Monolithic Display Support Structure for Compact Sliding Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to design an electronic device with a larger display size to accommodate multimedia services while maintaining the device's miniaturization and structural integrity.
Innovation Solution
The electronic device incorporates a flexible display with a monolithic support structure that includes a plate part and bar-shaped parts protruding from it. These parts are formed from a single monolithic structure, providing support to the display while allowing for sliding movements between housings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the display size is increased to accommodate multimedia services, then the multimedia functionality is improved, but the device size increases and miniaturization is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into a plate part and multiple bar-shaped parts that can move relative to each other. This segmentation allows the display to extend beyond the main housing when needed while maintaining a compact form when retracted, effectively resolving the contradiction between large display area and small device volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure transitions from a static to a dynamic configuration, allowing the bar-shaped parts to slide along guide rails. This dynamic capability enables the display to adapt its size - extended for multimedia consumption and retracted for compact portability - thus resolving the contradiction between display size and device miniaturization.
2Area of stationary object
If the display size is increased to accommodate multimedia services, then the multimedia functionality is improved, but the structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure uses a composite design combining a plate part with multiple bar-shaped parts made from the same material. This composite structure distributes mechanical loads across multiple elements, maintaining structural integrity even when the display is extended to a larger size for multimedia services.
Solution Approach 2:
By dividing the support structure into multiple bar-shaped segments rather than using a single large support element, the design maintains better structural control. Each bar can independently manage stress, and the segmented structure provides multiple load paths, preserving structural integrity while enabling larger display area.
3Strength
If a monolithic support structure is used to maintain structural integrity, then the strength is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monolithic structure is segmented into bar-shaped parts with varying widths that slide along guide rails. This segmentation creates a more manageable structure that can be manufactured and assembled more easily than a single complex monolithic piece, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining strength through the integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The bar-shaped parts have non-uniform cross-sections with different widths at different locations, optimizing material distribution for strength where needed while reducing material where less is required. This local quality variation simplifies the overall structure by using material efficiently rather than requiring a uniformly complex monolithic design.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device comprises housings including a first housing and a second housing configured to accommodate at least a portion of the first housing and guide sliding of the first housing, a flexible display including a first display area and a second display area extending from the first display area, and a monolithic support structure configured to support at least a portion of the second display area. The support structure includes a plate part and a plurality of bar-shaped parts protruding side by side from the plate part and disposed parallel to the plate part. The plate part and the plurality of bar-shaped parts are formed from a single monolithic structure. Each of the plurality of bar-shaped parts includes a second portion extending from the plate part and a first portion extending from the second portion, and a first width of the first portion is greater than a second width of the second portion. The plate part includes a plurality of openings located between adjacent ones of the bar-shaped parts.