US 12,436,560 B2
Electronic device with torque-optional hinge
Christina Ashley Yee, Redmond, WA (US); Brian David Bitz, Woodinville, WA (US); Beau Squire, Redmond, WA (US); Ryan Behn, Redmond, WA (US); Michael Gordon Oldani, Redmond, WA (US); Anthony E. Hillyerd, Sammamish, WA (US); and Joseph Benjamin Gault, Seattle, WA (US)
Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Appl. No. 17/790,914
Filed by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
PCT Filed Jun. 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/040030
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 5, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/141625, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 15, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/957,639, filed on Jan. 6, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0084038 A1, Mar. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. G06F 1/16 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 1/162 (2013.01) [G06F 1/1681 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electronic device comprising:
a first portion;
a second portion;
a third portion;
a torque-optional hinge that movably connects the third portion to the second portion, the torque-optional hinge having a hinge axis and a means for selectively generating a torque around the hinge axis by a radial compression force applied to the hinge axis, wherein the means for selectively generating the torque has a high-torque state and a low-torque state, the high-torque state providing a greater rotational resistance around the hinge axis than the low-torque state; and
a support hinge positioned between the first portion and the third portion, the support hinge rotatably connecting the first portion and the third portion and providing a torque around a support axis, wherein the support hinge is connected to the first portion away from a lower edge of the first portion, allowing the lower edge to move away from the third portion.