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Apple has been working on a solution to make its foldable devices, such as iPhones or iPads, less susceptible to damage when dropped. A recently revealed patent application, called “Self-Retracting Display Device and Techniques for Protecting Screen Using Drop Detection”, describes ways in which the company plans to protect these types of devices.
Foldable devices have the potential to offer larger displays on smaller devices, but their screens are more vulnerable to damage. Apple’s proposed solution is to have the displays detect when they are dropped and immediately retract or fold up in a way that protects the screen.
The patent application proposes two options for protecting the screen: retracting the screen or releasing it. For example, when a device is dropped, a sensor would detect the drop and activate a release mechanism for a hinged connection between the two displays of the electronic device. This would reduce the angle between the displays to below a threshold angle, affording protection to the fragile display from striking the ground.
The patent also proposes folding the display back to an angle less than 180 degrees, which would protect the device from striking the display itself. If a device has a rollable screen, the screen can retract if predetermined acceleration limits are exceeded.
The proposed solution depends on how fast the device can register a fall and how high it is dropped from, so there can never be total protection against drops. However, these proposals would help make foldable and rollable devices less fragile than regular ones.
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The patent application is credited to two inventors, Hoon Sik Kim and Michael B. Wittenberg, who have previously worked on details for a folding iPhone, including the use of geared hinges in it.
