Microsoft To Patent A Foldable Surface Device With A Liquid-Powere Hinge

Microsoft is reportedly working on a Surface device that has two screens and follows the company’s Courier concept. This new device is expected to show up at the company’s Surface hardware event next month. However, from what we can see on the patents, the upcoming device is more than just a dual-screen concept.

According to WindowsUnited, the device will have a liquid-powered hinge to ease the stress on the foldable and flexible displays.

The display will have cavities around filled with liquid so that it can change to different positions. An example from Microsoft shows a device with an OLED panel that covers both the two separate sides. The company has been focusing lots of its effort on the hinges in recent years, and this new design is described in great details in the patent.

As Samsung has had trouble with debris getting into their Galaxy Fold, Microsoft clearly wants to avoid going down that same road by coming up with several concepts of a hinge that can prevent dust and other foreign small objects to enter.

Another notable detail is that the patent was filed by Microsoft technology licensing, meaning the software makers can license this design to other PC makers and partners.

Microsoft has had some of the Surface Pro hinges licensed to partners. It is also working closely with some OEMs and Intel to develop a new version of Windows called Windows Lite that can operate on dual-screen and foldable devices.

However, since this is just a patent, we cannot be sure that we will see a dual-screen Surface showing up at the event of the company in New York next month.

Another dual-screen device of Microsoft called Centaurus introduced at an internal meeting earlier this year is part of a larger scheme for foldable laptop/tablet hybrids that some OEMs are developing.