Peripheral Seal for Flexible Display Gap Closure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handheld touch screen devices face challenges with precise interaction and limited viewing capacity due to their small size, and the rigid nature of standard displays hinders portability and creates gaps that can lead to damage when folded, necessitating a solution to adjust size and close gaps without compromising functionality or increasing thickness.
Innovation Solution
A foldable touch screen display device with a peripheral enclosure mechanism that automatically repositions to close gaps between flexible display segments, allowing the device to transition between compact and expanded states while maintaining functionality and integrating sensors for configuration and alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid standard touch screen display is used, then the display provides stable structure and reliable functionality, but the device becomes cumbersome and difficult to fold, reducing portability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a rigid static display structure to a dynamic flexible display that can change its physical state between folded and unfolded configurations. The flexible display allows the device to adapt its form factor while maintaining functionality, enabling portability without sacrificing display performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The display material properties are changed from rigid to flexible, allowing the device to transition between different physical states. This parameter change enables the display to withstand folding mechanics while maintaining operational reliability in both compact and expanded states.
2Ease of operation
If the display is folded into a compact state, then portability is improved, but gaps are created along the folding axis where dirt and debris can access the display, potentially causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral enclosure is designed to proactively close the gap between display segments before debris can penetrate into the folded device. This preliminary protective action prevents harmful factors from reaching the display surface while maintaining the compact folded state.
Solution Approach 2:
The peripheral enclosure acts as an intermediary protective element between the external environment (containing dirt and debris) and the flexible display segments. This mediator structure closes the gap and prevents direct access of harmful particles to the display while allowing the device to maintain its folded configuration.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a peripheral enclosure is added to close gaps between display segments, then protection from debris is improved, but the device thickness increases and available internal space for components is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The peripheral enclosure is nested within the existing device structure, utilizing the hinge region and side areas that would otherwise be empty space. This nesting approach allows the protective enclosure to be integrated without significantly increasing the overall device thickness or reducing internal component space.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective function is achieved by utilizing the lateral dimensions and the hinge region rather than simply increasing thickness in one direction. The peripheral enclosure extends along the sides and closes gaps in a multi-dimensional approach, preserving internal volume while providing protection.
4Area of stationary object
If the device is made larger to improve viewing capacity and interaction precision, then display functionality is improved, but the device becomes less portable and more difficult to handle
Solution Approach 1:
The device transitions from a static fixed-size form factor to a dynamic reconfigurable structure that can switch between compact and expanded states. This allows the display area to be enlarged for improved viewing and interaction when needed, while returning to a compact handheld size for portability, resolving the contradiction between size and convenience.
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable touch screen display device with a flexible display made up of segments that can be folded from a compact state to an expanded state which also includes a peripheral enclosure mechanism. The peripheral enclosure mechanism can be automatically repositioned to rotate out of a channel as the device is being folded in such a way that it can close the gap at the sides of the device between two flexible display segments when the device is fully configured to a folded state. The device may further include sensors to indicate the state of configuration and mechanisms for alignment, locking, and further structural support. In one embodiment, a module attached to, situated within, or otherwise associated with at least one segment of the flexible display or rigid display may contain all or substantially all processing and memory, along with a communications system, which may be used in any state.