Retractable Flexible Screen Structure to Reduce Creases and Cracks
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile devices with foldable flexible display screens face issues with creases, damages, or cracks due to tensile stress or material fatigue during transitions between unfolded and retracted states.
Innovation Solution
A retractable screen mobile device design featuring a main unit, a movable unit, elastic members, a flexible display screen, and constant force springs, allowing the device to switch between retracted and outstretched states while minimizing stress on the display screen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the display screen is made foldable to expand size, then the display area is increased, but the screen is prone to creases, damages, or cracks due to tensile stress and material fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The display screen is divided into a fixed portion and a movable portion that can be independently supported. The movable portion is segmented and can be flexibly folded without compromising the integrity of the entire screen, reducing stress concentration that leads to creases and cracks.
Solution Approach 2:
A support structure is provided in advance for the movable portion of the display screen. This support structure acts as a cushioning mechanism that prevents tensile stress from directly affecting the screen material during folding, thereby preventing creases, damages, or cracks before they occur.
2Reliability
If a support structure is added for the movable portion, then the screen is protected from damage, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure utilizes flexible materials and thin film components that can bend and move with the display screen. This approach provides necessary structural support while maintaining flexibility and minimizing the addition of rigid, complex components to the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure serves multiple functions: it provides mechanical support to prevent screen damage, maintains display flatness when extended, and enables flexible folding when retracted. By combining multiple functions into a single integrated structure, the overall device complexity is reduced.
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 design effectively supports the flexible display screen in both states, reducing the risk of damage and enhancing user experience by providing a larger display area when needed while maintaining portability.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one elastic member with two ends respectively disposed on the first shell and the moving plate, and tends to keep the movable unit in either the retracted state or the outstretched state
Implementation Method 2
The at least one constant force spring includes a winding part and a telescopic part, wherein the winding part is disposed on the first shell, and the telescopic part is disposed on the frame for constantly providing a pulling force on the frame, so that the steering shaft disposed on the frame constantly tightens the flexible display screen
Implementation Method 3
the flexible display screen covers the first supporting surface, winds around the pivot shaft to change direction, and winds around the steering shaft to change direction again
Data Source
AI summary
A retractable screen mobile device comprises a main unit, a movable unit, at least one elastic member, a flexible display screen, and at least one constant force spring. When the movable unit is in a retracted state, the flexible display screen is supported by a first supporting surface of the main unit; when the movable unit is in an outstretched state, the flexible display screen is supported by the first supporting surface of the main unit and a second supporting surface of the movable unit.