Flexible Display Virtual Key Button Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable electronic devices face challenges in maintaining operational convenience due to the deterioration of key button functionality when their size changes, particularly during opening and closing operations, which affects the usability of flexible displays.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device design featuring a flexible display with a key button arrangement structure that includes a sensing circuit to detect the position and input of the key button, ensuring consistent button placement and efficient use of mounting space, regardless of the device's size changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the device size is reduced to improve portability, then portability is improved, but key button functionality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions key button functionality from a physical spatial dimension to a virtual display dimension. Virtual key buttons are rendered on the flexible display screen, allowing full-size keyboard functionality to be maintained regardless of the physical device dimensions. This resolves the contradiction by preserving operational convenience in the digital domain while reducing physical size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical physical key buttons with virtual key buttons implemented through software on the display. This substitution eliminates the need for physical space dedicated to mechanical buttons, allowing device size reduction while maintaining full keyboard functionality through touch input on the flexible display.
2Area of stationary object
If the display size is increased to support multi-media functions, then display functionality is improved, but device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible display that can dynamically change its configuration between folded and unfolded states. When unfolded, the display provides a large area for multi-media functions; when folded, the device maintains a compact form factor for portability. This dynamic transformation resolves the contradiction between display area and device size.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible display is designed to fold onto itself, with one portion nested within another. This nesting configuration allows the large display area to be contained within a smaller device envelope, enabling both large display functionality and compact portability.
3Ease of operation
If mechanical key buttons are mounted on a moving body, then button accessibility is maintained, but button position changes during opening and closing operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical key buttons mounted on moving parts with virtual key buttons displayed on the flexible screen. Since virtual buttons are software-based, they remain stationary relative to the display coordinate system regardless of the device's mechanical state (folded or unfolded), thereby maintaining position consistency while preserving accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible display serves multiple functions: it acts as both the display surface and the input interface through virtual key buttons. This eliminates the need for separate mechanical buttons that would require consistent physical positioning, as the display itself provides universal input functionality across different device configurations.
Data Source
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AI summary
According to various embodiments, an electronic device may include a first structure including a first plate including a first surface and a second surface facing away from the first surface, and at least one side surface, a second structure including a second plate facing the second surface of the first plate; a first side wall extended to the second plate; a second side wall extending to the first side wall and the second plate and facing the side surface; and a third side wall extending to the first side wall and the second plate, parallel to the second side wall and facing the side surface, wherein the second plate, the first side wall, and the second side wall and the third side wall together form a trough with one side opened to receive at least part of the first structure, the first structure is movable between an open state and a closed state with respect to the second structure in a first direction parallel to the second plate and the second side wall, and the first structure is placed at a first distance from the first side wall in the closed state, and placed at a second distance which is greater than the first distance from the first side wall in the open state, at least one mechanical button mounted on the second side wall, and moving toward the first structure from outside of the second structure, and a sensing circuit disposed between the side wall and the second side wall with at least partial area, and configured to detect the movement of the mechanical button. Besides, various embodiments are possible.