Samsung Granted Patents for Tri-Fold and Rollable Display Technologies

Samsung has been granted patents for its tri-fold and rollable show applied sciences by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The South Korean tech conglomerate beforehand confirmed off a complicated tri-fold shows at CES 2022, which confirmed a house display on the primary panel and a large view of a video streaming app on the second and third panels. The firm has additionally been granted a patent for a show that may be prolonged by unrolling it out of a compact enclosure.

The first patent describes using a show module with “at least one folding area” not like a standard book-style foldable cellphone (Fig. 1B) with outer and internal screens — just like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 or the OnePlus Open — Samsung’s patent envisions using a tri-fold show (Fig. 2B) that expands in such a means that each one three panels are seen when opened, concurrently. This seems to be a patent for Samsung’s Flex S expertise proven off by the corporate two years in the past.

Samsung’s normal foldable (left) and the tri-fold display
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ USPTO

Meanwhile, the corporate has additionally been granted a second patent that describes a tool with a rollable show inside a housing that’s “deformable” in two states — closed and open. The show panels are retracted contained in the housing (Fig. 1A, beneath) when the system is closed, and extends when it’s in use, by way of using hinges, in keeping with the patent doc.

Various drawings of the rollable show present how the panels depart the housing and could be prolonged to type a big display — the doc does not specify whether or not this can be a foldable smartphone or one other system altogether, like a pill, monitor, or TV. When it’s absolutely prolonged, the system’s show (Fig. 8A, Fig. 2A) seems to be a lot bigger than its authentic type, which is extra compact as your entire system returns to the housing when it’s closed.

Samsung’s rollable show when folded (left) and unfolded
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ USPTO

While Samsung has been granted patents for these two foldable display applied sciences, there is not any phrase from the corporate on plans to carry them to shopper electronics units within the close to future. The firm can also be engaged on refining these applied sciences whereas tackling points associated to efficiency and sturdiness — widespread with foldable units — earlier than bringing them to prospects.