KR20180123644A - Flexible display apparatus and display method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a flexible display apparatus capable of activating or deactivating at least a part of a display region in accordance with bending. The flexible display apparatus comprises: a flexible display; a sensor; and a control unit displaying a notification message related to reception of a message in one region of the flexible display when a message is received while content is displayed on the flexible display and controlling the flexible display to display the received message in one region of the flexible display when bending of the flexible display is sensed by the sensor with the notification message displayed.

Description

[0001] FLEXIBLE DISPLAY APPARATUS AND DISPLAY METHOD THEREOF [0002]

The present invention relates to a flexible display device and a display method thereof, and more particularly, to a flexible display device capable of bending and a display method thereof.

Various types of display devices are being developed due to the development of electronic technology. In particular, display devices such as TVs, PCs, laptop computers, tablet PCs, mobile phones, MP3 players and the like are widely used in most households.

In recent years, efforts have been made to develop display devices in a more new form in order to meet the needs of users who want more new and various functions. This is what is called the next generation display.

One example of a next-generation display device is a flexible display device. A flexible display device refers to a display device having characteristics such that it can be deformed like paper.

The flexible display device can be used for various purposes because the flexible display device can be bent by applying a force to deform the shape of the flexible display device. For example, a portable device such as a mobile phone or a tablet PC, an electronic photo frame, a PDA, or an MP3 player.

On the other hand, the flexible display device has a characteristic that it is flexible unlike the conventional display device. Accordingly, there is a need for a method of using the characteristic in various ways for the operation of the display device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible display device and a display method thereof capable of activating or deactivating at least a part of a display area in accordance with bending.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flexible display device including a flexible display unit, a sensing unit for sensing bending of the flexible display unit, And a control unit for determining a screen activation area and a screen inactivation area, and displaying a predetermined screen in the screen activation area.

The control unit may determine an area formed by at least two sides of the bending line formed by the bending and four sides of the flexible display unit as the screen activation area and the remaining area as the screen inactivation area.

The control unit determines the area between the two points at which the bending line meets the adjacent first and second sides of the flexible display unit and the vertex at which the adjacent first and second sides meet, Can be determined as the screen inactivation area.

In addition, the control unit may be configured such that the bending line is divided into two points at which the bending line meets the opposing third and fourth sides of the flexible display unit, and a fifth transition line connecting the third and fourth sides and the third and fourth sides, An area formed by two vertexes to be encountered may be determined as the screen activation area, and a remaining area may be determined as the screen inactive area.

The control unit reconfigures the original screen according to the size and shape of the active area and displays the original screen on the screen activated area when the bending is performed in a state where the original screen is displayed on the entire area of the flexible display unit, A screen part corresponding to the size and the shape of the screen activation area in the original screen can be displayed on the screen activation area.

The information processing apparatus may further include a storage unit that stores information on a plurality of functions and information on priorities assigned to the plurality of functions, wherein, when the screen activation area is determined, Determines the number of executable functions based on the type, executes the functions of the determined number from among the plurality of functions on the basis of the priority, and creates the screen including the objects corresponding to the executed functions .

Here, the priority may be different according to the position of the screen activation area.

The control unit may further include a storage unit for storing information on at least one function matched to each area of the flexible display unit. When the screen activation area is determined, the control unit performs a function of matching the location of the screen activation area , And the screen can be generated.

The storage unit may further store information on the priority assigned to each function. When the area matching the plurality of functions is included in the screen activation area, the controller may determine the size and shape of the screen activation area And sequentially executing the functions of the determined number among the plurality of functions on the basis of the priority and generating the screen including the object corresponding to each of the executed functions have.

In addition, when one application is executed and the execution screen of the application is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit, when the notification message related to another application is received, the control unit displays the notification message When the area in which the notification message is displayed is bended, a full screen of the notification message can be displayed in the bending area while displaying an execution screen of the application in the remaining area except the bending area.

When the flap operation of the bending area is detected in a state where the telegram of the notification message is displayed in the bending area, the control unit executes the other application, and displays the execution screen for the other application on the flexible display Can be displayed in the entire area of the area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of displaying a flexible display device including sensing a bending of a flexible display unit of the flexible display device, Determining an area and a screen inactive area, and displaying the screen on the screen active area.

The step of determining the screen activation area and the screen inactivation area may include determining a region formed by at least two sides of the bending line formed by the bending and four sides of the flexible display unit as the screen activation area, It can be determined as the inactive area.

The step of determining the screen activation area and the screen inactivation area may include determining a screen activation area and a screen inactive area based on at least one of two points where the bending line meets adjacent first and second sides of the flexible display part, It may be determined as the screen activation area, and the remaining area may be determined as the screen inactivation area.

In addition, the step of determining the screen activation area and the screen inactive area may include: determining two points at which the bending line meets the opposing third and fourth sides of the flexible display part and the second and third opposing third and fourth sides, And the fifth side connecting the fourth sides may be determined as the screen activation area and the remaining area may be determined as the screen inactivation area.

Also, the displaying of the screen may include reconfiguring the original screen according to the size and shape of the screen active area when the bending is performed while the original screen is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit, Area, or a screen portion corresponding to the size and shape of the screen-activated region in the original screen can be displayed on the screen-activated region.

The step of displaying the screen may include determining a number of executable functions based on the size and the shape of the screen activation area when the screen activation area is determined, Executing a predetermined number of functions among the plurality of functions on the basis of a predetermined priority for each of the plurality of functions; generating the screen including the objects corresponding to the executed functions, .

Here, the priority may be different according to the position of the screen activation area.

In addition, the step of displaying the screen may include determining, when the screen activation area is determined, a function matching the position of the screen activation area among the information on at least one function stored and matched for each area of the flexible display part Generating the screen by executing the verified function, and displaying the generated screen in the screen activation area.

The step of displaying the screen may include the steps of determining the number of functions to be executed according to the size and the shape of the screen activation area when the area matching the plurality of functions is included in the screen activation area, Sequentially executing the functions of the determined number among the plurality of functions based on a pre-assigned priority for each of the plurality of functions, generating the screen including the objects corresponding to the executed functions, And displaying the screen in the screen activation area.

According to various embodiments of the present invention described above, it is possible to efficiently manage the power of the flexible display device.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a flexible display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view for explaining a basic structure of a flexible display unit constituting a flexible display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 to 5 are views for explaining a bending sensing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 and 7 are views for explaining a method of detecting bending in a flexible display device using a bend sensor in an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view for explaining a method of determining the degree of bending according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a view for explaining a method of determining the degree of bending according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 and 11 are views for explaining a method of sensing a bending direction using an overlapped bend sensor.
12 shows a state in which two bend sensors are disposed on both sides of the flexible display portion.
13 is a view for explaining an embodiment in which one or two bend sensors are arranged.
14 is a view showing an embodiment for detecting bending using a plurality of strain gauges.
FIG. 15 is a view for explaining a method of sensing a bending direction by using an acceleration sensor as an example of such sensors.
16 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a detailed configuration of a flexible display device for explaining an operation according to various embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the detailed configuration of the control unit shown in FIG. 16. FIG.
18 is a diagram illustrating a software structure of a storage unit for supporting operations of a control unit according to various embodiments described above.
19 is a view for explaining a display method of a flexible display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
20 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining an activation region according to various embodiments of the present invention.
20 is a view for explaining a method of recognizing a screen activation area according to an embodiment of the present invention.
22 is a view for explaining a method of displaying a screen in an active area according to a bending operation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
23 is a view for explaining a display method according to the form of a screen activation area according to various embodiments of the present invention.
FIGS. 24 and 25 are views for explaining a display method according to the size and position of a screen activation area in an embodiment of the present invention.
26 and 27 are flowcharts for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
28 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
29 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
30 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
31 is a view for explaining a method of adjusting a screen activation area according to an embodiment of the present invention.
32 is a view for explaining a display method according to a screen activation area adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
33 and 34 are views for explaining a screen inactivation method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
35 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
36 is a diagram showing an example of a form of a flexible apparatus built in a main body.
37 is a view showing a flexible apparatus in which the power supply unit 180 can be detachably attached.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a flexible display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the flexible display device 100 includes a flexible display unit 110, a sensing unit 120, and a control unit 130.

The flexible display unit 110 displays a screen. The flexible display device 100 including the flexible display unit 110 has a bendable characteristic. Accordingly, the flexible display unit 110 must be made of a structure and material capable of bending. The detailed configuration of the flexible display unit 110 will be described later.

The sensing unit 120 may sense the bending of the flexible display unit 110. The bending / folding angle, bending / folding strength, bending / folding speed, bending / folding frequency, bending / folding angle, The time of occurrence of the folding operation, the bending / folding holding time, and the like can be recognized.

In addition, the sensing unit 120 can recognize the bending strength by measuring the curvature radius R of the bending position through the resistance value distribution output from the bend sensor or the pressure distribution sensed by the pressure sensor.

In addition, the sensing unit 120 can recognize the bending speed based on the resistance value distribution output from the bend sensor or the change in the bending position and intensity detected through the change in the pressure distribution sensed by the pressure sensor.

In addition, the sensing unit 120 may sense a change in the bending state. Specifically, changes in bending / folding position, bending / folding direction change, bending / folding angle change, bending / folding strength change, and the like can be recognized.

The control unit 130 determines a screen activation area and a screen activation area of the display area of the flexible display unit 110 based on the bending sensed by the sensing unit 120. [

The control unit 130 determines a screen activation area and a screen inactive area of the display area of the flexible display unit 110 based on the bending of the output sensed signal. Specifically, the controller 130 can distinguish the screen activation area and the screen inactivation area based on the bending line formed by bending.

Meanwhile, the control unit 130 can detect the bending line through a resistance value distribution output from the bend sensor constituting the sensing unit 120 or a change in the pressure distribution sensed by the pressure sensor. Here, the bending line may be the point where the degree of bending is greatest on the area where the bending is generated. For example, a virtual line connecting a bending point (or bending coordinate) having a maximum resistance value output from the bend sensor can be detected as a bending line. Further, when the bend sensor is implemented as a sensor (e.g., a strain gauge) positioned separately at a plurality of points, the bending point may be a point where each sensor is located, One imaginary line can be a bending line.

Then, the controller 130 may display the screen in the determined screen activation area and switch the screen inactive area to the standby state. Here, the screen standby state may be a screen off state, a screen lock state, a security screen state, or the like. Here, the screen-off state indicates a state in which input is not possible using information displayed on the screen in a state that the screen is off, a state in which the other functions can not be used unless the screen is turned on but the specified input is not input, State means a state in which the user must make a designated input in order to switch to the screen activation.

For example, in the case of an OLED, since there is a light emitting device for each pixel, ON / OFF is possible for each pixel. Basically, when power is not supplied to the OLED light emitting element, the screen inactive area can be displayed as Black because it is displayed as Black.

In addition, a method of applying a grid-type backlight capable of ON / OFF of a backlight in a grid unit for processing a screen inactive area in the case of an LCD, and various other methods for controlling ON / OFF of a backlight in each area may be applied .

In addition, the controller 130 may turn the inactive region into a turn-off state, as the case may be, where the turn-off state may indicate a state where all the inputs and outputs are stopped while the power is off .

Meanwhile, in the above-described example, the inactive state is an optional one of a turn-off state, a screen-off state, a screen-lock state, and a secure screen state. However, this is an embodiment only, It is also possible to implement. For example, in a disabled state, a screen off state and a secure screen state can be simultaneously applied.

Meanwhile, when the bending / folding operation detected through the sensing unit 120 satisfies a predetermined condition, the controller 130 recognizes that the operation is an operation for switching the screen inactive area to the screen active area.

Specifically, when there is a bending operation for a designated position, when there is a bending operation at a specified position or more than a specified angle, if there is a continuous bending operation for a designated number of times at a specified position, It is possible to switch the screen inactive area to the screen active area in the case where there is a bending operation at a designated position or a bending operation at a specified speed or more, a bending operation is maintained at a designated position for a specified time or more.

For example, there may be a case where the user folds the flexible display device 100 in half. In this case, the operation in which the flexible display unit 110 is folded in half may be stored so as not to be recognized as an operation for switching the screen inactive area to the screen activated area.

In addition, when the sensing unit 120 for detecting bending in a screen turn-off state or a screen off state is in the inactive state, when the bending of a predetermined intensity / angle or more is input, And may activate the sensing unit 120 for recognizing the bending operation.

Alternatively, the control unit 130 may activate the sensing unit 120 in the inactive state according to a user command through a specific button input.

Meanwhile, the control unit 130 may control the different function of the region that is switched to the screen activation state according to the type of the screen inactive state. For example, the control unit 130 may display an application icon in a screen-locked state and display an application icon displayed in an activated area when a certain area is switched to an active state according to bending. However, this is merely an embodiment, and it is also possible to display a background image, an object different from the background image, and the like in the screen locked state.

If the execution screen of the application corresponding to the screen activation area is larger than the size of the screen-activated area, the control unit 130 may display an execution screen of another application matching the size of the activation area.

In addition, when the GUI element displayed in the screen activation area moves along the bending direction, the control unit 130 can execute the application in the area where the GUI element is moved. For example, when a GUI element moves in a state where a plurality of application icons are displayed in a screen activation area, when a GUI element overlaps with a specific application icon according to movement of the GUI element, or when the GUI element is positioned within a predetermined distance range The application corresponding to the application icon can be executed.

Determining the screen activation area

Meanwhile, the controller 130 may determine an area formed by at least two sides of the detected bending line and four sides of the flexible display unit 110 as a screen activation area, and determine the remaining area as a screen inactivation area.

For example, the control unit 130 determines a region formed by two points where the detected bending line meets adjacent first and second sides of the flexible display unit 110 and a vertex where the first and second sides meet, as a screen activation region , And the remaining area can be determined as the screen inactivation area.

Alternatively, the control unit 130 controls the bending line to move the third and fourth sides opposite to the two points where the bending line meets the opposing third and fourth sides of the flexible display unit 110, The area formed by the two vertexes where the sides meet can be determined as the screen activation area, and the remaining area can be determined as the screen inactive area.

In addition, the controller 130 may determine a region in which the positional movement is detected by the bending operation as a screen activation region and a remaining region as a screen inactivation region. Specifically, the area where the movement is detected by the folding and holding operation, the area where the movement is detected by the folding and flap operation, the area where the movement is detected due to the folding and flap operation, It is possible to determine at least one region among the other regions in which the contact is made to be the screen activation region.

Here, the area where the movement is detected by the folding and holding operation may be the front face of the flexible display unit 110, but it may be the rear face. In case of the rear face, the flexible display unit 110 may be implemented as a two- have. Specific examples for determining the above-described screen-active area and screen-deactivated area will be described later with reference to the drawings.

Activation Display for Area

On the other hand, the controller 130 may determine a screen activation area corresponding to the bending and display the screen corresponding to the determined screen activation area. For example, the control unit 130 adjusts the (0, 0) point to the edge or corner of the portion held for bending, activates the graphic from the point, Can be controlled to be activated.

In addition, the controller 130 can display information optimized for the size of the determined screen activation area.

Specifically, the control unit 130 may rescale and display an image corresponding to the size of the screen activation area using a vector graphic technique. That is, in the vector-based GUI, since the image is not damaged even if the image size is converted, the image can be rescaled to display information optimized for the size of the screen activation area.

If the information is centered on the text, the controller 130 may adjust the number of the text lines and the number of texts included in one line to be optimized according to the size of the screen active area. In addition, the controller 130 can change the text size to fit the size of the screen activation area, for example, within a predetermined minimum size and maximum size range.

In addition, the controller 130 can rearrange and display the content corresponding to the screen activation area in consideration of the type, position, direction of the bending line, and the like of the screen activation area.

In addition, the controller 130 may convert the corresponding contents into various layouts in consideration of the inclined angle of the flexible display device 100 as well as the form of the screen activation area of the flexible display device 100, and display the corresponding contents. For example, when the bending area is activated, the brightness of the display can be automatically adjusted in consideration of the bending angle because the view angle may be caused by the angle of view.

In addition, the controller 130 may convert the corresponding contents into various layouts and display the corresponding contents in consideration of the radius of curvature R due to bending. For example, a layout suitable for the user's view considering the readability of the contents and the like may be changed according to the radius of curvature R, so that a suitable layout can be provided in consideration of the inclined angle.

In addition, when the screen activation area is determined, the control unit 130 can display information corresponding to a function having a higher priority among a plurality of functions in the determined screen activation area. Specifically, the control unit 130 may display a widget having a high priority or a frequently used application in the screen activation area. Here, the priority may be determined by the number of times of use, the period of use, and the like. For example, clocks, weather, news clips, application information in which Noti was received, buttons of frequently used applications, information of recently used applications, and the like can be displayed. In particular, in the case of a message application, only recently received message information can be displayed in the active area. If the contents of the message are large, the contents of the message may be changed at predetermined time intervals, or information may be changed if there is a user operation (e.g., touch, touch and drag, etc.) on the screen activation area.

Specifically, the controller 130 determines the number of executable functions on the basis of the size and type of the determined screen activation area, executes the functions as many as the determined number of functions based on the priority, Can be generated. In this case, the information on the plurality of functions and the information on the priority assigned to the plurality of functions may be stored or received from the outside. In addition, the priority can be set differently according to the position of the activation region.

In addition, information on at least one function matched to each area of the flexible display unit 110 may be stored in advance. When the screen activation area is determined, the control unit 130 performs a function of matching the position of the screen activation area And generate a screen. In this case, more information about the priority assigned to each function may be stored. If the area matching the plurality of functions is included in the activation area, It is possible to determine the number of functions to be executed and to execute the functions of the determined number of functions sequentially or simultaneously based on the priority and to generate a screen including the objects corresponding to the executed functions.

In addition, the control unit 130 can control the function assigned to the screen activation area due to bending to be executed when the screen is in the standby state but the specific application is running. Here, the designated function may be a function related to the running application, but may be a basic function such as a notification function, an RSS feed confirmation, a clock, a calendar, a schedule, and Noti information. For example, when a specific application is running in the background of the idle screen, a lower function of the running application may be executed in the screen activation area due to bending, or other related applications may be executed. In other words, when music is being reproduced, a music control button, a network release button or the like can be displayed. Alternatively, the designated function may be a function preset by the user. For example, a user can map a photo application to a screen activation area, and in this case, it is possible to automatically reproduce a photo previously stored in the screen activation area, a photo added to the SNS, and a popular photo on the Internet .

In addition, the control unit 130 may display a screen for releasing the locked state in the screen activation area. For example, if the flexible display unit 110 is activated when a button is displayed in the screen activation area to input a password and the bending is released, or when the bending is released in a state where at least one touch is present in the screen activation area, 110 may be activated. In this case, it is also possible to induce a touch on the screen activation area or to display a guiding GUI.

Also, when there is Noti information that has not been checked, the control unit 130 can display it in the active area together with the application information having the corresponding Noti in a text form.

Also, when there is multi-bending, the control unit 130 can display a screen corresponding to a plurality of active areas determined according to the multi-bending.

In addition, when a part of the area is bended while the screen is already activated, the control unit 130 may reactivate the bending area to another screen.

When bending is performed in a state where the original screen is displayed on the entire area of the flexible display unit 110, the control unit 130 can reconstruct the original screen according to the size and shape of the screen active area and display it on the active area have.

Alternatively, when bending is performed in a state where an original screen is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit 110, the controller 130 displays a screen part corresponding to the size and shape of the screen activation area in the original screen, can do.

In addition, when one application is executed and the execution screen of the application is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit 110, when the notification message related to the other application is received, the control unit 130 notifies the user of one area of the execution screen Message can be displayed.

In addition, when the area in which the notification message is displayed is bended, the control unit 130 can display the advertisement message in the bending area while displaying the execution screen of the application in the remaining area except the bending area.

When a flap operation in which the bending area is expanded is detected in a state where the telegram of the notification message is displayed in the bending area, the control unit 130 executes another application and displays an execution screen for another application on the entire screen of the flexible display unit 110 Area.

When the flexible display device 100 is rebounded in a state where an execution screen for another application is displayed on the entire area of the flexible display unit 110, The lower-level function corresponding to the lower-level function can be executed.

When the bending direction of the area where the notification message is displayed is rebounded, the control unit 130 deletes the displayed notification message and displays the execution screen of the application on the entire area of the flexible display unit 110 .

Also, the controller 130 may display different information depending on the position of the bending area. For example, in the case of corner bending, it is displayed as a center of a widget displayed as an image, such as a clock or a weather information, rather than text-based information. Can be displayed.

In addition, when the bending area is returned to the flat state, the controller 130 can switch to the standby state.

Expansion of screen activation area

When bending is started from one end of the flexible display unit 110, the control unit 130 bends the end of the flexible display unit 110 so as to contact the other end of the flexible display unit 110 and then returns to the original flat state. .

On the other hand, when the screen activation area and the screen inactive area are determined on the basis of the bending line and the screen is displayed on the screen activation area, the controller 130 controls the touch and drag (touch and drag) operation is detected, the active area can be extended to the position where the bending line is moved.

In addition, when the screen activation area and the screen inactive area are determined based on the bending line and the bending line is continuously moved through the bending operation instead of the touch operation while the screen is displayed in the screen activation area The screen activation area can be extended to the position where the edge bending line is moved. Here, the movement of the bending line may be determined by whether the coordinate value of the bending line that outputs the maximum resistance value is continuously changed in a specific direction.

On the other hand, when the screen activation area is expanded, the controller 130 may enlarge and display the contents that have been displayed in the screen activation area or display other information besides the information that has been displayed in the extended screen activation area.

Other Embodiments

In the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that there is only one bending line. However, this is merely an example, and the bending line may be two or more. When two or more bending lines are detected, at least one of the screen activation area and the screen inactive area may include two or more separated areas. For example, the first area formed by the two points where the first bending line meets the adjacent first and second sides of the flexible display unit 110 and the vertex where the first and second sides meet is the first activation area, The second area formed by the two points where the second bending line meets the adjacent third and fourth sides of the flexible display unit 110 and the vertex where the third and fourth sides meet is the second active area, It may be an inactive area. Alternatively, it may be possible that the first and second areas become inactive areas, and the remaining areas become the screen activated areas.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a part of the area is switched to the active state according to bending in the inactive state of the screen of the flexible display unit 120. However, this is only an embodiment, , Some areas of the bend may be inactive when the screen is active.

For example, if some areas are folded while the screen is active, the contents displayed on the inner side of the folding area may be moved to a non-folding area and displayed, and the folding area may be disabled. In this case, the contents originally displayed in the unfolded area are also moved in the bending direction and displayed, so that some contents may disappear on the screen. Or, the content that was originally displayed in the unfolded area may disappear on the screen.

Alternatively, the contents displayed on the inner side of the folding area may not be displayed on the screen, and only the contents displayed on the non-folding area may be displayed.

Alternatively, the functions associated with the contents that were displayed in the unfolded area may be performed in the active area, regardless of the contents displayed in the folding area.

Various functions provided in the screen activation area

Meanwhile, functions provided in the screen activation area of the flexible display device 100 may take various forms according to the type of the flexible display device 100. [

For example, when the flexible display device 100 is a cellular phone, the control unit 130 selects one of various functions such as a telephone connection, a rejection, a menu display, a character transmission / reception, an application selection and execution, As shown in FIG. As another example, when the flexible display device 100 is a TV, it is possible to perform a function corresponding to an active area among various functions such as channel selection, volume control, brightness control, color control, contrast control, and the like. In addition, the flexible display device 100 may be implemented as various types of display devices such as a PDA, an electronic photo frame, an electronic book, an electronic notebook, an MP3 player, a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a monitor, Various functions can be performed according to the characteristics.

Meanwhile, as described above, the flexible display unit 110 should be manufactured in a form capable of bending. The sensing unit 120 may sense the bending state in various ways.

Hereinafter, the detailed configuration of the flexible display unit 110 and the bending sensing method therefor will be described in detail.

<Structure of Flexible Flexible Display Unit and Example of Bending Detection Method>

2 is a view for explaining a basic structure of a flexible display unit constituting a flexible display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2, the flexible display unit 110 includes a substrate 111, a driving unit 112, a display panel 113, and a protective layer 114.

The flexible display device 100 refers to a device that can be bent, bent, folded, or curled like a paper while maintaining the display characteristics of a conventional flat panel display device. Therefore, the flexible display device must be fabricated on a flexible substrate.

Specifically, the substrate 111 can be embodied as a plastic substrate (e.g., a polymer film) that can be deformed by external pressure.

The plastic substrate has a structure in which a base film is treated with a barrier coating on both sides. In the case of the base material, it can be realized by various resins such as PI (Polyimide), PC (Polycarbonate), PET (Polyethyleneterephtalate), PES (Polyethersulfone), PEN (Polysilene Epthalate) and FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic). And, the barrier coating is performed on the surfaces facing each other in the base material, and an organic film or an inorganic film can be used to maintain flexibility.

The substrate 111 may be formed of a flexible material such as a thin glass or a metal foil in addition to a plastic substrate.

The driving unit 112 functions to drive the display panel 113. Specifically, the driving unit 112 may apply a driving voltage to a plurality of pixels constituting the display panel 113, and may be implemented as an a-si TFT, a low temperature poly silicon (LTPS) TFT, an OTFT (organic TFT) have. The driving unit 112 may be implemented in various forms according to the embodiment of the display panel 113. For example, the display panel 113 may include an organic light emitting element composed of a plurality of pixel cells and an electrode layer covering both sides of the organic light emitting element. In this case, the driving unit 112 may include a plurality of transistors corresponding to the respective pixel cells of the display panel 113. The controller 130 applies an electric signal to the gates of the respective transistors to emit the pixel cells connected to the transistors. Accordingly, an image can be displayed.

Alternatively, the display panel 113 may be implemented as an EL, an electrophoretic display (EPD), an electrochromic display (ECD), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an AMLCD, a plasma display panel (PDP) However, in the case of an LCD, a separate backlight is required because it can not emit light by itself. For LCDs where no backlight is used, ambient light is used. Therefore, in order to use the LCD display panel 113 without a backlight, conditions such as an outdoor environment with a large amount of light must be satisfied.

The protective layer 114 functions to protect the display panel 113. For example, materials such as ZrO 2, CeO 2, and Th 2 O 2 may be used for the protective layer 114. The protective layer 114 may be formed in the form of a transparent film to cover the entire surface of the display panel 113.

2, the flexible display unit 110 may be implemented as an electronic paper. Electronic paper is a kind of display that applies general ink characteristics to paper, and differs from ordinary flat panel displays in that it uses reflected light. On the other hand, the electronic paper can be changed by using a twist ball or electrophoresis using a capsule.

On the other hand, when the flexible display unit 110 is made of a transparent material, it can be realized as a display device having bending properties and transparency. For example, when the substrate 111 is formed of a polymer material such as plastic having a transparent property, the driving unit 112 is implemented as a transparent transistor, and the display panel 113 is implemented as a transparent organic light emitting layer and a transparent electrode, Lt; / RTI &gt;

Transparent transistor means a transistor fabricated by replacing opaque silicon of a conventional thin film transistor with a transparent material such as transparent zinc oxide, titanium oxide, or the like. As the transparent electrode, a new material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or graphene may be used. Graphene refers to a substance with a transparent nature that forms a honeycomb-like planar structure of carbon atoms. In addition, the transparent organic light emitting layer may be formed of various materials.

3 is a view for explaining a bending sensing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The flexible display device 100 may be bent by external pressure and deformed in shape. Bending can include both normal bending, folding, and rolling. Here, the normal bending means a state in which the flexible display device is bent.

Folding refers to a state in which the flexible display device is folded. Here, the folding and general bending can be classified according to the degree of bending. For example, when the bending is performed at a predetermined bending angle or more, the bending angle is defined as a folded state, and when the bending angle is less than the bending angle, it is defined as general bending.

Rolling means that the flexible display device is being rolled. Rolling can also be judged based on the bending angle. For example, a state in which bending over a predetermined bending angle is sensed over a certain area can be defined as rolling. On the other hand, a state in which bending less than a predetermined bending angle is detected in a relatively small area as compared with rolling can be defined as folding. The general bending, folding, rolling, etc. described above may be determined based on the radius of curvature in addition to the bending angle.

In addition, a state in which the cross section of the curled portion of the flexible display device 100 has a substantially circular shape or a shape close to an ellipse can be defined as rolling regardless of the radius of curvature.

However, the definition of the various form variations as described above is merely an example, and may be defined differently depending on the type, size, weight, and characteristics of the flexible display device. For example, if the surfaces of the flexible display device 100 are bendable enough to touch each other, the folding may be defined as a state in which the device surfaces contact each other at the same time as bending. On the other hand, rolling may be defined as a state in which the front surface and the back surface of the flexible display device are in contact with each other due to bending.

Hereinafter, the general bending state according to an embodiment of the present invention is assumed to be a bending state for convenience of description.

The flexible display device 100 can sense bending in various ways.

For example, the sensing unit 120 may include a bend sensor disposed on one surface such as a front surface or a back surface of the flexible display unit 110, or a bend sensor disposed on both surfaces. The controller 130 may sense the bending by using a value sensed by the bend sensor of the sensing unit 120.

Here, the bend sensor refers to a sensor that can bend itself and has a characteristic that the resistance value varies depending on the degree of bending. The bend sensor can be implemented in various forms such as an optical fiber bend sensor, a pressure sensor, a strain gauge, and the like.

The sensing unit 120 senses the resistance value of the bend sensor using the magnitude of the voltage applied to the bend sensor or the magnitude of the current flowing through the bend sensor, and determines the bending state Can be detected.

3 shows a state in which the bend sensor is embedded in the front surface of the flexible display unit 110. However, this is merely an example, and the bend sensor may be embedded in the back surface of the flexible display unit 110, It is possible. In addition, the shape, number, and position of the bend sensor can be variously changed. For example, the flexible display unit 110 may be combined with one bend sensor or a plurality of bend sensors. Here, one bend sensor may sense one bending data, but one bend sensor may have a plurality of sensing channels for sensing a plurality of bending data.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a plurality of bar-shaped bend sensors are arranged in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction to form a lattice shape.

3, the bend sensor includes bend sensors 21-1 through 21-5 arranged in a first direction and bend sensors 22-1 through 22-5 arranged in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction . Each of the bend sensors may be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

In FIG. 3, five bend sensors 21-1 to 21-5 and 22-1 to 22-5 are arranged in each of the horizontal and vertical directions. However, this is only an example. It goes without saying that the number of bend sensors can be changed. As described above, the bend sensors are disposed in the horizontal and vertical directions to detect bending occurring in the entire area of the flexible display device. Therefore, in the case where the device has a flexible characteristic or needs to detect bending only in a part , The bend sensor may be disposed only at the corresponding portion.

Each of the bend sensors 21-1 to 21-5 and 22-1 to 22-5 can be realized in the form of an electric resistance sensor using an electric resistance or a micro optical fiber sensor using a strain of an optical fiber. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that a bend sensor is implemented as an electric resistance sensor.

4, when the central region located at the center of the left and right edges of the flexible display device 100 is bent downward, the tension due to bending is applied to the bend sensors disposed in the transverse direction 21-1 to 21-5). Accordingly, the resistance values of the respective bend sensors 21-1 to 21-5 arranged in the lateral direction are changed. The sensing unit 120 senses a change in the output value output from each of the bend sensors 21-1 to 21-5 and senses the bending in the horizontal direction based on the center of the display surface. 4, the central region is bent in a downward direction (hereinafter, referred to as Z-direction) perpendicular to the display surface. However, in the upward direction perpendicular to the display surface (hereinafter referred to as Z + direction) It is possible to detect based on the change in the output value of the bend sensors 21-1 to 21-5 in the lateral direction.

5, when the shape of the flexible display device 100 is bent so that the central region located at the center thereof is directed upward, the bend sensors 22- 1 to 22-5. The sensing unit 120 may sense shape deformation in the vertical direction based on output values of the vertically arranged bend sensors 22-1 to 22-5. Although FIG. 5 shows the bending in the Z + direction, it is needless to say that bending in the Z-direction can also be detected using the bend sensors 22-1 to 22-5 arranged in the longitudinal direction.

On the other hand, in the case of the diagonal shape deformation, the tensile force is applied to all of the bend sensors disposed in the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction, so that the shape deformation in the diagonal direction is detected based on the output value of the bend sensor arranged in the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction .

Hereinafter, a concrete method of detecting each type of deformation such as general bending, folding, and rolling using a bend sensor will be described.

6 and 7 are views for explaining a method of detecting bending in a flexible display device using a bend sensor in an embodiment of the present invention.

First, FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the flexible display device 100 when the flexible display device is bent.

When the flexible display device 100 is bent, the bend sensors disposed on one side or both sides of the flexible display device are bent together and have a resistance value corresponding to the applied tension, and output corresponding output values.

For example, when the flexible display device 100 is bent as shown in FIG. 6, the bend sensor 31-1 disposed on the back surface of the flexible display device 100 is also bent, and the resistance value according to the magnitude of the applied tension Output.

In this case, the strength of the tension increases in proportion to the degree of bending. For example, when bending is performed as shown in FIG. 6, the degree of bending of the central region becomes the largest. Therefore, the largest tensile force is applied to the bend sensor 31-1 disposed at the position a3, which is the center area, and thus the bend sensor 31-1 has the largest resistance value. On the other hand, the degree of bending decreases toward the outside. Accordingly, the bend sensor 31-1 has a smaller resistance value toward the points a2 and a1 or a3 and a5 than the point a3 on the basis of a3 point.

If the resistance value output from the bend sensor has the maximum value at a specific point and the resistance value output from the bend sensor decreases toward both directions, the sensing unit 120 determines that the region where the maximum resistance value is detected is the region where bending is performed can do. In addition, the sensing unit 120 may determine that the region where the resistance value is not changed is a flat region where bending is not performed, and that the region where the resistance value is changed by a predetermined amount or more is a bending region where bending is even a little .

7 is a view for explaining a method of defining a bending region in an embodiment of the present invention. In the case of FIG. 7, since the flexible display device is bent in the lateral direction with respect to the front surface, the bend sensors arranged in the longitudinal direction are not shown for convenience of explanation. In addition, although the reference numerals of the respective bend sensors are given differently for the sake of convenience of explanation, the bend sensors such as the structure shown in Fig. 3 may actually be used as they are.

The bending area refers to a bent area of the flexible display device. Since the bend sensor is bent together by bending, the bending region can be defined as any point where a bend sensor outputting a resistance value different from that in the original state is disposed.

The sensing unit 120 detects a change in the resistance value based on the relationship between the points where the change in the resistance value is sensed. The sensing unit 120 determines the bending line size, the bending line direction, the bending line position, the number of bending lines, Speed, the size of the bending area, the position of the bending area, the number of bending areas, and the like.

Specifically, when the distance between the points at which the resistance value change is detected is within the predetermined distance, the points for outputting the resistance value are detected as one bending area. On the other hand, if there is a point where the distance between the points where the resistance value change is detected is separated by a predetermined distance or more, it can be defined by dividing the points into different bending areas based on these points. See FIG. 7 for a more detailed description.

7 is a view for explaining a method of detecting one bending area. When the flexible display device 100 is bent as shown in Fig. 7, from the points a1 to a5 of the bend sensor 31-1, from the b1 point to the b5 point of the bend sensor 31-2, the bend sensor 31- 3 from the c1 point to the c5 point and from the d1 point to the d5 point of the bend sensor 31-4, from the e1 point to the e5 point of the bend sensor 31-5.

In this case, the points where the change in the resistance value is sensed by each of the bend sensors 31-1 to 31-5 are located within a predetermined distance from each other and are continuously arranged.

Therefore, the sensing unit 120 can detect the bend from the points c1 to c5 in the bend sensor 31-3 from b1 to b5 in the bend sensor 31-2 from a1 point to a5 point in the bend sensor 31-1, The bend sensor 31-5 detects the area 32 including all the areas from the e1 point to the e5 point as one bending area from the d1 point to the d5 point in the bend sensor 31-4.

On the other hand, the bending region may include a bending line. The bending line may be a line connecting different points for outputting the maximum value from the bend sensor. That is, the bending line may be defined as a line connecting the points where the largest resistance value is detected in each bending area.

For example, in point b _3, the bend sensor 31-3 outputs the greatest resistance value in a ₃ point bend sensor 31-2 outputs the greatest resistance value in the bending region 33. In the case of Figure 7 C ₃ point for outputting the largest resistance value, d ₃ point for outputting the largest resistance value at the bend sensor 31-4, and e ₃ point for outputting the largest resistance value at the bend sensor 31-5 Line 33 can be defined as a bending line. 7 shows a state in which the bending line is formed in the longitudinal direction in the central area of the display surface.

8 is a view for explaining a method of determining the degree of bending according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the flexible display device 100 determines the extent to which the flexible display device 100 is bent, that is, the bending angle, by using a change in the magnitude of the resistance value output at regular intervals in the bend sensor.

Specifically, the controller 130 calculates a difference between a resistance value at a point where the largest resistance value is output from the bend sensor and a resistance value that is output at a point apart from the point by a predetermined distance.

Then, the controller 130 can determine the degree of bending using the calculated resistance value difference. Specifically, the flexible display device 100 may divide the degree of bending into a plurality of levels, and may store and store a resistance value having a predetermined range for each level.

Accordingly, the flexible display device can determine the degree of bending of the flexible display device according to a level belonging to a plurality of levels classified according to the degree of bending of the calculated resistance value difference.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the resistance value outputted at the point a5 at which the largest resistance value is output from the bend sensor 41 provided at the back surface of the flexible display device 100 and the resistance value outputted at the point a4 The degree of bending can be judged based on the difference in resistance value output from the resistance value outputting means.

Specifically, of the plurality of pre-stored levels, the level to which the resistance value difference calculated in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 belongs can be checked, and the degree of bending corresponding to the confirmed level can be determined. Here, the degree of bending may be expressed by a bending angle or a bending strength.

On the other hand, if the degree of bending increases as shown in FIG. 8, the difference between the resistance value output from the bend sensor a5 and the resistance value output from the a4 point becomes larger than the existing resistance value difference. Accordingly, the control unit 130 can determine that the degree of bending is greater.

Meanwhile, as described above, the bending direction of the flexible display device 100 may be changed in the Z + direction or the Z-direction.

9 is a view for explaining a method of determining the degree of bending according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The degree of bending can be determined by changing the bending radius R as shown in FIG. The size of the bending radius R can be determined through the difference in resistance value of each bend sensor as shown in FIG. 8, and therefore, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The layout for the screen active area may vary depending on the size of the bending radius R as described above.

On the other hand, the bending direction can also be sensed in various ways. For example, the bend sensors may be arranged in two overlapping positions to determine the bending direction according to the difference in the magnitude of the resistance value of each bend sensor. 10 and 11, a method of detecting the bending direction using the overlapping bend sensor will be described.

Referring to FIG. 10, two bend sensors 61 and 62 may be provided on one side of the flexible display unit 110, overlapping each other. In this case, when the bending is performed in one direction, the resistance values of the upper bend sensor 61 and the lower bend sensor 62 are detected differently at the point where the bending is performed. Therefore, when the resistance values of the two bend sensors 61 and 62 at the same point are compared, the bending direction can be known.

11, when the flexible display device 100 is bent in the Z + direction, at a point A corresponding to the bending line, a bend sensor 62 having a lower strength than the upper bend sensor 61 Tension is applied.

On the contrary, when the flexible display device 100 is bent in the backward direction, the upper bend sensor 61 is subjected to a greater tensile force than the lower bend sensor 62.

Accordingly, the control unit 130 can sense the bending direction by comparing the resistance value corresponding to the point A in the two bend sensors 61 and 62. [

In FIGS. 10 and 11, the two bend sensors are overlapped with each other on one side of the flexible display unit 110, but the bend sensor may be disposed on both sides of the flexible display unit 110.

12 shows a state in which two bend sensors 61 and 62 are disposed on both sides of the flexible display unit 110. Fig.

Accordingly, when the flexible display device 100 is bent in a first direction perpendicular to the screen (hereinafter referred to as Z + direction), the bend sensor disposed on the first surface of the flexible display unit 110 is subjected to a compressive force On the other hand, the bend sensor disposed on the second surface receives the tension. On the other hand, when bending in a second direction opposite to the first direction (hereinafter referred to as the Z-direction), the bend sensor disposed on the second surface receives compressive force, while the bend sensor disposed on the first surface . In this way, the values sensed by the two bend sensors are detected differently according to the bending direction, and the controller 130 can distinguish the bending direction according to the detection characteristics of the values.

10 to 12, bending directions are sensed using two bend sensors. However, the bending directions can also be determined by using only a strain gauge disposed on one surface of the flexible display unit 110. FIG. That is, since the strain gauge disposed on one surface is subjected to a compressive force or a tensile force according to the bending direction, the bending direction can be recognized by confirming the characteristics of the output value.

13 (a) shows an example of a configuration in which one bend sensor is disposed on one surface of the flexible display unit 110 to detect bending. 13 (a), the bend sensor 71 may be implemented in the shape of a closed curve that is a circle, a rectangle, or other polygon, and may be disposed at the edge of the flexible display unit 110. The control unit 130 may determine that a point where a change in the output value is detected on the closed curve is a bending area. In addition, the bend sensor may be combined with the flexible display unit 110 in the form of an open curve such as S, Z, or other zigzag.

Fig. 13 (b) shows an embodiment in which two bend sensors are arranged so as to intersect with each other. 13 (b), the first bend sensor 71 is disposed on the first side of the flexible display unit 110, and the second bend sensor 72 is disposed on the second side of the flexible display unit 110 do. The first bend sensor 71 is disposed in a first diagonal direction on a first surface of the flexible display portion 110 and the second bend sensor 72 is disposed in a second diagonal direction on a second surface. Accordingly, the first and second bend sensors 71 and 72 may be provided with various bending conditions such as when each edge area is bent, when each edge area is bent, when the center part is bent, when folding or rolling is performed, The output value and the output point are different from each other, and the controller 130 can determine what type of bending has been performed according to the output value characteristic.

Meanwhile, in the above-described various embodiments, a case in which line-shaped bend sensors are used is shown, but it is also possible to detect bending by using a plurality of fragmentary strain gauges.

14 is a view showing an embodiment for detecting bending using a plurality of strain gauges. The strain gauge detects the deformation of the surface of the object to be measured according to the change of the resistance value by using a metal or semiconductor whose resistance varies greatly depending on the magnitude of the applied force. In general, a material such as a metal has a characteristic in which the resistance value increases as the length increases according to the external force, and the resistance value decreases as the length decreases. Therefore, it is possible to judge whether or not the bending is performed by detecting the change in the resistance value.

According to Fig. 14, a plurality of strain gauges are disposed in the edge region of the flexible display unit 110. Fig. The number of strain gauges may vary depending on the size, shape, predetermined bending detection resolution, and the like of the flexible display unit 110.

With the strain gauges arranged as shown in Fig. 14, the user can bend an arbitrary point in an arbitrary direction. Specifically, when one corner area is bent, a force acts on the strain gage that overlaps the bending line among the strain gages 80-1 to 80-n arranged in the transverse direction. Accordingly, the output value of the strain gauge becomes larger than the output value of the other strain gauges. Also, among the strain gauges 80-n and 80-n + 1 to 80-m arranged in the longitudinal direction, a force acts on the strain gage overlapping the bending line, and the output value changes. The control unit 130 may determine that the line connecting the two strain gages whose output values have changed is a bending line.

Alternatively, the flexible display device 100 may sense the bending direction using various sensors such as a gyro sensor, a geomagnetism sensor, an acceleration sensor, or the like, as described in FIGS.

FIG. 15 is a view for explaining a method of sensing a bending direction by using an acceleration sensor as an example of such sensors. According to Fig. 15, the flexible display device 100 includes a plurality of acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2.

The acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2 are sensors that can measure the direction of the acceleration and the acceleration when a motion occurs. Specifically, the acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2 output a sensing value corresponding to the gravitational acceleration that varies according to the inclination of the apparatus to which the sensor is attached. Therefore, when the acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2 are disposed at both edge regions of the flexible display device, the output values sensed by the acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2 when the flexible display device is bent . The controller 130 calculates a pitch angle and a role angle using output values sensed by the acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2. Accordingly, the bending direction can be determined based on the degree of change of the pitch angle and the roll angle detected by the acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2.

15 shows the state in which the acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2 are disposed on both lateral edges of the flexible display device 100 in the transverse direction with respect to the front surface of the flexible display device 100. However, -2 may be arranged in the longitudinal direction. In this case, when the flexible display device 100 is bent in the longitudinal direction, the bending direction can be detected according to the measured values sensed by the angular acceleration sensors 81-1 and 81-2 in the vertical direction.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment, the acceleration sensor may be disposed on both the upper, lower, left, and right edges, or may be disposed in the corner area.

As described above, it is also possible to detect the bending direction by using a gyro sensor or a geomagnetic sensor in addition to the acceleration sensor. The gyro sensor is a sensor that detects angular velocity by measuring the force of Coriolis acting in the speed direction when rotational motion occurs. According to the measurement value of the gyro sensor, it is possible to detect in which direction the rotation is performed, so that the bending direction can be detected. The geomagnetic sensor is a sensor that detects the azimuth using a two-axis or three-axis fluxgate. In the case of a geomagnetic sensor, the geomagnetic sensor disposed at each edge of the flexible display device 100 is moved when its edge portion is bent, thereby outputting an electric signal corresponding to the geomagnetism change. The control unit 130 may calculate a yaw angle using a value output from the geomagnetic sensor. Accordingly, it is possible to determine various bending characteristics such as the bending area and the bending direction according to the calculated yaw angle variation.

As described above, the flexible display device 100 can detect bending using various types of sensors. The configuration and sensing method of the sensor described above may be applied to the flexible display device 100 individually or in combination with each other.

Meanwhile, the sensing unit 120 may sense an operation of touching the screen of the flexible display unit 110 in addition to bending.

Specifically, the sensing unit 120 can sense a touch using a contact type capacitance type, a pressure type resistive film type, an infrared ray detection type, a surface ultrasonic wave conduction type, an integral type tension measurement type, and a piezo effect type.

Here, the contact type electrostatic capacitance type refers to a method of sensing a position change by detecting a capacitance change when a finger is contacted.

In the pressure resistive membrane type, the upper and lower surfaces are in contact with each other through a pressing operation, and the resistance value changes. At this time, a voltage change occurs due to the current flowing at both ends. do.

In addition, the infrared ray detection method is an object capable of blocking light such as a finger in a monitor equipped with an Optp-Matrix frame, using light that is emitted from the infrared ray emitting diode when the screen is touched and is not sensed by the opposite phototransistor It is a way to sense the position.

Surface ultrasonic wave propagation is a method implemented by a simple principle using the propagation characteristics of ultrasonic waves propagating along the surface and the distance traveled at a certain time is constant, and the time interval of the sound reflected by the transmitter and the reflector is sensed .

In the integral type tension measurement method, when one of the corners is manually pressed, the tension measuring device on the pressed side of the tension measuring device provided at the four corners receives the most force, and is changed to an electric signal according to the degree of the increasing force, In this case, the controller computes the coordinate value by calculating the ratio of the electrical signals of the four corners.

The piezo effect method is a method of finding the touch position by calculating the ratio of the electrical signals of the four corners to the pressure applied to the four corners depending on the degree and position of the pressure when the user touches the touch panel.

For example, the sensing unit 120 may include a transparent conductive film such as indium-tin oxide (ITO) deposited on the substrate 111 in the flexible display unit 110 and a film formed on the transparent conductive film. Accordingly, when the user touches the screen, the upper and lower plates of the touched point are brought into contact with each other, and an electric signal is transmitted to the controller 130. The controller 130 recognizes the touch point by using the coordinates of the electrode to which the electric signal is transmitted. Since the touch sensing method is well known in various prior arts, further detailed description is omitted.

When the bending is detected in the inactive state of the screen, the controller 130 activates the bending area divided according to the bending line, or deactivates the bending area defined according to the bending line when the screen is activated and the bending is detected have. Since detailed functions of the control unit 130 have been described above, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

According to various embodiments of the present invention Flexible  Detailed configuration example of display device>

16 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a detailed configuration of a flexible display device for explaining an operation according to various embodiments of the present invention.

16, the flexible display device 100 includes a flexible display unit 110, a sensing unit 120, a control unit 130, a storage unit 140, a communication unit 150, a voice recognition unit 160, A speaker 180, external input ports 190-1 to 190-n, and a power supply unit 500. [

The flexible display unit 110 has a flexible characteristic. Since the detailed configuration and operation of the flexible display unit 110 have been described in detail in the above description, a duplicate description will be omitted.

Various programs and data related to the operation of the flexible display device 100, setting information set by the user, operating software, various application programs, and the like can be stored in the storage unit 140.

Also, the storage unit 140 may store information on the plurality of functions and information on priorities assigned to the plurality of functions.

In addition, the storage unit 140 may store information on at least one function that is matched for each area of the flexible display unit 110. FIG. In addition, the storage unit 140 may store information on the priority assigned to each function.

The sensing unit 120 senses a user operation, particularly a bending operation, a touch operation, and the like, occurring in the flexible display device 100 including the flexible display unit 110. 17, the sensing unit 120 includes a touch sensor 121, a geomagnetism sensor 122, an acceleration sensor 123, a bend sensor 124, a pressure sensor 125, a proximity sensor 126, a grip sensor 127), and the like.

The touch sensor 121 may be implemented as an electrostatic type or a pressure sensitive type. The electrostatic touch sensor senses the minute electricity that is excited by the user's body when a part of the user's body touches the surface of the flexible display unit 110 by using a dielectric coated on the surface of the flexible display unit 110, Means a sensor that calculates coordinates. The pressure sensitive type touch sensor includes two electrode plates built in the remote control device 200. When the user touches the upper and lower plates of the touched point, Sensor. In addition, infrared detection, surface ultrasonic wave propagation, integral strain measurement, and piezo effect can be used to detect touch operation.

Infrared sensing method is an object that can block light like a finger on a monitor equipped with an Optp-Matrix-frame. When the screen is touched, the light emitted from the infrared light emitting diode is blocked, .

Surface ultrasonic wave propagation is a simple principle that propagates along the ultrasonic wave surface and the distance traveled at a certain time is constant. It senses the time interval of the sound reflected by the transmitter and reflector. Method.

In addition, when the tension measuring device located at the pressed corner of the tension measuring device at four corners is subjected to the greatest force when one side edge is manually pressed, the integrated type tension measuring method is changed to an electric signal according to the degree of the increasing force, Use the delivered configuration. In this case, the controller can calculate the ratio of the electrical signals of the four corners to find out the touch position.

The piezo effect method is a method in which the degree of pressure applied to the four corners is different according to the degree and position of the touch pressure when the user touches them, and the controller calculates the coordinate value by calculating the ratio according to the degree of the pressure.

As described above, the touch sensor 121 can be implemented in various forms.

The geomagnetic sensor 122 is a sensor for sensing the rotation state and the moving direction of the flexible display device 100 and the acceleration sensor 123 is a sensor for sensing the degree of tilting of the flexible display device 100. The geomagnetic sensor 122 and the acceleration sensor 123 may be used to detect bending characteristics such as a bending direction and a bending area of the flexible display device 100. Alternatively, A rotating state or a tilted state of the rotating shaft 100, or the like.

The bend sensor 124 may be implemented in various shapes and numbers as described above to detect the bending state of the flexible display device 100. Since various examples of the configuration and operation of the bend sensor 124 have been described above, redundant description will be omitted.

The pressure sensor 125 senses the magnitude of the pressure applied to the flexible display device 100 when the user performs a touch or a bending operation and provides the sensed pressure to the controller 130. The pressure sensor 125 may include a piezo film that is embedded in the flexible display unit 110 and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the magnitude of the pressure. 17 shows that the pressure sensor 125 is different from the touch sensor 121. However, when the touch sensor 121 is implemented as a pressure sensitive touch sensor, the pressure sensitive type touch sensor may also serve as the pressure sensor 150 It is possible.

The proximity sensor 126 is a sensor for sensing motion approaching without directly contacting the display surface. The proximity sensor 126 is a high frequency oscillation type that forms a high frequency magnetic field to sense a current induced by a magnetic field characteristic that changes at the time of approaching an object, a magnetic type that uses a magnet, Capacitive type, and the like.

The grip sensor 127 is disposed at the rim or the handle of the flexible display device 100 separately from the pressure sensor 125 and senses a user's grip. The grip sensor 127 may be implemented as a pressure sensor or a touch sensor.

The control unit 130 analyzes various sensing signals sensed by the sensing unit 120. When it is determined that a bending operation has occurred, the control unit 130 determines a screen activation area and a screen inactive area based on the bending line, Lt; / RTI &gt;

For example, the control unit 130 processes the data acquired through communication with the external device or the data stored in the storage unit 140 and transmits the data through the screen activation area of the flexible display unit 110 and the speaker 180 Outputting operation can be performed. In this case, the control unit 130 can perform communication with an external device using the communication unit 150. [

The communication unit 150 is configured to perform communication with various types of external devices according to various types of communication methods. The communication unit 150 may include various communication modules such as a broadcast receiving module 151, a short range wireless communication module 152, a GPS module 153, a wireless communication module 154, and the like. Here, the broadcast receiving module 151 includes a terrestrial broadcast receiving module (not shown) including an antenna for receiving a terrestrial broadcast signal, a demodulator, an equalizer, and the like, and a DMB module for receiving and processing a DMB broadcast signal . The short-range wireless communication module 152 is a module for performing communication with an external device located in a short distance according to a short-range wireless communication method such as NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth, ZigBee method or the like. The GPS module 153 is a module for receiving the GPS signal from the GPS satellite and detecting the current position of the flexible display device 100. The wireless communication module 154 is a module that is connected to an external network and performs communication according to a wireless communication protocol such as WiFi, IEEE, or the like. In addition, the communication module 152 may include a mobile communication module for performing communication by accessing a mobile communication network according to various mobile communication standards such as 3G (3rd Generation), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and Long Term Evolution .

The control unit 130 may control the communication unit 150 to receive content from an external device or transmit content to an external device according to a function performed in the screen activation area.

In addition to the bending operation and the touch operation, the control unit 130 may recognize a voice input or a motion input and perform an operation corresponding to the input. In this case, the speech recognition unit 160 or the motion recognition unit 170 can be activated.

The voice recognition unit 160 collects the user's voice or external sound using a voice acquisition means such as a microphone (not shown), and transmits the collected voice to the control unit 130. When operating in the voice control mode, the control unit 130 can perform a task corresponding to the voice of the user when the voice of the user coincides with the predetermined voice command.

Meanwhile, the motion recognition unit 170 acquires an image of the user using an image pickup unit (not shown) such as a camera, and provides the image to the control unit 130. When operating in the motion control mode, the controller 130 analyzes the image of the user and performs an operation corresponding to the motion gesture when it is determined that the user has taken a motion gesture corresponding to the predetermined motion command.

 For example, various tasks, such as channel jumping, device turn on, turn off, pause, play, stop, rewind, fast forward, mute, etc., may be controlled by voice or motion, but are not limited thereto.

In addition, the external input ports 1, 2 to n (190-1 to 190-n) can be connected to various types of external devices to receive various data, programs, control commands and the like. Specifically, a USB port, a headset port, a mouse port, a LAN port, and the like. The power supply unit 500 is a component that supplies power to the respective components of the flexible display device 100. The power source unit 500 may include a positive electrode collector, a positive electrode, an electrolyte, a negative electrode, a negative electrode collector, and a covering portion covering the same. The power source unit 500 is implemented as a rechargeable secondary battery. The power source unit 500 may be embodied in a flexible form so that it can be bent together with the flexible display device 100. In this case, the current collector, the electrode, the electrolyte, the coating and the like may be made of a material having a flexible property. The specific shape and material of the power source unit 500 will be separately described later.

Although FIG. 16 illustrates various components that can be included in the flexible display device 100, the flexible display device 100 does not necessarily include all the components, and is not limited to having only these components. That is, some of the components may be omitted or added according to the product type of the flexible display device 100, or may be replaced with other components.

The control unit 130 controls each component according to a user operation recognized through the sensing unit 120, the voice recognition unit 160, the motion recognition unit 170, and the like, and performs various operations.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the detailed configuration of the control unit 130 shown in FIG.

17, the control unit 130 includes a system memory 131, a main CPU 132, an image processor 133, a network interface 134, a storage unit interface 135, first through n interfaces 136-1 To 136-n, an audio processing unit 137, and a system bus 140.

The system memory 131, the main CPU 132, the image processor 133, the network interface 134, the storage interface 135, the first through n interfaces 136-1 through 136-n, the audio processor 137 Are connected to each other through the system bus 140, and can transmit and receive various data, signals, and the like.

The first to n-th interfaces 136-1 to 136-n support interfacing between the various components including the sensing unit 120 and the respective components in the control unit 130. [ In FIG. 17, the sensing unit 120 is connected to the first interface 136-1 only. However, when the sensing unit 120 includes a plurality of sensors of various types as shown in FIG. 16, Lt; / RTI &gt; interface. At least one of the first to n-th interfaces 136-1 to 136-n receives a variety of signals from a button provided on the body portion of the flexible display device 100 or an external device connected through the external input ports 1 to n Lt; / RTI &gt;

The system memory 131 includes a ROM 131-1 and a RAM 131-2. The ROM 131-1 stores a command set for booting the system and the like. The main CPU 132 copies the O / S stored in the storage unit 140 to the RAM 131-2 in accordance with the instruction stored in the ROM 131-1 and supplies the O / S to boot the system. When the booting is completed, the main CPU 132 copies various application programs stored in the storage unit 140 to the RAM 131-2, executes an application program copied to the RAM 131-2, and performs various operations do.

As described above, the main CPU 132 can perform various operations according to the execution of the application program stored in the storage unit 140. [

The storage unit interface 135 is connected to the storage unit 140 to transmit and receive various programs, contents, data, and the like.

The main CPU 132 accesses the storage unit 140 via the storage unit interface 135 to check the stored information and displays the stored information corresponding to the screen activation area Function, for example, a video playback function. In this state, when the user selects one content, the main CPU 132 causes the moving picture reproducing program stored in the storage unit 140 to be executed. The main CPU 132 controls the image processing unit 133 to configure a moving image playback screen according to a command included in the moving image playback program.

The image processing unit 133 may include a decoder, a renderer, a scaler, and the like. Accordingly, the stored content is decoded, the decoded content data is rendered to form a frame, and the size of the configured frame is scaled to fit the screen size of the flexible display unit 110. [ The image processing unit 133 provides the processed frame to the flexible display unit 110 and displays the processed frame.

In addition, the audio processing unit 137 refers to a component that processes the audio data and provides the audio data to the audio output means such as the speaker 180. The audio processing unit 137 may perform audio signal processing such as decoding the audio data stored in the storage unit 140 or the audio data received through the communication unit 150, performing noise filtering, and amplifying the audio data to a proper decibel . In the above example, if the content to be reproduced is moving image content, the audio processing unit 137 processes the de-multiplexed audio data from the moving image content and provides the processed audio data to the speaker 180 so that the audio data can be output in synchronization with the image processing unit 133 .

The network interface 134 is a part connected to external devices via a network. For example, the main CPU 132 accesses the web server via the network interface 134 when the web browser program is executed. When the web page data is received from the web server, the main CPU 132 controls the image processing unit 133 to configure a web page screen, and displays the configured web page screen on the flexible display unit 110.

As described above, when the bending operation is detected in the flexible display device 100, the controller 130 detects the bending line corresponding to the detected bending operation and determines the screen active area and the screen inactive area based on the bending line It is possible to perform an operation corresponding to each area. The operation of the control unit 130 as described above can be implemented by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 140. [

18 is a diagram for explaining the layer of software stored in the storage unit 140. As shown in FIG. 18, the storage unit 140 includes a base module 141, a sensing module 142, a communication module 143, a presentation module 144, a web browser module 145, a bending event handling module 146, An event management module 147, and a service module 148 may be stored.

The base module 141 refers to a base module that processes a signal transmitted from each hardware included in the flexible display device 100 and transmits the processed signal to an upper layer module.

The base module 141 includes a storage module 141-1, a location-based module 141-2, a security module 141-3, a network module 141-4, and the like.

The storage module 141-1 is a program module for managing a database (DB) or a registry. The main CPU 123 accesses the database in the storage unit 140 using the storage module 141-1 and can read various data. The location-based module 141-2 is a program module that supports location-based services in cooperation with various hardware such as a GPS chip and the like. The security module 141-3 is a program module that supports certification for hardware, permission permission, and secure storage. The network module 141-4 is a program module for supporting network connection Module, DNET module, and UPnP module.

The sensing module 142 is a module for collecting information from various sensors included in the sensing unit 110 and analyzing and managing the collected information. Specifically, it is a program module that performs an operation of detecting an operation attribute such as a coordinate value of a touch point, a touch movement direction, a movement speed, a movement distance, and the like. In addition, in some cases, the sensing module 142 may include a face recognition module, a speech recognition module, a motion recognition module, an NFC recognition module, and the like.

The communication module 143 is a module for performing communication with the outside. The communication module 143 includes a messaging module 143-1 such as a messenger program, a Short Message Service (SMS) and a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) program, an e-mail program, a program module for a Call Info Aggregator, And a telephone module 143-2 including the telephone module 143-2.

The presentation module 144 is a module for constituting a display screen. The presentation module 144 includes a multimedia module 144-1 for reproducing and outputting multimedia contents, a UI, and a UI rendering module 144-2 for performing graphics processing. The multimedia module 144-1 may include a player module, a camcorder module, a sound processing module, and the like. Accordingly, various multimedia contents are reproduced, and a screen and sound are generated and reproduced. The UI rendering module 144-2 includes an image compositor module for combining images, a coordinate combination module for generating coordinates by combining coordinates on a screen for displaying an image, an X11 module for receiving various events from hardware, A 2D / 3D UI toolkit that provides a tool for constructing a UI of the form, and the like.

The web browser module 145 is a module for accessing a web server by performing web browsing. The web browser module 145 may include various modules such as a web view module for configuring a web page, a download agent module for downloading, a bookmark module, a Webkit module, and the like.

The bending event handling module 146 is a module for controlling the operation according to the bending gesture when the bending gesture occurs. The bending event handling module 146 includes an event handler module 146-1, a bending core module 146-2, and a plug-in module 146-3. The event handler module 146-1 receives various events from the flexible window management module 147-2 in the event management module 147, and classifies the events according to the priorities of the events. Here, an event refers to an event in which a bending gesture is detected. The bending core module 146-2 queues the event classified by the event handler module 146-1 and matches the event with the corresponding program (application, widget, etc.). The bending core module 146-2 transmits a rendering event signal for rendering a screen matched with the event to the presentation module 144 via the plug-in module 146-3. The plug-in module 146-3 is connected to the presentation module 144 or the flexible UI framework module (not shown) to load the plug-in module 146-3.

The event management module 147 is a module for managing touches, bending gestures, and various other events. The event management module 147 includes a window management module 147-1 and a flexible window management module 147-2. The window management module 147-1 may sense a touch event sensed by the touch sensor or an input event input by the other input means. The window management module 147-1 transmits the event detected by the presentation module 144 or the UI framework module (not shown) to perform an operation corresponding to the event. The flexible window management module 147-2 transmits a bending event to the bending event handling module 146 when the bending gesture is detected by the sensing unit 110. [

 In addition, the service module 148 refers to an application module for providing various services. The service module 148 may include a program module for providing various services such as a navigation program module, a game module, an electronic book module, a calendar module, and an alarm management module.

The main CPU 122 displays the main screen when the flexible display device 100 is turned on or unlocked. Various icons are displayed on the main screen. The main CPU 122 executes the UI rendering module 144-2 and provides various basic data for adjusting the display state of the bending interaction guide to the graphic processing unit 130. [ The basic data can be various data such as the shape, position, size, color, display time, etc. of the bending interaction guide. Accordingly, as described above, the graphic processing unit 123 generates a bending interaction guide, adds it to the object of the flexible display unit 150, and displays the bending interaction guide.

It goes without saying that the various program modules shown in FIG. 18 may be partially omitted, modified or added depending on the type and characteristics of the flexible display device 100.

Meanwhile, although the flexible display device 100 is shown in the form of a flat plate in the various embodiments described above, the flexible display device 100 may be implemented in various forms. For example, the flexible display device 100 may be embedded in a body made of a non-flexible material.

19 is a view for explaining a display method of a flexible display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the display method of the flexible display device shown in Fig. 19, the bending of the flexible display part of the flexible display device is sensed (S1910).

Then, based on the detected bending, a screen active region and a screen inactive region are determined in the display region of the flexible display unit (S1920). Specifically, the bending line formed by the detected bending is detected. Here, the bending line may be defined as a line connecting a point having the highest degree of bending on the area where the bending has occurred. For example, a line connecting a bending point (or bending coordinate) having a maximum resistance value output from the bend sensor may be a bending line.

In addition, an area formed by at least two of four sides of the detected bending line and the flexible display unit may be determined as the screen activation area, and the remaining area may be determined as the screen inactive area. For example, an area formed by two points where the bending line meets the adjacent first and second sides of the flexible display unit and a vertex where the first and second sides meet are determined as the screen activation area, and the remaining area is determined as the screen inactivation area have. As another example, it is possible to use two points where the bending line meets the opposing third and fourth sides of the flexible display portion, and the second portion where the fifth sides connecting the opposing third and fourth sides and the third and fourth sides meet. Can be determined as the screen activation area, and the remaining area can be determined as the screen inactivation area.

Thereafter, the screen is displayed in the activated area (S1930). Also, the inactive area can be turned off.

In this case, if the bending is performed in a state where the original screen is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit, the original screen may be reconstructed according to the determined size and shape of the screen activation area and displayed on the screen activation area. Alternatively, a screen part corresponding to the size and shape of the screen activation area may be displayed on the screen activation area of the original screen displayed in the entire area of the flexible display part.

In addition, if it is determined in step S1930 that the screen activation area is determined, the number of executable functions is determined based on the determined size and shape of the screen activation area, and a plurality of functions executable in the flexible display device , It is possible to execute the functions as many as the determined number of functions. In addition, a screen including an object corresponding to each executed function can be generated and displayed on the screen activation area. In this case, the priority order may be different for each position of the screen activation area.

In addition, if the screen activation area is determined in step S1930, the function matching the position of the screen activation area can be confirmed from the information about at least one function stored and matched for each area of the flexible display unit. Then, the identified function is executed to create the screen, and the generated screen can be displayed in the screen activated area.

In step S1930, when the area matching the plurality of functions is included in the screen activation area, the number of functions to be executed is determined according to the size and type of the screen activation area, and the pre-assigned priority is set for each of the plurality of functions It is possible to sequentially execute the functions as many as the determined number of functions among the plurality of functions. Then, a screen including an object corresponding to each executed function can be created, and the generated screen can be displayed in the screen activation area.

In step S1930, when one application is executed and an execution screen of the application is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit, when a notification message related to another application is received, a notification message can be displayed in one area of the execution screen .

In addition, when the area where the notification message is displayed is bended, the advertisement message can be displayed in the bending area while displaying the execution screen of the application in the remaining area except the bending area.

In addition, when a flap operation in which the bending area is expanded is detected in a state where the telegram of the notification message is displayed in the bending area, an execution screen for another application can be displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit by executing another application.

In addition, when the flexible display device is rebounded in a state that an execution screen for another application is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit, a sub-function corresponding to the rebounded area can be executed among the lower functions that can be performed in another application.

Also, if the notification message is rebounded in a direction opposite to the bending direction of the displayed area, the notification message may be deleted and the execution screen of the application may be displayed again on the entire area of the flexible display unit.

Further, when the bending area is returned to the flat state, it is possible to switch to the standby state.

When bending is started from one end of the flexible display unit, the display area can be expanded to the entire area of the flexible display unit after the bend is bent so that one end thereof contacts the other end and then returned to the original flat state.

&Lt; Display method according to various embodiments of the present invention &

FIG. 20 is a view for explaining a screen activation area determination method according to various embodiments of the present invention.

20A, when the area where the bending is performed in the flexible display unit is folded and held, the area A formed by the two sides adjacent to the bending line BL and the bending line BL is the screen activation area And the remaining area may be a screen inactive area. In the present embodiment, the case where the flexible display unit is a one-sided display and the case where a flexible display unit is a two-sided display will be described separately.

I) When the flexible display unit is implemented as a one-sided display, the surface including the screen activation area A is the front surface of the flexible display unit for displaying the screen, and the area other than the area A in the drawing is the display back side. In this case, a surface other than the area A on the opposite side of the illustrated surface may be a screen inactive area.

Ii) When the flexible display unit is implemented as a two-sided display, the screen activation area A may be a back surface of the flexible display unit, and a back surface area not shown may also be a screen inactive area. In addition, all of the areas on the front surface of the flexible display unit, that is, the areas shown and overlapped with the area A, all become the screen non-screen activation areas.

As shown in FIG. 20 (b), when the bent area is folded and flap-operated in the flexible display part, the area B formed by the two sides adjacent to the bending line BL and the bending line BL is the screen- . In this case, the remaining area excluding the area B may be a screen inactive area.

As shown in FIG. 20 (c), when the bent area is folded and flap-operated in the flexible display unit, the positional movement except for the area A in which the positional movement has occurred due to bending, Only the region C in which no image is displayed can be a screen activation region and the remaining region can be a screen inactive region.

As shown in FIG. 20 (d), when the bent area is folded and flap-operated in the flexible display part, the area D where the contact is made with the area A due to folding becomes the screen activation area, It can be a screen inactive area.

FIG. 21 is a view for explaining a screen activation area recognition method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, it is possible to activate a region where a large amount of bending is performed around the bending line at the time of bending. In this case, the bending degree of each position can be grasped through the sensing information of the bend sensor disposed in the entire area, the edge area, and the central area of the flexible display part. Here, the bending line may be a hypothetical line connecting the portion where the bending is strongest at the most.

In the case of bending in the form as shown in FIG. 21 (a), the right region where a large amount of bending occurs around the bending line can be recognized as the screen activation region.

21 (b), an upper area where a lot of bending is performed around the bending line may be recognized as a screen activation area.

In addition, in addition to the bend sensor described above, a pressure sensor, a touch sensor, or the like can be used to recognize a screen activation area, and an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like can be used for recognizing a specific area (e.g., an edge area) of the flexible display device 100 It is also possible to recognize the screen activation area by arranging it.

22 is a view for explaining a method of displaying a screen on a screen activation area according to a bending operation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

22 (a), when a screen of the flexible display device 100 is in a deactivated state and there is a folding and holding operation for some areas, a screen is displayed in an area A determined as an active area by the folding and holding operation Can be displayed. In this case, the displayed screen may be a screen corresponding to the function previously assigned to the area A. For example, when the clock function is assigned to the area A as shown in the figure, an application execution screen corresponding to the function can be displayed.

22 (b), when there is a folding and flap operation for some areas in a state where the screen of the flexible display device 100 is inactivated, the screen B is displayed in the area B determined as the screen activation area by the folding and flap operation Can be displayed. In this case as well, a screen corresponding to the function previously allocated to the area B can be displayed. For example, when the weather information providing function is assigned to the area B as shown in the figure, an application execution screen corresponding to the function can be displayed.

That is, when the area A shown in Fig. 22A and the area B shown in Fig. 22B are the same area (i.e., the area A shown in Fig. 22A is shown in Fig. 20A A single-sided display), different functions can be performed depending on the bending operation method. That is, a different function may be executed and a different screen corresponding thereto may be displayed depending on whether a folding and holding operation has been performed in the corresponding area or whether a folding and flap operation has been performed.

23 is a view for explaining a display method according to the form of a screen activation area according to various embodiments of the present invention.

23 (a) and 23 (b), the same constituent elements constituting the screen can be rearranged and displayed according to the form of the screen activation area.

That is, as shown in FIG. 23 (a), when the screen activation area 231 has a rectangular shape, the application icons may be sequentially displayed so as to be suitable for the corresponding area. As shown in FIG. 23 (b) If the area 232 is triangular, the application icons may be rearranged and displayed to suit the area.

23 (c) to 23 (e), the screen activation areas 233, 234, and 235 may take various forms according to the bending mode, and may correspond to the size and shape of the screen activation area May be rearranged and displayed.

FIGS. 24 and 25 are views for explaining a display method according to the size and position of a screen activation area in an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, it is assumed that an active area is determined by a folding and flap operation for a certain area in a state in which the screen of the flexible display device 100 is inactivated.

As shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, the type, number, type of execution screen, and the like to be executed may vary depending on the size, shape, position, and the like of the activation area.

24 (a), when the screen activation area 241 is determined according to the folding and flap operation, a predetermined clock function is executed for the screen activation area 241, and a screen corresponding to the clock function is displayed on the display . Here, the screen corresponding to the function may be a screen for displaying a corresponding application icon, an execution screen for a corresponding application, and the like, but for convenience of explanation, it is described that a corresponding application icon 241-1 is displayed do.

24 (b), when the size of the screen activation area 232 is larger than the size of the screen activation area 241 shown in FIG. 24 (a), the number of functions to be executed may increase have. For example, not only the clock application icon 242-1 but also the message application icon 242-2, the telephone application icon 243-1, and the like can be displayed.

In this case, the function to be executed may be determined according to the stored priority. For example, when it is determined that three functions can be executed in the screen activation area 232, three functions determined from among the plurality of functions are executed based on the priority, and a screen including an object that is eeodmd is displayed on each function . The priorities can be set differently depending on the position of the screen activation area.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the screen activation area 243 is determined, the number of executable functions may be determined according to the priority order of the determined screen activation area 243.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 24 (c), when the execution screen for the function having the second priority is large and the execution screen having the priority after that can not be displayed, the screen activation area 243 Only two functions having the first and second priority can be executed.

When the position of the screen activation area 244 is different from the position of the screen activation area 241 shown in Fig. 24 (a), as shown in Fig. 24 (d) A function different from the function can be executed. For example, the predetermined mp3 function is executed in the screen activation area 243, and the mp 3 application icon 244 - 1 can be displayed.

24 (e), when the size of the screen activation area by the bending line BL is not suitable for displaying the screen for the corresponding function, for example, as shown in FIG. 24 (e), the bending line BL, the size of the screen activation area can be enlarged to display a corresponding screen when the size of the screen activation area is equal to or less than a predetermined size. That is, as shown, the screen activation area 245 may be determined as an area exceeding the bending line BL.

On the other hand, as shown in Figs. 25 (a) and 25 (b), the form of the execution screen corresponding to the same function may be changed according to the size of the screen activation area.

As shown in FIG. 25 (a), when the size of the screen activation area 251 is less than a predetermined size, an application icon of a corresponding function can be displayed. For example, a message icon 251-1 may be displayed as shown, and a message icon 251-1 may be displayed through a message icon 251-1 selection operation, an operation of enlarging the size of the screen activation area 251, An execution screen for the screen 251-1 can be displayed.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 25 (b), when the size of the screen activation area 252 is larger than a predetermined size, the application execution screen 252-1 corresponding to the function can be displayed. For example, an execution screen for a message application may be displayed as shown.

Further, a more detailed screen than the execution screen can be displayed through an operation of enlarging the size of the screen activation area 252 or the like. For example, in FIG. 25 (b), if a message is displayed to the extent that the sender is identified, a screen providing message content text may be displayed according to an operation of enlarging the size of the screen activation area 252. [ Detailed operations for enlarging the size of the screen activation area 252 will be described later with reference to the drawings.

25 (c) and 25 (d), the size of the information provided on the execution screen corresponding to the same function may also be changed depending on the size of the screen activation area. For example, when time information is provided in the screen activation areas 253 and 253-1, the size of the time information displayed in the corresponding area may be changed according to the sizes of the screen activation areas 253 and 253-1.

25 (e) and 25 (f), the type of information provided on the execution screen corresponding to the same function may also be changed depending on the size of the screen activation area. For example, when the same time information is provided in the screen activation areas 254 and 255, time information is provided in a text form in the screen activation area 254 shown in FIG. 25 (e) The time information may be provided in the form of a clock image in the screen activation area 255 shown in FIG.

25 (g) and 25 (h), the amount of information provided in the screen activation area may also vary depending on the size of the screen activation area. On the other hand, when a plurality of pieces of information are provided according to the size of the screen activation area, the plurality of pieces of information may be information on the same function, or information on different functions.

For example, time information is provided in the screen activation area 256 shown in FIG. 25 (g), and time information and weather information can be provided in the screen activation area 257 shown in FIG. 25 (h) have.

 However, in the above-described embodiment, a partial area is activated by a bending operation in a state in which the screen is inactive. However, this is only an embodiment, and in some cases, It is also possible that the present invention is applied to a form in which the activation state of the region is maintained and the remaining region is inactivated.

26 and 27 are flowcharts for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, it is assumed that the bending area is activated in a different form in a state where the screen is already activated in one form.

26, when a notification message related to another application is received while the execution screen 261 of the specific application is being displayed, a notification message 262 may be displayed in one area of the execution screen . For example, if a notification message related to the message application is received while the video playback screen 261 is displayed by executing the video application, a notification message 262 indicating that a message has been received may be displayed in one area of the execution screen have.

Then, when the area in which the notification message 262 is displayed is flapped after the bending operation is performed, the execution screen of the application is displayed in the remaining area 263 excluding the area 264 where the flap operation after bending is detected, The detected area 264 may display a full text of the notification message. For example, the message 264 of the received message may be displayed.

If the re-bending or flap operation in the opposite direction is detected in the area 264 where the flap operation after bending is detected, the message text 264 displayed in the area 264 disappears, , The moving picture playback screen 261 can be displayed again.

27 is a flowchart illustrating a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

27, when a notification message related to another application is received while the execution screen 271 of the specific application is being displayed on the entire screen, a notification message 272 is displayed on one area of the execution screen .

Then, when the area in which the notification message 272 is displayed is bended, the execution screen of the application is displayed in the remaining area 274 except for the bending area 273 where the bending is detected. In the bending area 273, Can be displayed.

If a flap operation in which the bending area is expanded in a state where the telegram of the notification message is displayed in the bending area 273 is detected, the execution screen 275 for another application can be displayed on the entire screen while another application is executed.

When an execution screen for another application is displayed in the entire area of the flexible display unit and an area 276 of the flexible display unit is bent, an execution screen for another application is displayed in the bending area 276, and the remaining area 277 ), A sub-function for the other application execution screen can be executed. For example, if another application execution screen is a message application execution screen, a keyboard layout function for inputting a message may be displayed in the remaining area 277 as shown in FIG.

Also, if a flap operation is detected on the bending area 276 on which another application execution screen is displayed, the execution screen 275 of another application can be displayed on the entire screen. For example, when a message is input through the keyboard screen 277, a screen reflecting the newly inputted message content 278 may be displayed.

28 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

28, when the screen of the flexible display device 100 is in a screen off state and some of the areas are changed to a bending state having a radius of curvature equal to or greater than a predetermined value, An execution screen for the function can be displayed and the remaining area 282 can remain in the standby state. For example, an abbreviated screen corresponding to the music player function may be displayed in the area 281. [

Then, when a flap operation in which the bending area 281 is completely flat is detected, the entire screen can be switched to the standby state again.

29 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

29, when an operation of bending a part of the area while the screen of the flexible display device 100 is in the standby state is detected, the corresponding bending area 291 is activated and the function corresponding to the bending area 291 And the remaining area 292 can remain in the standby state.

Then, when an operation for rebinding another area is detected, the screen activation area may be expanded or reduced to the corresponding bending area 293, and a screen corresponding to the expanded or reduced screen activation area may be displayed. More specifically, when the screen-activated area determined by the bending line by the rebinding operation is wider than the screen-activated area determined by the bending line by the initial bending operation, the information on the enlarged screen- Information can be displayed. For example, as shown in the figure, more information can be displayed in the enlarged screen activation area 293 than the initial screen activation area 291.

Then, when the bending state is released and returned to the flat state, the screen activation area 293 is inactivated and the entire screen can be switched to the standby state.

30 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

30, when an operation of bending a part of the area while the screen of the flexible display device 100 is in the standby state is detected, the corresponding bending area 301 is activated and the function corresponding to the bending area 301 And the remaining area 302 can remain in the standby state.

Then, if the bending area is expanded to the entire area of the screen according to a user operation, the entire screen is activated, and a corresponding screen can be displayed. For example, as shown, when the user continuously moves the position of the bending line while gripping the bending line, the screen activation area can be extended to the movement area of the bending line.

In this case, as the screen activation area is expanded, the display state of the screen displayed in the screen activation area can be changed. Specifically, if an abbreviated screen of the music player is displayed in the screen activation area 301 according to the initial bending operation, the expanded screen activation areas 303 and 304 in accordance with the movement of the bending line are displayed on the full screen of the music player, Detailed information corresponding to the extended areas 303 and 304 such as information of the album can be displayed.

31 is a view for explaining a method of adjusting a screen activation area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 31, when an operation of bending a part of the area while the screen of the flexible display device 100 is in the standby state is sensed, a bending area is activated among a plurality of areas divided by the bending line. Thereafter, the activation area 321 may be expanded or contracted according to a user operation of touching and dragging the bending line. For example, when a user performs a drag operation to move the position of the bending line BL after touching the bending line BL, the screen activation area 321 may be expanded.

32 is a view for explaining a display method according to a screen activation area adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

32, when the active area 321 is expanded according to the touch and drag operation of the user in a state in which the screen partial area 321 of the flexible display device 100 is activated, the enlarged screen active area 322 The detailed information of the existing display information can be displayed or the size of the existing display information can be displayed in an expanded form.

For example, when the message icon 321-1 including the update mark 321-2 is displayed in the existing screen activation area 321 as shown in FIG. 32 (a), the extended screen activation area The details 322-1 of the three messages corresponding to the update mark 321-2 of the message icon 321-1 may be displayed in the message 322-1.

Alternatively, when the weather information 323-1 is displayed in the existing screen activation area 323 as shown in FIG. 32 (b), the size of the existing display information is displayed in the expanded form (324-1).

33 and 34 are views for explaining a screen inactivation method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 33 and 34, when a part of the screen is inactivated by bending, the remaining content of the content displayed in the screen inactive area or the content in the screen inactive area can be displayed in the remaining screen active area.

33, when the full screen 331 of the flexible display device 100 is activated, the music player screen 331-1 and the information 331-2 of the currently playing album are displayed on the display Is assumed.

Then, when bending bending a part of the area 332 of the flexible display unit is detected, the music player screen 331-1 displayed inside the bending area 332 is moved to and displayed in the area 333 where bending has not occurred, Some information 331-3 of the currently displayed album information 331-2 currently being displayed can be moved to the remaining area and displayed. In this case, the inner screen corresponding to the bending area 332, that is, the area where the display screen is not exposed due to bending, may be in an inactive state.

On the other hand, assume that a moving picture playback screen is displayed in a state in which the full screen 341 of the flexible display device 100 is activated as shown in FIG.

Then, when bending bending a part of the area 342 of the flexible display unit is detected, the moving image playback screen displayed in the area 343 where the bending does not occur disappears and the moving image playback list screen can be displayed. However, in some cases, the moving picture list may be displayed in a form overlaid on the moving picture playback screen. Here, the moving picture play list may be information related to the content that has been displayed on the entire screen or the content that has been displayed in the area 342 where the bending is detected. In this case, the inner screen corresponding to the bending area 342, that is, the area where the display screen is not exposed due to bending, may be in an inactive state.

In this case, as the screen activation area is expanded, the display state of the screen displayed in the screen activation area can be changed. Specifically, if an abbreviated screen of the music player is displayed in the screen activation area 301 according to the initial bending operation, the expanded screen activation areas 303 and 304 in accordance with the movement of the bending line are displayed on the full screen of the music player, Detailed information corresponding to the extended areas 303 and 304 such as information of the album can be displayed.

35 is a view for explaining a display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 35, when a partial area of the flexible display device 100 is bent, it is possible to provide a graphic effect in which the contents displayed on the screen are minimized or disappear to the bending area 321. For example, the contents displayed on the screen may be deleted according to the execution of the trash can function to provide an effect of trashing the contents to the trash can, or an effect that previous contents displayed on the screen disappear for switching to other contents may be provided.

36 is a diagram showing an example of a form of a flexible apparatus built in a main body.

36 (a), the flexible display device 100 may include a main body 3600, a flexible display unit 110, and a grip unit 3610.

The main body 3600 serves as a kind of case for holding the flexible display unit 150 therein. When the flexible display device 100 includes various components as shown in FIG. 36, the flexible display portion 110 and other components except for some sensors may be mounted on the main body 3600. The main body 3600 includes a rotating roller that rolls the flexible display unit 110. Accordingly, when not in use, the flexible display unit 110 can be rolled around the rotating roller and built in the main body 3600.

When the user grasps and pulls the grip portion 3610, the rotating roller is rotated in the opposite direction of the rolling to release the rolling, and the flexible display portion 110 is released to the outside of the main body 3600. A stopper may be provided on the rotating roller. Accordingly, when the user pulls the grip portion 3610 over a certain distance, the rotation of the rotating roller is stopped by the stopper, and the flexible display portion 110 can be fixed. Accordingly, the user can execute various functions using the flexible display unit 110 exposed to the outside. Meanwhile, when the user presses a button for releasing the stopper, the stopper is released and the rotating roller rotates in the reverse direction, and as a result, the flexible display unit 110 can be rolled back into the main body 3600. The stopper may be a switch shape for stopping the operation of the gear for rotating the rotating roller. As for the rotating roller and the stopper, the structure used in a conventional rolling structure can be used as it is, so that detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the main body 3600 includes a power supply unit 180. The power supply unit 180 may be implemented in various forms such as a battery connection unit in which a disposable battery is mounted, a secondary battery that the user can charge a plurality of times, and a solar battery that performs power generation using solar heat. In the case of a secondary battery, the user can charge the power source unit 180 by connecting the main body 3600 and the external power source by wire.

Although a body 3600 of a cylindrical structure is shown in Fig. 36 (a), the shape of the body 3600 may be implemented as a square or other polygon. It should be noted that the flexible display unit 150 may be embodied not only in a state in which the flexible display unit 150 is embedded in the main body 3600 but in a variety of other forms .

It is also possible that the flexible display unit 110 is inserted into the main body 3700 as shown in FIG. 36 (b).

37 is a view showing a flexible apparatus in which the power supply unit 180 can be detachably attached. 37, the power supply unit 180 is provided at one edge of the flexible device and can be detached and attached.

The power supply unit 180 may be formed of a flexible material and may be bent together with the flexible display unit 110. Specifically, the power supply section 180 may include an anode current collector, a cathode electrode, an electrolyte section, a cathode electrode, a cathode current collector, and a covering section covering them.

For example, the current collector may be made of an alloy such as a TiN based alloy having good elastic properties, a pure metal such as copper aluminum, a pure metal coated with carbon, a conductive material such as carbon or carbon fiber, or a conductive polymer such as polypyrrole .

The cathode electrode may be made of a negative electrode material such as lithium, sodium, zinc, magnesium, cadmium, hydrogen storage alloy, lead and other nonmetals such as carbon and polymer electrode material such as organic sulfur.

The anode electrode can be made of both electrode materials such as sulfur and metal sulfides, lithium transition metal oxides such as LiCoO2, SOCl2, MnO2, Ag2O, Cl2, NiCl2, NiOOH, and polymer electrodes. The electrolyte part can be realized as a gel type using PEO, PVdF, PMMA, PVAC, or the like.

Conventional polymer resins can be used for the covering portion. For example, PVC, HDPE, epoxy resin, or the like can be used. In addition, it can be used as a covering portion if it is a material that can be freely bent or bent while preventing breakage of the cell.

The positive electrode and the negative electrode in the power supply 180 may each include a connector to be electrically connected to the outside.

37, the connector is formed to protrude from the power supply unit 180, and the flexible display unit 110 is formed with a groove corresponding to the position, size, and shape of the connector. Accordingly, the power supply unit 180 can be coupled with the flexible display unit 110 by the engagement of the connector and the groove. The connector of the power supply unit 180 may be connected to a power connection pad (not shown) in the flexible display device 100 to supply power.

37, the power source unit 180 may be detachably attached to one side edge of the flexible display device 100. However, this is merely an example, and the position and shape of the power source unit 180 may be varied It can be different. For example, when the flexible display device 100 is a product having a certain thickness, the power source unit 180 may be mounted on the rear surface of the flexible display device 100.

38 shows a case where the flexible display device 100 is implemented as a three-dimensional display device instead of a flat display device. 38, the flexible display device 100 is provided with a flexible display unit 110 on one side and various hardware such as a button, a speaker, a microphone, and an IR lamp on the other surface.

The flexible display device 100 as shown in FIG. 38 may be made entirely or partially of rubber or other polymer resin and flexibly bent. Accordingly, all or a part of the flexible display device 100 can have a flexible characteristic.

The flexible display device 100 can perform a new operation different from the previous operation according to the bending. For example, a remote control function for controlling an external device is normally performed, and a telephone function can be performed when a bending gesture is performed in one area. A remote control button may be displayed on the flexible display unit 110 when the remote control function is performed and a dial pad may be displayed on the flexible display unit 110 when the telephone function is performed.

39 shows a case where the flexible display device 100 is implemented in a circular shape. Accordingly, the flexible display device 100 performs visual and functionally different operations according to the form in which the flexible display device 100 is placed or the folded form. For example, when placed horizontally on the floor, you can display a picture or other content, and if you stand vertically on the floor, you can perform a desk clock function. Alternatively, if the center portion is bent by about 90 degrees, the notebook PC function can be performed. In this case, a soft keyboard may be displayed in one of the folded areas and a display window may be displayed in the other area.

In addition, the flexible display device can be implemented in various forms.

Meanwhile, the various display methods according to the above-described various embodiments may be implemented by a program and provided to a flexible device.

For example, the method includes detecting bending, determining a screen activation area and a screen inactive area in a display area of the flexible display unit based on the sensed bending, and displaying a program for performing a step of displaying a screen on the screen activation area, A non-transitory computer readable medium may be provided.

In addition, a non-volatile readable medium may be provided in which a program for performing various methods for determining a screen-activated area according to various embodiments described above is stored.

A non-transitory readable medium is a medium that stores data for a short period of time, such as a register, cache, memory, etc., but semi-permanently stores data and is readable by the apparatus. In particular, the various applications or programs described above may be stored on non-volatile readable media such as CD, DVD, hard disk, Blu-ray disk, USB, memory card, ROM,

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

110: Flexible display unit 120:
130: control unit 140:

Claims (18)

In the flexible display device,
Flexible display;
sensor;
Wherein when a message is received while the content is displayed on the flexible display, a notification message related to reception of the message is displayed in one area of the flexible display, and when the notification message is displayed, And a controller for controlling the flexible display to display the received message in one area of the flexible display when a bending operation is detected. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
A flexible display for controlling the flexible display to remove a received message displayed in one area of the flexible display when the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display and a bending operation of the flexible display is sensed, Device. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the bending operation direction of the flexible display that is sensed while the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display is a direction opposite to a direction of a bending operation that is sensed while the notification message is displayed on the flexible display, A flexible display device. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the bending operation direction sensed while the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display is the direction in which the notification message is displayed on the flexible display,
Wherein the direction of the bending operation detected when the notification message is displayed in one area of the flexible display is opposite to a direction in which the received message is displayed. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein,
When the bending operation of the flexible display is detected in a state where the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display, the flexible display device displays the screen displayed in the remaining area except for the one area in the entire area of the flexible display Of the flexible display device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
And controls the flexible display to display the received message when bending operation of the area where the notification message is displayed is detected on the flexible display. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein,
And controls the flexible display to remove the received message when a bending operation of an area where the received message is displayed is detected on the flexible display. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
And controls the flexible display to display the received message in one area of the flexible display when the bending and flap operation of the flexible display is sensed. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
And controls the flexible display to remove a message displayed in one area of the flexible display when the bending and flap operation of the flexible display is sensed. A display method of a flexible display device including a flexible display,
Displaying a notification message on reception of the message on the flexible display when the message is received;
Sensing a bending operation of the flexible display; And
And displaying the received message on the flexible display in one area of the flexible display. 11. The method of claim 10,
And removing a received message displayed in one area of the flexible display when a bending operation of the flexible display is detected while the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the bending operation direction of the flexible display that is sensed while the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display is a direction opposite to a direction of a bending operation that is sensed while the notification message is displayed on the flexible display, Display method. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the bending operation direction sensed while the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display is the direction in which the notification message is displayed on the flexible display,
Wherein the direction of the bending operation detected when the notification message is displayed in one area of the flexible display is opposite to a direction in which the received message is displayed. 12. The method of claim 11,
Displaying a screen displayed in a remaining region other than the one area in the entire area of the flexible display when the bending operation of the flexible display is detected while the received message is displayed in one area of the flexible display; &Lt; / RTI &gt; 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the displaying the received message comprises:
And displaying the received message when a bending operation of the area where the notification message is displayed is detected on the flexible display. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the step of removing the received message comprises:
And removing the received message if a bending operation of the area where the received message is displayed is detected on the flexible display. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the displaying the received message comprises:
And displaying the received message in one area of the flexible display if the bending and flap operation of the flexible display is sensed. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the step of removing the received message comprises:
And removing the received message if bending and flap manipulation of the flexible display is sensed.

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