Flexible display device with stoppable hinge

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9910458-B2
Application number	US-201515304885-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2015
Priority date	Apr 24, 2014
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

A display device 10 includes a flexible display panel having a display surface 11 a and flexibility, display support portions 12 supporting the flexible display panel from a side opposite to the display surface 11 a side, a hinge portion 13 supporting the two adjacent display support portions 12 to be rotatable, and an angle restricting portion 18 mounted on each of hinge parts 15, 16 and including at least a stopper projection 19 and a stopper hole 20 that are stopped by each other when an angle formed by the two adjacent display supporting portions 12 reaches a predetermined value, the two adjacent display supporting portions 12 being rotated according to bending of the flexible display panel 11 from the flat state and the angle being formed by the two adjacent display supporting portions 12 that are rotated, and the angle restricting portion 18 restricting the angle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A display device comprising:
a flexible display panel having a display surface displaying images and having flexibility;
display support portions that are arranged along the display surface of the flexible display panel that is in a flat state and support the flexible display panel from a side opposite to the display surface;
a hinge portion including at least two hinge parts that are mounted on two of the display support portions, respectively, the two display support portions being adjacent to each other when the flexible display panel is in the flat state, and the hinge portion supporting the two adjacent display support portions to be rotatable;
an angle restricting portion mounted on each of the two hinge parts, the angle restricting portion including at least two stopper portions that are stopped by each other when an angle formed by the two adjacent display supporting portions reaches a predetermined value, the two adjacent display supporting portions being rotated according to bending of the flexible display panel from the flat state and the angle being formed by the two adjacent display supporting portions that are rotated, and the angle restricting portion restricting the angle; and
a slide portion mounted on the two adjacent display support portions and the hinge portion, the slide portion with which the two adjacent display support portions slide with respect to the hinge portion according to rotation of the two adjacent display support portions.

2. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein the two adjacent display support portions have opposed surfaces, respectively, and the opposed surfaces are opposite each other with a clearance therebetween when the flexible display panel is in the flat state.

3. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the two adjacent display support portions have support surfaces supporting the flexible display panel, and
the support surfaces are fixed to the flexible display panel except for an end portion of each of the support surfaces near a bending portion of the flexible display panel that is folded.

4. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the display support portions include at least three display support portions that are arranged in a row when the flexible display panel is in the flat state,
the display support portions include main display support portions and a sub-display support portion,
the main display support portions have a relatively large support area supporting the flexible display panel, and
the sub-display support portion is arranged between the main display support portions when the flexible display panel is in the flat state, and the sub-display support portion has a relatively small support area supporting the flexible display panel.

5. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein the sub-display support portion includes sub-display portions and the sub-display portions are arranged adjacent to each other when the flexible display panel is in the flat state.

6. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein
the sub-display support portion includes sub-display support portions, and the display device further comprising:
a spacer arranged between the sub-display support portions when the flexible display panel is in the flat state.

7. The display device according to claim 6 , wherein
the spacer has an opposed surface and each of the sub-display support portions has an opposed surface, and the opposed surfaces are opposite each other, and
at least one of the opposed surface is a sloped surface inclined such that a distance between the opposed surfaces gradually increases as is farther away from the flexible display panel in a direction that the flexible display panel and the display support portions are overlapped.

8. The display device according to claim 6 , further comprising:
connecting hinge parts in pair mounted on the sub-display support portions and the spacer and supporting the sub-display support portions and the spacer rotatably.

9. The display device according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a spring part that is elastically shrunk and expanded and one end of which is connected to the sub-display support portion and another end of which is connected to the spacer.

10. The display device according to claim 4 , wherein
the main display support portion includes main display support portions in pair having the sub-display support portion therebetween when the flexible display panel is in the flat state, and
each of the main display support portions has a dimension in a direction that the flexible display panel and the main display support portions are overlapped, and the dimension increases as is farther away from the sub-display support portion.

11. The display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the hinge parts of the hinge portion are mounted on the two adjacent display support portions, respectively, on a surface of each of the two adjacent display support portions, the surface is opposite to a support surface supporting the flexible display panel.

Assignees

• Sharp Kk

Inventors

• Watanabe Noriko
• Itoh Akiko

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• G06F1/1652 Primary

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

• G06F1/16

  Constructional details or arrangements · CPC title

• E05D3/00

  Hinges with pins {(E05D7/08 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G02F1/133305

  Flexible substrates, e.g. plastics, organic film · CPC title