Granted Patent B2

US 12,732,574 · App. 18/754,179 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Hyunggwang Kang (Suwon-si, KR); Junhyuk Kim (Suwon-si, KR); Soohyun Seo (Suwon-si, KR); Wonho Lee (Suwon-si, KR); Hoyoung Jeong (Suwon-si, KR); Hyoungtak Cho (Suwon-si, KR); Hyunju Hong (Suwon-si, KR)

Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

H04M1/0268G06F1/1624G06F1/1652H04M1/0237H04M2250/12

Abstract

Claims (88)

1 . An electronic device comprising:

a first housing;

a second housing slidably coupled to the first housing;

a flexible display disposed on a surface formed by the first housing and the second housing, which is insertable in the second housing or extractable from the second housing;

a motor configured to insert the flexible display in the second housing or extracting the flexible display from the second housing;

a first integrated circuit configured to control voltage related to the motor;

at least one sensor; and

at least one processor operably coupled with the flexible display, the motor, the first integrated circuit, and the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

identify, through the at least one sensor, data of temperature related to the flexible display,

determine, based on the identified data of the temperature, voltage to be applied to the motor through the first integrated circuit, and

change a display area of the flexible display by controlling the first integrated circuit to apply the determined voltage to the motor.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device further comprises:

a battery; and

a second integrated circuit distinct from the first integrated circuit,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

change, through the first integrated circuit, voltage provided from the battery to the determined voltage,

apply, through the first integrated circuit, the determined voltage to the second integrated circuit, and

apply, through the second integrated circuit to which the determined voltage is applied from the first integrated circuit, the determined voltage to the motor.

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first housing further comprises a support member located between one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs), and the flexible display,

wherein the at least one sensor comprises a temperature sensor, and

wherein the temperature sensor is disposed to be surrounded by the support member in a case in which the temperature sensor is disposed on one of the one or more PCBs.

4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein an input for changing the display area of the flexible display comprises an input for changing the display area of the flexible display from a first display area to a second display area.

5 . The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

identify, through the at least one sensor, data of time during which the display area of the flexible display is maintained as the first display area, and

determine, based on the data of the time during which the display area of the flexible display is maintained as the first display area, voltage to be applied to the motor.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of hall sensors,

wherein the plurality of hall sensors are arranged along a direction in which the second housing slides, and

wherein the second housing comprises a magnetic material configured to move on the plurality of hall sensors as the display area of the flexible display is changed.

7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

identify, through the plurality of hall sensors, data of magnetic power identified based on a location of the magnetic material, and

identify, based on the data of the magnetic power, state data of the display area of the flexible display.

8 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the electronic device further comprises:

a rack gear coupled with the first housing;

one or more PCBs; and

a pinion gear coupled to the motor through a shaft,

wherein the battery is disposed in at least part of the second housing, and

wherein the motor is disposed on at least another part of the second housing and disposed apart from the battery.

9 . The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to, in responses to receiving an input for changing the display area of the flexible display, change the display area of the flexible display by moving the rack gear based on rotating the pinion gear using the motor.

10 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

apply, based on a plurality of pulses, the determined voltage to the motor, and

change the display area of the flexible display by applying, based on the plurality of pulses, the determined voltage to the motor.

11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to change a velocity at which the display area of the flexible display changes, by changing an interval between the plurality of pulses.

12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

in a state in which a step-out of the motor does not occur, identify a total number of pulses for changing a state of the flexible display from a first state to a second state as a first number,

apply, based on the first number of pulses, pre-designated voltage to the motor for changing the display area of the flexible display in a state in which the step-out of the motor occurs,

after applying, based on the first number of pulses, the pre-designated voltage to the motor, identify the state of the flexible display as a third state distinct from the second state,

identify a corresponding number of pluses for changing the state of the flexible display from the first state to the third state if the step-out of the motor does not occur, as a second number, and

identify, based on the first number and the second number, a step-out rate of the motor.

13 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine, based on the step-out rate of the motor and the pre-designated voltage, voltage to be applied to the motor.

14 . The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

identify, based on the step-out rate of the motor, presence of a foreign material between the flexible display and the second housing, and

based on identifying the presence of the foreign material between the flexible display and the second housing, provide alarm through the flexible display.

15 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine the voltage to be applied to the motor as a first voltage value when the temperature related to the flexible display is a first temperature, and

determine the voltage to be applied to the motor as a second voltage value when the temperature related to the flexible display is a second temperature lower than the first temperature, and

wherein the second voltage value is greater than the first voltage.

16 . An electronic device comprising:

a first housing;

a second housing slidably coupled to the first housing;

a flexible display disposed on a surface formed by the first housing and the second housing, which is insertable in the second housing or extractable from the second housing;

a motor configured to insert the flexible display in the second housing or extracting the flexible display from the second housing;

an integrated circuit configured to control voltage related to the motor;

at least one sensor; and

at least one processor operably coupled with the flexible display, the motor, the integrated circuit, and the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

identify, through the at least one sensor, data of temperature related to the flexible display,

identify, through the at least one sensor, whether a size of a display area of the flexible display is maintained, increases or decreases,

determine voltage to be applied to the motor based on whether the size of the display area of the flexible display is maintained, increases or decreases, and the data of temperature related to the flexible display, and

change the display area of the flexible display by controlling the integrated circuit to apply the determined voltage to the motor.

17 . The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the voltage to be applied to the motor in a case that the size of the display area is maintained for a pre-designated time duration greater than the voltage to be applied to the motor in a case that the size of the display area increases or decreases.

18 . The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the voltage to be applied to the motor in a case that the size of the display area decreases greater than the voltage to be applied to the motor in a case that the size of the display area increases.

19 . An electronic device comprising:

a first housing;

a second housing slidably coupled to the first housing;

a flexible display disposed on a surface formed by the first housing and the second housing, which is insertable in the second housing or extractable from the second housing;

a motor configured to insert the flexible display in the second housing or extracting the flexible display from the second housing;

an integrated circuit configured to control voltage related to the motor;

at least one sensor; and

at least one processor operably coupled with the flexible display, the motor, the integrated circuit, and the at least one sensor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

apply, based on a pre-designated number of pulses, pre-designated voltage to the motor for changing the display area of the flexible display,

after applying, based on the pre-designated number of pulses, the pre-designated voltage to the motor, identify whether the state of the flexible display is different from a pre-designated state of the flexible display reached after applying, based on the pre-designated number of pulses, the pre-designated voltage to the motor when a step-out of the motor does not occur,

identify a step-out rate of the motor when the state of the flexible display is different from the pre-designated state,

identify, through the at least one sensor, data of temperature related to the flexible display,

determine, based on the step-out rate of the motor, the pre-designated voltage, and the data of temperature related to the flexible display, voltage to be applied to the motor, and

change the display area of the flexible display by controlling the integrated circuit to apply the determined voltage to the motor.

20 . The electronic device of claim 19 , wherein the at least one sensor includes a drop detection sensor and an impact detection sensor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

identify that an impact caused by drop of the electronic device occurs on the electronic device, through the drop detection sensor and the impact detection sensor, and

apply, based on the pre-designated number of pulses, the pre-designated voltage to the motor for changing the display area of the flexible display in a case that the impact is identified.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (56)