Examining the patent of Apple clamshell phone, we find out that this company intends to enter the world of foldable gadgets. This product also supports touch pen.
In recent years, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and several other handset companies have entered the market of foldable phones, but Apple prefers to make iPhones with past designs and not take the risk of producing clamshell phones. On this account, technology whistleblowers say that Apple is actively working on an iPhone or iPad equipped with a foldable display, and the patent of Apple’s clamshell phone informs about this.
Read more: Apple develops foldable OLED display for iPhone and iPad
Apple clamshell phone patent details
In recent days, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has made headlines with the release of an Apple clamshell patent, with the center introducing a new patent:
The new device will be equipped with a folding display and will be provided with flexible area support structures.
According to the Patently Apple website, the company refers to a device that has a folding structure in its new patent description. This structure allows the device to be closed and rotated around an axis. Of course, a flexible display may also fit inside the product’s folding body. This flexible display appears to have a special array and structure of pixels and to bend around the axis when the body is folded. The patent description section mentions the possibility that a thin layer of glass may be embedded on the display as a cover.
According to Apple’s clamshell patent, a groove-like depression may be parallel to the curvature axis in the glass cover. This recess creates a thin, flexible section on the glass, allowing the screen to bend around the axis of the device. Apple claims that it wants to use polymer in the recess to facilitate the flattening of the display cover layer.
For this purpose, Apple may also embed strong structures such as glass strips or small glass spheres in the polymer. By doing this, the outer surface of the coating layer will not deform and become resistant to external pressure of objects such as the touch pen. Yes, you got it right, Apple mentioned a touch pen in the description of its new patent, which means that the new clamshell iPhone will probably use the Apple Smart Pencil.
Read more: The best foldable phones
Under the new patent, should we wait for a smartphone or laptop?
In March 2021, Apple announced in a patent that one of the new products is collapsible and may be a laptop. It is interesting to note that the patent contained images that bore a strong resemblance to current patent images.
Unlike today’s MacBooks, Apple’s foldable laptop is portable and allows access to two devices at the same time. To better understand, imagine an iPad with a large screen that can be bent; If you tilt the device 90 degrees, you can use the bottom of the screen as a virtual keyboard. It seems that Asus and HP will soon introduce such products by the fall of this year.
In addition, Apple provides other information in the description of its patent. According to the first image of the patent (FIG. 1), we realize that the new device may be a product such as iPhone, iPad, or laptop, and in the second image of the patent (FIG. 2), we realize that the new product is a laptop or iPhone with a flexible display. And it will be collapsible.
Also, the fourth image of the patent (FIG. 4) shows a cross-sectional view of the flexible screen in the side section, which is covered with a cover layer such as caro. Note that part of this cover layer has a thinner structure than other parts for the hinge area. In the seventh image of the patent (FIG. 7) we see a polymeric material that is embedded in a depression and in which solid particles are used.
According to the details you see in Figure 7 of the patent, solid structures such as small particles marked with the number 60 in the image may enter the polymer 50. These solid particles may be spherical or spherical structures or other shapes made of raw materials such as glass, which, of course, have a higher modulus of elasticity than polymer.
It is worth noting that this type of design increases the strength of the polymer. In addition, the solid particles in the polymer also prevent the part of the glass coating surface that is located on top of the thinner part from sinking under the pressure of objects such as touch and have a high resistance.
The patents that will be released for future products generally contain a lot of specialized details and incomprehensible sentences, and in this report we have tried to make what Apple has presented in its new patent as simple and understandable as possible. For more details, you can search for the patent page 20220201885 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office database.
Of course, do not forget that this information is about patents, and sometimes patents never become real products and are not produced. As a result, until Apple officially announces the production of this product, all this information is merely talking about a designed model and has no validity.
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