# US 2021/0241666 A1 · Method and a flexible apparatus managing a folding thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0241666 A1 - Document ID: US20210241666A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/168,070 - Filed: 2021-02-04 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-02-04 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Gaurav GUPTA; Arindam MONDAL - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241666A1 ## CPC - G09G 3/035: {for flexible display surfaces} - G06F 1/1652: {the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable} - G06F 1/1677: {for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment} - G06F 1/1694: {the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer} - G06F 3/04847: Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials - G06F 3/04886: by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus - G06F 2203/04803: Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas - G09G 2340/0464: Positioning - G09G: ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION (arrangements for transferring data between digital computers and displays G06F3/14; static indicating arrangements comprising an association of a number of separate sources or light control cells G09F9/00; static indicating arrangements comprising integral associations of a number of light sources H01J, H01K, H10H, H05B33/12; scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission, details thereof H04N1/00) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Provided are a method and an apparatus of managing a folding performed on a flexible device. The apparatus includes a foldable display, at least one sensor coupled to the foldable display, and a processor. The at least one sensor includes at least two sensing elements each of the at least two sensing elements is arranged asymmetrically with respect to each other along the foldable display. The processor is configured to determine at least one of a location and an angle of folding of the foldable display based on sensed values detected from the at least two sensing elements. The processor is also configured to render content on the foldable display based on the location and the angle of the folding. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A foldable apparatus, the foldable apparatus comprising: a foldable display; at least one sensor coupled to the foldable display comprising at least two sensing elements each of the at least two sensing elements is arranged asymmetrically with respect to each other along the foldable display; and a processor configured to: determine at least one of a location and an angle of folding of the foldable display based on sensed values detected from the at least two sensing elements, and render content on the foldable display based on the location and the angle of the folding. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two sensing elements are triangular-shaped with non-uniform width along the foldable display. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two sensing elements are trapezoidal-shaped with non-uniform width along the foldable display. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least two sensing elements are resistive material or capacitive material. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensed values are resistance values and the resistance values of the at least two sensing elements differ in a first direction of the foldable display. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The foldable apparatus of claim 5, wherein the resistance values of the at least two sensing elements differ in a second direction of the foldable display. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The foldable apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the location and the angle of folding of the foldable display based on resistance values of the at least two sensing elements in the first direction and the second direction of the foldable display. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The foldable apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the angle of the folding based on changes of the resistance values of one of the at least two sensing elements along an axis of the folding. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The foldable apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the location of the folding based on changes of the resistance values of one of the at least two sensing elements. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to render first content at a left side of the location of the folding and render second content at a right side of the location of the folding. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The foldable apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain an occurrence of the folding of the foldable display based on changes of resistance values in the first direction of the foldable display. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The foldable apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the angle of the folding based on changes of the resistance values in the second direction of the foldable display. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two sensing elements comprises a top sensor in a first layer of the at least two sensing elements and a bottom sensor in a second layer of the at least two sensing elements. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The foldable apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain a resistance value of the top sensor in the first layer and a resistance value of the bottom sensor in the second layer at a folded location, and obtain the angle of the folding based on the resistance value of the top sensor in the first layer and the resistance value of the bottom sensor in the second layer. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The foldable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensed values are capacitance values and the capacitance values of the at least two sensing elements differ in a first direction of the foldable display and the capacitance values of the at least two sensing elements differ in a second direction of the foldable display. ### Claim 16 A method of detecting sensing values in a foldable device, the method comprising: detecting the sensing values from a sensor comprising at least two sensing elements each of at least two sensing elements is arranged asymmetrically with respect to each other along a foldable display; determining a location and an angle of folding of the foldable display based on the sensing values; and rendering content on the foldable display based on the location and the angle of the folding. ### Claim 17 A foldable apparatus, the foldable apparatus comprising: a foldable display; at least one sensor coupled to the foldable display, the at least one sensor comprising a sensing element arranged non-uniformly along the foldable display; and a processor configured to: determine a location and an angle of folding of the foldable display based on sensed values from the at least one sensor, and render content on the foldable display based on the location and the angle of folding of the foldable display. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The foldable apparatus of claim 17, wherein the sensed values are resistance values and the resistance values of the sensing element differ in a first direction along the foldable display. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The foldable apparatus of claim 18, wherein resistance values of the sensing element differ in a second direction along the foldable display. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The foldable apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the location of folding of the foldable display based on changes of the resistance values of the sensing element in the first direction.