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Microsoft Continues to work on their Next-Gen Foldable Smartphone using a Single Foldable Display much like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold

1 cover microsoft folding phone single display patent

In late August Patently Apple posted a report titled "Will Microsoft Introduce their Reinvented Surface Duo with a Single Foldable Display in September 2023 or 2024?" Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold that delivers a single display that folds over when closed, Microsoft went with an oddball design with two separate displays and a visible hinge in the middle. While interesting, the design never caught on with their fan base nor developers. Microsoft then announced that it was dropping support for Surface Duo officially in September.

Microsoft has been working with Samsung and Intel on a project once known as Horseshoe Bend that will introduce a series of next gen foldable devices including a hybrid tablet-notebook. So while Microsoft has dropped support for their Surface Duo smartphone, patents show that Microsoft is likely to resurrect their device with a single foldable display to be inline with those from Samsung, Google and others. Our August, report linked to above, presented one such patent and then on September 20, 2023, Microsoft filed another patent for a "Foldable Display Device" in Europe, that once again supports the single display design.

Microsoft filed the patent with the European Patent Office under application 21798899. The patent relates to foldable display devices and methods for folding a display device through a range of degrees. In one example, a display device foldable through 360 degrees at a folding portion comprises a rear cover and a cover glass layer extending from a left side of the display device through the folding portion to a right side of the display device. A light-emitting layer is disposed between the rear cover and the cover glass layer. A backplate is positioned between the rear cover and the light-emitting layer, with the backplate comprising a plurality of backplate slots that each extend from an upper surface of the backplate through a lower surface of the backplate to facilitate bending of the backplate.

In another example, a display device foldable through a range of degrees at a folding portion comprises a rear cover and a cover glass layer extending from a left side of the display device through the folding portion to a right side of the display device. A light-emitting layer is disposed between the rear cover and the cover glass layer. The cover glass layer comprises a plurality of cover glass layer slots in the folding portion to facilitate folding of the cover glass layer. A backplate is positioned between the rear cover and the light-emitting layer, with the backplate comprising a plurality of backplate slots that each extend from an upper surface of the backplate through a lower surface of the backplate to facilitate bending of the backplate.

Microsoft's patent FIGS. 2 and 3 show examples of a foldable display device.  In this example, cover glass layer #118 extends from the left side #123 through folding portion #130 to the right side #126 of the device #128. The hinge #112 enables the cover glass layer to be folded through a range of degrees at folding portion; FIG. 6 shows a view of the second backplate #176 and the plurality of backplate slots #180 forming a two-dimensional lattice of slots. With this configuration, and in one potential advantage of the present disclosure, the backplate slots provide pliability to the second backplate to enable the second backplate to freely rotate about the folding axis when the display device is rotated through various angles and orientations.

2 Microsoft next-gen foldable phone - and other devices

Microsoft's patent FIG. 21 above shows a simplified illustration of the folding portion of the cover glass layer at the zero degree orientation;  FIG. 31 shows a flow diagram of an example method for folding a display device through a range of degrees at a folding portion.

With early adopters of the first generation of Surface Duo getting burned,  will their fans be reluctant to trust the company with a reinvented foldable phone? While only time will tell, the patent does go beyond a foldable phone and states that the invention also relates to a possible foldable tablet and or hybrid foldable tablet-laptop. This will be a noticeable trend in 2024 from many traditional PC manufacturers jumping on board. HP recently announced their first-gen Spectre Fold in an effort to get ahead of the pack to follow.

3 HP foldable hybrid tablet-laptop

10.0x35 Patently Mobile

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