Technology Focussed S.No.

Patent reference which has been read

1 https://patents.google.com/patent/US9013368B1/en?oq=US9013368

2 https://patents.google.com/patent/KR20200037191A/en?oq=KR2020
 3 https://patents.google.com/patent/US10585458B2/en?oq=US105854

Foldable devices

4 https://patents.google.com/patent/KR102097361B1/en?q=foldable+m
5 https://patents.google.com/patent/KR102073379B1/en?oq=KR10207
Summary of patent in My words

Patent ID: US9013368B1

Priority date : 2013-10-07
Assignee: LG Electronics Inc
This patent focuses on display in foldable devices- specifically zoom
functionality while folding-unfolding. It starts about the basic
components-simply put, 2 display units( Display unit 1- the folded screen-
consists of 1 screen; Display unit 2- unfolded screen – consists 2 or more
screens) and then talks about how images, which are zoomed in or
zoomed out are displayed on the display unit when the foldable device is
unfolded. The image can be an app screen at any time or components like
icons.
The patent also discusses some display features like display mode-portrait
and landscape in unfolded form. As mentioned above the main claim
emphasises on zooming – in short how the screen in folded mode(or first
zoom in ratio)- gets transfreed as it is to first screen in unfolded mode
and second screen covers some more area(or the second zoom in ratio).
This is further elaborated in the drawings with the example of ‘maps’ app
summarized as: “The controller controls the foldable mobile device so
that Point Of Interest (POI) information from the folded screen can be
included in at least one of the second image and the third image in
unfolded screen”.

Patent ID: KR20200037191A

Priority date : 2014-02-21
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD [KR]
Focuses on the physical folding mechanism. How the 2 portions adjust
and accommodate when device is changed from unfolded to folded state.
A foldable device with a flexible display is considered here and is said to
include a ‘first portion’, a ‘second portion’ and a ‘third portion’ between
the two to support the folding mechanism as follows: “The first and
second accommodating parts pivot to one end of the first and second
supporting parts so that the third part is flatly supported while the
flexible display is unfolded and the accommodating space is formed while
the flexible display is folded.” Before this, display screen was usually on
one of the 2 pieces and the two bodies used to be connected by a folding
structure. With the development of a flexible display device that can be
bent, the flexible display element, the screen, can be disposed across two
bodies across the folding structure- a larger screen can be provided. The
mechanism of the connector, the hinge as is implemented here is
discussed including role of parts like stopper, rotation lever, elastic unit.
In the folded state, the curved portion is specified to have a
predetermined curvature and also a flexible display element can be
flattened in a flattened state.
Patent ID: US10585458B2
Priority Date: 2014-06-27
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD [KR]
Similar to the previous patent based on the folding mechanism in folding
device having flexible display as opposed to display on only one piece. It
similarly explains the components: a first part; a second part; and a third
part provided between the first and second parts, forming curved portion
of the flexible display. A shielding member is provided on the first body
and the second body, to cover the side portion of the third part of the
flexible display and the gap between the third part and the first and
second body during transition between folded and unfolded positions.
This patent explains the folding mechanism at the hinge, the claim
particularly focusing on this shielding member. The aim is to improve the
folding mechanism- reduce a compressive force and a tensile force
applied to a flexible display during a folding/unfolding process; reduce a
space between a flexible display and first and second bodies during a
folding/unfolding process; enable a curved portion of a flexible display to
maintain a natural curve shape at a predetermined unfolding angle
between a folded position and an unfolded position.

Patent ID: KR102097361B1

Priority Date: 2013-02-01
Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
This patent presents foldable device as a flexible touch screen device and
emphasises mainly on how control of application transfers from external
folded screen to unfolded screens and vice versa. A foldable device
provides various touch screen based- user interfaces to a user -an
external touch screen area, an internal foldable touch screen area, and a
curved touch screen area connecting them. When switching from one
position to another, how the user interfaces are utilized is the focus of
this patent. For example, a call application- when an incoming call arrives,
caller information is displayed in the external touch screen area. At this
time, when the user unfolds the mobile device to execute another
application (for example, browser) an icon corresponding to the phone
call application is displayed on the curved touch screen area, and the user
drags the icon corresponding to the application-here, a phone call
application may be executed in some areas of the internal touch screen
area and in some areas other applications can be executed. Or the phone
call application may also be executed in the entire area of the subfoldable
touch screen area. Similarly the patent also talks about what happens
when we go from executing app in unfolded screen to folded screen.
Patent ID: KR102073379B1
Priority Date: 2013-11-26
Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
This patent focuses on improving fold operation in flexible
screen/foldable devices. It focuses on eliminating bending caused by
deformation of the folding area of the foldable display. Before this, when
a folding operation (ie, folding and folding operation) was repeatedly
performed on the foldable display of the electronic device, deformation
may be applied to the folding area of the foldable display, causing a
crease. As a result, the image is distorted in the folding area resulting in
degrading of the quality. The aim of the research in this is to be able to
eliminate the bending caused by deformation of the folding area of the
foldable display, “based on a control voltage generated according to the
folding angle of the foldable display. “ This is undertaken in the invention
though components and mechanisms including:
-> a folding controller configured to sense the folding angle, determine
the control voltage corresponding to the folding angle, and apply the
control voltage to the shape memory member.-> the shape memory
member is deformed to have a curvature corresponding to the folding
angle based on the control voltage to remove the curvature of the folding
area.-> the folding controller is further configured to determine the
control voltage corresponding to the folding angle based on a mapping
table that stores mapping information between the folding angle and the
control voltage.-> the mapping table updated according to a degree of
degradation of the folding area.
Summary of all patents in my words
I studied patent claims focused mainly on the display and display
functionalities- as a user switches between folded and unfolded positions
in a foldable devices as well as ones focused on the mechanism at the
hinge or the curved portion. The display based patents explained in
generic terms how applications are executed and displayed in foldable
devices- focusing on the demonstrations of use without going into details
of any technologies. The drawings elaborated how the control was spread
across screens and were fairly simple to understand. To summarize,
US9013368B1 talked about the zoom functionality and the aspect ratio,
zoom-in ratio of the screen and how it varies between folded and
unfolded positions and the user’s preference of zoom. KR102097361B1
was more about the control of application between the positions and the
utilization of multiple touch screen areas while doing so.
The patents based on hinge mechanisms included greater level of
technological complexity and mechanics of design as the connector
position can be seen as a problem area for display. There were infact a
number of patents on this, each including some additional improvement
as including the hinge position as a part of a screen- to be able to obtain
one large touchscreen(instead of 2 pieces which was previously the case
in folding devices) is indeed interesting. The scope in improvement of
display at the folding area is also evident- how to minimize the effect of
the crease, how to motivate a conventional user of a large screen phone
to be thrilled by this folding device which he assumes has 2 smaller
screens, how to ensure the durability of the hinge part- as usually we
think of hinges to be the parts that break away the quickest etc. Patents
KR20200037191A, US10585458B2 and KR102073379B1 were based on
this.
Experience about studying patents Opinion
While the language in claims is rather legal it was interesting to
and confusing at times, the drawings and see how every
their descriptions make them easier to functionality is backed
understand. From the patents I read, as up in a lott of text in
mentioned in the summary- the ones these patents. I would
based on display did not necessary focus like to put more
on the technological aspect but how the efforts to read more
‘new’ foldable devices are operated- they of them, to begin
basically demonstrate the functionality. with.
On the other hand there are patents that
are based on proper technological
research and need more time and effort to
understand- the ones focusing on
mechanisms, functionality of parts etc.
unless one understands the proper
working it is harder to read these.
Basically, I gathered any simple
functionality or a new improvement can
be filed as patent. But context research,
knowledge about the technology, some
knowledge about the language used-
legal/technical terms and some
experience/practice of reading,
researching patents is needed and I will try
to work on that a little more.