Apple Patents Folding Smartphone That Can 'Heal' Its Own Scratches

Apple Inc AAPL has been granted a patent that mentions “self-healing” technology for devices such as foldable smartphones.

What Happened: The patent, dated Sept. 13, describes ways of mitigating damage and healing it when it does take place on a foldable device.

Apple said the device may have a hinge that allows it to be flexed on a bend axis.

"To facilitate bending about the bend axis without damage, the display may include a display cover layer with a flexible portion,” said the tech giant in the patent, first noted on AppleInsider. 

The patent mentions a display cover layer that may come with self-healing properties. The material could cover the entire display cover or only in the flexible region of the display cover layer.

Apple said in the patent that self-healing may take place without prompting and without external intervention or it could be initiated or expedited by applying an external stimulus.

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Why It Matters: The patent suggests that the cover layer can be made out of “elastomer” to further increase flexibility and that the self-healing may be initiated or expedited by “externally applied heat, light, electric current, or another type of external stimulus.”

The self-healing could have control circuitry configured in such a way that self-healing would be initiated according to a predetermined schedule.

It was reported in May that Apple’s foldable iPhone could carry an electronic paper display, which is akin to Amazon.com, Inc’s AMZN Kindle device.

While the Tim Cook-led company has yet to come out with a foldable smartphone, its rivals Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi already have such devices on the market.

Price Action: On Tuesday, Apple shares closed 1.6% higher at $156.90 in the regular session and fell 0.3% in the after-hours trading, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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