Method for operating flexible display, and electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12493393-B2
Application number	US-202318317416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2023
Priority date	Nov 20, 2020
Publication date	Dec 9, 2025
Grant date	Dec 9, 2025

Abstract

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a first housing, a second housing foldably connected to the first housing through a hinge device, a flexible display arranged to be supported by the second housing from the first housing through the hinge device, a touch sensor, a memory, and a processor. The processor is configured to operate a partial region of the touch sensor in a first mode in a folded state in which the first housing is folded with respect to the second housing, detect sliding motion in the folded state on the basis of the flexible display, confirm, in response to the sliding motion, a first display area in which the flexible display is exposed to the outside, and switch the touch sensor corresponding to the confirmed first display area from the first mode to a second mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
a first housing having a first surface and a second surface; a second housing having a third surface and a fourth surface, the second housing being foldably connected to the first housing through a hinge device; a flexible display disposed to be supported by the third surface of the second housing through the hinge device from the first surface of the first housing; a touch sensor at least partially disposed to correspond to the flexible display; memory storing one or more computer programs; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the flexible display, the touch sensor, 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:
operate at least a partial region of the touch sensor in a first mode, while the electronic device is in a folded state in which the first surface of the first housing and the third surface of the second housing face each other and the second surface of the first housing includes a sub-display exposed to an outside of the electronic device,
based on the flexible display, detect a sliding operation while the electronic device is in the folded state, and
in response to detecting the sliding operation, identify a first display region in which the flexible display is exposed to the outside and switch an operation mode of the touch sensor from the first mode to a second mode in a region of the touch sensor corresponding to the first display region.

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:
based on the switching of the operation mode of the touch sensor in the first display region to the second mode, identify whether a predetermined event has occurred, and in response to determining that the predetermined event has occurred, switch the operation mode of the touch sensor in the first display region from the second mode to a third mode.

3 . The electronic device of claim 2 , further comprising:
power management circuitry configured to supply power to the flexible display, 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:
based on operating the touch sensor in the first mode, supply power so that the flexible display has an operation frequency within a first frequency band range, and
based on operating the touch sensor in the second mode, supply power so that the flexible display has the operation frequency within a second frequency band range, at least partially overlapping the first frequency band range.

4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , 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:
based on operating the touch sensor in the second mode, supply power so that the flexible display has the operation frequency within a third frequency band range at least partially including the first frequency band range and the second frequency band range.

5 . The electronic device of claim 3 ,
wherein the second mode comprises a mode in which the first display region of the flexible display operates in an at least partially activated state, and 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:
based on the switching of the operation mode of the touch sensor in the first display region to the second mode, at least partially detect a user touch input applied to the first display region.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the flexible display comprises at least one channel, and 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:
measure a second current value, based on a second channel included in the second housing, while measuring a first current value, based on a first channel included in the first housing in the folded state,
identify a coupling relationship between the first channel and the second channel, based on the first current value and the second current value, and
detect the sliding operation based on the coupling relationship.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
sensor circuitry configured to detect the sliding operation, 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 the sliding operation by using the sensor circuitry.

8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sliding operation comprises an operation in which at least one housing of the first housing and the second housing in the folded state moves in a predetermined direction by a predetermined distance.

9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the hinge device is configured to:
support the folded state in which the first surface of first housing and third surface of the second housing face each other; and support the sliding operation in which at least one housing of the first housing and the second housing moves in a predetermined direction by a predetermined distance.

10 . The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the hinge device is formed of a multi-joint structure comprising at least one bar configured to at least partially bend the flexible display, and wherein the hinge device is configured to perform the sliding operation based on the multi-joint structure.

11 . The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the second surface of the first housing includes a rear cover of the electronic device, and wherein the sub-display is disposed separately from the flexible display and is visible from the outside through a partial region of the rear cover.

12 . A method performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:
operating, by the electronic device, at least a partial region of a touch sensor in a first mode while the electronic device is in a folded state based on a hinge device, the touch sensor corresponding to a flexible display supported by a first housing and a second housing of the electronic device, the folded state being a state in which a first surface of the first housing and a third surface of the second housing face each other and a second surface of the first housing includes a sub-display exposed to an outside of the electronic device; based on the flexible display, detecting, by the electronic device, a sliding operation while the electronic device is in the folded state; and in response to detecting the sliding operation, identifying, by the electronic device, a first display region in which the flexible display is exposed to the outside and switching, by the electronic device, an operation mode of the touch sensor from the first mode to a second mode in a region of the touch sensor corresponding to the first display region.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
based on the switching of the operation mode of the touch sensor in the first displa

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Minuk
• Bae Jongkon
• Kim Kyungtae
• Kim Kwangtai
• Yeom Donghyun

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• H04M1/0237

  Sliding mechanism with one degree of freedom · CPC title

• G06F3/0412

  Digitisers structurally integrated in a display · 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