The Lineup for new Apple Store Opening in Kuala Lumpur Yesterday was Massive and Filled with Enthusiastic Apple Fans
A New Apple patent describes Smart Gestures and AI being used in a Future Apple Watch

A new Microsoft Patent describes the addition of a Kickstand to their Reinvented Surface Duo Foldable Smartphone

1-Cover-MSFT-folding-phone-with-kickstand-report

Back in 2020, Microsoft took a chance at getting well ahead of Apple with a foldable smartphone branded the Surface Duo. It was a disastrous product. As the Android world debuted foldable phones with a single contiguous display that folded, the Surface Duo introduced a device with two displays that folded with a gap inbetween them. The Surface Duo's operating system never caught on with the developer community – so Microsoft killed the Surface Duo in September 2023.

In March 2024, Patently Mobile, Patently Apple's segment for non-Apple patents, posted a Microsoft patent report showing that Microsoft was planning to reinvent their foldable smartphone that complied with the rest of the Android world.

This week, yet another Microsoft patent surfaced showing how their possible future foldable smartphone would come with a backside kickstand. The backside camera set-up is also more iPhone-like than the previous Surface Duo 2.

Microsoft's patent application nots that some foldable computing devices include two frames or other structures that are rotatably coupled at a hinge. Some of these devices utilize a flexible display that can deform as display support frames beneath the flexible display are folded. In some of these devices, hinges couple two display supports for folding 180 degrees from an end-to-end (or open) orientation in which the flexible display is substantially planar to a face-to-face (or closed) orientation in which one portion of the flexible display is facing the opposing portion. In other examples the two display supports can fold substantially 360 degrees from a back-to-back orientation in which the flexible display wraps around the folded supports to the face-to-face orientation.

In other foldable computing devices, two frames each support separate displays that can be folded between open and closed orientations. Other foldable devices can have a single display affixed or integral to one of the frames. In any of these devices, one or more other components can be attached to or integral with the frames, such as a touchpad, button(s), camera(s), keyboard, etc.

As noted above, foldable computing devices can be utilized by an end user in a variety of positions and orientations for different use cases. In some examples, a user can desire to use a foldable computing device in an unfolded or end-to-end configuration with the device positioned on a surface at a raised angle to the surface. For example, a user may desire to read a book or scroll through messages while resting the device on a table at an angle. In other examples, a user can desire to utilize a foldable computing device in a folded configuration with the device similarly positioned on a surface at an angle, such as for taking a selfie or video.

Some devices include a slidable kickstand that provides an integrated stand for supporting the device on a surface in the folded and/or unfolded configuration. In some of these examples, sliding an upper portion of the kickstand to a deployed position automatically deploys a lower portion.

Some foldable computing devices utilize a mechanism or other retention means for retaining the device in the closed/folded configuration. To open the device from the closed configuration, a user is required to manually disengage a separate mechanism or exert a sufficient separating force on the two frames to overcome the retention force. These configurations can present accessibility issues, such as for users with atypical fine motor skills and/or hand and finger strength.

Accordingly, the present disclosure describes kickstand assemblies for a foldable computing device that address one or more of the above considerations. In some examples and as described in more detail below, kickstand assemblies of the present disclosure are configured to release the first frame and the second frame from a closed orientation when the kickstand assembly is shifted laterally with respect to the two frames. Advantageously and in this manner, kickstand assemblies of the present disclosure enable a user to easily open the device from the closed orientation while deploying the kickstand. Additionally and in some examples, when the two frames have transitioned to the open configuration, magnets releasably secure the first frame and the second frame in the open configuration, thereby stabilizing the two frames in this position.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 1 below shows one example of a kickstand assembly mounted to a foldable computing device; FIG. 2 shows the kickstand assembly in a deployed position.

2-MICROSFT-FOLDABLE-PHONE-WITH-KICKSTAND

Microsoft's patent FIG. 26 above shows another example of a kickstand assembly that comprises a slidable plunger to bias the first frame and the second frame to rotate.

Microsoft's patent mentions Magnets 263 times. In one example, Microsoft notes that magnets automatically deploy the lower kickstand plate when a user laterally slides the assembly from the home position of FIG. 1 to the deployed position as shown in FIGS. 2.

For full details of this invention, review patent application 20240201734 published by the U.S. Patent Office on June 20, 2024.

10.0x35 Patently Mobile