Short · Phones
How does a folding phone close flat without folding its screen flat?
Press a screen flat on itself and its glass would crack, like paper creasing for good. So when the folding iPhone closes, the middle of its screen drops into the hinge and curls into a teardrop about 4 mm across, keeping its tightest bend near 2 mm. Older U-shaped hinges held the halves apart.
Opens Teardrop Hinge. Change the same thing yourself.
Transcript
The folding iPhone closes flat, but its screen never folds flat. Fold paper flat and it creases for good, and a screen would crack. So when the phone closes, the middle of the screen drops into the hinge and curls into a teardrop, about four millimeters across. That keeps its tightest bend near two millimeters. Older foldables bent the screen into a U, which held the halves apart. The teardrop tucks that loop inside the hinge, and more than a hundred parts guide it, so the halves close flat. Try it yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.