Optical sensor and electronic device comprising same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11934229-B2
Application number	US-202318113938-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2023
Priority date	Aug 26, 2020
Publication date	Mar 19, 2024
Grant date	Mar 19, 2024

Abstract

According to the present disclosure an electronic device is disclosed comprising: a housing including a front surface, a rear surface facing the direction opposite to the front surface, and a side surface encompassing the space between the front surface and the rear surface; a display included in the housing and visible to the outside of the electronic device through the front surface; an optical sensor positioned between the display and the rear surface overlapping at least one region of the display when viewed from above the front surface, and including a light-emitting part and a light-receiving part; and a first partition positioned between the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part based on the electronic device having a first shape, and a second partition present between the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part based on the electronic device having a second shape transformed from the first shape, wherein a straight line connecting the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part is perpendicular to the direction in which the electronic device changes from the first shape to the second shape.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a housing comprising a front surface, a rear surface facing away from the front surface, and a side surface surrounding a space between the front surface and the rear surface;
a display included in the housing and visible to outside of the electronic device through the front surface;
an optical sensor located between the display and the rear surface overlapping at least one area of the display when viewed from above the front surface, the optical sensor comprising a light emitter and a light receiver;
a first partition located between the light emitter and the light receiver based on the electronic device having a first shape; and
a second partition present between the light emitter and the light receiver based on the electronic device having a second shape transformed from the first shape.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising a processor operatively connected to the optical sensor,
wherein the processor is configured to: determine whether an object is approaching using the optical sensor in a state in which the display is activated; and perform a specified operation depending on a determination result.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the specified operation comprises turning on/off of the display, turning on/off of an always-on-display (AoD) mode, or determining whether an erroneous touch is made.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first partition or the second partition is located between the display and the optical sensor in a compressed state.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first partition or the second partition is provided in a straight-line shape between the light emitter and the light receiver.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first partition or the second partition is provided to surround the light receiver.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted to be perpendicular to a movement path along which the first shape is transformed into the second shape.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first partition or the second partition is mounted to be parallel to the movement path along which the first shape is transformed into the second shape.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first partition or the second partition has an inclined shape.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein a straight line interconnecting the light emitter and the light receiver is perpendicular to a direction in which the electronic device is transformed from the first shape to the second shape.

11. An electronic device comprising:
a first housing;
a second housing movable with respect to the first housing;
a flexible display disposed on the first housing and drawn into an inner space formed by the first housing and the second housing at a first edge of the first housing, wherein the flexible display including:
a glass forming the front surface of the electronic device;
a pixel layer disposed under the glass and including a plurality of pixels; and
a cover layer disposed below the pixel layer;

a circuit board disposed under the flexible display;
an optical sensor disposed between the circuit board and the flexible display and including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit; and
at least one partition disposed between the optical sensor and the cover layer,
wherein the optical sensor is disposed corresponding to a first position of the flexible display when the flexible display has a first length in a direction perpendicular to the first edge, wherein the optical sensor is disposed corresponding to a second position of the flexible display when the flexible display has a second length longer than the first length in a direction perpendicular to the first edge as the second housing moves relative to the first housing, and
wherein the at least one partition is disposed between the light emitter and the light receiver when the optical sensor is in the first position and when the optical sensor is in the second position.

12. The electronic device of claim 11 , further comprising a processor operatively connected to the optical sensor,
wherein the processor is configured to: determine whether an object is approaching using the optical sensor in a state in which the display is activated; and perform a specified operation depending on a determination result.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the specified operation comprises turning on/off of the display, turning on/off of an always-on-display (AoD) mode, or determining whether an erroneous touch is made.

14. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one partition is located between the display and the optical sensor in a compressed state.

15. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one partition is provided in a straight-line shape between the light emitter and the light receiver.

16. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein at least one partition is provided to surround the light receiver.

17. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted to be perpendicular to a movement path moving from a state where the flexible display has the first length in a direction perpendicular to the first edge to a state where the flexible display has the second length longer than the first length in a direction perpendicular to the first edge.

18. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one partition is mounted to be parallel to a movement path moving from a state where the flexible display has the first length in a direction perpendicular to the first edge to a state where the flexible display has the second length longer than the first length in a direction perpendicular to the first edge.

19. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one partition has an inclined shape.

20. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one partition is spaced apart from the optical sensor.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Jongah
• Yoon Heewoong
• Lee Kihyuk
• Lee Donghan
• Cho Jeongho
• Choi Gwangho

Classifications

• G06F1/1652 Primary

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

• G06F1/1694

  the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer · CPC title

• G06F1/3231

  Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users · CPC title

• G06F1/3265

  Power saving in display device · CPC title

• H04M1/0239

  Sliding mechanism with two degree of freedom, e.g. translation in two different directions · CPC title