Electronic device including flexible display

• US 10,108,230 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Minsoo, Kim, Jaehwan, Kim, Jinman, Jeong, Youngtae
• Primary Examiner(s): Jansen, II, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US14/877,437
• Publication Number:
  US 20160098132A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,112 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133305 Flexible substrates, e.g. plastics, organic film
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133308 Support structures for LCD panels, e.g. frames or bezels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers

Abstract

An electronic device including a flexible display and a method capable of determining a bending direction of the flexible display by using at least one bending confirmation touch recognition pattern are provided. The electronic device includes a flexible display unit including a display panel and a support structure configured to support the display panel; a sensor unit configured to sensing bending of the flexible display unit; and a control unit configured to determine a bending extent and a bending direction of the flexible display unit based on a sensing result of the sensor unit, wherein a plurality of touch recognition patterns are arranged on the display panel and the support structure, and the arranged touch recognition patterns include a bending confirmation pattern.

Claims

1. An electronic device including a flexible display, the electronic device comprising:

a flexible display unit including a display panel serving as a top plate and a support structure configured to support the display panel;

a control unit configured to sense bending of the flexible display unit, by determining a bending extent and a bending direction of the flexible display unit; and

a plurality of touch recognition patterns are arranged on the display panel and the support structure, and the arranged touch recognition patterns include bending confirmation patterns;

wherein the bending confirmation patterns comprise first bending confirmation patterns and second bending confirmation patterns;

wherein the first bending confirmation patterns are included in the display panel and the second bending confirmation patterns are included in the support structure;

wherein the second bending confirmation patterns are arranged in first and second directions with reference to the first bending confirmation patterns, respectively, and

wherein the first and the second directions with reference to the first bending confirmation patterns are opposite to each other.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit further includes at least one fixing portion that is a reference point, at which a relative location at a time of bending is not changed.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the at least one fixing portion is included in at least one end of the display panel and the support structure.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the bending extent and the bending direction by confirming a changed amount of capacitance in a sensing area of the bending confirmation pattern of the support structure after charging electric charges to the plurality of touch recognition patterns of the display panel.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the bending extent and the bending direction by comparing changed amounts of capacitance in a sensing area of the bending confirmation pattern of the display panel after charging electric charges to the plurality of touch recognition patterns of the support structure.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the bending extent and the bending direction by comparing changed amounts of capacitance in a sensing area of each of the bending confirmation pattern of the display panel and the bending confirmation pattern of the support structure after charging electric charges to the plurality of touch recognition patterns of each of the display panel and the support structure.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the bending extent and the bending direction by comparing changed amount of capacitance in a sensing area of each of two or more bending confirmation patterns of the support structure.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, when the display panel is flexed in a first direction with reference to a predetermined axis, the control unit determines that the flexible display unit has been finally flexed in the first direction.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, when the display panel is flexed in a second direction with reference to a predetermined axis, the control unit finally determines that the flexible display unit has been finally flexed in the second direction.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first bending confirmation patterns and the second bending confirmation patterns of the support structure have equal intervals therebetween and different threshold levels for each of corresponding sets of patterns in the display panel and the support structure.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first bending patterns and the second bending confirmation patterns have different intervals therebetween and equal threshold levels for each of corresponding sets of patterns in the display panel and the support structure.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a recording medium that stores data of threshold levels for respective channels or data of an arrangement of sending unit in the flexible display unit of the electronic device.