Apple has long been broadening its focus on foldable devices and has also been looking into rollable screen options. Each solution examined seems to consider both the iPhone and the iPad option (the most popular to arrive on the markets in a reasonable time) however in both cases there will always be the problem of a screen potentially vulnerable to damage.
A new patent application called “Self-Retracting Display Device And Techniques For Protecting Screen Using Drop Detection” describes ways to protect future devices of this kind.
Whether the device folds on a hinge or a screen can be pulled out of a base frame, Apple is proposing that it can choose to detach or fold automatically, so the display is protected.
In particular, it could do so when it senses the need, for example by using a sensor to detect vertical acceleration to determine if the mobile device has been dropped, as claimed in a passage of the patent application.
“If the sensor detects that the mobile device has been dropped…the foldable device may retract at least partially to offer protection from the fragile screen hitting the ground.”
A detail of the patent application speaks of particular cases during fall detection, saying that “Bending the screen to an angle less than 180 degrees may also offer some protection, because the mobile device can hit the edges of the mobile device instead of the screen itself.” Basically it is said that a rollable device can retract the screen if acceleration limits foreseen in advance are exceeded.
This patent application is credited to two inventors, Hoon Sik Kim and Michael B. Wittenberg. Both have already been working on the details of a future foldable iPhone, including the use of cog hinges.
