U.S. patent number 11,314,286 [Application Number 17/134,917] was granted by the patent office on 2022-04-26 for electronic device, method and apparatus for controlling flexible panel.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Gaocai Han, Ming Zhao.
United States Patent |
11,314,286 |
Zhao , et al. |
April 26, 2022 |
Electronic device, method and apparatus for controlling flexible
panel
Abstract
An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes
a device body including a plurality of sensor components arranged
in a longitudinal line along a first direction; a flexible panel
including a display region and a light transmitting region
connected with the display region; and a drive mechanism configured
to drive the flexible panel to move along a second direction. When
at least one of the sensor components is in an operating state, the
light transmitting region covers the plurality of sensor
components, where the first direction is perpendicular to the
second direction, where the drive mechanism includes: a drive
motor; and a transmission device mating with the drive motor and
including a transmission component that engages with the flexible
panel; the light transmitting region includes a first light
transmitting region connected with one side of the display region
and a second light transmitting region connected with the other
side of the display region opposite to the first light transmitting
region; the transmission component includes a first transmission
component winding at least a portion of the first light
transmitting region and a second transmission component winding at
least a portion of the second light transmitting region.
Inventors: |
Zhao; Ming (Beijing,
CN), Han; Gaocai (Beijing, CN) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. |
Beijing |
N/A |
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co.,
Ltd. (Beijing, CN)
|
Family
ID: |
1000006266638 |
Appl.
No.: |
17/134,917 |
Filed: |
December 28, 2020 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20210116973 A1 |
Apr 22, 2021 |
|
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
16697675 |
Nov 27, 2019 |
10915146 |
|
|
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
May 20, 2019 [CN] |
|
|
201910419119.5 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
3/016 (20130101); G06F 1/1692 (20130101); G06F
3/017 (20130101); G06F 1/1686 (20130101); G06F
1/1652 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
1/16 (20060101); G06F 3/01 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
108600428 |
|
Sep 2018 |
|
CN |
|
108924296 |
|
Nov 2018 |
|
CN |
|
109756594 |
|
May 2019 |
|
CN |
|
Other References
Partial European Search Report dated Jun. 15, 2020 in corresponding
European Patent Application No. 19215150.4, 17 pages cited by
applicant .
Extended European Search Report issued in European Application No.
19/215,150.4 dated Oct. 15, 2020. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Wu; Jerry
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, McClelland, Maier &
Neustadt, L.L.P.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 16/697,675 filed on Nov. 27, 2019, which
claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910419119.5
entitled "ELECTRONIC DEVICE, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING
FLEXIBLE PANEL" filed on May 20, 2019. The contents of these
applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic device, comprising: a device body comprising a
plurality of sensor components arranged in a longitudinal line
along a first direction; a flexible panel comprising a display
region and a light transmitting region connected with the display
region; and a drive mechanism, configured to drive the flexible
panel to move along a second direction so that the light
transmitting region covers the plurality of sensor components when
at least one of the plurality of sensor components is in a light
sensing state, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the
second direction, wherein the drive mechanism comprises: a drive
motor; and a transmission device mating with the drive motor and
comprising a transmission component that engages with the flexible
panel; the light transmitting region comprises a first light
transmitting region connected with one side of the display region
and a second light transmitting region connected with the other
side of the display region opposite to the first light transmitting
region to form the flexible panel of a ring shape; the transmission
component comprises a first transmission component winding at least
a portion of the first light transmitting region and a second
transmission component winding at least a portion of the second
light transmitting region.
2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the
transmission component comprises at least one of: a plurality of
rotation shafts, a plurality of tracks or a plurality of belts
arranged in parallel.
3. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a light transmitting cover plate assembled to the device body and
configured to cover the flexible panel, wherein, the flexible panel
is located between the light transmitting cover plate and the
device body, and the flexible panel is movable relative to the
light transmitting cover plate.
4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the
plurality of the sensor components comprise at least one of: a
camera module, a distance sensing module, an ambient light sensing
module, or a face recognition module.
5. The electronic device according to claim 1, the first
transmission component is a first rotation shaft and the second
transmission component is a second rotation shaft, and when the
first rotation shaft and the second rotation shaft are rotating in
a clockwise direction, the display region moves from the one side
to the other side, the light transmitting region synchronously
moves from the one side to the other side, the display region away
from the plurality of sensor components and the light transmitting
region cover the plurality of sensor components.
6. The electronic device according to claim 5, when the first
rotation shaft and the second rotation shaft are rotating in a
counter-clockwise direction, the display region moves from the
other side to the one side, and the light transmitting region
synchronously moves from the other side to the one side, the light
transmitting region away from the sensor components and the display
region cover the sensor components.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of terminal technology,
and in particular to an electronic device, a method and an
apparatus for controlling a flexible panel.
BACKGROUND
At present, with continuous expansion and optimization of various
functions of electronic devices, users have put forward higher
requirements on the size of display region on the electronic
devices. In the related art, a light transmitting region
corresponding to a camera module may be disposed on a screen.
Although the size of the display region may be increased to some
extent, it fails to realize a real full screen display due to the
existence of the light transmitting region which may not be used
for display.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides an electronic device to overcome
the deficiencies in the related art.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an
electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a
device body including a plurality of sensor components arranged in
a longitudinal line along a first direction; a flexible panel
including a display region and a light transmitting region
connected with the display region; and a drive mechanism configured
to drive the flexible panel to move along a second direction. When
at least one of the sensor components is in an operating state, the
light transmitting region covers the plurality of sensor
components, where the first direction is perpendicular to the
second direction, where the drive mechanism includes: a drive
motor; and a transmission device mating with the drive motor and
including a transmission component that engages with the flexible
panel; the light transmitting region includes a first light
transmitting region connected with one side of the display region
and a second light transmitting region connected with the other
side of the display region opposite to the first light transmitting
region; the transmission component includes a first transmission
component winding at least a portion of the first light
transmitting region and a second transmission component winding at
least a portion of the second light transmitting region.
The technical solutions provided by the examples of the present
disclosure may include the following beneficial effects.
As can be known from the above examples, the arrangement direction
of the plurality of sensor components in the present disclosure is
perpendicular to the moving direction of the flexible panel. With
the electronic device having both a light sensing function and a
full screen display function, when the electronic device is in the
light sensing state, an area occupied by the plurality of sensor
components is reduced, which is advantageous to improving the
aesthetics of the electronic device.
It is to be understood that the above general descriptions and the
subsequent detailed descriptions are merely illustrative and
explanatory, and are not intended to limit the present
disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate examples
consistent with the present disclosure and serve to explain the
principles of the present disclosure together with the
specification.
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view illustrating an electronic
device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded view illustrating an electronic
device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view illustrating another
electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view illustrating a drive
mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a schematic state view illustrating an electronic device
according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 6 is another schematic state view illustrating an electronic
device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view illustrating still another
electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a schematic structural view illustrating a flexible panel
according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a schematic exploded view illustrating yet another
electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method of controlling a
flexible panel according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 11 is an application scenario view illustrating an electronic
device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 12 is an application scenario view illustrating another
electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 13 is an application scenario view illustrating still another
electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for
controlling a flexible panel according to an exemplary
embodiment.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for
controlling another flexible panel according to an exemplary
embodiment.
FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for
controlling a flexible panel according to an exemplary
embodiment.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for a method
of controlling a flexible panel according to an exemplary
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Examples will be described in detail herein with the examples
thereof expressed in the drawings. When the following descriptions
involve the drawings, like numerals in different drawings represent
like or similar elements unless stated otherwise. The
implementations described in the following examples do not
represent all implementations consistent with the present
disclosure. On the contrary, they are merely examples of an
apparatus and a method consistent with some aspects of the present
disclosure described in detail in the appended claims.
The terminology used in the present disclosure is for the purpose
of describing a particular example only, and is not intended to be
limiting of the present disclosure. The singular forms such as "a",
`said", and "the" used in the present disclosure and the appended
claims are also intended to include multiple, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise. It is also to be understood that the
term "and/or" as used herein refers to any or all possible
combinations that include one or more associated listed items.
It is to be understood that although different information may be
described using the terms such as "first", "second", "third", etc.
in the present disclosure, the information are not limited to these
terms. These terms are used only to distinguish the same type of
information from each other. For example, the first information may
also be referred to as the second information without departing
from the scope of the present disclosure, and similarly, the second
information may also be referred to as the first information.
Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be
interpreted as "when" or "as" or "in response to a determination
that".
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view illustrating an electronic
device 100 according to an exemplary embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a
schematic exploded view illustrating an electronic device 100
according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
the electronic device 100 may include a device body 1, a flexible
panel 2, and a drive mechanism 3. The device body 1 may include a
plurality of sensor components 11 that may be arranged in a line
along a first direction (as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1).
Each sensor component 11 may include one of a camera module, a
distance sensing module, an ambient light sensing module and a face
recognition module, or the sensor component 11 may further include
other light sensors, and the present disclosure has no limitation
thereto. In addition to the sensor component 11, the device body 1
may further include a battery, a mainboard and other electronic
elements.
As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible panel 2 may include a display
region 21 and a light transmitting region 22 connected with the
display region 21. The display region 21 may be used to display
image and information, and the light transmitting region 22 may
allow external light to enter an interior of the electronic device
100 or light emitted from the interior of the electronic device 100
may also exit the electronic device 100 through the light
transmitting region 22. The drive mechanism 3 may engage with the
flexible panel 2 to drive the flexible panel 2 to move along a
second direction (as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. 2) so that
when at least one of the plurality of sensor components 11 is in an
operating state, the light transmitting region 22 covers the
plurality of sensor components 11 by the movement of the flexible
panel 2. The first direction and the second direction are
perpendicular to each other. With the electronic device 100 having
both a light sensing function and a full screen display function,
when the electronic device 100 is in the light sensing state, an
area of the display region 21 occupied by the plurality of sensor
components 11 is reduced, which is advantageous to improving the
aesthetics of the electronic device 100.
In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of sensor
components 11 may also be arranged along the second direction of
the electronic device 100. As can be known from current users'
habits for electronic devices, when the plurality of sensor
components 11 are disposed at a side edge of the electronic device
100 along the second direction, the visual abruptness may be
reduced and the sensory effect of the electronic device 100 may be
enhanced as compared with a configuration in which the plurality of
sensor components 11 are disposed at a top edge of the electronic
device 100 along the first direction.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the drive mechanism 3 may include a
drive motor 31 and a transmission device 32. The transmission
device 32 may mate with the drive motor 31, and the transmission
device 32 may further include a transmission component 321 engaging
with the flexible panel 2 so as to drive the flexible panel 2 to
move via the transmission component 321. The transmission component
321 may include one or more of the following groups: a plurality of
rotation shafts, a plurality of tracks and a plurality of belts
arranged in parallel, and the present disclosure has no limitation
thereto.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission component 321 may
include a plurality of rotation shafts arranged in parallel. For
example, the transmission component 321 may include a first
rotation shaft 3211 and a second rotation shaft 3212. When the
first rotation shaft 3211 and the second rotation shaft 3212 are
rotating in a clockwise direction, the display region 21 moves from
a left side to a right side as shown in FIG. 5, and the light
transmitting region 22 connected to the left side of the display
region 21 may synchronously move to the right side, thereby making
the display region 21 away from the sensor components 11 and the
light transmitting region 22 cover the sensor components 11. As
shown in FIG. 6, when the first rotation shaft 3211 and the second
rotation shaft 3212 are rotating in a counter-clockwise direction,
the display region 21 moves from the right side to the left side as
shown in FIG. 6, and the light transmitting region 22 connected to
the left side of the display region 21 may synchronously move to
the left side, thereby making the light transmitting region 22 away
from the sensor components 11 and the display region 21 cover the
sensor components 11. The electronic device 100 may be switched to
a full screen display state as shown in FIG. 7.
In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the light transmitting region
22 may include a first light transmitting region 221 and a second
light transmitting region 222. The first light transmitting region
221 is connected to one side of the display region 21, and the
second light transmitting region 222 is connected to the other side
of the display region 21 opposite to the first light transmitting
region 221. The first rotation shaft 3211 may wind at least a
portion of the first light transmitting region 221, and the second
rotation shaft 3212 may wind at least a portion of the second light
transmitting region 222. In this way, the display region 21 may be
driven to move relative to the device body 1 through the rotation
of the rotation shafts 3211, 3212 and the winding of the light
transmitting regions 221, 222. Moreover, since the light
transmitting regions may be disposed on both sides of the display
region 21, the requirement for the position of the sensor
components 11 may be reduced, which is advantageous to optimizing
the internal layout of the electronic device 100.
In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, two sides of the light
transmitting region 22 are respectively connected with the two
sides of the display region 21 to form the flexible panel 2 of a
ring shape, and the device body 1 may be surrounded by the flexible
panel 2. Furthermore, in a state where the light transmitting
region 22 covers the sensor components 11, there may exist two
different states:
A first state is that a portion of the display region 21 and a
portion of the light transmitting region 22 are located on a same
side of the electronic device 100. At this time, the state of the
display region 21 located on the same side as the light
transmitting region 22 may be adjusted according to light detected
by the sensor components 11. In this case, the sensor components 11
may be working normally on this side while the display region 21
performs a display operation on the side. For example, when the
sensor component 11 is a camera module, a self-shooting function of
the electronic device 100 may be implemented in this state.
A second state is that the display region 21 and the light
transmitting region 22 are located on opposite sides of the
electronic device 100. When the sensor component 11 is a camera
module, a rear shooting function of the electronic device 100 may
be implemented. Based on this, the implementation of the front
shooting function and the rear shooting function of the electronic
device 100 through the same camera module may reduce the cost and
optimize the internal space of the electronic device 100.
Further, still as shown in FIG. 9, the electronic device 100 may
include a light transmitting cover plate 4. The light transmitting
cover plate 4 is assembled to the device body 1 and configured to
cover the flexible panel 2. The flexible panel 2 may be located
between the light transmitting cover plate 4 and the device body 1,
and the flexible panel 2 is movable relative to the light
transmitting cover plate 4 under the driving of the rotation shaft
3. In this case, the flexible panel 2 may be protected by the light
transmitting cover plate 4, which is advantageous to extending the
service life of the electronic device 100.
Based on the electronic device described in the foregoing
embodiments, the present disclosure further provides a method of
controlling a flexible panel. As shown in FIG. 10, the method may
include the following steps 1001-1002.
At step 1001, a preset triggering operation on the electronic
device is acquired.
At step 1002, a switching instruction is generated according to the
preset triggering operation. The switching instruction is used for
instructing the electronic device to switch display states. When a
display region of the electronic device covers the plurality of
sensor components, the electronic device is in a first display
state, and when a light transmitting region of the electronic
device covers the plurality of sensor components, the electronic
device is in a second display state.
In this embodiment, the preset triggering operation may include an
operation performed by a user on the electronic device 100. In an
embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, when a user presses a preset
physical key on the electronic device 100, other sensor inside the
electronic device 100 may detect the press operation. Upon
detection of the press operation, the other sensor inside the
electronic device 100 may report it to a controller such that the
controller generates a drive instruction according to the
operation, and the electronic device 100 may switch display states
based on the drive instruction. The preset physical key may include
one key or a combination of multiple physical keys, and the present
disclosure has no limitation thereto.
In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, when a user performs a
preset touch operation on the electronic device 100, the controller
may acquire the preset touch operation performed by the user on the
electronic device 100, thereby switching the display states of the
electronic device 100. For example, when the user slides down as
shown in FIG. 12, the electronic device 100 may switch from the
first display state to the second display state. Correspondingly,
when the user slides up, the electronic device 100 may switch from
the second display state to the first display state.
In still another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the controller
may also switch the display states of the electronic device 100
when acquiring a preset voice signal. For example, when acquiring a
"self-shooting" voice signal, the electronic device 100 may switch
from the first display state to the second display state. Of
course, it is also possible to switch the display states when a
voice signal includes other keywords. For example, when acquiring
keywords "full screen display", the electronic device 100 may
switch from the second display state to the first display
state.
In some embodiments, the controller may also switch the display
states of the electronic device 100 when acquiring an operation of
touching a preset virtual key on the electronic device 100 by a
user, which will not be described herein again. The electronic
device 100 may include one or more of a mobile phone terminal, a
tablet computer, and an electronic reader. It is to be noted that
in some other embodiments, when a plurality of preset triggering
operations as described above are detected at the same time, a
triggering condition for the electronic device 100 to switch the
display states is to be satisfied.
In the above embodiments, the switching instruction may include
indication information for indicating a moving direction and a
moving distance of the flexible panel. Specifically, after
detecting the preset triggering operation, the moving direction and
the moving distance of the flexible panel may be determined, and
then the switching instruction is generated according to the moving
direction and the moving distance. The moving distance may be a
default setting in the electronic device 100, and the moving
direction is determined according to current display state of the
electronic device 100 and key information included in the preset
triggering operation. For example, when it is determined that the
electronic device 100 is currently in the first display state and
the key information "front shooting" included in the preset
triggering operation is extracted, the flexible panel 2 may be
adjusted such that the light transmitting region 22 covers a
plurality of sensor components 11, and a portion of the display
region 21 and the light transmitting region 22 are located on the
same side of the electronic device 100; or, when it is determined
that the electronic device 100 is currently in the first display
state and the key information "rear shooting" included in the
preset triggering operation is extracted, the flexible panel 2 may
be adjusted such that the light transmitting region 22 covers a
plurality of sensor components 11, and the display region 21 and
the light transmitting region 22 are located on opposite sides of
the electronic device 100.
Corresponding to the embodiment of the method of controlling a
flexible panel, the present disclosure also provides an embodiment
of an apparatus for controlling a flexible panel.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for
controlling a flexible panel according to an exemplary embodiment.
This apparatus may be applied to an electronic device 100. The
electronic device 100 includes sensor components 11 and a flexible
panel 2. Referring to FIG. 14, the apparatus includes an acquiring
module 141 and a generating module 142.
The acquiring module 141 is configured to acquire a preset
triggering operation on the electronic device.
The generating module 142 is configured to generate a switching
instruction according to the preset triggering operation. The
switching instruction is used for instructing the electronic device
to switch display states;
When a display region 21 of the electronic device 100 covers a
plurality of sensor components 11, the electronic device 100 is in
a first display state, and when a light transmitting region 22 of
the electronic device 100 covers the plurality of sensor components
11, the electronic device 100 is in a second display state.
Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the acquiring module 141 may include
a first acquiring unit 1411, a second acquiring unit 1412, a third
acquiring unit 1413, and a fourth acquiring unit 1414.
The first acquiring unit 1411 is configured to acquire an operation
of pressing a preset physical key on the electronic device by a
user.
The second acquiring unit 1412 is configured to acquire a preset
touch operation performed by a user on the electronic device.
The third acquiring unit 1413 is configured to acquire a preset
voice signal input by a user into the electronic device.
The fourth acquiring unit 1414 is configured to acquire an
operation of touching a preset virtual key on the electronic device
by a user.
Of course, it is to be noted that, in some other embodiments, the
acquiring module 141 may also include one or more of the first
acquiring unit 1411, the second acquiring unit 1412, the third
acquiring unit 1413 and the fourth acquiring unit 1414, or a
combination thereof, and the present disclosure has no limitation
thereto.
Further, as shown in FIG. 16, the generating module 142 may include
a determining unit 1421 and a generating unit 1422.
The determining unit 1421 is configured to determine a moving
direction and a moving distance of the flexible panel.
The generating unit 1422 is configured to generate the switching
instruction according to the moving direction and the moving
distance of the flexible panel.
It is to be noted that the configuration of the determining unit
1421 and the generating unit 1422 in the apparatus embodiment shown
in FIG. 16 may also be included in the apparatus embodiment in FIG.
15, and the present disclosure has no limitation thereto.
With regard to the apparatus in the above embodiments, the specific
manner in which respective modules perform operations has been
described in detail in the embodiments relating to the method, and
will not be explained in detail herein.
Since the apparatus examples substantially correspond to the method
examples, a reference may be made to part of the method examples.
The apparatus examples described above are merely illustrative,
where the units described as separate components may be or not be
physically separated, and the components displayed as units may be
or not be physical units, i.e., may be located in one place, or may
be distributed in a plurality of network units. Part or all of the
modules may be selected according to actual needs to implement the
objectives of the present disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in
the art may understand and carry out the present disclosure without
creative effort.
Correspondingly, the present disclosure further provides an
apparatus of controlling a flexible panel, applied to an electronic
device. The electronic device includes a plurality of sensor
components; a flexible panel including a display region and a light
transmitting region connected to the display region; one or more
processors; and a memory configured to store processor executable
instructions, where the processors are configured to: acquire a
preset triggering operation on the electronic device; and generate
a switching instruction for instructing the electronic device to
switch display states according to the preset triggering operation.
When the display region of the electronic device covers the
plurality of sensor components, the electronic device is in a first
display state, and when the light transmitting region of the
electronic device covers the plurality of sensor components, the
electronic device is in a second display state.
Correspondingly, the present disclosure also provides a terminal,
including a memory, and one or more programs, where the one or more
programs are stored in the memory and configured to execute, by one
or more processors, instructions included therein for performing
the following operations: acquiring a preset triggering operation
on an electronic device; and generating a switching instruction for
instructing the electronic device to switch display states
according to the preset triggering operation. When a display region
of the electronic device covers a plurality of sensor components,
the electronic device is in a first display state, and when a light
transmitting region of the electronic device covers the plurality
of sensor components, the electronic device is in a second display
state.
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 1700 for a
method of controlling a flexible panel according to an exemplary
embodiment. For example, the apparatus 1700 may be a mobile phone,
a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging sending and
receiving device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical
device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, etc.
Referring to FIG. 17, the apparatus 1700 may include one or more of
the following components: a processing component 1702, a memory
1704, a power supply component 1706, a multimedia component 1708,
an audio component 1710, an input/output (I/O) interface 1712, a
sensor component 1714, and a communication component 1716.
The processing component 1702 usually controls overall operations
of the apparatus 1700, such as operations relating to display,
telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and
recording operations. The processing component 1702 may include one
or more processors 1720 for executing instructions to perform all
or part of steps of the above methods. Further, the processing
component 1702 may include one or more modules to facilitate
interaction between the processing component 1702 and other
components. For example, the processing component 1702 may include
a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the
multimedia component 1708 and the processing component 1702
The memory 1704 is configured to store various types of data to
support operations at the apparatus 1700. Examples of these data
include instructions, such as contact data, phone book data,
messages, pictures, videos, and the like for any application or
method that operates on the apparatus 1700. The memory 1704 may be
implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device
or a combination thereof, such as a Static Random Access Memory
(SRAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
(EEPROM), an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), a
Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a
magnetic memory, a flash memory, a disk or an optical disk.
The power supply component 1706 supplies power for various
components of the apparatus 1700. The power supply component 1706
may include a power supply management system, one or more power
supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing
and distributing power for the apparatus 1700.
The multimedia component 1708 includes a screen for providing an
output interface between the apparatus 1700 and a user. In some
examples, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and
a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the
screen may be implemented as a touch screen for receiving input
signals from the user. The touch panel may include one or more
touch sensors for sensing touches, slides, and gestures on the
touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense a boundary of
touching or sliding actions but also detect duration and pressure
associated with the touching or sliding operations. In some
examples, the multimedia component 1708 may include a front camera
and/or a rear camera. When the apparatus 1700 is in an operation
mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front camera
and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data. Each
of the front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens
system or be capable of a focal length and an optical zoom
capability.
The audio component 1710 is configured to output and/or input audio
signals. For example, the audio component 1710 includes a
microphone (MIC). When the apparatus 1700 is in an operation mode,
such as a call mode, a record mode, and a voice recognition mode,
the microphone is configured to receive an external audio signal.
The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory 1704
or sent via the communication component 1716. In some examples, the
audio component 1710 further includes a speaker for outputting an
audio signal.
The I/O interface 1712 provides an interface between the processing
component 1702 and a peripheral interface module. The above
peripheral interface module may be a keyboard, a click wheel, a
button, or the like. These buttons may include but not limited to,
a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock
button.
The sensor component 1714 includes one or more sensors for
providing a status assessment in various aspects to the apparatus
1700. For example, the sensor component 1714 may detect an on/off
state of the apparatus 1700, and a relative location of components,
for example, the components are a display and a keypad of the
apparatus 1700. The sensor component 1714 may also detect a
position change of the apparatus 1700 or a component of the
apparatus 1700, presence or absence of a touch of a user on the
apparatus 1700, an orientation or acceleration/deceleration of the
apparatus 1700 and a temperature change of the apparatus 1700. The
sensor component 1714 may include a proximity sensor for detecting
the existence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The
sensor component 1714 may further include an optical sensor, such
as a CMOS or CCD image sensor used in imaging applications. In some
examples, the sensor component 1714 may further include an
acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure
sensor, or a temperature sensor.
The communication component 1716 is configured to facilitate wired
or wireless communication between the apparatus 1700 and other
devices. The apparatus 1700 may access a wireless network based on
a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR or
a combination thereof. In an example, the communication component
1716 receives broadcast signals or broadcast associated information
from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast
channel. In an example, the communication component 1716 may
further include a Near Field Communication (NFC) module for
promoting short-range communication. For example, the NFC module
may be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
technology, an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, an
Ultra-Wide band (UWB) technology, a Bluetooth (BT) technology, and
other technologies.
In an example, the apparatus 1700 may be implemented by one or more
Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal
Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs),
Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays
(FPGA), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors or other
electronic elements for executing the above methods.
In an example, there is further provided a non-transitory computer
readable storage medium including instructions, such as a memory
1704 including instructions. The above instructions may be executed
by the processor 1720 of the apparatus 1700 to complete the above
method. For example, the non-transitory computer readable storage
medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random-Access Memory
(RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk and an optical data
storage device, etc.
After considering the specification and practicing the present
disclosure, the persons of skill in the prior art may easily
conceive of other implementations of the present disclosure. The
present disclosure is intended to include any variations, uses and
adaptive changes of the present disclosure. These variations, uses
and adaptive changes follow the general principle of the present
disclosure and include common knowledge or conventional technical
means in the art not disclosed in the present disclosure. The
specification and examples herein are intended to be illustrative
only and the real scope and spirit of the present disclosure are
indicated by the claims of the present disclosure.
It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited
to the precise structures that have described and shown in the
drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without
departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the disclosure is to
be limited only by the appended claims.
* * * * *