IP Library Granted Patent US 12,602,091
Granted Patent B2
US 12,602,091 · App. 18/629,006 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Electronic device comprising dual display

Inventors: Jungchul An (Suwon-si, KR); Seungki Choi (Suwon-si, KR)
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
G06F1/1681G06F1/1618G06F1/1647G06F1/1652H04M1/0268H05K1/189H05K5/0226
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,602,091
App. No.
18/629,006
Granted
Apr 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to various embodiments, an electronic device may comprise a housing comprising a first housing and a second housing. The first housing may comprise: a hinge module; a first plate connected to the hinge module; a second plate facing away from the first plate; and a first side frame surrounding a first space between the first plate and the second plate. The second housing may comprise: a third plate connected to the hinge module; a fourth plate facing away from the third plate; and a second side frame surrounding a second space between the third plate and the fourth plate. The first housing and the second housing may fold or unfold with regard to each other with reference to the hinge module. In addition, the electronic device may comprise: a printed circuit board disposed in the second space; a first display disposed to be supported by the first plate and the third plate; a battery disposed between the third plate and the fourth plate in the second space; and a second display disposed between the battery and the fourth plate to be visible from the outside through at least a part of the fourth plate. At least a part of the second display may be disposed to face the battery.

Claims (42)

1 . An electronic device comprising:

a foldable housing including a hinge module, a first housing including a first support portion, and a second housing including a second support portion, the first housing and the second housing configured to be folded and unfolded with respect the hinge module;

a foldable display disposed in the first housing and the second housing;

a battery disposed in the second housing; and

a first flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) electrically connected to the foldable display, the first FPCB including a first device arrangement area in which devices for the foldable display are mounted;

a sub-display disposed in the second housing on an opposite side of the second housing from the foldable display; and

a second FPCB electrically connected to the sub-display, the second FPCB including a second device arrangement area in which devices for the sub-display are mounted,

wherein the first device arrangement area and the second device arrangement area do not overlap with the battery when viewed from above.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the battery is disposed between the foldable display and the sub-display.

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the devices for the foldable display and the devices for the sub-display include at least one of a flash memory and/or a touch IC.

4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second support portion includes a recessed area, and

wherein the first FPCB is disposed so that the first device arrangement area is substantially accommodated in the recessed area of the second support portion.

5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a PCB disposed at least partially in the second housing so that the PCB is electrically connected with the first FPCB.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second support portion is disposed between the battery and the foldable display.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein, as viewed from above, the first device arrangement area and the second device arrangement area at least partially overlap.

8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the battery is located between the foldable display and the sub-display.

9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foldable display is supported by a front side of the second support portion and the battery is supported by a rear side of the second support portion.

10 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a PCB electrically connected with the second FPCB, the PCB disposed at least partially in the second housing so that, when viewed from above, the second device arrangement area is located closer to the battery than to the PCB.

11 . The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the PCB does not overlap the battery in the second housing as viewed from above.

12 . The electronic device of claim 5 , further comprising a cover disposed to face in a direction opposite to the foldable display in the second housing,

wherein the PCB is disposed between the cover and the second support portion of the second housing.

13 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the sub-display is disposed between the cover and the second support portion and visible from outside of the electronic device through at least a part of the cover.

14 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the battery is located between the cover and the second support portion of the second housing so that the battery is disposed to be supported by at least a portion of the second support portion.

15 . The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the sub-display is at least partially supported by the battery.

16 . An electronic device comprising:

a foldable housing including a hinge module, a first housing including a first support portion, and a second housing including a second support portion, the first housing and the second housing configured to be folded and unfolded with respect the hinge module;

a foldable display disposed in the first housing and the second housing;

a battery disposed in the second housing; and

a first flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) electrically connected to the foldable display and including a first device arrangement area in which devices for the foldable display are mounted;

a sub-display disposed in the second housing on an opposite side of the second housing from the foldable display; and

a second FPCB electrically connected to the sub-display and including a second device arrangement area in which devices for the sub-display are mounted,

wherein the first device arrangement area and the second device arrangement area do not overlap with the battery when viewed from above, and wherein the second FPCB is disposed such that the second device arrangement area overlaps another recessed area of the second support portion.

17 . An electronic device comprising:

a foldable housing including a hinge module, a first housing including a first support portion, and a second housing including a second support portion, the first housing and the second housing configured to be folded and unfolded with respect the hinge module;

a foldable display disposed in the first housing and the second housing;

a battery disposed in the second housing; and

a first flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) electrically connected to the foldable display and including a first device arrangement area in which devices for the foldable display are mounted;

a sub-display disposed in the second housing on an opposite side of the second housing from the foldable display; and

a second FPCB electrically connected to the sub-display and including a second device arrangement area in which devices for the sub-display are mounted,

wherein the first device arrangement area and the second device arrangement area do not overlap with the battery when viewed from above, and wherein, when viewed from above, the first device arrangement area does not at least partially overlap with the second device arrangement area.

Priority Claims (1)
KR 10-2019-0019427 · Feb 19, 2019 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation 17432031
Related Publication 20240256001A1 · Aug 1, 2024
References Cited (95)
US 5534888A · Lebby · 1996 [cited by examiner]
US 6144358A · Narayanaswamy · 2000 [cited by examiner]
US 8346308B2 · Griffin · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 8654095B1 · Cho · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 9022434B2 · Crippen · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 9317242B2 · Shin · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 9348450B1 · Kim · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 9411364B2 · Chuang et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9625947B2 · Lee et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9736282B2 · Lee et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9754520B2 · Kwon · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 9830075B2 · Kim · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 10140018B2 · Kim · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 10254803B1 · Quinn · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 10416710B2 · Mizoguchi · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 10534531B2 · Seo · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10657926B2 · Shin · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10678428B2 · Kim · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10686268B2 · Wang · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10712832B2 · Torres · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 11003222B2 · Moon et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11025770B2 · Kwon · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11054856B2 · Lee · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11132101B2 · Lu · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11197380B2 · An · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11221647B2 · Sirpal · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11353929B2 · Zhu · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11411058B2 · Xu · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11416033B2 · Jia · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11481003B2 · Cho · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11576272B2 · Yoo · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11592865B2 · Moon · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11711456B2 · Han · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11953949B2 · An et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 12056333B2 · Choi · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20080002115A1 · Polak · 2008 [cited by examiner]
US 20090153002A1 · Kinoshita · 2009 [cited by examiner]
US 20100298032A1 · Lee · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20110006971A1 · Ebey · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110143769A1 · Jones · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20110175830A1 · Miyazawa · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20120127087A1 · Ma · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20120235949A1 · Ligtenberg · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20120262870A1 · Leung · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20130010405A1 · Rothkopf · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20130178248A1 · Kim · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20130222208A1 · Gorilovsky · 2013 [cited by examiner]
US 20140042406A1 · Degner · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20150338888A1 · Kim · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20150363033A1 · Okabe · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160048165A1 · Becze · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160054759A1 · Lee · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160085319A1 · Kim · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160172623A1 · Lee · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160255182A1 · Lee et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160301150A1 · Choi · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160334836A1 · Hong · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170206049A1 · Choi et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170257961A1 · Chen · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180107327A1 · Perelli · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180275725A1 · Lin et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180324964A1 · Yoo · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180331991A1 · Kim · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20190012000A1 · Cavallaro · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190042066A1 · Kim · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190121396A1 · Ha et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190261519A1 · Park · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190369668A1 · Kim · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20200162596A1 · Kim · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200221587A1 · An · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200225711A1 · Pelissier · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210337054A1 · Choi · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20220155826A1 · An · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220322547A1 · Wang · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20240031467A1 · Jung · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240063528A1 · Seol · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240214478A1 · Kim · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240365511A1 · Moon · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240414248A1 · Yan · 2024 [cited by examiner]
EP 3346354 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
JP 2014165703 · 2014 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020160049235 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020160105227 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020170040643A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020170085317A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020180001015 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020200086505 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/432,031, filed Aug. 18, 2021; An et al. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report for PCT/KR2020/001808 dated May 21, 2020, 5 pages. [cited by applicant]
Written Opinion of the ISA for PCT/KR2020/001808 dated May 21, 2020, 5 pages. [cited by applicant]
European Office Action dated Sep. 5, 2023 for EP Application No. 20760042.0. [cited by applicant]
Chinese Office Action dated Nov. 3, 2023 for CN Application No. 202080029507.3. [cited by applicant]
Korean Office Action dated Dec. 21, 2023 for KR Application No. 10-2019-0019427. [cited by applicant]
Extended Search Report and Written Opinion issued Feb. 16, 2022 in counterpart European Patent Application No. 20760042.0. [cited by applicant]
Korean Notice of Allowance dated Apr. 29, 2024 for KR Application No. 10-2019-0019427. [cited by applicant]