Mobile terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018234530-A1
Application number	US-201615580774-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 11, 2016
Priority date	Jun 8, 2015
Publication date	Aug 16, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A mobile terminal including a foldable case having a front case and rear case and configured to be in one of an opened flat state in which a protrusion of the rear case is slid inward into a sliding area of the front case, a folded state in which the protrusion of the rear case is slid outward from the sliding area, and an intermediate state between the opened flat state and the folded state; a flexible display on a surface of the foldable case; and electrical components between the front case and the rear case.

First claim

1 - 15 . (canceled)

16 . A mobile terminal comprising:
a foldable case including a front case and rear case and configured to be in one of an opened flat state in which a protrusion of the rear case is slid inward into a sliding area of the front case, a folded state in which the protrusion of the rear case is slid outward from the sliding area, and an intermediate state between the opened flat state and the folded state; a flexible display on a surface of the foldable case; and electrical components between the front case and the rear case.

17 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , wherein the rear case includes a corrugated middle portion configured to flex when the mobile terminal is changed from the opened flat state to the folded state or from the folded state to the opened flat state.

18 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , wherein the sliding area of the front case has a first depth, and
wherein the protrusion of the rear case is inserted into the sliding area as much as the first depth when the foldable case is in the opened flat state.

19 . The mobile terminal of claim 18 , wherein the protrusion of the rear case is inserted into the sliding area to a second depth smaller than the first depth when the foldable case is in the intermediate state.

20 . The mobile terminal of claim 19 , wherein the protrusion of the rear case is inserted into the sliding area to a third depth smaller than the second depth when the foldable case is in the folded state.

21 . The mobile terminal of claim 17 , wherein the protrusion of the rear case moves in the sliding area so as to correspond to a difference in length between the front case and the rear case.

22 . The mobile terminal of claim 17 , wherein the corrugated area includes a plurality of slits formed on a lateral side of the rear case.

23 . The mobile terminal of claim 17 , wherein a thickness of the corrugated area varies from a first thickness to a second thickness periodically.

24 . The mobile terminal of claim 17 , wherein non-flexible electronic components are disposed on the rear case as positions outside of the corrugated middle portion.

25 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , wherein the foldable case further includes:
a first region including a central portion of the foldable case, the first region being bendable; a second region positioned between the first region and an end of the mobile terminal; and a third region positioned between the first region and another end of the mobile terminal.

26 . The mobile terminal of claim 25 , wherein the second and third regions are flat.

27 . The mobile terminal of claim 25 , further comprising:
inflexible components including a battery and a PCB positioned in at least one of the second and third regions.

28 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , wherein the flexible display includes a plurality of layers, at least one of the plurality of layers includes a silicon (Si) material.

29 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , wherein the rear case includes:
a first band disposed on the rear case in a longitudinal direction; and a second band disposed on the rear case in the longitudinal direction, a portion of the second band being overlapped with the first band, wherein the first band includes a plurality of convexities, wherein the second band includes a plurality of concavities facing the plurality of convexities of the first band, and wherein at least a portion of the plurality of the convexities is fitted in the plurality of concavities.

30 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , further comprising:
a wire connecting an end of the case to another end of the case; and a winding gadget connected to the wire and configured to apply tension to the wire.

31 . The mobile terminal of claim 16 , further comprising:
a controller configured to control the flexible display based on a change in the state of the case.

32 . The mobile terminal of claim 31 , wherein the controller controls the flexible display based on at least one of a speed of the change in the state of the foldable case, an amount of the change in the state of the foldable case, and a direction of the change in the state of the foldable case.

33 . The mobile terminal of claim 31 , wherein the controller controls the flexible display to display contents on a full screen when the state of the foldable case changes from the folded state to the opened flat state.

34 . The mobile terminal of claim 17 , wherein the corrugated portion of the rear cases includes a plurality of slits and ribs alternating with each other.

35 . The mobile terminal of claim 34 , wherein a thickness of a corresponding rib is greater than a thickness of a corresponding slit in the corrugated portion, and
wherein the corrugated portion comprises an external side surface of the mobile terminal.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Haklim
• Seol Jaehyuk
• Chae Hanseok
• Joo Wonseok

Classifications

• H04M1/0268 Primary

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• H04M1/0214

  Foldable telephones, i.e. with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position (combined with translation movement H04M1/0235) · CPC title