Microsoft patents hinge for dual-screen mobile phones, computers

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Microsoft are one of the most prolific patent holders in the US. The Redmond firm are well and truly raking it in from licenses relating to the Android OS, and are not shy to slap a patent on just about anything, from augmented reality bananas to emotion sensing smart bras.

Many of these inventions may never see the light of day and are simply intended to fend off rivals, but these latest patents when combined with recent comments from Lumia marketing VP Tuula Rytilä create an intriguing possibility.

"This disclosure relates to hinge mechanisms for mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones and mobile computers." Conventional hinged mobile electronic devices, such as "flip phones", typically include two body portions or leaves, hinged about a single pivot axis. In the closed position, this single pivot axis is positioned even with the plane of contact between the two leaves. Because of this geometry, the two leaves cannot open 180 degrees and/or the hinge protrudes upward out of the plane with the leaf faces.

Disclosed herein are embodiments of multi-axis hinge mechanisms for mobile electronic devices that allow for at least 180' determinate pivoting motion between two portions of the devices."

*www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/styles/medium/public/field/image/2015/03/dual-screen-phone.jpg

*www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/styles/medium/public/field/image/2015/03/dual-screen-phone-2.jpg


Microsoft patents hinge for dual-screen mobile phones, computers | Windows Central