Electronic device including flexible display capable of changing size of display area and method for controlling same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10936100-B2
Application number	US-201916440493-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2019
Priority date	Jun 14, 2018
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments includes a first structure capable of moving between a closed state and an open state with regard to a second structure, a second structure, a flexible touchscreen display layer comprising a planar portion and a bendable portion, a processor operatively connected to the flexible touchscreen display layer, and a memory operatively connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed, enable the processor to perform operations of displaying at least one first object in a first area of the planar portion and displaying at least one second object in a second area of the planar portion in the closed state, and displaying the at least one object in the first area and displaying the at least one second object in a third area of the bendable portion in the open state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a first structure comprising a first plate comprising a first surface and a second surface facing in an opposite direction to the first surface;
a second structure comprising:
a second plate facing the second surface of the first plate,
a first sidewall which is perpendicular to the second plate,
a second sidewall which is perpendicular to the second plate and to the first sidewall, and
a third sidewall which is perpendicular to the first sidewall and to the second plate, and which is parallel with the second sidewall, the second plate, the first sidewall, the second sidewall, and the third sidewall forming a trough, one side of which is open, so as to contain at least a part of the first structure, a state of the first structure being able to be changed between a closed state and an open state with regard to the second structure according to a movement of the first structure in at least one first direction which is parallel with the second plate and with the second sidewall, the first structure being positioned at a first distance from the first sidewall in the closed state and being positioned at a second distance, which is larger than the first distance, from the first sidewall in the open state;

a flexible touchscreen display layer comprising:
a planar portion which extends across at least a part of the first surface, and which is mounted on the first surface, and
a bendable portion which extends from the planar portion such that, in the closed state, the bendable portion extending to a space between the first sidewall and the first structure, at least part of the bendable portion being pulled from the space when the state of the first structure is changed from the closed state to the open state such that, when seen from above the first plate, the at least part of the bendable portion forms a substantially planar surface between the planar portion and the first sidewall;

a processor operatively connected to the flexible touchscreen display layer; and
a memory operatively connected to the processor,
wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed, enable the processor to:
while the state of the first structure is the closed state, display at least one first object in a first area of the planar portion and display at least one second object in a second area of the planar portion to be located at a third distance from the first sidewall, and
maintain displaying the at least one first object in the first area and move the at least one second object to be located at the third distance from the first sidewall while the state of the first structure is changed from the closed state to the open state,

wherein the at least one second object is displayed on the bendable portion while the at least one second object is moved.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the distance between the second area of the planar portion and a third area of the bendable portion is smaller than the distance between the first area and the third area.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further enable the processor to linearly move the at least one second object from the second area to a third area of the bendable portion in response to a movement of the first structure with regard to the second structure while the state of the first structure is changed from the closed state to the open state.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the instructions further enable the processor to:
display at least one third object in a fourth area on the planar portion of the flexible touchscreen display layer in the closed state, and
display the at least one third object in a fifth area on the planar portion of the flexible touchscreen display layer in the open state, and

wherein the fourth area is between the first area and the second area.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the fifth area is between the fourth area and the second area.

6. The electronic device of claim 4 ,
wherein the third object comprises multiple icons, and
wherein the instructions further enable the processor to arrange adjacent icons among the multiple icons at a larger interval while the state of the first structure is changed from the closed state to the open state.

7. The electronic device of claim 4 ,
wherein the third object comprises at least one image, and
wherein the instructions further enable the processor to crop at least a part of the at least one image in proportion to a reduced area of the planar portion while the state of the first structure is changed from the open state to the closed state.

8. The electronic device of claim 4 ,
wherein the third object comprises at least one image, and
wherein the instructions further enable the processor to resize the at least one image so as to maintain an identical horizontal-to-vertical ratio while the state of the first structure is changed from the open state to the closed state.

9. The electronic device of claim 4 ,
wherein the third object comprises a first number of objects, and
wherein the instructions further enable the processor to arrange a second number of objects, the second number being larger than the first number, while the state of the first structure is changed from the closed state to the open state.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the third object comprises at least one of an icon, a thumbnail, an image, or text.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first object comprises at least one of a notification bar, a status indicator, a signal intensity indicator, or a battery capacity indication.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one second object comprises at least one of a telephone app icon, an email icon, a text message app icon, a contact list app icon, an Internet browser app icon, or an application screen switching icon.

13. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first sidewall comprises a surface facing the trough and a dielectric protrusion formed on the surface.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further enable the processor to:
identify the dielectric protrusion by using the bendable portion of the flexible touchscreen display layer, and
determine the position of the first structure with regard to the second structure at least partially based on the identified dielectric protrusion.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further enable the processor to move the at least one second object on the flexible touchscreen display layer at least partially based on a movement of the determined position.

16. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further enable the processor to repeatedly move the at least one second object upward/downward or leftward/rightward within a designated time when it is sensed that the state of the first structure has changed and reached a maximum closed state or a maximum open state.

17. An electronic device comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing capable of moving while at least partially overlapping the first housing;
a flexible display comprising a flexible area, at least a part of which is mounted on a surface of the second housing, and which is at least partially contained in an inner space formed by the first housing;
a processor; and
a memory,
wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed, enable the processor to:
while a state of the electronic device is a closed state, display at least one object on a first po

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Park Hongsik
• Kim Gidae
• Kim Jungjin
• Na Hyoseok
• Choi Jongchul

Classifications

• G09G2340/0435

  Change or adaptation of the frame rate of the video stream · CPC title

• G09G3/2946 Primary

  by introducing variations of the frequency of sustain pulses within a frame or non-proportional variations of the number of sustain pulses in each subfield · CPC title

• G06F2203/04803

  Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas · CPC title

• G09G2340/0442

  Handling or displaying different aspect ratios, or changing the aspect ratio · CPC title

• G06F3/04817

  using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) · CPC title