Display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10185367-B2
Application number	US-201815869627-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2018
Priority date	May 29, 2017
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

A display device, includes a display panel including a first region, a bendable region, and a second region arranged in sequence. The display device further includes a panel support unit including a first support plate for supporting the first region, a form varying support unit for supporting the bendable region, and a second support plate for supporting the second region. The display device additionally includes an elastic support unit including a first guide line provided on a lateral side of the first support plate, a second guide line provided on a lateral side of the second support plate, a first rolling member rotatably coupled to the first guide line, a second rolling member rotabably coupled to the second guide line, and an elastic body including a first end portion fixed to the first rolling member and a second end portion fixed to the second rolling member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display device, comprising:
a display panel including a first region, a bendable region, and a second region arranged in sequence;
a panel support unit including a first support plate for supporting the first region, a form varying support unit for supporting the bendable region, and a second support plate for supporting the second region; and
an elastic support unit including a first guide line provided on a lateral side of the first support plate, a second guide line provided on a lateral side of the second support plate, a first rolling member rotatably coupled to the first guide line, a second rolling member rotabably coupled to the second guide line, and an elastic body including a first end portion fixed to the first rolling member and a second end portion fixed to the second rolling member.

2. The display device of claim 1 , wherein
the first and second guide lines include a concave groove including an inlet portion and an internal portion that is wider than the inlet portion.

3. The display device of claim 2 , wherein
the first and second rolling members respectively include
a slider disposed in the internal portion of the first and second guide lines, respectively, and
a rotation pin including a first end rotatably coupled to the slider and a second end protruding outside the first and second guide lines, respectively.

4. The display device of claim 3 , wherein
the first end portion of the elastic body is fixed to the rotation pin of the first rolling member, and
the second end portion of the elastic body is fixed to the rotation pin of the second rolling member.

5. The display device of claim 1 , wherein
the form varying support unit includes a multi-joint member configured to unfold and fold, and
the panel support unit has one of an unfolded state and a folded state according to a form of the form varying support unit.

6. The display device of claim 5 , wherein each of
the first and second guide lines include a first end portion that is near the form varying support unit and a second end portion that is far from the form varying support unit, and
in the unfolded state, the first and second rolling members are provided on the first end portion of the first and second guide lines, respectively.

7. The display device of claim 6 , wherein
when switching to the folded state from the unfolded state, the first and second rolling members slide and rotate toward the second end portion, of the first and second guide lines, respectively, and the elastic body contracts and pulls the first support plate and the second support plate toward each other.

8. The display device of claim 5 , wherein
the panel support unit is folded by an out-folding method in which the display panel is provided outside of the panel support unit, or an in-folding method in which the display panel is provided inside the panel support unit.

9. The display device of claim 1 , wherein
the first guide line and the second guide line are on a same side of the display device.

10. A display device, comprising:
a display panel including a first region, a bendable region, and a second region consecutively arranged in a first direction;
a panel support unit including a first support plate corresponding to the first region, a form varying support unit corresponding to the bendable region, and a second support plate corresponding to the second region, wherein the panel support unit is configured to switch between an unfolded state and a folded state by a movement of the bendable region and the form varying support unit; and
an elastic body including a first end portion connected with a first rolling member configured to slide and rotate in the first direction on a lateral side of the first support plate and a second end portion connected with a second rolling member configured to slide and rotate in the first direction on a lateral side of the second support plate, wherein the elastic body is connected to the first support plate and the second support plate,
wherein the elastic body extends to a first length in the unfolded state, and when switching to the folded state from the unfolded state, the first support plate and the second support plate are pulled toward each other by contraction of the elastic body.

11. The display device of claim 10 , wherein
the first and second end portions of the elastic body are provided near the form varying support unit in the unfolded state, and when switching to the folded state from the unfolded state, the first and second end portions of the elastic body increase in distance from the form varying support unit.

12. The display device of claim 11 , further comprising:
a first guide line provided in the first direction on the lateral side of the first support plate and a second guide line provided in the first direction on the lateral side of the second support plate,
wherein a portion of the first rolling member is disposed between the first guide line and the first end portion of the elastic body and a portion of the second rolling member is disposed between the second guide line and the second end portion of the elastic body.

13. The display device of claim 12 , wherein
the first and second guide lines include a concave groove including an inlet portion and an internal portion that is wider than the inlet portion.

14. The display device of claim 13 , wherein
the first and second rolling member respectively include a slider disposed in the internal portion, and a rotation pin, wherein the rotation pin includes a first end rotatably coupled to the slider and a second end protruding outside of the first and second guide lines respectively, and
the first and second end portion of the elastic body are fixed to the rotation pin of the first and second rolling members, respectively.

15. The display device of claim 10 , wherein
the form varying support unit includes a multi-joint member configured to unfold and fold, and
the panel support unit is folded by an out-folding method in which the display panel is provided outside of the panel support unit, or an in-folding method in which the display panel is provided inside the panel support unit.

16. A display device, comprising:
a flexible display panel including a first region, a second region and a flexible region disposed between the first region and the second region;
a panel support structure including a first support plate overlapping the first region, a form varying support unit overlapping the flexible region and including a plurality of joints, and a second support plate overlapping the second region;
an elastic support unit including a first guide line, a second guide line, a first rolling member and a second rolling member respectively disposed in the first guide line and in the second guide line, and an elastic body connected to the first and second rolling members, wherein the first guide line is provided in a lateral side of the first support plate and the second guide line is provided in a lateral side of the second support plate, and the first and second rolling members respectively travel inside of the first and second guide lines.

17. The display device of claim 16 , wherein a first end portion of the elastic body is connected to the first rolling member and a second end portion of the elastic body is connected to the second rolling member.

18. The display device of claim 17 , wherein when the flexible display panel is in an unfolded position, the first and second rolling members are near the form varying support unit.

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Youn Joon

Classifications

• G06F1/1652

  the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable · CPC title

• G06F1/1616 Primary

  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 title

• G06F1/1681

  Details related solely to hinges (hinge details related to the transmission of signals or power are classified in G06F1/1683) · CPC title

• G09F9/301

  flexible foldable or roll-able electronic displays, e.g. thin LCD, OLED · CPC title

• G06F1/1675 Primary

  Miscellaneous details related to the relative movement between the different enclosures or enclosure parts · CPC title