Dell patents a dual-screen design for PCs, including a flexible hinge

What y'all need to know

New patents by Dell prove off a design for a flexible hinge and dual-screen devices.
The patents were filed before this year and published in August.
Lenovo has shown off similar applied science in ThinkPad X1 foldable PC.

2 recently published patents show off designs from Dell that could be parts of a dual-screen device (via WindowsUnited). The patents illustrate a flexible swivel and a dual-screen setup for a PC. If Dell uses these patents in a futurity device, the company would exist joining a dual-screen movement which includes a foldable PC from Lenovo and foldable phones from Samsung and Huawei.

Patent US20190243426 was initially applied for on Feb 2, 2022 and afterward published on August eight, 2022. The clarification from the filing outlines how multiple displays aid evangelize more information to users and how current swivel designs are non optimized for dual-screen devices.

In order to enhance portability, information handling arrangement manufacturers typically try to limit the height of the housing, sometimes referred to as the Z axis height. Ane recent innovation that has helped restrict system elevation is the utilise of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. OLED displays nowadays visual images without a backlight so that the elevation of the display is, effectively, a thin film having OLED fabric and integrated wirelines that bulldoze OLED pixels to generate defined colors. Recently, portable information treatment systems have included rotationally coupled housing portions that have OLED displays on the upper surface of both housing portions. The result is two displays that open like a book and provide the user with flexibility to utilise both displays for consuming content or accept ane display configured equally an input device, such as with a virtual keyboard. One difficulty with placing the displays in close proximity is that a hinge typically has to fit between the housing portions that hold the displays. Synchronized hinges typically accept gears that interconnect parallel axles and a friction device that provides torque to manage hinge rotation. Robust swivel assemblies tend to take distance between the two axles that translates to distance between the two displays of the ii housing portions. (Emphasis added)

The patent goes on to describe how a dual axes hinge helps solve problems facing dual-screen devices.

More specifically, a portable data handling arrangement has kickoff and second housing portions rotationally coupled to each other by first and 2d swivel assemblies. The housing portions contain processing components that cooperate to generate information, such equally a cardinal processing unit (CPU) and retentivity that execute instructions and generate visual information for presentation at a display. A display integrated in the upper surface of each housing portion presents the visual information as visual images. Each hinge assembly includes narrow width dual axles that maintain the displays in close proximity for a uniform appearance that minimizes disruption of viewing of the visual information. Each swivel assembly includes a gear assembly that synchronizes housing portion rotational move by translating rotational movement of the housing portions betwixt each other through interlocking gears disposed on the dual axels proximate the perimeter of the housing. The gear assembly includes a bracket for each beam that couples the housing portions to the hinge associates. To manage rotational motion and positioning of the housing portions, a torque bracket couples to each axle terminate opposite the gear assembly and couples to each housing portion. Each torque subclass resists rotation about its axle to generate torque contained of the gear associates. (Emphasis added)

Patent US10394278 was practical for on March 3, 2022 and published on August 27, 2022. Notably, this patent was granted on Baronial 27, 2022 likewise. Patent US20190243426 does not listing a grant appointment at this time. Patent US10394278 also discusses a flexible hinge. Its summary outlines how flexible sheets could exist used in conjunction with a flexible hinge.

An information treatment system may include a flex hinge having a first flexible sheet that bends at a different radius than a second flexible sheet when the flex hinge is transitioned from a outset position to a second position. A mounting bracket fixes each of the flexible sheets to the information treatment system, and a friction linkage engages with slots inside the first and second flexible sheets. An organic lite emitting diode is continued to the flex swivel.

Equally with any patent filing, these designs may never come across the light of mean solar day. Large corporations often file patents that don't stop up in any commercially produced technology. If they are used in a hereafter device, Dell will bring together Lenovo, Samsung, and Huawei in the current dual-screen motion.

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