Flexible display device and data displaying method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9946358-B2
Application number	US-201715601219-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 22, 2017
Priority date	Dec 8, 2008
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

A flexible display device and a data displaying method thereof are disclosed. The device includes a touch sensor to generate touch events according to touch actions, a flexible sensor to generate a bend signal as one side of the device is bent, a storage unit to store a function table, and a controller to control the components of the device. The function table is configured to define control operations to reproduce currently output contents based on the touch events and the bend events.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible display device, comprising:
a display configured to display content;
a touch sensor configured to detect a touch;
a bending sensor configured to detect deformation of the display; and
a processor configured to perform a function corresponding to a location of the touch in response to the touch sensor detecting the touch and the bending sensor detecting the deformation of the display,
wherein a first function is performed based on the touch being detected on a first location and a second function is performed based on the touch being detected on a second location.

2. The flexible display device of claim 1 , wherein the flexible display device is folded with respect to a center axis so that the display includes a first display and a second display which are connected to each other with respect to the center axis.

3. The flexible display device of claim 2 , wherein if any one of the first and second displays is bent at a certain angle, the processor is configured to receive a deformation signal from the bending sensor and perform the first or second function.

4. The flexible display device of claim 3 , wherein the first or second function is a page turning function by moving a page from one of the first and second displays to the other of the first and second displays.

5. The flexible display device of claim 1 , wherein the deformation of the display is in a sinusoidal waveform.

6. The flexible display device of claim 1 , wherein the bending sensor is configured to generate at least two deformation signals based on the deformation of the display corresponding to different directions.

7. The flexible display device of claim 6 , wherein one of the at least two deformation signals contains information that represents the deformation where one side of the display with respect to a center axis of the flexible display device is bent upwards while another one of at least two deformation signals contains information that represents the deformation where the other side of the display with respect to the center axis of the flexible display device is bent downwards.

8. The flexible display device of claim 6 , wherein, if the processor receives a plurality of deformation signals having direction values different from each other, the processor is configured to control the display to enlarge or reduce a size of contents located in areas where the deformation has occurred, respectively, and then display the re-sized contents.

9. A method comprising:
detecting a touch of a display of a flexible display device;
detecting deformation of the display; and
performing a function corresponding to a location of the touch in response to detecting the touch and the deformation of the display,
wherein a first function is performed based on the touch being detected on a first location and a second function is performed based on the touch being detected on a second location.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprises receiving a deformation signal from the bending sensor and perform the first or second function, if any one of a first display and a second display is bent at a certain angle, wherein the flexible display device is folded with respect to a center axis so that the display includes the first display and the second display which are connected to each other with respect to the center axis.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first or second function is a page turning function by moving a page from one of the first and second displays to the other of the first and second displays.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the deformation of the display is in a sinusoidal waveform.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising generating at least two deformation signals based on the deformation of the display corresponding to different directions.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein one of the at least two deformation signals contains information that represents the deformation where one side of the display with respect to a center axis of the flexible display device is bent upwards while another one of at least two deformation signals contains information that represents the deformation where the other side of the display with respect to the center axis of the flexible display device is bent downwards.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, if a plurality of deformation signals having direction values different from each other are received, controlling the display to enlarge or reduce a size of contents located in areas where the deformation has occurred, respectively, and then display the re-sized contents.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kang Tae Young
• Hahm Kyoung Woon
• Kim Hyun Jin
• Sung Ju Yun

Classifications

• H04M1/0268

  including a flexible display panel · CPC title

• G02F1/133305

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

• G06F3/041

  Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means · CPC title

• G06F3/0483

  Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor · CPC title

• G02F1/13338

  Input devices, e.g. touch panels · CPC title