Electronic apparatus comprising flexible display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026006732-A1
Application number	US-202519321804-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 8, 2025
Priority date	May 17, 2023
Publication date	Jan 1, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a housing assembly including a first housing and a second housing slidably coupled to the first housing, a flexible display disposed on the first housing and the second housing, and configured so that a portion the flexible display is bent to be retracted into or extracted from an interior of the housing assembly according to movement of the second housing, a foreign substance blocking portion disposed between the housing assembly and the flexible display, and configured to have a variable thickness based on an applied voltage, memory storing instructions, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the flexible display, the foreign substance blocking portion, and the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to control an amount of voltage applied to the foreign substance blocking portion according to movement of the second housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
a housing assembly including a first housing and a second housing slidably coupled to the first housing; a flexible display disposed on the first housing and the second housing, and configured so that a portion the flexible display is bent to be retracted into or extracted from an interior of the housing assembly according to movement of the second housing; a foreign substance blocking portion disposed between the housing assembly and the flexible display, and configured to have a variable thickness based on an applied voltage; memory storing instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the flexible display, the foreign substance blocking portion, and the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
control an amount of voltage applied to the foreign substance blocking portion according to movement of the second housing.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion includes an electro-active polymer.

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion is configured to have a first thickness in a case where no voltage is applied, and to have a second thickness that is smaller than the first thickness in a case where a voltage is applied.

4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein in a case where the foreign substance blocking portion has the second thickness, the foreign substance blocking portion is configured to be spaced apart from the flexible display by a predetermined distance.

5 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein in a case where the foreign substance blocking portion has the first thickness, the foreign substance blocking portion is configured to contact the flexible display.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to:
apply a voltage to the foreign substance blocking portion in response to movement of the second housing to space the foreign substance blocking portion apart from the flexible display.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an auxiliary foreign substance blocking portion configured to rotate in a state of contacting the flexible display as a portion of the flexible display is retracted into or extracted from the housing assembly, wherein the foreign substance blocking portion is configured to be fixedly coupled to the housing assembly.

8 . The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the auxiliary foreign substance blocking portion is disposed further inside the housing assembly than the foreign substance blocking portion.

9 . The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the auxiliary foreign substance blocking portion is disposed to extend from an end portion of the foreign substance blocking portion along a length direction of the foreign substance blocking portion.

10 . The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the auxiliary foreign substance blocking portion is configured to extend parallel to the foreign substance blocking portion.

11 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a driving module disposed in the housing assembly and configured to slidingly move the second housing.

12 . The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
apply a voltage to the foreign substance blocking portion in response to an operation signal of the driving module.

13 . The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the housing assembly includes a plurality of side portions, wherein the flexible display is configured to be retracted into or extracted from a portion adjacent to one side portion among the plurality of side portions of the housing assembly, and wherein the foreign substance blocking portion is between the one side portion among the plurality of side portions and the flexible display.

14 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion is disposed to extend in a direction perpendicular to a sliding direction of the second housing.

15 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an insulating member disposed so that one surface the insulating member contacts the housing assembly and another surface the insulating member contacts the foreign substance blocking portion.

16 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion is configured to, in a state in which there is no movement of the second housing, prevent an inflow of foreign substances into the interior of the housing assembly from between the housing assembly and the flexible display.

17 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion is configured to, in a state in which there is movement of the second housing, prevent friction between the housing assembly and the flexible display.

18 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion includes a first electrode layer disposed on housing assembly, a second electrode layer, and an intermediate layer disposed between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer.

19 . The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the voltage is applied to at least one of the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer.

20 . The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the foreign substance blocking portion includes an insulator disposed on a side of the second electrode layer opposite to a side of the second electrode layer that is disposed on the intermediate layer.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Taejeong
• Kim Minsoo
• Kim Yongwoon
• Bae Jaehyun
• Lee Soogyu
• Han Yonggil

Classifications

• H05K5/0217 Primary

  Mechanical details of casings (covers, lids, hoods or members for covering apertures H05K5/03) · CPC title

• H04M1/0237

  Sliding mechanism with one degree of freedom · CPC title

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• G06F1/1686

  the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera · CPC title

• G06F1/1656

  Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories (mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203) · CPC title