Foldable display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10880416-B2
Application number	US-201916731045-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2019
Priority date	Feb 19, 2019
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

A foldable display device has a flexible display panel, a support module, and at least one positioning module. The support module has a middle platform and a pair of side platforms. The positioning module has a pair of positioning gears respectively fixed to the intermediate platform on a pair of gear axes parallel to each other and a pair of planetary gears respectively fixed to the pair of side platforms on a pair of gear axes parallel to each other. The pair of planetary gears are respectively engaged with the pair of positioning gears to respectively move around the pair of positioning gears along a pair of motion paths, so that the pair of side platforms are switched between a flattened state and a folded state with respect to the intermediate platform to flatten or bend the flexible display panel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable display device, comprising:
a flexible display panel;
a support module, comprising:
an intermediate platform having an intermediate support surface and a pair of guiding round surfaces respectively located on two opposite sides of the intermediate support surface to support the flexible display panel; and
a pair of side platforms, each of the pair of side platforms having a side support surface to support the flexible display panel; and

at least one positioning module, comprising:
a pair of positioning gears fixed to the intermediate platform; and
a pair of planetary gears respectively fixed to the pair of side platforms on a pair of gear axes parallel to each other and engaged with the pair of positioning gears to move around the pair of positioning gears along a pair of motion paths, respectively, so that the pair of side platforms are switched between a flattened state and a folded state with respect to the intermediate platform to flatten or bend the flexible display panel, wherein the pair of motion paths are located on a geometric plane perpendicular to the pair of gear axes and are a pair of involutes symmetrical to each other.

2. The foldable display device of claim 1 , wherein an X-Y Cartesian coordinate system is provided on the geometric plane perpendicular to the pair of gear axes, a center of curvature of the guiding round surfaces is used as an origin of the X-Y Cartesian coordinate system, a connecting line of the pair of gear axes is parallel to an X-axis, a radius of curvature of the guiding round surfaces is r, an angle between a straight line extended downward along a Y-axis from a lowest point of the guiding round surfaces and the flexible display panel is θ, in the folded state, a shortest distance between the gear axes and a straight line passing through the center of curvature and parallel to the X-axis is a, and a shortest distance between the gear axes and a straight line passing through the lowest point of the guiding round surfaces and parallel to the Y-axis is b, wherein the motion paths are

X
=

r
⁢

⁢

cos
⁡

(

θ
-

tan

-
1

⁢
θ

)

cos
⁡

(

tan

-
1

⁢
θ

)

+

a
⁢

⁢
sin
⁢

⁢
θ

-

b
⁢

⁢
cos
⁢

⁢
θ
⁢

⁢
and

Y
=

r
⁢

⁢

sin
⁡

(

θ
-

tan

-
1

⁢
θ

)

cos
⁡

(

tan

-
1

⁢
θ

)

-

a
⁢

⁢
cos
⁢

⁢
θ

-

b
⁢

⁢
sin
⁢

⁢
θ

,

when in the folded state and the connecting line of the pair of gear axes is located on an outside of the center of curvature connecting lines of the guiding round surfaces, a is entered into the equations as a negative value, and when in the folded state and the connecting line of the pair of gear axes is located on an inside the center of curvature connecting lines of the guiding round surfaces, a is entered into the equations as a positive value.

3. The foldable display device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one rotating and sliding module, comprising:
a pair of sliding members respectively pivotally connected to the intermediate platform on a pair of rotation axes parallel to each other, wherein each of the pair of side platforms has a translation sliding groove, and the pair of sliding members are respectively coupled to the pair of translation sliding grooves.

4. The foldable display device of claim 3 , further comprising:
at least one synchronous module, comprising:
a pair of synchronous gears respe

Assignees

• Htc Corp

Inventors

• Li Ching-Ho
• Ho Hsiu-Fan
• Li Ching-Feng

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• E05D7/00

  Hinges or pivots of special construction (used for special suspension arrangements E05D15/00; so as to be self-closing E05F1/06, E05F1/12; with means for raising wings before being turned E05F7/02) · CPC title

• H04M1/0216 Primary

  Foldable in one direction, i.e. using a one degree of freedom hinge · CPC title

• H04M1/022

  The hinge comprising two parallel pivoting axes · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

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