Flexible device and operating methods thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10230039-B2
Application number	US-201715784565-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 16, 2017
Priority date	Aug 23, 2012
Publication date	Mar 12, 2019
Grant date	Mar 12, 2019

Abstract

A flexible device includes a flexible body and a plurality of piezoelectric materials arranged on the flexible body that deform in response to drive signals causing deformation of the flexible body of the flexible device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible device comprising:
a flexible body;
a first plurality of piezoelectric materials arranged in rows on the flexible body, wherein a longer axis of each of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials is in a vertical direction of the flexible device;
a second plurality of piezoelectric materials arranged in columns on the flexible body, wherein a longer axis of each of the second plurality of piezoelectric materials is in a horizontal direction of the flexible device;
a flexible display panel supported by the flexible body;
a storage configured to store information of a plurality of deformation states and information of at least one application matching the plurality of deformation states, respectively; and
a controller configured to, in response to executing an application among the at least one application, apply a drive signal to at least one row of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials or at least one column of the second plurality of piezoelectric materials according to a deformation state matching the executed application, causing the at least one row of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials to deform in the vertical direction of the flexible device or the at least one column of the second plurality of piezoelectric materials to deform in the horizontal direction of the flexible device.

2. The flexible device of claim 1 , wherein the drive signal comprises a first drive signal and a second drive signal,
wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials deform in a first direction, in response to application of the first drive signal to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials of a lower piezoelectric layer and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials deform in a second direction, in response to application of the second drive signal to the second plurality of piezoelectric materials of an upper piezoelectric layer disposed on the lower piezoelectric layer, and
wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials maintain a balanced state, in response to application of the first drive signal or the second drive signal to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials.

3. The flexible device of claim 2 , wherein the controller divides the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials into a plurality of groups based on locations at which the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials are disposed, and applies different ones of the first drive signal and the second drive signal to the respective groups to cause the grouped first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials to locally deform.

4. The flexible device of claim 3 , further comprising a display,
wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials are disposed on a lower portion of the display,
wherein the controller selectively applies the first drive signal and the second drive signal to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials based on a type of the executed application, and
wherein the controller controls the display to display a user interface (UI) corresponding to the deformation state of the flexible body.

5. The flexible device of claim 1 , further comprising a display; and
at least one biosensor configured to detect a touch of a user arranged on lower side of the display,
wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials are disposed between the display and the at least one biosensor, and
the controller selectively applies the first drive signal and the second drive signal to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials and controls the display to display a user interface on the display, in response to the at least one biosensor detecting the touch of the user.

6. The flexible device of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials, an intermediate layer, and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials are stacked sequentially on one side of the flexible body.

7. The flexible device of claim 1 , wherein the magnitude of the drive signal corresponds to a degree of deformation of the at least one of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials.

8. The flexible device of claim 1 , further comprising a detector configured to detect an electric signal generated from one or more piezoelectric materials of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials in response to a deformation of the flexible body,
wherein the controller determines a deformation state of the flexible body based on a change in the electric signal and performs a control operation corresponding to the determined deformation state.

9. A method for operating a flexible device, comprising:
detecting, by a controller of the flexible device, execution of an application; and
selectively applying drive signals to at least one row of a first plurality of piezoelectric materials arranged in rows on a flexible body or at least one column of a second plurality of piezoelectric materials arranged in columns on the flexible body, based on a deformation state matching the executed application, wherein the drive signals cause deformation of the at least one row of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials in a vertical direction of the flexible device or the at least one column of the second plurality of piezoelectric materials in a horizontal direction of the flexible device,
wherein the deformation state is a deformation state which is matched to the executed application from among a plurality of pre-stored deformation states, and
wherein a longer axis of each of the first plurality of piezoelectric materials is in the vertical direction of the flexible device and a longer axis of each of the second plurality of piezoelectric materials is in the horizontal direction of the flexible device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the selectively applying drive signals comprises:
determining drive signals to apply to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials based on the type of the executed application; and
applying the determined drive signals to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials,
wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials deform in a first direction in response to application of a first drive signal to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials of a lower piezoelectric layer and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials deform in a second direction, in response to application of the second drive signal to the second plurality of piezoelectric materials of an upper piezoelectric layer, and
wherein the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials maintain a balanced state, in response to application of the first drive signal or the second drive signal to the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the selectively applying comprises:
dividing the first plurality of piezoelectric materials and the second plurality of piezoelectric materials into a plurality of groups based on locations at which the first plurality of

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Park Jin
• Chin Woo-Seok
• Jung Ji-Yeon

Classifications

• G06F3/0412

  Digitisers structurally integrated in a display · CPC title

• H01L41/042

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G06F3/016

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title

• H01L41/0825 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G06F1/1652 Primary

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