ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING FLEXIBLE DISPLAY

• US 20160098132A1
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Published: 04/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Jinman, KIM, Minsoo, Kim, Jaehwan, Jeong, Youngtae
• Granted Patent: US 10,108,230 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 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 each of the display panel and the support structure, and the arranged touch recognition patterns include a bending confirmation pattern.

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

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the fixing portion is included in a central portion of the display panel and the support structure.

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

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of touch recognition patterns of the support structure include at least two second bending confirmation patterns with reference to a first bending confirmation pattern included in the display panel.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the second bending confirmation patterns are arranged in first and second directions with reference to the first bending confirmation pattern, respectively.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

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

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit is designed such that the patterns of the display panel and the patterns of the support structure have equal intervals therebetween and are deformed at an equal curvature so as to design threshold levels differently for each of corresponding sets of patterns in the display panel and the support structure.

14. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the flexible display unit is designed such that the patterns of the display panel and the patterns of the support structure have different intervals therebetween and are deformed at an equal curvature so as to design threshold levels equally for each of corresponding sets of patterns in the display panel and the support structure

15. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control unit includes the sensor unit.

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

17. A method of determining a bending direction of a flexible display unit, the method comprising:

sensing, when the flexible display unit including a display panel and a support structure configured to support the display panel is bent, a change in capacitance of bending confirmation patterns included in a plurality of touch recognition patterns arranged on each of the display panel and the support structure; and

determining a bending extent and a bending direction of the flexible display unit based on the sensed change in capacitance.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, when the change in capacitance is sensed, the bending extent and direction are determined by confirming a changed amount of capacitance in a sensing area of a bending confirmation pattern of the support structure after charging electric charges to the plurality of touch recognition patterns of the display panel.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, when the change in capacitance is sensed, the bending extent and the bending direction are determined by comparing changed amounts of capacitance in a sensing area of a bending confirmation pattern of the display panel after charging electric charges to the plurality of touch recognition patterns of the support structure.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein, when the change in capacitance is sensed, the bending extent and the bending direction are determined by comparing changed amounts of capacitance in a sensing area of each of a bending confirmation pattern of the display panel and a 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.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein, when the change in capacitance is sensed, the bending extent and the bending direction are determined by comparing changed amount of capacitance in a sensing area of each of two or more bending confirmation patterns of the support structure.