Samsung Foldable With 360-Degree Inward and Outward Folding Support Spotted in Patent Application

Samsung has been noticed engaged on a brand new design for a foldable telephone that may fold inwards and outwards. A patent utility from the South Korean tech agency reveals a really skinny 360-degree foldable telephone, geared up with an interior display that may be unfolded to type a bigger show, or folded backwards for use as a canopy show. Samsung beforehand showcased a prototype of an identical system in 2023, however there is no phrase on any plans to launch a industrial model of the foldable telephone described in the patent utility.

Samsung’s 360-Degree Foldable Could Make Cover Displays Obsolete

Details of the foldable telephone are seen in patent utility US 2025/0107013 A1 (through Atlyginimo Skaičiuoklė) printed final week by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The doc offers a number of particulars associated to the design of the foldable telephone, together with diagrams that showcase its 360-degree folding functionality of its versatile show.

Diagrams exhibiting the show folding outward (left) and absolutely unfolded
Photo Credit: USPTO/ Samsung

Unlike most foldable handsets with two panels that may be folded and unfolded in a single configuration, the patent utility describes a telephone with a big, slim show that may be folded in two configurations. It has two “folding areas” that enable the display to be folded inwards and outwards.

The foldable telephone is predicted to be geared up with versatile OLED screens with ultra-thin glass (UTG), permitting it to fold forwards and backwards. This additionally implies that Samsung may not must equip the system with a canopy show.

In order to allow this twin folding performance, the patent utility describes the position of the primary a second folding areas between the primary and second non-folding areas. The folding mechanism is supported by a multi-layered construction that makes use of skinny plates.

The “outer” portion of the foldable telephone seems to function a raised island, with three rear cameras. This module is accessible when the telephone is folded inwards in addition to outwards, as per the patent utility. There’s no readability on whether or not the display will even function an under-display digicam.

Over the previous few years, Samsung has showcased a handful of foldable designs, such because the Flex G and Flex S prototypes that might finally arrive as tri-fold smartphones. Readers may additionally recall that the corporate confirmed off a Flex In & Out prototype with a 360-degree foldable display in 2023. However, there’s been no phrase from the corporate on plans to launch a industrial model of that system, or the one described in the patent doc.