Flexible display device

• US 9,274,560 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2012
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ahn, Sung-Sang
• Primary Examiner(s): Aychillhum, Andargie M
• Application Number:
  US13/627,315
• Publication Number:
  US 20140003006A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• Field of Search: 361/749, 361/748, 361/679.02
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1679 for locking or maintaining the movable parts of the enclosure in a fixed position, e.g. latching mechanism at the edge of the display in a laptop or for the screen protective cover of a PDA G06F1/1681 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 Organic PV cells

Abstract

A flexible display device includes a housing, a supporting plate, and a flexible panel. The housing has a central plate, a first wing plate, and a second wing plate, and the first and second wing plates are arranged on edges of the central plate, respectively. The supporting plate is on a surface of the housing, and the supporting plate is combined with the central plate and the first and second wing plates. The flexible panel is combined with the supporting plate. A flat state and a bending state of the flexible panel are provided according to states of the first and second wing plates with respect to the central plate.

Claims

1. A flexible display device, comprising:

a housing including a central plate, a first wing plate, and a second wing plate, the first and second wing plates, connected to the central plate, moveable with respect to the central plate, and being arranged on edges of the central plate, respectively;

a supporting plate on a surface of the housing, the supporting plate being combined with the central plate and the first and second wing plates;

a flexible panel directly fixed to the supporting plate; and

a locking device that fixes positions of the first and second wing plates with respect to the central plate,

a flat state and a bending state of the flexible panel being provided according to different positions of the first and second wing plates with respect to the central plate,

wherein the first, second, and central plates being present as distinct plates in each different position, and

wherein the locking device includes;

protrusions protruding from the first and second wing plates, respectively, towards the central plate,

groove members that are movably installed in the central plate, the groove members including grooves in which ones of the protrusions are selectively inserted, and

springs that elastically bias the groove members toward the protrusions.

2. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the supporting plate includes a material that has an elastic restoration force within a displacement range of the housing.

3. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the supporting plate is includes a material that has a plastic deformation range within a displacement range of the housing.

4. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the supporting plate is includes a shape memory alloy.

5. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein portions of the supporting plate are in a non-fixed arrangement with the housing such that the supporting plate is separable from the housing based on gaps between the central plate and the first and second wing plates.

6. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the supporting plate is combined with the housing via welding or screws.

7. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the supporting plate is combined with an inner surface of the housing in the bent state.

8. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the central plate is a single continuous planar plate in both a flat state and a bending state of the flexible panel.

9. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the first wing plate, second wing plate, the central plate lay in a common plane in a flat state of the flexible panel.

10. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein the supporting plate is directly attached to the first wing plate, the second wing plate, and the central plate.

11. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein a width of the supporting plate is equal to a width of the flexible panel.

12. The flexible display device of claim 1, wherein a shape of the flexible panel corresponds to a shape of the supporting plate of the flexible panel in both a flat state and a bending state of the flexible panel.

13. A flexible display device, comprising:

a housing including a central plate, a first wing plate, and a second wing plate, the first and second wing plates being arranged on edges of the central plate, respectively;

a supporting plate on a surface of the housing, the supporting plate being combined with the central plate and the first and second wing plates;

a flexible panel combined with the supporting plate, a flat state and a bending state of the flexible panel being provided according to states of the first and second wing plates with respect to the central plate; and

a locking device that fixes positions of the first and second wing plates with respect to the central plate, wherein the locking device includes;

protrusions protruding from the first and second wing plates, respectively, towards the central plate,

groove members that are movably installed in the central plate, the groove members including grooves in which ones of the protrusions are selectively inserted, and

springs that elastically bias the groove members toward the protrusions.

14. The flexible display device of claim 13, wherein the protrusions include:

a bending fixing protrusion that is inserted into a corresponding one of the grooves in the bent state, and

a spread fixing protrusion that is inserted into a corresponding one of the grooves in the flat state.

15. The flexible display device of claim 13, wherein portions of the supporting plate are in a non-fixed arrangement with the housing such that the supporting plate is separable from the housing based on gaps between the central plate and the first and second wing plates.

16. The flexible display device of claim 13, wherein the supporting plate is combined with the housing via welding or screws.

17. The flexible display device of claim 13, wherein the supporting plate is combined with an inner surface of the housing in a bending state of the flexible panel.