Mobile terminal including folder type liquid crystal display device and method of fabricating the same

• US 20060125784A1
• Filed: 09/30/2005
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Jang, Myong-Gi, Jeon, Seong-Man, Jung, Soon-Shin, Kim, Eun-Ju, Kong, Nam-Yong
• Granted Patent: US 7,898,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13336 Combining plural substrates to produce large-area displays, e.g. tiled displays
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133526 Lenses, e.g. microlenses or Fresnel lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1622 with enclosures rotating around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define or with ball-joint coupling, e.g. PDA with display enclosure orientation changeable between portrait and landscape by rotation with respect to a coplanar body enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1624 with sliding enclosures, e.g. sliding keyboard or display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1641 the display being formed by a plurality of foldable display components G06F1/1647 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1431 using a single graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0221 with use of split matrices G09G3/3644 and G09G3/3666 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0464 Positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/145 related to small screens
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/36 using liquid crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/021 using combined folding and rotation motions combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0214 Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position combined with translation movement H04M1/0235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0235 Slidable or telescopic telephones, i.e. with a relative translation movement of the body parts; Telephones using a combination of translation and other relative motions of the body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0247 comprising more than two body parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 : including more than one display unit

Abstract

A mobile terminal having a flat panel display device includes: a body unit having an input device; a display unit connected to the body unit; an extended display unit connected to the display unit using a hinge such that the display unit and the extended display unit are folded/unfolded; a first flat panel display device formed in the display unit; and a second flat panel display device in the extended display unit.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal having a flat panel display devices, comprising:

a body unit having an input device;

a first display unit connected to the body unit;

a second display unit connected to the first display unit, the first display unit and the second display unit being movable with respect to each other;

a first flat panel display device in the first display unit; and

a second flat panel display device in the second display unit, wherein

the first display unit and the second display unit combine to form a third display unit, the third display unit being larger than each of the first and second display units.

2. A mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first and second display units are connected to each other using a hinge.

3. A mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first and second display units include a liquid crystal display.

4. A mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the third display unit displays an image in one of a first mode and a second mode.

5. A mobile terminal according to claim 4, further comprising a third mode.

6. A mobile terminal according to claim 4, wherein the first mode displays an image using the entire third display unit as a whole.

7. A mobile terminal according to claim 4, wherein the second mode displays first and second images simultaneously corresponding to the first and second display units.

8. A mobile terminal according to claim 4, wherein the third mode displays an entire image in only one of the first and second display units.

9. A mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first and second flat panel display devices meet at a display dividing line.

10. A mobile terminal according to claim 9, wherein each of the first and second flat panel display devices includes a display region and a non-display region at a periphery of the display region.

11. A mobile terminal according to claim 10, wherein each of the first and second flat panel display devices further includes a micro lens film having a plurality of protrusions overlaying the first and second display units.

12. A mobile terminal according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of protrusions have a convex lens shape.

13. A mobile terminal according to claim 11, wherein a density of the protrusions in a portion adjacent to the display dividing line between the first display unit and the second display unit is greater than a density of the protrusions in a portion adjacent to opposite ends of the first and second display units.

14. A mobile terminal having a flat panel display devices, comprising:

a body unit having an input device;

a first display unit connected to the body unit;

a second display unit connected to the first display unit, the first display unit and the second display unit being movable with respect to each other;

a first flat panel display device in the first display unit; and

a second flat panel display device in the second display unit.

15. A mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the body unit comprises:

a receiving portion receiving external signals; and

a host system generating image signal information for one of first and second driving modes using the external signals.

16. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the body unit and the display unit are intergrally formed at opposite surfaces to each other.

17. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the body unit and the display unit are integrally formed as one unit.

18. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the body unit and the display unit overlap each other using a connection means.

19. The mobile terminal according to claim 18, wherein the connection means includes a pivot unit rotating the body unit and the display unit relatively.

20. The mobile terminal according to claim 19, wherein the extended display unit is foldable and unfoldable from the display unit via the hinge.

21. The mobile terminal according to claim 18, wherein the connection means includes a sliding unit, whereby the body unit and the display unit are slidable in opposite directions.

22. The mobile terminal according to claim 21, wherein the extended display unit is foldable and unfoldable from the display unit via the hinge.

23. The mobile terminal according to claim 18, wherein the connection means includes an auxiliary hinge so that the body unit and the display unit are foldable and unfoldable with respect to each other.

24. The mobile terminal according to claim 23, wherein the extended display unit is foldable and unfoldable with respect to the display unit.

25. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the extended display unit includes first and second extended display units connected to the display unit in a folder type.

26. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the extended display unit includes a first extended display unit connected to the display unit in a folder type and a second extended display unit connected to the first display unit in a folder type.

27. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the hinge comprises:

first and second hinge terminals extending from the display unit and the extended display unit, respectively, and overlapping each other at an outer portion of the display unit and the extended display unit; and

first and second shafts penetrating the overlapped first and second hinge terminals.

28. The mobile terminal according to claim 27, wherein the first and second shafts coincide with a folding line between the display unit and the extended display unit.

29. The mobile terminal according to claim 28, wherein the first and second hinge terminals are alternately overlapped each other.

30. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the first and second display units include first and second liquid crystal display devices.

31. The mobile terminal according to claim 30, wherein each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices comprises:

a first substrate including a gate line, a data line crossing the gate line to define a pixel region, a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the date line, and a pixel electrode in the pixel region; and

a second substrate facing the first substrate with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, the second substrate including a black matrix having open portions exposing the pixel electrode, a color filter layer having red, green and blue sub-color filters corresponding to the open portions, and a common electrode on the color filter layer.

32. The mobile terminal according to claim 31, wherein each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices further includes a backlight assembly under the first substrate.

33. The mobile terminal according to claim 32, wherein the backlight assembly includes a light emitting diode (LED).

34. The mobile terminal according to claim 32, wherein the first and second liquid crystal display devices fold at a folding line.

35. The mobile terminal according to claim 34, wherein each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices includes a display region and a non-display region at a periphery of the display region.

36. The mobile terminal according to claim 35, wherein each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices further includes a micro lens film having a plurality of protrusions on an outer surface of the second substrate.

37. The mobile terminal according to claim 36, wherein the plurality of protrusions have a convex lens shape.

38. The mobile terminal according to claim 37, wherein a density of the protrusions in a portion adjacent to a folding line between the first display unit and the second display unit is greater than a density of the protrusions in a portion adjacent to opposite ends of the display unit and the extended display unit.

39. The mobile terminal according to claim 30, wherein a single image is displayed throughout the first and second liquid crystal display devices in a first driving mode and two single images are displayed throughout the first and second liquid crystal display devices, respectively, in a second driving mode.

40. The mobile terminal according to claim 39, wherein the body unit comprises:

a receiving portion receiving external signals; and

a host system generating image signal information for one of the first and second driving modes using the external signals,

wherein each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices comprises;

a timing controller for generating image data signals and clock signals using the image signal information from the host system;

a gate driver for generating and supplying a scan signal using the image data signals and clock signals to the gate line; and

a data driver for generating and supplying an image signal using the image data signals and clock signals to the data line.

41. The mobile terminal according to claim 40, wherein the gate driver and the data driver are formed on the first substrate of each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices.

42. The mobile terminal according to claim 40, wherein a gate driver and the data driver are formed on a flexible printed circuit (FPC) connected to the first substrate of each of the first and second liquid crystal display devices.

43. The mobile terminal according to claim 40, wherein the body unit further includes a processing portion for extracting video signals from the external signals,

and wherein the host system divides a single image of the video signals into two sub-images and supplies the two sub-images to the first and second liquid crystal display devices, respectively, in the first driving mode and scales down a single image of the video signals and supplies the scaled-down single image to the first and second liquid crystal display devices in the second driving mode.

44. The mobile terminal according to claim 14, wherein the mobile terminal includes one of a cellular phone, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a navigation system.