On March 24, 2020, Patently Apple posted a granted patent report titled "Apple Wins third Patent for a possible future foldable iPhone." Days prior to being granted patent, Apple's team had already filed a continuation of their granted patents that was published today. In today's continuation patent, Apple is expanding and making public, new aspects of their possible future folding device.

For the record, any change and/or addition to this invention is restricted to Apple's patent claims. So, what has Apple added to their invention this time around? Actually, quite a bit.

Apple's patent claims, starting in claim #1, sets a clearer description of the device from the previous claims. In the March granted patent Apple simply describes the device as "an electronic device." In today's continuation patent they clearly set out and describe a "Foldable electronic device." With patent trolls looking for loopholes in Apple's patents, describing it as a folding device is important.

The following 17 claims are basically new to this invention, clearly expanding on previous patents. Some highlights are to point out completely new attributes to this future folding device, as follows:  

Claim 1: "A foldable electronic device, comprising: a housing that bends about a bend axis; an array of pixels located on a flexible substrate in the housing, wherein the array of pixels extends across the bend axis; and a layer of glass through which the array of pixels displays images, wherein the layer of glass forms an outermost surface of the electronic device and has a groove that extends parallel to the bend axis.

Claim 2: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a flexible polymer material in the groove.

Claim 3: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the flexible polymer material comprises an elastomeric polymer.

Claim 4: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the flexible polymer material and the layer of glass have matching indices of refraction.

Claim 5: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the groove extends only partially through the layer of glass.

Claim 6: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the groove extends entirely through the layer of glass.

Claim 7: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the layer of glass has an interior surface and wherein the groove is one of a series of grooves in the interior surface of the layer of glass.

Claim 8:  The foldable electronic device defined in claim 7 wherein the layer of glass has an exterior surface that forms the outermost surface of the electronic device and wherein the exterior surface extends across the series of grooves.

Claim 9: The foldable electronic device defined in claim 7 further comprising a polymer material that is located in the grooves and between the grooves.

Claim 11: An electronic device, comprising: a housing having first and second housing portions coupled by a hinge; a pixel array in the housing, wherein the pixel array forms a first display region on the first housing portion and a second display region on the second housing portion and wherein the first display region is configured to rotate relative to the second display region; and a rigid transparent cover layer that forms an exterior surface of the electronic device, wherein the rigid transparent cover layer has a first portion through which the first display region displays images and a second portion through which the second display region displays images, and wherein the first and second portions are separated by a flexible polymer material that overlaps the hinge.

Claim 12: The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the flexible polymer material comprises an elastomeric polymer.

Claim 13: The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the rigid transparent cover layer comprises a groove and wherein the flexible polymer material is located in the groove.

Claim 14: The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the groove is one of a series of grooves in the rigid transparent cover layer and wherein the flexible polymer material is located between the grooves.

Claim 15: The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the flexible polymer material and the rigid transparent cover layer have matching indices of refraction.

Claim 16: An electronic device, comprising: a housing having first and second housing portions that rotate relative to one another about a hinge axis; an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels having first and second display regions that rotate relative to one another about the hinge axis; and a transparent display cover layer having opposing exterior and interior surfaces and having a groove in the interior surface, wherein the exterior surface forms an outermost surface of the electronic device and extends across the groove.

Claim 17: The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the groove is parallel to the hinge axis.

Claim 18: The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the transparent display cover layer comprises glass.

Claim 19: The electronic device defined in claim 18 further comprising a flexible polymer material in the groove.

Claim 20: The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the groove extends only partially through the transparent display cover layer.

When Apple is sued for patent infringement, the case depends on the strength of the patent claims found in a granted patent. Apple legal and their engineering team(s) work closely together to ensure that the key aspects of any invention are legally protected both for offensive and/or defensive purposes. In a way, added claims are a way of confirming that a particular material or method described in the patent is now locked down until further notice. 

Apple's continuation patent 20200212340 that was published today by the U.S. Patent Office was originally filed back in Q3 2020. For more information, you could review our previous report on this invention here. 

Considering that this is a continuation patent, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.