KR20170064754A - Foldable display apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a foldable display device that grasps the degree of bending of a display panel in a frequency band or a time zone in which the size of noise is small. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a display apparatus comprising: a display panel including a display panel, a drive unit for driving data lines and gate lines of the display panel, And a bending analysis unit for analyzing the degree of bending of the foldable display panel using bending sensors. Wherein the bending analysis unit analyzes noise generated in the foldable display panel during a noise analysis period and extracts at least one of a frequency band in which the noise is minimum or a time period in which the noise is minimum, And the degree of bending of the foldable display panel is analyzed using at least one of the time zones.

Description

{FOLDABLE DISPLAY APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a foldable display, and more particularly to a foldable display having a bend sensor.

Examples of the display device include a liquid crystal display device (LCD), an organic light emitting display device (OLED), and an electrophoretic display device (EPD).

However, in the conventional display device, a glass substrate is used so as to withstand the high heat generated during the manufacturing process of the display device. Therefore, there is a limit to making the conventional display device light, thin, or flexible.

Therefore, in recent years, a flexible display device capable of maintaining the display performance even if bent like paper is manufactured using a flexible material such as a plastic film that can be folded and unfolded instead of a glass substrate having no flexibility.

Particularly, among the flexible display devices, a display device folded in half is referred to as a "

By understanding the degree of bending of the display device of the present invention, various interfaces can be implemented in the display device.

To this end, a bending sensor may be mounted on the non-display area of the display device of the display device for indicating the degree of bending of the display device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view showing an operation principle of a bending sensor used in a conventional foldable display device.

A bending sensor 10, a power supply unit 20, a bridge circuit 40, and a voltage measuring unit (not shown) for measuring the voltage of the bridge circuit, as shown in Fig. 1 30) may be used.

For example, when the bending sensor 10 is provided in a foldable display and the power supply 20 supplies a bending drive signal to the bending sensor 10 and the bridge circuit 40, The voltage measured by the voltage measuring unit 30 is different according to the resistance value of the first resistor R1, the second resistor R2, the third resistor R3 and the bending sensor 10 of the bending sensor 40 .

For example, when the foldable display device is folded and the bending sensor 10 is folded, the voltage measured by the voltage measurement unit 30 and the voltage measured by the voltage measurement unit 30 ) May be different from each other. Also, the voltage measured by the voltage measuring unit 30 may be different depending on the size of the bending sensor 10 folded.

Therefore, by measuring the voltage, the degree of bending of the display device can be grasped.

However, the bending sense signal received by the bending sensor 10 may be influenced by various components of the foldable display device.

For example, the bending detection signal may be influenced by a touch driving signal supplied to a touch panel included in the display device during a touch sensing period, And may be affected by data voltages and gate pulses supplied to the data lines and gate lines.

When noise is added to the bending detection signal by the above-described signals, it is difficult to accurately grasp the degree of bending of the foldable display device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention to solve the above problems is to provide a foldable display device that grasps the degree of bending of a display panel in a frequency band or a time zone in which noise is small in size.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device including a display panel, a drive unit driving data lines and gate lines of the display panel, And a bending analysis unit for analyzing the degree of bending of the foldable display panel using at least two bending sensors provided on the bendable display panel. Wherein the bending analysis unit analyzes noise generated in the foldable display panel during a noise analysis period and extracts at least one of a frequency band in which the noise is minimum or a time period in which the noise is minimum, And the degree of bending of the foldable display panel is analyzed using at least one of the time zones.

According to the present invention, the degree of bending can be accurately grasped.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an exemplary view showing the operation principle of a bending sensor used in a conventional foldable display device. Fig.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a foldable display device.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram showing the magnitude of noise analyzed by the bending analysis unit applied to the present invention by time zone. FIG.
4 is an exemplary view showing a time zone in which a bending driving signal is output in a bending analysis unit applied to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing noise analyzed by the bending analysis unit applied to the present invention by frequency. FIG.
6 is an exemplary view showing a waveform of a bending drive signal output from the bending analysis unit applied to the present invention;

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to a person skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

It should be noted that, in the specification of the present invention, the same reference numerals as in the drawings denote the same elements, but they are numbered as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings.

The shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, numbers, and the like disclosed in the drawings for describing the embodiments of the present invention are illustrative, and thus the present invention is not limited thereto. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. In the case where the word 'includes', 'having', 'done', etc. are used in this specification, other parts can be added unless '~ only' is used. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, including the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In interpreting the constituent elements, it is construed to include the error range even if there is no separate description.

In the case of a description of the positional relationship, for example, if the positional relationship between two parts is described as 'on', 'on top', 'under', and 'next to' Or " direct " is not used, one or more other portions may be located between the two portions.

In the case of a description of a temporal relationship, for example, if the temporal relationship is described by 'after', 'after', 'after', 'before', etc., May not be continuous unless they are not used.

The term " at least one " should be understood to include all possible combinations from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of 'at least one of the first item, the second item and the third item' means not only the first item, the second item or the third item, but also the second item, the second item and the third item, Means any combination of items that can be presented from more than one.

The first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, but these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

It is to be understood that each of the features of the various embodiments of the present invention may be combined or combined with each other, partially or wholly, technically various interlocking and driving, and that the embodiments may be practiced independently of each other, It is possible.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is an exemplary view schematically showing a configuration of a display device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the display device of the present invention includes a folder-type display panel 100 in which an image is displayed, a touch panel that detects whether the folder-type display panel 100 is touched, A drive unit 200 driving data lines and gate lines provided in the display unit 100 and at least two bending sensors S1 and S2 provided in a non-display area NAA of the display unit 100, And a bending analysis unit 300 for analyzing the degree of bending of the panel display panel 100.

Particularly, in the noise analysis period, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise generated in the foldable display panel 100 and determines whether the noise is at least the frequency band in which the noise is minimum or the time zone in which the noise is minimum And the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 is analyzed using at least one of the frequency band and the time zone between the bending detectors.

First, the foldable display panel 100 may be a flexible display panel using a flexible substrate. For example, the display panel 100 may include a flexible organic light emitting display panel, a flexible electrophoretic display panel, a flexible liquid crystal display panel, ), A flexible electro-wetting display panel, or the like.

The flexible substrate may be made of a plastic material. For example, the flexible substrate may be formed of any one material selected from the group consisting of polyimide (PI), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylenepthanate (PEN), cyclic olefin polymer (COP), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PNB), and polyethersulfone ≪ / RTI >

The foldable display panel 100 includes a display area AA and a non-display area NAA surrounding the display area AA.

In the display area AA, pixels for displaying an image are provided. Each of the pixels includes a display element for displaying an image corresponding to the data voltage. Here, the display device may be an organic light emitting device, a liquid crystal display device, an electrophoretic device, or an electronic wet display device.

In the display area AA, gate lines for supplying gate pulses to the pixels and data lines for supplying data voltages to the pixels are provided.

The bending sensors S1 and S2 are provided in the non-display area AA.

The driving unit 200 may be directly mounted on the non-display area NAA and connected to the data lines and the gate lines. In addition, the driving unit 200 may be attached to the flexible film, and the flexible film may be attached to the non-display area NAA and may be connected to the data lines and the gate lines via the flexible film. have.

The bending analysis unit 300 may be mounted directly on the non-display area NAA and connected to the bending sensors S1 and S2. In addition, the bending analysis unit 300 may be attached to the flexible film, and the flexible film may be attached to the non-display area NAA, and the bending sensors S1 and S2, Can be connected.

When both the bending analysis unit 300 and the driving unit 200 are attached to the flexible film, the bending analysis unit 300 and the driving unit 200 may be attached to one flexible film, Respectively.

The foldable display panel 100 may include a touch panel for sensing touch. The touch panel may be manufactured separately from the foldable display panel 100 and then attached to the foldable display panel 100 or may be embedded in the foldable display panel 100.

In this case, the touch panel may further include a touch sensing unit for supplying a touch driving signal to the touch panel and determining whether the touch panel is touched using the touch sensing signals received from the touch panel.

Second, the driving unit 200 sequentially outputs gate pulses to the gate lines and supplies data voltages to the data lines, as described above.

For this, the driving unit 200 may include a gate driver sequentially outputting the gate pulses and a data driver outputting the data voltages.

The gate driver may be embedded directly in the non-display area. This type of gate driver is referred to as a gate-in-panel type gate driver.

The driving unit 200 may further include a touch sensing unit for supplying a touch driving signal to the touch panel and analyzing the sensing signals received from the touch panel to determine whether the touch panel is touched.

The driving unit 200 may further include a driving controller for controlling functions of the gate driver, the data driver, and the touch sensing unit. However, the drive control unit may be mounted on or connected to the foldable display panel 100 independently of the driving unit 200.

Third, the bending analysis unit 300 may determine whether the bending of the bendable display panel 100 is performed by using at least two bending sensors S1 and S2 provided in the non-display area NAA of the foldable display panel, And the like.

The bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise generated in the foldable display panel 100 during the noise analysis period and determines at least one of a frequency band in which the noise is minimum or a time zone in which the noise is minimum .

The noise analysis period may arrive at a predetermined time, or whenever a predetermined event is received from an external system.

In the first embodiment, the bending analysis unit 300 calculates bending drive signals having arbitrarily set frequency bands (hereinafter simply referred to as 'arbitrary set frequency bands') in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period The degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 can be determined by using the bending detection signals received by the bending sensors S1 and S2 after outputting the bending sensors S1 and S2. In this case, the bending sensing period corresponds to the time period. For example, if the first time period extracted in the first noise analysis period is the start of every frame, the bending analysis unit 300 bends the start point of every frame arriving after the first noise analysis period, Set the start time of the detection period. Therefore, after the bending analysis unit 300 outputs a bending driving signal having the predetermined frequency band for a predetermined period from the start time of each frame, the bending analysis unit 300 detects bending The degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 can be grasped by using signals. If the second time period extracted in the second noise analysis period arrives after the first noise analysis period is the middle of every frame, the bending analysis unit 300 determines that each frame arriving after the second noise analysis period Is set as the starting point of the bending sensing period. Therefore, after the bending analysis unit 300 outputs a bending drive signal having the predetermined set frequency band for a predetermined period from the middle of each frame, the bending analysis unit 300 uses the bending detection signals received through the bending sensors, The degree of bending of the display panel can be grasped. If the third time period extracted in the third noise analysis period is an end point of each frame, the bending analysis unit 300 determines an end point of each frame arriving after the third noise analysis period as a start point of the bending sensing period . Therefore, after the bending analysis unit 300 outputs the bending drive signal having the predetermined frequency band for a predetermined period from the end point of each frame, The degree of bending of the display panel can be grasped.

In the second embodiment, the bending analysis unit 300 outputs a bending driving signal having the frequency band to the bending sensors S1 and S2 in a bending sensing period that comes after the noise analysis period The degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 can be determined using the bending detection signals received by the bending sensors S1 and S2. In this case, the bending sensing period comes at arbitrarily set intervals. For example, the bending sensing period may occur every one frame period in which one image is output, or every two frame periods, or every one blank period in which no image is output Or at least every two blank periods. In this case, the time point at which the bending driving signal is output may be set to be the same in all the bending sensing periods that come after the noise analysis period. In addition, the bending sensing period may be shorter or longer than one frame period, and may be shorter or longer than one blank period.

In the third embodiment, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using both the frequency band in which the noise is minimum and the time period during which the noise is minimum .

For example, the bending analysis unit 300 may supply the bending driving signals having the frequency bands to the bending sensors in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period, The degree of bending of the foldable display panel can be analyzed by analyzing the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors.

The information about the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 analyzed by the bending analysis unit 300 is transmitted to the external system 400.

The external system 400 drives various electronic products including the present invention. For example, when the electronic product is a tablet PC, the external system 400 generates various image data and transmits the image data to the display device. When the electronic product is a smartphone, the external system 400 transmits various image data received from the outside or various image data generated in the smartphone to the display device.

Methods for driving the display device using the present invention are as follows.

For example, when the foldable display panel 100 is folded so as to have an angle between 45 degrees and 80 degrees as a result of analyzing the degree of bending, the external system 400 displays the foldable display panel 100 100, a vending machine capable of inputting characters is displayed on one side of the folded display panel 100, and image data is generated on the other folded side of the foldable display panel 100 so that characters input through the vending machine can be output. And then transmits the image data to the driving unit 200.

As a result of analyzing the degree of bending, when the foldable display panel 100 is completely opened to form 180 degrees, the external system 400 can output an image through the whole of the foldable display panel 100 And then transmits the image data to the driving unit 200. [0033] FIG.

The configuration and functions of the bending analysis unit 300 will be described below in detail with reference to Figs. 3 to 7. Fig.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the magnitude of the noise analyzed by the bending analysis unit applied to the present invention in time zones, and FIG. 4 is an exemplary view illustrating a time zone in which a bending driving signal is output in the bending analysis unit of the present invention.

The bending analysis unit 300 determines the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using at least two bending sensors S1 and S2 provided in the non-display area NAA of the foldable display panel Analysis function.

Particularly, in the noise analysis period, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise generated in the foldable display panel 100 to determine whether the noise is at least the frequency band in which the noise is minimum, Either one is extracted.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is assumed that the bending analysis unit 300 receives a bending drive signal having the arbitrary set frequency band in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period from the bending sensors S1 , S2, and then analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using the bending detection signals. In other words, a method of analyzing the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 by extracting a time zone during which the bending analysis unit 300 minimizes the noise will be described.

For example, the sizes of the noise analyzed by the bending analysis unit 300 may be divided into time zones as shown in FIG.

When the noise analysis period lasts for three frames (Frame1, Frame2, Frame3) and the noise is measured for each of a plurality of frames (Frame1, Frame2, Frame3), as shown in FIG. 3, The magnitude of the noise when a certain period elapses after the start can be analyzed to be smaller than the magnitude of the noise in the other time zone. In Fig. 3, the A1 area, the A2 area, and the A3 area represent the time zones in which noise smaller than the size of the noise in the other time zones is generated.

In the following description, it is assumed that the A1 area, the A2 area, and the A3 area are included in a time zone corresponding to 1/5 of the entire period of the frame since the start of the frame.

The bending analysis unit 300 may set a time period corresponding to 1/5 time period of the entire period of each frame as a bending detection period after the start of each frame, using the analysis result as shown in FIG.

In other words, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise generated from the foldable display panel 100 during the noise analysis period, and sets the bending detection period to the smallest noise period have.

The bending analysis unit 300 supplies a bending driving signal to the bending sensors S1 and S2 in the time zone extracted through the process and outputs the bending sensors S1 and S2 And analyze the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100. In this case,

Therefore, the time period during which the bending driving signals TS are output to the bending sensors S1 and S2 can be variously set as shown in FIG. For example, FIG. 4 shows the time since each frame started.

In this case, the bending drive signal TS output in the X time zone shown in FIG. 4 represents the first time zone extracted based on the graph shown in FIG. 3 in the first noise analysis period. That is, X represents a first time zone corresponding to 1/5 of the entire period of the frame from the start of the frame. Therefore, the bending analysis unit 300 outputs the bending drive signal having the arbitrary set frequency band in the first time zone coming after the first noise analysis period.

Y represents a second time zone obtained as a result of analyzing noise during three frames during the second noise analysis period, and Z represents noise during three frames during the third noise analysis period, 3 represents the time zone.

In this case, although the first time zone, the second time zone and the third time zone are shown in one time graph in FIG. 4, the first time zone, the second time zone and the third time zone are independently used time to be.

For example, after the first noise analysis period, the bending drive signal is output for a predetermined period of time in the first time period, and after the second noise analysis period, the bending drive signal is output And after the third noise analysis period, the bending drive signal is output for a predetermined period in the third time zone.

In other words, the time zones in which the noise magnitude is smallest, analyzed in each noise analysis period, may be different from each other. Therefore, the starting points of the bending sensing periods may be different from each other when the starting point of the frame is referred to.

The bending analysis unit 300 may analyze the noise every predetermined time or whenever a preset event is received from an external system.

For example, the noise analysis period may arrive at a predetermined time, or whenever a predetermined event is received from an external system.

When the noise analysis period is set every 10 minutes, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise every 10 minutes, and sets the time period in which noise is smallest to the bending detection period have. Then, the bending analysis unit 300 determines the degree of bending using the time zone. After 10 minutes have elapsed from the setting of the time zone, the bending analysis unit 300 may again analyze the noise and set the time period of the smallest noise to the bending sensing period.

As another example, when the external system 400 is set to analyze the noise when an event such as power-on, power-off, or charging is generated, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the external system 400 400 may receive the event such as power-on, power-off, or charging, the noise may be analyzed to set the time period of the smallest noise to the bending sensing period.

In addition, the noise analysis period may be set by various setting methods, and the bending analysis unit 300 may analyze the noise analysis period using the analyzed time period in the noise analysis period, Can be analyzed.

Thereafter, when another noise analysis period comes, the bending analysis unit 300 may analyze the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 after setting the time zone again.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating noise analyzed by the bending analysis unit according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a waveform of a bending drive signal output from the bending analysis unit according to the present invention.

The bending analysis unit 300 determines the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using at least two bending sensors S1 and S2 provided in the non-display area NAA of the foldable display panel Analysis function.

Particularly, in the noise analysis period, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise generated in the foldable display panel 100 to determine whether the noise is at least the frequency band in which the noise is minimum, Either one is extracted.

5 and 6, the bending analysis unit 300 may calculate a bending driving signal having the frequency band in the bending sensing period that comes after the noise analysis period, using the bending sensors S1 , S2, and then analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using the bending detection signals. The frequency band is a frequency band in which noise is minimum. That is, a method of analyzing the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 by extracting a frequency band in which the noise is minimized by the bending analysis unit 300 will be described.

For example, when the noise analyzed in the noise analysis period has frequency bands as shown in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the magnitude of the noise between 1000 Hz and 250 Hz is smaller than the noise of the other frequency bands.

Therefore, the bending analysis unit 300 selects a frequency band in which the noise level is the smallest among the frequency bands between 1000Hz and 250Hz. 6, the first bending drive signal TS1 has a first frequency band extracted in the first noise analysis period, the second bending drive signal TS2 has a second frequency band extracted in the second noise analysis period, And the third bending drive signal TS3 has the third frequency band extracted in the third noise analysis period.

The first frequency band is larger than the second frequency band, and the second frequency band is larger than the third frequency band.

The bending analysis unit 300 outputs a bending driving signal having the first frequency band to the bending sensors S1 and S2 in a bending sensing period that follows the first noise analysis period. The bending analysis unit 300 determines the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using sensing signals received from the bending sensors S1 and S2.

The bending analysis unit 300 outputs a bending driving signal having the second frequency band to the bending sensors S1 and S2 in a bending sensing period coming after the second noise analysis period. The bending analysis unit 300 determines the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using sensing signals received from the bending sensors S1 and S2.

The bending analysis unit 300 outputs a bending driving signal having the third frequency band to the bending sensors S1 and S2 during a bending sensing period that comes after the third noise analysis period. The bending analysis unit 300 determines the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using sensing signals received from the bending sensors S1 and S2.

As described above, the bending analysis unit 300 may extract the frequency band every predetermined time or whenever a preset event is received from an external system.

The third embodiment, in which the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the bending degree of the foldable display panel 100 using both the frequency band in which the noise is minimum and the time period during which the noise is minimum, , The first embodiment described above and the second embodiment described above.

For example, the bending analysis unit 300 may supply the bending driving signals having the frequency bands to the bending sensors in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period, The degree of bending of the foldable display panel can be analyzed by analyzing the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing an internal configuration of a bending analysis unit applied to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a bending analysis unit applied to the present invention.

As described above, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the noise generated in the foldable display panel during the noise analysis period, and detects a frequency band in which the noise is minimum or a time zone during which the noise is minimized Extracts at least one of the frequency bands, and analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel using at least one of the frequency band and the time zone.

In the first embodiment, the bending analysis unit 300 supplies a bending drive signal to the bending sensors at the time zone coming after the noise analysis period, and in response to the bending drive signal, And analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel.

In the second embodiment, the bending analysis unit 300 supplies a bending drive signal having the frequency band to the bending sensors during a bending sensing period that comes after the noise analysis period, Analyzes the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors according to a signal, and analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel.

In the third embodiment, the bending analysis unit 300 supplies a bending drive signal having the frequency band to the bending sensors in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period, Analyzes the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors according to the detected bending moment, and analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel.

In this case, the bending analysis unit 300 may extract at least one of the frequency band or the time zone every predetermined time or whenever a predetermined event is received from the external system.

Particularly, in the noise analysis period in which the bending drive signal is not supplied to the bending sensor, the bending analysis unit 300 analyzes the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors, Extract one.

7, the bending analysis unit 300 includes a bridge circuit 320 for outputting a voltage in response to a change in resistance of the bending sensors S1 and S2, a bridge circuit 320 for outputting a voltage according to a resistance change of the bending sensors S1 and S2, A power supply unit 330 for supplying the bending drive signal to the control unit 310, and a control unit 310.

The control unit 310 controls the power supply unit 330 so that the power supply unit 330 does not output the bending drive signal during the noise analysis period. The controller 310 analyzes the voltage of the bridge circuit 320 and extracts the frequency band applied to the second embodiment. The controller 310 controls the power supply unit 330 to output the bending drive signal having the frequency band by the power supply unit 330 during the bending sensing period that comes after the noise analysis period. The controller 310 analyzes the voltage of the bridge circuit 320 and analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100.

The control unit 310 controls the power supply unit 330 so that the power supply unit 330 does not output the bending drive signal during the noise analysis period and analyzes the voltage of the bridge circuit 320 The time zone applied to the first embodiment is extracted. After the noise analysis period, the controller 310 controls the power supply unit 330 such that the power supply unit outputs the bending drive signal in the time zone. The controller 310 analyzes the voltage of the bridge circuit 320 and analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100.

In addition, the controller 310 extracts the time zone and the frequency band applied to the third embodiment in the noise analysis period, and then, in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period, The power supply unit 330 may be controlled so that a driving signal may be supplied to the bending sensors S1 and S2. In this case, the controller 310 analyzes the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors according to the bending driving signals, and analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100.

The first resistor R1 and the fourth resistor R4 connected in parallel among the four resistors constituting the bridge circuit 320 are connected to the bending sensor S1 , S2).

In the bridge circuit 320, the voltage Va of the node between the first resistor R1 and the third resistor R3 and the voltage Va of the node between the second resistor R2 and the fourth resistor R4 The voltage (Vab = Va-Vb) between the voltages Vb can be expressed as [R3 / (R1 + R3) - R4 / (R2 + R4)] x Vs. And Vs is a voltage of the bending drive signal output from the power supply unit 330. [

The control unit 310 may include an extraction unit 311 and a control signal generation unit 312, as shown in FIG.

The extraction unit 311 analyzes the noise during the noise analysis period to extract at least one of the frequency band or the time zone. The extraction unit 311 analyzes the degree of bending of the foldable display panel 100 using the sensing signals received through the bridge circuit 320 between the bending sensors. For example, the extraction unit 311 can determine that the foldable display panel 100 is completely folded when the voltage Vab measured by the bridge circuit 320 is greater than a preset value, Is smaller than the preset value, it is possible to determine that the foldable display panel 100 is unfolded, and the degree of bending of the foldable display panel can be determined according to the specific size of the voltage Vab. Also, the extracting unit 311 may determine the degree of bending of the foldable display panel using the opposite concept of the above-described method.

The control signal generation unit 312 generates a control signal under the control of the extraction unit 311 and the control signal is transmitted to the power supply unit 330.

The power supply unit 330 may include a frequency band variable unit 331 for varying the frequency band and a time varying unit 332 for varying the time band.

The power supply unit 330 may control the bending operation using at least one of the frequency band variable unit 331 and the time varying unit 332 according to a control signal transmitted from the control signal generation unit 312. [ And outputs a signal to the bridge circuit 320.

The present invention described above is summarized as follows.

The present invention analyzes the noise of the display panel 100 to extract a time zone in which a noise is minimized or a noise band is minimized and then changes the time point at which the bending drive signal is output using the time zone (The first embodiment), or the frequency of the bending drive signal outputted to the bending sensor by using the frequency band is changed (the second embodiment), or the bending drive signal is outputted by using the time zone and the frequency band And the frequency of the bending drive signal can all be varied (the third embodiment)

According to the present invention, a bending drive signal having an optimal frequency band and time zone can be output. Therefore, the degree of bending of the display panel 100 can be accurately determined.

Since the person folds the foldable display panel 100 directly, the process of determining the degree of bending in the foldable display panel 100 does not require a report rate that is faster than the required report rate at the time of touch detection. Thus, by minimizing the bending sensing period, the noise section can be avoided. In other words, since the user folds the folder display panel directly, the movement of the folder display panel is slower than the movement of the finger in the general touch. Therefore, the report rate for detecting bending need not be faster than the report rate used for touch detection. In addition, the number of sensing points for touch sensing is more than several hundred, but the sensing point for bending sensing is one, or two, or several dozens. Therefore, the time consumed in sensing is small.

In the present invention, by analyzing the noise component on the frequency side in the noise analysis period in which the bending drive signal is not outputted, the frequency band excluding the frequency band having a large noise component can be set.

By analyzing the noise component in the noise analysis period by dividing the noise component by a multiple of the image display frequency (120, 180, 240 Hz) on the time axis, it is possible to predict the time period during which the noise component is least generated, So that the degree of bending can be grasped.

According to the present invention, the angle sensing performance of the foldable display panel can be improved.

In the second embodiment, a method of extracting the frequency band is summarized as follows.

First, after the voltage of the power supply unit 330 shown in FIG. 7 is fixed to 0 V, a method of collecting noise data for noise analysis is as follows. . Also, when the voltage of the power supply unit 330 is set to Vcc (5V, 3.3V, or the like), the value output from Amp and ADC of the controller 310 is determined as sensing data.

Noise in a device including the above-mentioned display panel exhibits several characteristics. First, there exists noise in the center of the frequency depending on the power source, the driving frequency of the display, or the touch frequency, and the noise in the time axis according to the display driving.

Accordingly, in order to remove the two noises generated in the frequency and time axis, the present invention uses a method of independently analyzing the noise and then outputting a bending driving signal (sensing clock).

The bending analysis unit 300 continuously senses noise and grasps the main frequency band of the noise. Then, the bending analysis unit 300 checks whether the frequency band of the currently used bending driving signal coincides with the frequency band in which noise is least generated, and if not, avoids noise through frequency change.

At this time, the frequencies of all the available frequencies and frequencies of noise in the display device of the present invention may be compared, or the frequency of the noise may be compared with a predetermined optimum frequency.

The period for analyzing the noise frequency may be one frame (60 Hz, 120 Hz, etc.) in which an image is output, and may last for several frames.

In addition, such noise analysis can be continuously performed for a predetermined period while the folder display apparatus is turned on. In addition, the noise analysis may be temporarily performed when a specific event is generated in the display device of the foldable display device, and the frequency band or time zone analyzed in the noise analysis may be used until another event arrives.

Here, the specific event may be an event in which the user inserts the charger, an event in which the temperature changes, or an event in which the brightness of the folder display panel is adjusted.

In the first embodiment, the method of extracting the time zone is summarized as follows.

In the time domain analysis, as in the frequency analysis, there is a noise measurement period, and the main time zone of the noise is grasped after the noise is continuously sensed. When the panel display panel is driven, a large amount of noise is generated at the time when the thin film transistor operates. Therefore, a system for avoiding noise on the time axis is needed.

Noise data is stored on the time axis, and the portion with the least noise in the first frame is extracted. In the second frame, the bending sensing may be performed at a position where the noise is smallest in the first frame.

Here, data accumulation for noise analysis can be continued until an event that a situation change occurs in an external system, and accumulates when the situation changes. In this case, they may be accumulated continuously.

Noise in various frames is converted into noise of a unit frame using a method such as integration, average, etc., and bending sensing is performed at a point where minimum noise is generated in a unit frame.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

100: Foldable display panel 200:
300: Bending analysis unit 400: External system

Claims (8)

A foldable display panel;
A driving unit driving the data lines and the gate lines of the display panel; And
And a bending analysis unit for analyzing the bending degree of the foldable display panel using at least two bending sensors provided in a non-display area of the foldable display panel,
Wherein the bending analysis unit analyzes noise generated in the foldable display panel during a noise analysis period and extracts at least one of a frequency band in which the noise is minimum or a time period in which the noise is minimum, And the degree of bending of the foldable display panel is analyzed using at least one of the time zones. The method according to claim 1,
The bending analysis unit,
Wherein the control unit supplies bending drive signals to the bending sensors in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period and analyzes the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors according to the bending drive signal, A foldable display device for analyzing the degree of bending. The method according to claim 1,
The bending analysis unit,
The bending sensing signal is supplied to the bending sensors in the bending sensing period that comes after the noise analysis period and the bending sensing signals received from the bending sensors in response to the bending driving signal are analyzed And the degree of bending of the folder-type display panel is analyzed. The method according to claim 1,
The bending analysis unit,
Supplying bending drive signals having the frequency bands to the bending sensors in the time zone coming after the noise analysis period and analyzing bending detection signals received from the bending sensors in accordance with the bending drive signals, And the degree of bending of the foldable display panel is analyzed. The method according to claim 1,
The bending analysis unit,
And extracts at least one of the frequency band or the time zone every predetermined time or whenever a preset event is received from an external system. The method according to claim 1,
In the noise analysis period in which the bending drive signal is not supplied to the bending sensor, the bending analysis unit analyzes the bending detection signals received from the bending sensors, and outputs a bendable signal for extracting at least one of the frequency band or the time zone. Device. The method according to claim 1,
The bending analysis unit,
A bridge circuit for outputting a voltage according to a resistance change of the bending sensors;
A power supply for supplying a bending drive signal to the bridge circuit; And
Wherein the control unit controls the power supply unit so that the power supply unit does not output the bending drive signal during the noise analysis period, extracts the frequency band by analyzing the voltage of the bridge circuit, And a control unit for controlling the power supply unit so that the power supply unit outputs the bending drive signal having the frequency band during the sensing period and analyzing the voltage of the bridge circuit to analyze the degree of bending of the foldable display panel Foldable display device. The method according to claim 1,
The bending analysis unit,
A bridge circuit for outputting a voltage according to a resistance change of the bending sensors;
A power supply for supplying a bending drive signal to the bridge circuit; And
The power supply unit controls the power supply unit so that the power supply unit does not output the bending drive signal during the noise analysis period, extracts the time zone by analyzing the voltage of the bridge circuit, and after the noise analysis period, And a controller for controlling the power supply unit to output the bending drive signal in a time zone and analyzing a voltage of the bridge circuit to analyze a degree of bending of the foldable display panel.

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