converts rotational movement into linear movement, ensuring the display moves uniformly without lifting or curling. This intermediary mechanism resolves the contradiction by mediating the motion transfer while maintaining display integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces a traditional direct hinge connection with a gear-set-based mechanical system. The gear set includes a pinion gear attached to the rotating housing and a rack gear on the slider, creating a controlled mechanical transmission system that prevents display damage during folding.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional hinge mechanism is used, then the device can fold, but the device becomes larger and thicker
Solution Approach 1:
The slider is positioned within the housing structure, and the gear set components are nested within each other. The pinion gear rotates within the housing while the rack gear moves linearly along a guide, allowing the mechanism to occupy minimal space and maintain a thin device profile.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanism transforms rotational movement in one dimension into linear movement in another dimension. The pinion gear's rotation is converted into the slider's linear motion through the rack gear, enabling compact space utilization while achieving the folding function.
3Adaptability or versatility
If existing hinge mechanisms are used, then the display can be folded, but the mechanism is complex and prone to breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge mechanism is segmented into distinct functional components: a rotating housing, a slider with linear guide, and a gear set. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, simplifying the overall design and reducing complexity while maintaining folding capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The slider acts as an intermediary that simplifies the connection between the rotating housing and the flexible display. By converting rotational motion to linear motion, the slider eliminates the need for complex multi-axis hinge mechanisms, reducing overall system complexity.
4Device complexity
If the flexible display is folded without a proper mechanism, then the device is simpler, but the display becomes detached from the housing
Solution Approach 1:
The slider serves as a stable intermediary connection between the housing and the flexible display. It ensures complete attachment during folding and unfolding by converting the housing's rotational movement into controlled linear movement of the display, preventing detachment while maintaining reasonable complexity.
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 solution prevents lifting or curling of the flexible display during folding, ensures complete attachment during folding and unfolding, and allows for transformation into full or half-display modes, providing a more user-friendly and compact design.
Implementation Method 1
A hinge assembly with a slider mechanism and set of gears that transfers rotational movement into translational movement
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~1D
Figure 2A
AI summary
In a general aspect, a foldable display device may include processor, a memory, a first housing having a first end portion and a second end portion, a first length extending between the first end portion and the second end portion of the first housing, a second housing having a first end portion and a second end portion, a second length extending between the first end portion and the second end portion of the second housing, the second length being different than the first length, a flexible display disposed on the first housing and the second housing, and a hinge assembly disposed between the first housing and the second housing to rotate the first housing and the second toward each other. The hinge assembly may include a slider and plurality of gears. The slider and the plurality of gears operate to transfer a rotational movement into a translational movement of at least one of the first housing or the second housing.