Flexible display apparatus and display method thereof

• US 9,864,438 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2016
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Seo, Joon-kyu, Sohn, Jung-joo, Kim, Hyun-jin, Lee, Geun-ho
• Primary Examiner(s): Edun, Muhammad N
• Application Number:
  US15/255,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20160370877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 494 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03 Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/033 Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user , e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor digitisers characterised by the transducing means G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0268 including a flexible display panel
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones

Abstract

A flexible display apparatus includes a flexible display, a sensor which senses bending of the flexible display, and a controller which determines a screen activation region and a screen inactivation region from among a plurality of display regions of the flexible display based on the sensed bending, and displays a predetermined screen on the screen activation region.

Claims

1. A flexible display apparatus comprising:

a flexible display;

a sensor to sense a bending of the flexible display; and

a controller to;

in response to a message being received, display a notice message related to receiving the message on a region of the flexible display from among a plurality of regions of the flexible display, and

in response to the sensor sensing the bending in the region of the flexible display while the notice message is displayed, display the received message on the flexible display.

2. The flexible display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller, in response to the sensor sensing another bending of the flexible display, while the received message is displayed on the flexible display, stop displaying the received message on the flexible display.

3. The flexible display apparatus of claim 2, wherein a direction of the another bending while the received message is displayed on the flexible display is opposite to a direction of the bending while the notice message is displayed on the flexible display.

4. The flexible display apparatus of claim 3, wherein the direction of the another bending while the received message is displayed on the flexible display is a direction toward a side of the flexible display that the notice message is displayed on, and the direction of the bending while the notice message is displayed on the flexible display is toward a side opposite to a side that the received message is displayed on.

5. The flexible display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller, while the received message is displayed on a region of the flexible display from among the plurality of regions of the flexible display, in response to the sensor sensing the another bending of the flexible display, displays a screen which is displayed on a region other than the first region of the flexible display from among the plurality of regions of the flexible display.

6. The flexible display apparatus of claim 2, wherein an area where the another bending is sensed while the received message is displayed is an area where the received message is displayed on the flexible display.

7. The flexible display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the another bending of the flexible display while the received message is displayed comprises folding and flap manipulation.

8. The flexible display apparatus of claim 1, wherein an area where the bending is sensed while the notice message is displayed is the region where the notice message is displayed on the flexible display.

9. The flexible display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bending of the flexible display while the notice message is displayed comprises folding and flap manipulation.

10. A display method of a flexible display apparatus, the display method comprising:

in response to a message being received, displaying a notice message related to receiving the message on a region of a flexible display provided in the flexible display apparatus from among a plurality of regions of the flexible display;

sensing a bending in the region of the flexible display while the notice message is displayed; and

displaying the received message on the flexible display.

11. The display method of claim 10, further comprising:

sensing another bending of the flexible display while the received message is displayed on the flexible display; and

stopping displaying the received message on the flexible display.

12. The display method of claim 11, wherein a direction of the another bending while the received message is displayed on the flexible display is opposite to a direction of the bending while the notice message is displayed on the flexible display.

13. The display method of claim 12, wherein the direction of the another bending while the received message is displayed on the flexible display is a direction toward a side of the flexible display that the notice message is displayed on, and the direction of the bending while the notice message is displayed on the flexible display is toward to a side opposite to a side that the received message is displayed on.

14. The display method of claim 11, wherein the stopping displaying the received message comprises displaying a screen which is displayed on a region other than a region where the received message is displayed from among the plurality of regions of the flexible display.

15. The display method of claim 11, wherein an area where the another bending manipulation is sensed while the received message is displayed is an area where the received message is displayed on the flexible display.

16. The display method of claim 11, wherein the bending of the flexible display while the received message is displayed comprises folding and flap manipulation.

17. The display method of claim 10, wherein an area where the bending manipulation is sensed while the notice message is displayed is the region where the notice message is displayed on the flexible display.

18. The display method of claim 10, wherein the bending of the flexible display while the notice message is displayed comprises folding and flap manipulation.