Mobile terminal having a display that enlargers a front display region in response to being switched to an extended display mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12124681-B2
Application number	US-201917757592-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2019
Priority date	Dec 31, 2019
Publication date	Oct 22, 2024
Grant date	Oct 22, 2024

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide: a mobile terminal allowing a user to conveniently determine execution screens of at least two applications to be displayed in a multitasking manner and layouts therefor; and a method for controlling same. Provided according to an aspect of the present invention is a mobile terminal comprising: a body; a display coupled to the body such that a display region viewed from the front of the body can vary depending on switching between an extended display mode and a retracted display mode; and a control unit for performing control such that, in response to switching from the retracted display mode to the extended display mode, multiple layout indicators for multiple application execution screens are displayed or multiple application icons are displayed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:
a body;
a display coupled to the body to vary a front display region visible from a front side of the body and a rear display region visible from a rear side of the body, based on switching between an extended display mode and a contracted display mode; and
a controller configured to:
display a home screen on the front display region of the display in the contracted display mode,
in response to enlarging the front display region of the display and decreasing the rear display region of the display by switching the contracted display mode to the extended display mode, control a plurality of layout indicators for a plurality of application execution screens to be displayed, instead of the home screen, at a first region of the enlarged front display region of the display,
in response to selecting one of the plurality of layout indicators, and while the plurality of layout indicators continue to be displayed at the first region, the enlarged front display region is to be visibly divided at a second region of the enlarged front display region according to a layout corresponding to the selected indicator, wherein the first region and the second region do not overlap, and
in response to an input while the plurality of layout indicators continue to be displayed at the first region, the plurality of layout indicators are no longer displayed, a plurality of application icons are displayed at the first region, and the enlarged front display region continues to be visibly divided at the second region.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein in response to selecting a first icon and a second icon from the plurality of application icons, the controller controls a first application execution screen corresponding to the first icon and a second application execution screen corresponding to the second icon to be displayed according to the layout.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein in response to the selecting one of the plurality of layout indicators, the controller controls to display at least one or more application sets suitable for a layout corresponding to the selected indicator.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3 , wherein in response to selecting one of the at least one or more application sets, the controller controls a plurality of application execution screens corresponding to the selected set to be displayed according to the layout corresponding to the selected indicator.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 3 , wherein the controller provides the at least one or more application sets based on a history of applications used by a user so far to match the layout corresponding to the selected indicator.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the home screen displayed before switching from the contracted display mode to the extended display mode so as not to be displayed after switching from the contracted display mode to the extended display mode.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6 , wherein the controller controls the home screen to be displayed again in response to returning from the extended display mode to the contracted display mode.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a first frame and a second frame configured extendable from the first frame and coupled to the first frame in a manner of being retractable into the first frame, wherein the display comprises a flexible display capable of enclosing the front side, lateral side and the rear side of the body, and wherein the controller controls to operate in the extended display mode based on extending the second frame or operate in the contracted display mode based on contracting the second frame.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8 , wherein the flexible display is coupled to the body in a manner that a display part located on the lateral side of the body at least is moved to the front side of the body based on extending the second frame to increase the front display region viewed from the front side of the body in the extended display mode.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 9 , wherein the flexible display is coupled to the body in a manner that a display part located on the rear side of the body is moved to the front side of the body through the lateral side of the body as the display part located on the lateral side of the body is moved to the front side of the body.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 10 , wherein the flexible display is coupled to the body in a manner that a display part located on the front side of the body is moved to the lateral side of the body or to the rear side via the lateral side based on contracting the second frame to decrease the front display region viewed from the front side of the body.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 8 , further comprising a drive unit moving the second frame to slide to be extended or contracted.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 8 , further comprising a side frame to cover the flexible display enclosing the lateral side of the body.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a flexible display having a first side edge located on a front face of the mobile terminal and a second side edge located on a rear face of the mobile terminal, and wherein the body comprises:
a first frame;
a second frame coupled to the first frame to permit changing of relative positioning of the first frame and the second frame between an extended position in the extended display mode and a retracted position in the contracted display mode;
a slot formed in a rear portion of the second frame; and
a third frame coupled to the slot of the second frame and being further coupled to a side edge of the flexible display to permit movement of the flexible display relative to the second frame along a direction of the slot.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a flexible display, and wherein the body comprises:
a first frame;
a second frame being slidably coupled to the first frame to permit extending of the second frame relative to the first frame according to movement in a first direction and retracting the second frame relative to the first frame according to movement in a second direction that is opposite that of the first direction; and
a third frame coupled to the slot of the second frame and being further coupled to a side edge of the flexible display to permit movement of the flexible display relative to the second frame along a direction of the slot.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
in response to selecting a first icon and a second icon from the plurality of application icons, cause the display to display a first application execution screen corresponding to the first icon according to the layout, cause the display to display a second application execution screen corresponding to the second icon according to the layout, and no longer display the plurality of application icons, and
in response to decreasing the front display region of the display and increasing the rear display region of the display by switching from the extended display mode to the contracted display mode, cause the display to display only one of the first application execution screen or the second application execution screen, on the decreased front display region of the display.

17. A method of controlling a mobile terminal having a body and a display coupled to the body to vary a front display region visible from a front side of the body and a rear display region visible from a rear side of the body, based on switchi

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Kim Changmok
• Lee Jinhee
• Choi Eunkyung
• Seo Junho

Classifications

• H04M1/0237

  Sliding mechanism with one degree of freedom · CPC title

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · 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

• G06F1/1677

  for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment · CPC title

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title