Slidable electronic device and operating method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12284301-B2
Application number	US-202217739853-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 9, 2022
Priority date	May 13, 2021
Publication date	Apr 22, 2025
Grant date	Apr 22, 2025

Abstract

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a housing, a flexible display including a display area, wherein the display area is extendable in one or more directions with respect to the housing by moving a portion of the flexible display through the housing to be visually exposed, and at least one processor configured to be operatively connected to the flexible display, wherein the at least one processor is configured to display first content on a first area of the flexible display, detect an event for displaying second content related to the first content, identify an attribute of the second content according to the detection of the event, identify a direction in which the flexible display is to be extended based on the attribute of the second content, and display at least a portion of the second content in a second area of the flexible display extended in the identified direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a flexible display including a display area extendable in one or more directions with respect to the housing by moving a portion of the flexible display through the housing to be visually exposed;
memory storing one or more computer programs; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled to the flexible display and the memory,
wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
display first content on a first area of the flexible display,
detect an event for displaying second content related to the first content,
identify an attribute of the second content based on the detecting of the event,
identify a direction in which the flexible display is to be extended based on the attribute of the second content, and
display at least a portion of the second content in a second area of the flexible display extended in the identified direction, and

wherein, to identify the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended, the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
identify a position of a predetermined area where the second content is to be displayed on the first area with respect to a reference axis of the first area, and
identify the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended based on the position of the predetermined area with respect to the reference axis of the first area.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
identify one area of divided areas in the first area based on the predetermined area where the second content is to be displayed, and
identify the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended to correspond to the identified one area.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
identify one area of divided areas in the first area based on a position of an object related to the displaying the second content displayed on the first area and the predetermined area where the second content is to be displayed.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensor configured to sense an arrangement direction of the electronic device,
wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to;
identify the arrangement direction of the electronic device using the sensor.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
display at least a portion of the second content in the second area of the flexible display extended in the identified direction of a first direction or a second direction of the electronic device when the arrangement direction of the electronic device is a landscape orientation, and
display at least a portion of the second content in the second area of the flexible display extended in the identified direction of a third direction or a fourth direction of the electronic device when the arrangement direction of the electronic device is a portrait orientation.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to;
detect an event for displaying the second content based on at least one of an input to an object related to displaying the second content displayed on the first area, a scroll input on the first area, or a predetermined input.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
store, in the memory, a user configuration related to whether the second content is displayed in the second area of the flexible display,
identify the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended when displaying the second content is configured to be activated in the second area based on the user configuration, and
overlap and display at least a portion of the second content on the first area when the displaying of the second content is configured to be deactivated in the second area based on the user configuration.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
display at least a portion of the second content in the second area of the flexible display extended in the identified direction together with the first content displayed on the first area.

9. A method performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:
displaying, by the electronic device, first content on a first area of a flexible display of the electronic device, the flexible display including a display area, extendable in one or more directions with respect to a housing of the electronic device by moving a portion of the flexible display through the housing to be visually exposed;
detecting, by the electronic device, an event for displaying second content related to the first content;
based on the event being detected, identifying, by the electronic device, an attribute of the second content based on the detecting of the event;
identifying, by the electronic device, a direction in which the flexible display is to be extended, based on the attribute of the second content; and
displaying, by the electronic device, at least a portion of the second content in a second area of the flexible display extended in the identified direction,
wherein the identifying of the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended comprises:
identifying, by the electronic device, a position of a predetermined area where the second content is to be displayed on the first area with respect to a reference axis of the first area, and
identifying, by the electronic device, the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended based on the position of the predetermined area with respect to the reference axis of the first area.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identifying of the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended further comprises:
identifying, by the electronic device, one area of divided areas in the first area based on the predetermined area where the second content is to be displayed; and
identifying, by the electronic device, the direction in which the flexible display is to be extended to correspond to the identified one area.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the identifying of the one area of divided areas in the first area comprises:
identifying, by the electronic device, the one area of divided areas in the first area based on a position of an objec

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Koh Sanghyuk
• Kim Juyeoung

Classifications

• H04M1/72454

  according to context-related or environment-related conditions · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

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

• G06F1/1624

  with sliding enclosures, e.g. sliding keyboard or display · CPC title

• H04M2201/38

  Displays · CPC title

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title