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EP-4439228-B1 - ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING FLEXIBLE DISPLAY AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

EP4439228B1EP 4439228 B1EP4439228 B1EP 4439228B1EP-4439228-B1

Inventors

  • CHO, HYOUNGTAK
  • KANG, Hyunggwang
  • KWAK, MYUNGHOON
  • KIM, JUNHYUK
  • JEONG, HOYOUNG
  • Heo, Changryong

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20221125

Claims (15)

  1. An electronic device (101, 200), comprising: a flexible display (160, 210); a driving module allowing at least a portion (311a) of the flexible display (160, 210) to slide out and controlling a drive force individually according to a plurality of sections (520, 530, 540) of the flexible display (160, 210), the plurality of sections (520, 530, 540) including a first section (520) and a second section (530); and at least one processor (120), wherein the at least one processor (120) is configured to: based on detection of a slide-out event for extending the flexible display (160, 210), control the driving module to expose the first section (520) with a first drive force and the second section (530) with a second drive force, wherein the first section (520) includes a portion where the flexible display (160, 210) is initially exposed outside the electronic device (101, 200) based on the slide-out event, wherein the first drive force is greater than the second drive force.
  2. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to adjust a duty ratio while a battery (189) supplies the current to the driving module.
  3. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 1 or 2, further comprising at least one sensor configured to identify a slide-out distance of the flexible display (160, 210), wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to, upon detecting a movement of the flexible display (160, 210) using the at least one sensor, control the driving module in the first section (520) among the plurality of sections (520, 530, 540) based on the first drive force corresponding to a first duty ratio, applied to the driving module, at a time when the flexible display (160, 210) starts to move.
  4. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to control the driving module in the first section (520) using a first correction drive force obtained by multiplying the first drive force by a predesignated rate.
  5. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to determine the second drive force for controlling the driving module in the second section (530) subsequent to the first section (520), based on a slide-out length of the flexible display (160, 210) and the first drive force.
  6. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to determine the second drive force further based on a maximum drive force in a third section (540) subsequent to the second section (530).
  7. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to reduce a second duty ratio according to a predesignated rate from a second correction drive force, wherein the second correction drive force is obtained by multiplying the maximum drive force in the third section (540) by the predesignated rate.
  8. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to determine whether a slide-out speed of the flexible display (160, 210) is a threshold speed or less while reducing the second duty ratio according to the predesignated rate from the second correction drive force.
  9. The electronic device (101, 200) of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor (120) is further configured to, upon determining that the slide-out speed of the flexible display (160, 210) is the threshold speed or less, control the driving module based on a third drive force corresponding to a third duty ratio at a time when the slide-out speed is the threshold speed or less.
  10. The electronic device (101, 200) of any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein the predesignated rate is determined according to an operation mode indicating a current state of the electronic device (101, 200), wherein the operation mode is one of a power saving mode or a normal mode.
  11. A method for controlling an electronic device (101, 200), the method comprising: based on detection of a slide-out event for extending a flexible display (160, 210) of the electronic device (101, 200), controlling a driving module of the electronic device (101, 200) to expose a first section (520) with a first drive force and a second section (530) with a second drive force, wherein the flexible display (160, 210) slides out and a drive force is controlled individually according to a plurality of sections (520, 530, 540) of the flexible display (160, 210), the plurality of sections (520, 530, 540) including the first section (520) and the second section (530), wherein the first section (520) includes a portion where the flexible display (160, 210) is initially exposed outside the electronic device (101, 200) based on the slide-out event, and wherein the first drive force is greater than the second drive force.
  12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, adjusting a duty ratio while a battery (189) supplies a current to the driving module.
  13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the electronic device (101, 200) further includes at least one sensor configured to identify a slide-out distance of the flexible display (160, 210)., and wherein the method for controlling the electronic device (101, 200) further comprises, upon detecting a movement of the flexible display (160, 210) using the at least one sensor, controlling the driving module in the first section (520) among the plurality of sections (520, 530, 540) based on the first drive force corresponding to a first duty ratio, applied to the driving module, at a time when the flexible display (160, 210) starts to move.
  14. The method of claim 13, further comprising controlling the driving module in the first section (520) using a first correction drive force obtained by multiplying the first drive force by a predesignated rate.
  15. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining the second drive force for controlling the driving module in the second section (530) subsequent to the first section (520), based on a slide-out length of the flexible display (210) and the first drive force.

Description

[Technical Field] Various embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic device including a flexible display and a method for controlling the same. [Background Art] More and more services and additional functions are being provided through electronic devices, e.g., smartphones, or other portable electronic devices. To meet the needs of various users and raise use efficiency of electronic devices, communication service carriers or device manufacturers are jumping into competitions to develop electronic devices with differentiated and diversified functionalities. Accordingly, various functions that are provided through electronic devices are evolving more and more. US 2021/208552 Al discloses a display apparatus including a housing, a display configured to protrude out from the housing along a vertical axis, a lifting device configured to raise and to lower the display along the vertical axis with respect to the housing, and a position sensor disposed inside the housing and configured to sense a distance in which an upper portion of the display is moved along the vertical axis. The position sensor includes a first position sensor and a second position sensor spaced apart along a horizontal axis. The first position sensor and the second position sensor simultaneously sense a distance by which the display is raised. [Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Problem] When driving a flexible display to slide in and out of an electronic device (e.g., a slidable device) by a driving module (e.g., a motor), the electronic device may be driven inefficiently in light of current consumption due to inability of actively controlling the drive force (e.g., torque) of the driving module. For example, as the driving module is controlled with much larger drive force than that required to slide out the flexible display, the efficiency of the driving module may deteriorate, resulting in an increase in the battery consumption of the electronic device. According to an embodiment of the present invention, there may be provided an electronic device that may save battery consumption of the electronic device and increase the efficiency of a driving module included in the electronic device by controlling the drive force of the driving module based on a drive obstructive force of the electronic device (e.g., the creep force of the display and/or mechanism friction force between various mechanism structures included in the electronic device and the repulsive force of the display). According to various embodiments of the present invention, there may be provided a method for controlling an electronic device that may save battery consumption of the electronic device and increase the efficiency of a driving module included in the electronic device by controlling the drive force of the driving module based on a drive obstructive force of the electronic device (e.g., the creep force of the display and/or mechanism friction force between various mechanism structures included in the electronic device and the repulsive force of the display). [Technical Solution] The present invention is defined by the appended set of claims. Preferred embodiments are defined by the dependent claims. An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present invention may comprise a driving module, a flexible display, and at least one processor. The at least one processor may be configured to detect a slide-out event for sliding out the flexible display, determine, in a different manner, a drive force of the driving module for each of a plurality of sections predetermined for the flexible display based on a drive obstructive force in response to the detected slide-out event, and slide out the flexible display based on the determined drive force. A method for controlling an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present invention may comprise detecting a slide-out event for sliding out a flexible display of the electronic device, determining, in a different manner, a drive force of the electronic device corresponding to each of a plurality of sections predetermined for the flexible display based on a drive obstructive force, based on the detected slide-out event, and sliding out the flexible display based on the determined drive force. [Advantageous Effects] According to various embodiments of the present invention, there may be provided an electronic device that may save battery consumption of the electronic device and increase the efficiency of a driving module included in the electronic device by controlling the drive force of the driving module based on a drive obstructive force of the electronic device (e.g., the creep force of the display and/or mechanism friction force between various mechanism structures included in the electronic device and the repulsive force of the display). The effects set forth herein are not limited thereto, and it is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various effect