Patent Publication Number: US-2023138598-A1

Title: Folding display appartus, mobile terminal, and display method

Description:
This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed on Apr. 17, 2020 before the Chinese Patent Office with the application number of 202010304731.0, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present application relates to the technical field of electronic apparatuses, and more particularly, to a foldable display device, a mobile terminal and a display method. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Mobile terminals with foldable screens have begun to appear, and major manufacturers have launched their own products. However, from the view of market, foldable flexible screens of current products are all combined with apparatuses, which are relatively thick in overall thickness, giving users a bad experience. 
     The foldable screen will not display all areas for a long time when in use, so it is necessary to protect the parts that are not frequently displayed. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present application provides a foldable display device, a mobile terminal and a display method, so as to protect a flexible screen part which is not frequently displayed. 
     The present application provides a foldable display device, including: 
     a flexible screen, wherein the flexible screen is configured for displaying an object, and includes a first part and a second part, and a bendable third part between the first part and the second part; and 
     a housing, wherein the housing includes a front side of the housing, and the first part is slidably supported on the front side of the housing; and the housing further includes a holding tank extending in parallel with the front side of the housing, and when the third part is bent, the second part is capable of sliding into the holding tank. 
     The foldable display device can partially hold the flexible screen into the holding tank, thus avoiding the part from contacting with the outside world so as to protect the part. 
     As an optional solution of the foldable display device above, a sensor and a controller are further included, wherein the sensor is on the third part to detect a state of the third part, and the controller controls display of the first part, the second part and the third part according to the state. 
     Since main deformation of the flexible screen occurs in the third part, setting the sensor in the third part can timely and accurately acquire a bent state of the flexible screen, and acquire the state of the flexible screen through the sensor and control a display area of the flexible screen, thus enriching a display state of the flexible screen. 
     As an optional solution of the foldable display device above, the sensor is a bending sensor. 
     As an optional solution of the foldable display device above, the flexible screen is provided with supporting mechanisms, the front side of the housing and the holding tank are provided with guide parts extending in a slide direction, and the supporting mechanisms are slidably connected to the guide parts. 
     As an optional solution of the foldable display device above, the guide parts are arranged on both sides of the front side of the housing and the holding tank in the slide direction, the supporting mechanisms are arranged on both sides of the flexible screen in the slide direction, and the guide parts are covered on the supporting mechanisms. 
     The two sides of the flexible screen are provided with the supporting mechanisms and covered by the guide parts, so that a certain dustproof effect can be achieved. 
     As an optional solution of the foldable display device above, the supporting mechanism is arranged on a non-display surface of the flexible screen, the guide part is one of a rib and a chute, and the supporting mechanism is provided with the other of the rib and the chute. 
     The present application further provides a mobile terminal, including the foldable display device above. 
     The present application further provides a display method, using the foldable display device above, including the steps of: 
     detecting a state of the third part; and 
     respectively controlling display of the first part, the second part and the third part according to the state. 
     As an optional solution of the display method above, the state includes a bent state and a flattened state. 
     As an optional solution of the display method above, the respectively controlling the display of the first part, the second part and the third part according to the state includes: 
     when the state is the bent state, controlling the first part and/or the third part to display and controlling the second part not to display; and 
     when the state is the flattened state, controlling the first part, the second part and the third part to display simultaneously. 
     The mobile terminal provided by the present application can partially hold the screen into the holding tank, thus avoiding the part from contacting with the outside world so as to protect the part. By obtaining the state of the third part of the flexible screen, the display area of the flexible screen is controlled, thus enriching the display state of the flexible screen. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. The accompanying drawings in the following description only illustrate some embodiments of the present application. Those having ordinary skills in the art can obtain other drawings according to these drawings. 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic structural diagram of a mobile terminal in a storage state according to an embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic structural diagram of a mobile terminal in an unfolded process according to the embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic structural diagram of another mobile terminal in an unfolded process according to an embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic structural diagram of yet another mobile terminal in an unfolded process according to an embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic structural diagram when a flexible screen and a housing of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present application are matched; and 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic structural diagram when a flexible screen and a housing of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present application are matched. 
     
    
    
     In the Drawings: 
       1  refers to housing;  2  refers to flexible screen;  3  refers to sensor;  1 A refers to front side of housing;  1 B refers to back side of housing;  1 C refers to holding tank;  10  refers to guide part;  20  refers to supporting mechanism,  21  refers to first part;  22  refers to second part; and  23  refers to third part. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and the embodiments. The embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application. For ease of description, the accompanying drawings only show a part of the structure related to the present application, but not all of the structure. 
     In the description of the present invention, unless expressly stipulated and defined otherwise, terms such as “connected”, “connection”, and “fixing” should be understood broadly, for example, the connection may be fixed connection, detachable connection or integrated connection; may be mechanical connection, and may also be electrical connection; and may be direct connection, may also be indirect connection through an intermediate medium, and may also be internal communication of two elements or interaction relationship of two elements. For those having ordinary skills in the art, the meaning of the above-mentioned terms in the application can be understood according to specific situations. 
     In the present invention, unless expressly stipulated and defined otherwise, the first feature “over” or “under” the second feature may include that the first and second features are in direct contact, and may also include that the first and second features are not directly contacted, but contacted through other intermediate features. Moreover, the first feature “over”, “above” and “upper” the second feature includes that the first feature is right above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply means that a horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. The first feature “under”, “below” and “lower” the second feature includes that the first feature is right below or diagonally below the second feature, or only means that the horizontal height of the first feature is less than that of the second feature. 
     In the description of the embodiments, the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms “upper”, “lower”, “right” and the like is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for the convenience of describing and simplifying the operations, and does not indicate or imply that the indicated device or element must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the terms should not be construed as limiting the present application. Moreover, the terms “first” and “second” are only used to distinguish between descriptions and have no special meaning. 
     The present application provides a foldable display device. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  4   , the foldable display device includes a housing  1  and a flexible screen  2 . The housing  1  is provided with a front side  1 A of the housing and a back side  1 B of the housing, and a holding tank  1 C is provided between the front side  1 A of the housing and the back side  1 B of the housing. The holding tank  1 C is parallel to the front side  1 A of the housing. The flexible screen  2  is configured for displaying an object, and the flexible screen  2  includes a first part, a second part and a bendable third part  23  between the first part  21  and the second part  22 . The first part  21  is slidably supported on the front side  1 A of the housing. The third part  23  is connected between the first part  21  and the second part  22 . When the third part  23  is bent, the second part  22  is capable of sliding into the holding tank  1 C. 
     It should be noted that in this embodiment, the third part  23  is arranged on a right side of the foldable display device, that is, the flexible screen  2  can slide from left to right. 
     The third part  23  may also be arranged at a bottom of the foldable display device in a length direction. In this case, the flexible screen  2  can slide out from the bottom of the foldable display device in the length direction, but the present application is not limited to this. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , the first part  21  is arranged on the front side  1 A of the housing, and the second part  22  is entirely arranged in the holding tank  1 C. As shown in  FIG.  2    to  FIG.  4   , the third part  23  and the second part  22  gradually slide to the right, and the second part  22  is driven to protrude out from the holding tank  1 C. Finally, the second part  22 , the third part  23  and the first part  21  are on the same plane. 
     It should be noted that a length of the first part  21  is greater than a length of the second part  22 , so that when the first part  21  slides to a tail end, the second part  22  is fully extended protruded out from the holding tank  1 C. In this embodiment, the length of the first part  21  corresponds to a length of the front side  1 A of the housing, while the length of the second part  22  is ⅘ of the length of the first part  21 . 
     The mobile terminal further includes a sensor  3  and a controller. The sensor  3  is on the third part  23  to obtain a state of the third part  23 , and the controller controls display of the first part  21 , the second part  22  and the third part  23  according to the state. 
     In this embodiment, the sensor  3  is a bending sensor. 
     When the sensor  3  determines that the third part  23  is in a bent state, a display state of the foldable display device may be set as follows: in a first case, contents are displayed on the first part  21  only; in a second case, contents are displayed on the third part  23  only; and in a third case, contents are simultaneously displayed on the first part  23  and the third part  23 . In other words, when the third part  23  is in the bent state, contents are not displayed on the second part  22  in the holding tank  1 C. 
     When the sensor  3  determines that the foldable display device is in a flattened state, the display state of the foldable display device may be set as follows: contents are simultaneously displayed on the first part  21 , the third part  23  and the second part  22 . 
     It should be noted that although the second part  22  may not be coplanar with the first part  21 , due to a factor of display effects, a user is allowed to continuously bend the third part  23 , so that the first part  21  and the second part  22  are on the same horizontal plane, that is, an included angle between the first part and the second part is 180 degrees. 
     In this embodiment, the bent state means that the third part  23  makes the included angle between the first part  21  and the second part  22  range from 0 degree to 170 degrees, and the flattened state means that the third part  23  makes the included angle between the first part  21  and the second part  22  range from 0 degree to 180 degrees. 
     As shown in  FIG.  5    and  FIG.  6   , the flexible screen  2  is provided with supporting mechanisms  20 . The supporting mechanisms  20  improve strength of the flexible screen  2 . The front side  1 A of the housing and the holding tank  1 C are provided with guide parts  10  extending in a slide direction, and the supporting mechanisms  20  are slidably connected to the guide parts  10 . 
     It should be noted that the flexible screen  2  further includes a retaining mechanism (not shown in the figure) that can keep at any angle when the retaining mechanism bends. In this embodiment, the retaining mechanism is arranged in the third part  23  of the flexible screen  2 , and a damping hinge is employed as the retaining mechanism. 
     With reference to  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  5   , the guide parts  10  are arranged on both sides of the front side  1 A of the housing and the holding tank  1 C in the slide direction, and the supporting mechanisms  20  are arranged on both sides of the flexible screen  2  in the slide direction, and the guide parts  10  are covered on the supporting mechanisms  20 . Both sides of the flexible screen  2  are always arranged in the guide parts  10 , thereby improving a dustproof effect of the foldable display device. 
     With reference to  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  4    and  FIG.  6   , in another embodiment, the supporting mechanism  20  is arranged on a non-display surface of the flexible screen, the guide part  10  is one of a rib and a chute, and the supporting mechanism  20  is provided with the other of the rib and the chute. In this embodiment, the guide part  10  is a groove, and the supporting mechanism  20  is provided with a rib. 
     Compared with the embodiment of  FIG.  5   , the flexible screen  2  shown in  FIG.  6    has no blocking edges, which maximizes the display area of the flexible screen  2 . 
     It should be noted that the flexible screen  2  can be slided by software, for example, may be controlled by virtual keys displayed on the flexible screen  2 , or may be slided manually. 
     The present application further provides a mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal is provided with the foldable display device above. 
     The present application further provides a display method, using the foldable display device above, including the steps of: 
     detecting a state of the third part  23 ; and 
     respectively controlling display of the first part  21 , the second part  22  and the third part  23  according to the state. 
     It should be noted that the state includes the bent state and the flattened state above. 
     A working principle of the mobile terminal of the present application is as follows: 
     In the bent state as shown in  FIG.  1   , the flexible screen  2  presents a U-shaped structure, the first part  21  is arranged on the front side  1 A of the housing, and the second part  22  is held in the holding tank  1 C. The sensor  3  detects that the third part  23  is in the bent state, and only controls the first part  21  and/or the third part  23  to display, and controls the second part  22  not to display. As shown in  FIG.  2   , the first part  21  is slided to make the second part  22  slide out of the holding tank  1 C, then the third part  23  is continuously bent, so that the second part  22 , the third part  23  and the first part  21  are on the same plane (the flattened state shown in  FIG.  3   ). When the sensor  3  detects that the third part  23  is in the flattened state, the first part  21 , the third part  23  and the second part  22  are controlled to display contents simultaneously. Finally, the first part  21  is slided to the home position as shown in  FIG.  4    to achieve the best use effect.