US-20260126941-A1 - FOLDABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND DISPLAY UTILIZATION METHOD FOR FOLDABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

US20260126941A1US 20260126941 A1US20260126941 A1US 20260126941A1US-20260126941-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure can include an example method and an example device in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: acquire sensing data from a sensor module in an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device in which one surface of a first housing and one surface of a second housing are arranged to be oriented in a same direction; determine, based on the sensing data, whether the foldable electronic device corresponds to a designated condition; and based on the foldable electronic device corresponding to the designated condition, deactivate a first display and activate a second display.

Inventors

Heesoon PARK

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251231
Priority Date: 20220823

Claims (20)

1 . A foldable electronic device comprising: a first housing and a second housing; a first display disposed in the first housing and the second housing; a second display disposed in one of the first housing or the second housing; a sensor module comprising at least one sensor; memory storing instructions; and at least one processor comprising processing circuitry, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: activate the second display and display guide information associated with wireless charging through the second display in an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device in which one surface of the first housing and one surface of the second housing are arranged to face a same direction; acquire sensing data from the sensor module during the wireless charging; determine, based on the sensing data, whether the foldable electronic device does not correspond to a designated condition; and based on the foldable electronic device not corresponding to the designated condition, deactivate the second display.
2 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: determine whether the foldable electronic device is disposed so that a front surface of the foldable electronic device faces upward in the unfolded state, and a rear surface of the foldable electronic device faces downward as the designated condition.
3 . The foldable electronic device of claim 2 , wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: when the rear surface of the foldable electronic device faces a downward direction, activate the first display and stop the wireless charging.
4 . The foldable electronic device of claim 3 , wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to; based on the foldable electronic device not corresponding to the designated condition, deactivate the second display and concurrently or sequentially activate the first display.
5 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: when the foldable electronic device is disposed so that a front surface of the foldable electronic device faces upwards in the unfolded state, stop the wireless charging.
6 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: when the foldable electronic device is changed to be in a folded state, maintain an outer display use mode and stop the wireless charging.
7 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: when the foldable electronic device is changed to be in a folded state, maintain to activate the second display and stop the wireless charging.
8 . The foldable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor module comprises an acceleration sensor and/or a gyroscope sensor, and wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: acquire acceleration data from the acceleration sensor and acquire angular velocity data from the gyroscope sensor in the unfolded state of the foldable electronic device; and determine whether the foldable electronic device is in a state in which the foldable electronic device is turned over and motionless or is in a horizontal state, based on the acceleration data or the angular velocity data.
9 . The foldable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the state in which the foldable electronic device is turned over corresponds to a state in which a front surface of the foldable electronic device, at which the first display is disposed, is placed downward, and a rear surface of the foldable electronic device, at which the second display is disposed, is placed upward.
10 . The foldable electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the sensor module further comprises a proximity sensor and/or an illuminance sensor, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: based on the foldable electronic device being in the state in which the foldable electronic device is turned over and motionless or being in the horizontal state, acquire proximity data from the proximity sensor and acquire illuminance data from the illuminance sensor; and determine whether the foldable electronic device is in a state in which a front surface of the foldable electronic device is placed in contact with an object, based on the proximity data or the illuminance data.
11 . A method for a foldable electronic device comprising a first housing and a second housing; a first display disposed in the first housing and the second housing; a second display disposed in one of the first housing or the second housing; and a sensor module comprising at least one sensor, the method comprising: activating the second display and displaying guide information associated with wireless charging through the second display in an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device in which one surface of the first housing and one surface of the second housing are arranged to face a same direction; acquiring sensing data from the sensor module during the wireless charging; determining, based on the sensing data, whether the foldable electronic device does not correspond to a designated condition; and based on the foldable electronic device not corresponding to the designated condition, deactivating the second display.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining whether the foldable electronic device is disposed so that a front surface of the foldable electronic device faces upward in the unfolded state, and an rear surface of the foldable electronic device faces downward as the designated condition.
13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: when the rear surface of the foldable electronic device faces a downward direction, activating the first display and stop the wireless charging.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: based on the foldable electronic device not corresponding to the designated condition, deactivating the second display and concurrently or sequentially activating the first display.
15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: when the foldable electronic device is disposed so that a front surface of the foldable electronic device faces upwards in the unfolded state, stopping the wireless charging.
16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: when the foldable electronic device is changed to be in a folded state, maintaining an outer display use mode and stopping the wireless charging.
17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: when the foldable electronic device is changed to be in a folded state, maintaining to activate the second display and stopping the wireless charging.
18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor module comprises an acceleration sensor and/or a gyroscope sensor, and the method further comprises: acquiring acceleration data from the acceleration sensor and acquiring angular velocity data from the gyroscope sensor in the unfolded state of the foldable electronic device; and determining whether the foldable electronic device is in a state in which the foldable electronic device is turned over and motionless or is in a horizontal state, based on the acceleration data or the angular velocity data.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the state in which the foldable electronic device is turned over corresponds to a state in which a front surface of the foldable electronic device, at which the first display is disposed, is placed downward, and a rear surface of the foldable electronic device, at which the second display is disposed, is placed upward.
20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the sensor module further comprises a proximity sensor and/or an illuminance sensor, and the method further comprises: based on the foldable electronic device being in the state in which the foldable electronic device is turned over and motionless or being in the horizontal state, acquiring proximity data from the proximity sensor and acquiring illuminance data from the illuminance sensor; and determining whether the foldable electronic device is in a state in which a front surface of the foldable electronic device is placed in contact with an object, based on the proximity data or the illuminance data.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of Application No. 19/051,835, filed on February 12, 2025, which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2023/010141 designating the United States, filed on July 14, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Receiving Office and claiming priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0105336, filed on August 23, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. BACKGROUND FIELD The disclosure relates a foldable electronic device and a display utilization method for a foldable electronic device. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART With the development of digital technologies, various types of electronic devices, such as a mobile communication terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an electronic notebook, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), or a wearable device, have been widely used. An electronic device may have a limited size for portability and thus limitation in size of a display. Accordingly, in recent years, various types of electronic devices providing a more expanded screen by a multi-display have been developed. For example, inclusion of multiple displays provides an extended screen by multi-display. For another example, electronic devices are designed such that the sizes of screens gradually increase in the displays, and such that various services are provided to users through larger screens. Such electronic devices may have a new form factor such as a multi-display (e.g., a dual display) device (e.g., a foldable device, a rollable device, or a slidable device). The foldable device may include a foldable (or bendable) display (e.g., a foldable display) or a flexible display and may be folded or unfolded to be used. A rollable device or a slidable device may include a flexible display, and roll and receive the flexible display on a rear surface of the rollable device or extend the flexible display to a front surface of the rollable device to use same. SUMMARY Embodiments of the disclosure may provide a method and a device for controlling a sub-display to be used instead of a main display when the main display faces the ground when a foldable electronic device is unfolded (e.g., an unfolded state) and turned over. A foldable electronic device according to an example embodiment of the disclosure may include: a first housing and a second housing disposed on opposite sides with respect to a folding axis and configured to be folded relative to each other, a first display disposed to face a first direction of one of the first housing and the second housing, a second display disposed to face a second direction opposite the first direction of the first housing or the second housing, a sensor module including at least one sensor, a memory, and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, operatively connected to the first display, the second display, the sensor module, and/or the memory, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the foldable electronic device to: acquire sensing data from the sensor module in an unfolded state of a foldable electronic device where one surface of the first housing and one surface of the second housing are arranged to face a same direction, determine, based on the sensing data, whether the foldable electronic device corresponds to a designated condition, and based on the foldable electronic device corresponding to the designated condition, deactivate the first display and activate the second display. According to an example embodiment, a method of operating a foldable electronic device including a first housing and a second housing disposed on opposite sides with respect to a folding axis and configured to be folded relative to each other may include: acquiring sensing data from a sensor module of the foldable electronic device in an unfolded state of the foldable electronic device, where one surface of the first housing and one surface of the second housing are arranged to face a sane direction, determining, based on the sensing data, whether the foldable electronic device corresponds to a designated condition, and based on the foldable electronic device corresponding to the designated condition, activating a second display disposed to face a second direction opposite a first direction of one of the first housing or the second housing, and deactivating a first display disposed to face the first direction of the first housing and the second housing. According to an example embodiment, the use of an outer display having a smaller area than an inner display may reduce power consumption of a foldable electronic device. This has the effect of increasing the overall usage time of the foldable electronic device. According to an example embodiment, the outer display is used while performing wireless charging