Apple has been granted another patent for a folding phone, fuelling rumours it could be preparing a radical new type of device.
This is the third ‘folding phone’ patent granted to Apple this month
Some claim the Cupertino brand’s future iPhone could be influenced by 1990s flip phones, made popular by Motorola.
The new patent illustration shows how a hinge in the middle of the handset’s display would enable it to bend in half.
Rumours suggest that the mechanism could be used on future iPhones
The patent document suggests a flexible nitinol, a nickel and titanium alloy for the handset’s support structure on one of several variations listed in the patent.
One version of the design leaves the screen hidden when the phone is folded in two, similar to clamshell phones of the past.
Another, leaves the screen visible, but reduced to half its size.
The new design represents one of 39 patents that Apple has been granted today by the US Patent and Trademark Office, reports Patently Apple.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Apple had been awarded a new patent for a foldable iPhone concept.
Apple first began researching this technology in 2013, but the new patent suggests the firm is still serious about making foldable phones a reality in the future.
The patent document suggests a flexible nitinol, a nickel and titanium alloy for the handset’s support structure on one of several variations listed in the patent
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The patent was filed on August 28, but was officially awarded to Apple on 2 November.
According to Patently Apple, Apple was able to keep the patent a secret by using an engineer’s name during the filing process.
But the patent itself uses the iPhone name, and shows several images depicting the iconic iPhone design, including the distinctive home button.
The patent suggests that the future iPhone will be made of glass, ceramic, fibre, aluminium or plastic – materials that are all currently used in devices.
But it also introduces a new material in the form of ‘carbon nanotubes’, that would allow the device to be folded down the middle.
The patent says: ‘Conductive carbon nanotube paths can form signal paths that are flexible and resistant to cracking.’
The tubes could be used in various parts of an iPhone, including portions of touch sensors, or in the camera.
It also states that the device ‘may have a hinge or other bendable joint.’
Samsung – one of Apple’s biggest rivals – has also been looking at foldable phone technology, and has a large number of patents for similar devices.
But whether the feature can eventually make it into Apple’s updated devices will depend on whether Foxconn can boost the yield rate to a satisfactory level later on,’ the source told Nikkei.
It is not clear whether Apple would offer a wireless charging plate, along the same lines as the one made by Samsung for its Galaxy S smartphones.
Source By Libby Plummer and Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com