There are many ways to approach a foldable smartphone design. We’ve seen Samsung’s in-folding Galaxy Fold, Huawei’s out-folding Mate X, and we know Motorola is working on a clamshell-style in-folding RAZR. A Google patent application uncovered by Patently Mobile describes a computing device which folds inward with a single fold and a minimum radius in the middle.

This is a clamshell approach Motorola is also working on, where a rather tall display can be folded in two. The patent doesn’t mention the existence of an outer display. It could be an early patent application, or an ommission altogether, where the foldable phone would only fold to save up space.

Another image in the patent describes a double-folding display with two folding areas and several display surfaces. It is definitely interesting as a concept, but just because there’s a patent for it, as usual, it doesn’t mean we’ll soon see a commercially available product.