Possibility of Apple to adopt "new type hinge" which can be bent into a new MacBook

If AppleLiving Hinge"It is clear that we have acquired a patent of a hinge with a new structure that can be combined with metals and bent without using screws and shafts, called" Blog to check Apple patent information ·Patently AppleHas discovered patent application documents related to "Living Hinge" submitted to the European Patent Office, and this new hinge is expected to be applied to the protection cover of MacBook and iPad.

Apple Files European Patent Focusing on a new MacBook Clamshell Design with a Laser Cut Flex Hinge - Patently Apple
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2018/05/apple-files-european-patent-focusing-on-a-new-macbook-clamshell-design-with-a-laser-cut-flex-hinge.html

The structure of a new hinge that Apple has been working on from 2012 is patented in the United States and the EU under the title "Flexible combination of segments formed of hard materials".

US 20130216740 A1 - Interlocking flexible segments formed from a rigid material - Google Patents


Espacenet - Bibliographic data


According to the summary of the patent, the new hinge developed by Apple is a mechanism that can be flexibly bent by combining rigid materials such as metal, alloy and hard plastic with geometrical patterns,enclosureAnd it can be applied to the cover of electronic devices. Although the hinge of the notebook PC is one of the parts which is particularly susceptible to damage, improvement in durability can also be expected by integrating with the enclosure. In the figure actually introduced in the patent, a device which seems to be a notebook PC is drawn.


Moreover, it seems that this new type mechanism can be applied also to the earphone.


It is also supposed to be applied to the cover of the device which apparently seems to be an iPad. It is possible to support the device by rolling it around.


The idea that Apple applied for a patent is similar to the hinge of the dynamic fulcrum design Microsoft adopted in Surface Book in 2015, but according to Patently Apple, Apple is researching this hinge is Surface It is said to precede adoption in Book. You can see how the hinge of the Surface Book looks at the following movie.

(56) Detailed Look: Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge and Latch (Surface Book) - YouTube