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Samsung has been working on a folding smartphone for years. Rumors of his release gained strength throughout the past, but for now we still do not know the device. A new patent granted to the Korean giant shows a new design and has also yielded some additional information. As we can read in Gizmochina, apparently there are problems with the current design of folding phones. According to the proprietary description, when the bend radius of the flexible screen is too small, the screen may be damaged. This damage can occur both in the unfolded state (due to tensile force) and folded (compression force).
Samsung would use a hinge system
To avoid this, Samsung would have devised a structure that would support the screen at the exact point where it curves. This structure, according to the patent's diagrams, would consist of a hinge system that would prevent damage due to compression or traction force. The hinge system would help to keep the radius of curvature at a certain value, thus preventing the panel from being damaged. The same patent further explains that the hinge system would also allow the folding device to be bent at various angles. Thus, instead of two main positions, fully folded and fully deployed, the terminal could be partially folded or unfolded to a desired angle.
This type of design, with a hinge system, is something that we have already seen in some computers such as the Yoga Book from Lenovo or the Surface Book from Microsoft. Both are capable of bending 360 degrees so that we can use them as a tablet or laptop. This new patent was filed by Samsung on May 29, 2017 and was published by WIPO on February 15. It is written in English and describes a new hinge that prevents the smartphone from being deformed and damaged.
At the moment, we do not know when Samsung will finally unveil this new mobile. Some rumors assure that it will be this year, next November. We will continue to inform you as soon as we have new data.
