Wearable display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9786247-B2
Application number	US-201514820224-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 6, 2015
Priority date	Mar 3, 2015
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

A wearable display device of the present invention includes: a wearable part configured for placement on a portion of a human body; a flexible display unit connected to the wearable part through a coupling part; at least one curvature changer configured to alter a curvature of at least a portion of the flexible display unit; and a curvature holder configured to maintain the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit once the curvature is altered by the at least one curvature changer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wearable display device comprising: a wearable part configured for placement on a portion of a human body;
a flexible display unit connected to the wearable part through a coupling part;
at least one curvature changer electrically driven to alter a curvature of at least a portion of the flexible display unit during a display-off period; and
a curvature holder electrically driven to maintain the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit during the display-off period once the curvature is altered by the at least one curvature changer; and
wherein the display off-period is a period that did not alter the image of the display.

2. The wearable display device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one curvature changer and the curvature holder are configured to be driven in a time divided manner.

3. The wearable display device of claim 2 , wherein the flexible display unit is configured to be driven in a first mode in which the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit corresponds to the curvature of the wearable part, and in a second mode in which the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit is smaller than the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit when in the first mode.

4. The wearable display device of claim 3 , wherein upon a transition from the first mode to the second mode, and after the curvature changer increases the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit so as to generate an increased degree of curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit, the curvature holder is configured to maintain the increased degree of curvature.

5. The wearable display device of claim 4 , wherein upon a transition from the second mode to the first mode, the curvature holder is configured to no longer maintain the curvature of the flexible display unit, and the curvature changer is configured to alter the curvature of the at least a portion of the flexible display unit to correspond to the curvature of the worn part.

6. The wearable display device of claim 5 , wherein the curvature changer includes at least one of an electroactive polymer, a shape memory alloy, a shape memory polymer, a mechanical actuator, and an electrical actuator.

7. The wearable display device of claim 5 , wherein the curvature holder includes at least one of an Electro-Rheological (ER) fluid and a Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluid.

8. The wearable display device of claim 5 , wherein an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding layer is interposed between the curvature changer and the curvature holder, and the flexible display unit.

9. The wearable display device of claim 5 , wherein the flexible display unit has a front surface and a rear surface opposite the front surface and facing the wearable part, and wherein the flexible display unit is configured to display an image on at least one of the front surface and the rear surface.

10. The wearable display device of claim 5 , wherein:
the flexible display unit has a first area, a second area, and a third area,
the flexible display unit is configured to display the image in the second area during the first mode,
the flexible display unit is configured to display the image in the third area during the second mode, and
the third area includes the second area and is a region that is larger than the second area.

11. The wearable display device of claim 1 , wherein the flexible display unit is rotatably coupled to the wearable part.

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hong Won-Ki
• Lee Jong Seo

Classifications

• G09G2380/02

  Flexible displays · CPC title

• G09G5/003 Primary

  Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto (specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092) · CPC title

• G06F1/163

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

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

• G06F1/1622 Primary

  with enclosures rotating around an axis perpendicular to the plane they define or with ball-joint coupling, e.g. PDA with display enclosure orientation changeable between portrait and landscape by rotation with respect to a coplanar body enclosure · CPC title