Bendable user terminal device and method for displaying contents based on bending status thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9941918-B2
Application number	US-201614990420-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 7, 2016
Priority date	Jan 7, 2015
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

A bendable user terminal device provided with a flexible display controls the flexible display to display information on a first area while the user terminal device is maintained in a bent state based on a detected bending state of the user terminal device, and, in response to the user terminal device changing from the bent state to an unbent state, controls the flexible display not to display the information on the first area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A user terminal device which is bendable, comprising:
a flexible display configured to be divided into a first area and a second area in response to the user terminal device being bent;
a bending sensor configured to detect a bending state of the user terminal device; and
a controller configured to:
in response to detecting a bending of the user terminal device while the flexible display does not display information, control the flexible display to display information on the first area based on the detected bending, and
in response to detecting an unbending of the user terminal device while the information is displayed on the first area in a bent state of the user terminal device, control the flexible display not to display the information on the first area.

2. The user terminal device of claim 1 , further comprising a bending part configured to link two parts of the user terminal device, thereby enabling the user terminal device to be bent with reference to one axis,
wherein the bending sensor is configured to detect the bending state of the user terminal device based on a bending state of the bending part.

3. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the user terminal device is in the bent state while an external pressure applied to the user terminal device in a bending direction is maintained, and
wherein the user terminal device automatically changes from the bent state to an unbent state in response to the external pressure being removed.

4. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the user terminal device is in the bent state while an external pressure applied to the user terminal device in a bending direction is maintained, and
wherein the user terminal device is maintained in the bent state after the external pressure is removed.

5. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the flexible display to display information on the second area.

6. The user terminal device of claim 1 , further comprising a bending part configured to link two parts of the user terminal device, thereby enabling the user terminal device to be bent with reference to one axis, and
wherein the flexible display is divided into the first area and the second area with reference to the one axis.

7. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the flexible display to display an execution screen of a first application on the first area while the user terminal device is in the bent state and to display an execution screen of a second application on the first area in response to the bending state changing from the bent state to an unbent state.

8. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the flexible display to display an execution screen of an application on the first area while the user terminal device is in the bent state and to display at least one UI element used in the application in response to the bending state changing from the bent state to an unbent state.

9. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the information comprises at least one of a message, time information, weather information, news information, and information on a missed call.

10. The user terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the bending state comprises a step-bending state in which the user terminal device is maintained in the bent state without any external pressure and a pre-bending state in which the user terminal device automatically returns to previous bending state without any external pressure.

11. The user terminal device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the flexible display to display an execution screen of a first application on the first area in the step-bending state and display an execution screen of a second application on the first area in the pre-bending state.

12. The user terminal device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the flexible display to display an execution screen of a first application on the first area in the pre-bending state and display at least one UI element used in the first application on the second area in the step-bending state.

13. The user terminal device of claim 10 ,
wherein the controller is further configured to control the flexible display to display an execution screen of a first application on the first area in the step-bending state, and input at least one command used in the first application in response to the bending state changing from the step-bending state to the pre-bending state or an unbent state.

14. A method performed by a user terminal device to display a content using a flexible display, the method comprising:
in response to detecting a bending of the user terminal device while the flexible display does not display information, displaying information on a first area of the flexible display; and
in response to detecting an unbending of the user terminal device while the information is displayed on the first area in a bent state of the user terminal device, removing the information on the first area,
wherein the flexible display is divided into the first area and a second area when the user terminal device is in a bent state.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the displaying the information on the first area of the flexible display comprises maintaining the bent state while an external pressure applied to the user terminal device in a bending direction is maintained, and
wherein the removing the information on the first area of the flexible display comprises automatically changing the bending state from the bent state to an unbent state in response to the external pressure being removed.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the displaying no information on the first area comprises displaying another information on the second area.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the flexible display is divided into the first area and the second area with reference to one axis.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the displaying the information on the first area comprises displaying an execution screen of a first application on the first area, and
wherein removing the information on the first area comprises displaying an execution screen of a second application on the first area.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the bending state comprises a step-bending state and a pre-bending state,
wherein the displaying the information on the first area comprises displaying an execution screen of a first application on the first area in the step-bending state and displaying at least one UI element used in the first application on the first area in the pre-bending state, and
wherein the user terminal device is maintained in the bent state without any external pressure in the step-bending state and automatically returns to a previous bending state without any external pressure in the pre-bending state.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the information comprises at least one of a message, time information, weather information, news information, and information on a missed call.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing the method of claim 14 .

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Dong-Churl
• Park Kyung-Wan
• Park Jin-Hyoung

Classifications

• G06F1/1626 Primary

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title

• G06F1/1677

  for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment · CPC title

• H04B1/3827 Primary

  Portable transceivers · CPC title

• G06F2203/04803

  Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas · CPC title

• G06F1/1652

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