Electronic device, control method of electronic device, and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10244088-B2
Application number	US-201616063296-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2016
Priority date	Oct 11, 2016
Publication date	Mar 26, 2019
Grant date	Mar 26, 2019

Abstract

An OLED panel is provided such that a rear face thereof faces upper faces of first to third housings. The first to third housings are disposed side-by-side in a first direction, exposing a display face in its entirety, in a case that a first hinge and a second hinge are set to open states. The third housing is larger in size in the first direction than the first housing and the second housing. The display face is partially exposed in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to a closed state and an open state, respectively.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing;
a third housing;
a first hinge connecting the first housing and the second housing;
a second hinge connecting the second housing and the third housing; and
a display panel that is continuous and flexible,
wherein the display panel includes a display face and a rear face on an opposite side of the display face, the rear face facing upper faces of the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing,
the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing are disposed side-by-side in a first direction, exposing the display face in its entirety, in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to open states,
the third housing is larger in size in the first direction than the first housing and the second housing,
the display face is partially exposed in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to a closed state and an open state, respectively, and
the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing have sizes in the first direction such that the sizes satisfy a relationship of the second housing<the first housing<the third housing.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first open/closed sensor configured to detect an open/closed state of the first hinge; and
a second open/closed sensor configured to detect an open/closed state of the second hinge.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1 ,
wherein at least one of the first hinge and the second hinge is a flexible hinge.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the display panel includes an OLED panel.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a communication function.

6. The electronic device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the display panel is set to full screen mode, allowing use of the display face in its entirety as a display region, in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are in open states, and
the display panel is set to partial screen mode, allowing use of only a portion of the display face as the display region, in a case that the first hinge is in a closed state and the second hinge is in an open state.

7. The electronic device according to claim 6 ,
wherein, in a case that the electronic device is in a horizontal state or a state where an edge closer to the third housing is set as a vertically downward side, the display panel is configured to display an image with the edge as a lower side of the image.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7 ,
wherein, in a case that the electronic device is in a state where the edge closer to the third housing is set as a vertically upward side, the display panel is configured to display an image with the edge as an upper side of the image.

9. The electronic device according to claim 8 ,
wherein the electronic device further includes a sensor configured to detect whether the electronic device is in a horizontal state or a state where the edge closer to the third housing is set as the vertically downward side, or a state where the edge closer to the third housing is set as the vertically upward side.

10. The electronic device according to claim 6 ,
wherein the first housing includes a lens configured to perform image taking provided on a back face of the first housing.

11. The electronic device according to claim 10 ,
wherein the lens faces a same side as a portion of the display face in the partial screen mode.

12. The electronic device according to claim 11 ,
wherein an image obtained via the lens is displayed on a portion of the display face in the partial screen mode.

13. The electronic device according to claim 6 ,
wherein information selected by a user is displayed on a portion of the display face in the partial screen mode.

14. The electronic device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the display face is stored in its entirety in a case that the first hinge is set to an open state and the second hinge is set to a closed state.

15. An electronic device comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing;
a third housing;
a first hinge connecting the first housing and the second housing;
a second hinge connecting the second housing and the third housing; and
a display panel that is continuous and flexible,
wherein the display panel includes a display face and a rear face on an opposite side of the display face, the rear face facing upper faces of the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing,
the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing are disposed side-by-side in a first direction, exposing the display face in its entirety, in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to open states,
the third housing is larger in size in the first direction than the first housing and the second housing,
the display face is partially exposed in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to a closed state and an open state, respectively, and
the display face is stored in its entirety in a case that the first hinge is set to an open state and the second hinge is set to a closed state.

16. The electronic device according to claim 15 ,
wherein, from a state where the display face is stored in its entirety, a portion of the display face is exposed in a case that the first housing is slid in the first direction.

17. The electronic device according to claim 15 ,
wherein a space is formed in each of the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing, the space being configured to store a bending portion of the display panel.

18. An electronic device comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing;
a third housing;
a first hinge connecting the first housing and the second housing;
a second hinge connecting the second housing and the third housing; and
a display panel that is continuous and flexible,
wherein the display panel includes a display face and a rear face on an opposite side of the display face, the rear face facing upper faces of the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing,
the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing are disposed side-by-side in a first direction, exposing the display face in its entirety, in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to open states,
the third housing is larger in size in the first direction than the first housing and the second housing,
the display face is partially exposed in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are set to a closed state and an open state, respectively, and
a space is formed in each of the first housing, the second housing, and the third housing, the space being configured to store a bending portion of the display panel.

19. The electronic device according to claim 18 ,
wherein the display panel is set to full screen mode, allowing use of the display face in its entirety as a display region, in a case that the first hinge and the second hinge are in open states, and the display panel is set to partial screen mode, allowing use of only a portion of the display face as the display region, in a case that the first hinge is in a closed state and the second hinge is in an open state.

20. The electronic device according to claim 19 ,
wherein, in a case that the electronic device is in a horizontal state or a state where an edge closer to the third housing set as a vertically downward side, the display panel is configured to display an image with

Assignees

• Sharp Kk

Inventors

• Kikuchi Masayuki

Classifications

• H04M1/0214 Primary

  Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position (combined with translation movement H04M1/0235) · CPC title

• H04M1/0245

  using open/close detection · CPC title

• G09G2380/02

  Flexible displays · CPC title

• G06F3/04886

  by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus · CPC title

• G09G3/3208

  organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED] · CPC title