JP2010080209A - Small-sized electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized electronic device having a cover for an external connection terminal improved in ease of opening, sealing property to dust or the like, and design. <P>SOLUTION: The small-sized electronic device includes two or more casings for housing a device, and a clearance provided at an overlapping portion of the casings, and further includes an openable/closable cover as a lid for protecting the inside which is provided adjacently to the clearance and includes a notch portion for putting a fingertip or a nail on a side of the casing adjacent to the clearance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a small electronic device having a cover for covering a connector for external connection.

  With the recent expansion of the mobile phone market, the miniaturization of devices, especially the reduction in thickness, is a major appeal for users. In addition to voice calls, users have diversified needs for wireless mobile information terminals, such as email transmission / reception, Internet connection, music reproduction function, and one-seg broadcast viewing.

  In such a portable information terminal, for example, a housing for mounting an external connection connector is provided with a cover for covering and protecting the connector. Usually, the connector and the cover are mounted on a part of the side surface of the housing, and the cover is configured to be openable and closable around its own fulcrum.

  FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a mobile phone having a conventional external connection terminal cover. A foldable or slide-type mobile phone as shown in the figure includes an upper casing 101 and a lower casing 201. The lower housing 201 is provided with an external connection terminal, and a cover 202 that covers the terminal.

  When the cover 202 is opened and closed, it can be opened by hooking a fingertip or a nail around the cover. However, as a guide for improving operability, the conventional apparatus has a recess 204 on the housing side around the cover 202. The cover is provided with a fingertip or a nail-hanging projection 203.

  However, when the electronic device is downsized, particularly thinned, in a portable information terminal having two housings, the cover that covers the connector in the housing on the side where the connector for external connection is mounted is the housing. Since the height of the side surface of the body is reduced, the cover has a shape that completely covers a part of the side surface of the housing on which the connector is mounted, and a recess for the opening / closing guide can be provided in the thickness direction on the housing side. Disappear.

  For example, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, in a foldable mobile phone terminal, an operation part is formed with a connector cover provided on a side surface in order to prevent the display part and the operation part of each case from contacting each other. It protrudes from the surface.

Further, in Patent Document 2, in order to prevent the cover from being opened unintentionally due to a fall of the device, the other end side is rotated by a predetermined angle or more with the one end side in the short direction of the cover as the rotation center. Only when the end of the cover in the short direction of the cover is locked to the device case so that the one end of the cover in the short direction of the cover can be pulled out from the device case. Yes.
JP 2006-157795 A JP 2008-011055 A

  However, providing projections for hooking guides on the cover has a problem in that the design is impaired, for example, the appearance of a compact and thin electronic device is not good.

  In addition, if the recess around the cover described above is provided in the casing around the cover, a space is required, which hinders downsizing and thinning, and also impairs the design.

  Further, when the concave portion is enlarged in consideration of operability, there is a problem that the casing is damaged due to stress concentration on the concave portion due to an external force such as an impact at the time of dropping or bending applied to a small electronic device.

  At that time, if the inside of the recess is reinforced with ribs or the like, there is a problem that the area of the printed circuit board mounted inside becomes small and electrical components cannot be mounted.

  Further, when a large recess or notch is provided in the cover so that fingers and toes can easily enter when the cover is opened, there is a problem that dust easily enters and accumulates in the corresponding portion of the cover.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is easy to open the cover of the external connection terminal, and the size of the cellular phone and the like reduced in size and reduced in thickness and improved in the sealing property against dust and the design. An object is to provide electronic equipment.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the small electronic device according to the present invention includes two or more housings for housing the devices, a gap in the overlapping portion of the housings, and is provided adjacent to the gap, and is adjacent to the gap. And an openable / closable cover, which is a lid for internal protection, having a notch for hooking a fingertip or a nail on the housing side.

  The casing is characterized by not having a recess for opening the cover.

  The cover is characterized in that it is connected to the housing with one point as a fulcrum.

  The cover is characterized in that the fulcrum portion is made of an elastic material.

  The cover is characterized in that a notch is formed in an arc shape so that a fingertip or a nail can be easily applied.

  The cover is provided with a groove for indicating a notch on the surface.

  According to the present invention, by utilizing the gap of the housing, the cover of the external connection terminal is not provided with a nail or a fingertip hooking projection, but a notch-like recess is provided, and thus it is sealed against dust and the like and is designed. Can be improved.

  Next, a small electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sliding mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. The state shown in the figure is a perspective view in a state in which a telephone call is not made, a mobile phone is used, and a television such as one-segment broadcasting is viewed.

  The mobile phone includes an upper housing 1, a lower housing 2, a cover 3, and a display unit 11.

  The upper housing 1 has a display unit 11 for sending information to the user, and the lower housing 2 has an external connection terminal, which is further connected to prevent dust from entering and flooding the external connection terminal. And a cover 3 formed of an elastic material such as an elastomer resin that serves as a lid. When watching TV, the display unit 11 can view the video. In addition, sound can be heard from a speaker unit (not shown) provided at a predetermined position.

  The upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 are configured to always hold the gap 10 so as not to interfere with each other during the sliding operation, and both housings are connected by a slide mechanism (not shown).

  The cover 3 has a fulcrum at a predetermined position and is configured to be freely opened and closed. The cover 3 covers all of the side surface of the lower housing 2 in the thickness direction. Therefore, the lower casing 2 has no edge configuration, and a recess 3 a serving as a guide when the cover 3 is opened is provided on the upper side of the upper casing 1 side of the cover 3.

  With this configuration, the gap 10 between the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 is also used as a finger or toe hooking space when the cover 3 is opened, so that the appearance of the fingertip or nail hooking recess 3a is improved. A configuration in which the cover can be easily opened can be realized without damage.

  Next, the peripheral structure of the cover 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The recess 3a for hooking when the cover 3 is opened is formed in an arc shape 3b so that the user's fingertips and nails are easily hooked. Furthermore, since the upper side of the cover 3, that is, the vicinity of the recess 3a, has the gap 10 between the casings, it is not necessary to cut out the casing 1 on the cover. The shape of 3b is not limited to a circular arc, and a groove may be formed horizontally.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the external connection terminal 30 exposed. As illustrated, one end of the cover 3 is connected so as not to be separated from the lower housing 2. For example, when using a charging function, a portable music player function such as music viewing, and a TV viewing function when receiving one-segment broadcasting, the cover 3 is always opened to connect an AC adapter for charging, stereo earphones, and the like.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the state in which the upper housing 1 is slid to enable the input unit 20 provided on the surface of the lower housing 2. For example, when the mobile phone is used for a call function, a mail function, an Internet browsing function, or the like, the upper housing 1 is used in the open state in this way.

  Next, FIG. 5 shows a state where the cover 3 is opened so that the external connection terminal 30 can be used in a state where the upper housing 1 is slid and the input unit 20 provided on the surface of the lower housing 2 is usable. FIG.

  In this state, while using the input unit 20, a stereo earphone or a personal computer can be connected for charging with an AV adapter, music viewing, or television viewing.

  According to the mobile phone according to the present embodiment, the nail is hooked using the gap between the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 and the concave portion provided in the cover 3. It is possible to open the cover at any time.

  Next, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the center of the recess 3a perpendicular to the surface of the cover 3 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view for easy understanding of the peripheral structure opened by the cover 3 in FIG. FIG. In the present embodiment, since the peripheral structure of the recess 3a for opening the cover 3 is important, only the configuration related thereto is shown, and other internal mounted components are omitted as appropriate.

  As described with reference to FIG. 1, the upper housing 1 having the display unit 11 and the lower housing 2 equipped with the cover 3 serving as a lid for covering the external connection terminals 30 and the like to prevent dust intrusion and water intrusion are provided. The gap 10 is configured to be slidably connected to each other (the connected components are omitted).

  The external connection terminal 30 electrically connected to the printed circuit board 30a is configured to be fixed and held at a predetermined position inside the lower housing 2 (fixing and holding method is omitted), and the external connection terminal 30 is charged AC. The adapter or stereo earphone is fixedly held at a predetermined position in an opening hole 2a provided in the side surface of the lower housing 2 so that the adapter or stereo earphone is not damaged or displaced when attached or detached.

  The cover 3 is provided with a notch 3c on the inner side along the recess 3a, whereby a fingertip is formed on a gap formed between the upper casing 1 and the lower casing 2, that is, on the upper side of the upper casing 1 side of the cover 3. Or it is comprised so that a nail | claw may enter easily.

  In addition, although demonstrated above with the terminal which carries out a slide operation | movement, if it has a structure which has two housing | casings and has a clearance gap between them, it will not be limited to that. For example, there are a folding type and a rotating type.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for locking and fixing the cover 3 to the lower housing 2, and the upper housing 1 is omitted. FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of the cover 3 in the same description.

  The cover 3 is formed of an elastic material such as an elastomer resin, and the shaft portion 3e integrally formed on one side surface has a flange portion at the tip portion. The shaft portion 3e has a notch recessed portion 3f so that the flange provided at the tip is easily deformed when passing through the hole 2d formed at a predetermined position of the lower housing 2, and the lower portion after the flange is penetrated. It is integrated with the housing 2. Thereby, the cover 3 can be opened and closed with the hole 2d of the lower housing 2 as a fulcrum.

  In addition, 2b and 2c provided at predetermined positions on both sides of the opening 2a exposing the external connection terminal of the lower housing 2 are engaged with the flange 3g and the flange 3h when the cover 3 is closed. Then, the opening 2a is covered and sealed.

  As an application example of this embodiment, an electronic communication device such as a thin mobile phone can be mentioned. In addition, the cover of the terminal for external connection is applicable to the site | part which needs protective covers, such as SD card of a recording medium, for example.

  In addition, when a sufficient space for a finger to enter the gap 10 can be secured, the cover 3 is preferably provided with a notch 3c for a finger or toe hook, but can be easily opened and closed without the recess 3a. Can do. According to this configuration, since there is no recess in the outer periphery of the cover, the design can be further improved. In this configuration, for example, a groove may be provided on the surface of the cover 3 to indicate a portion that can be easily opened. The shape at that time is, for example, a triangle, a circle, or a square.

  In addition, the recess when opening the cover is not only a housing that slides on each other, but also a small electronic device configured using a gap with other cover parts, such as a gap with a dent cover, or other rotation A type housing, a rotary cover, and a rotary lid may be used.

  Further, the cover may not be entirely made of an elastic material such as an elastomer resin, but only an opening / closing fulcrum portion may be made of an elastic material, and the exterior portion may be made of another material such as a hard resin.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, when opening the cover that covers the external connection terminal, it is not necessary to provide a notch in the casing itself in order to make the cover easy to open, so that the design can be improved.

  Conventionally, the housing has been damaged due to stress concentration on the notch of the lower housing due to impact such as dropping or external force such as bending to small electronic equipment, but the housing itself makes it easier to open the cover. Since there is no need to provide a notch recess, it is possible to provide an electronic device that is reduced in thickness and size.

  In addition, since the cutout of the cover can be made small, the inside is difficult to see and dust is difficult to enter.

  The present invention has been described above by the preferred embodiments of the present invention. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, various modifications and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. is there.

1 is a structural diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part enlarged view of the mobile telephone which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a structural diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a structural diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a structural diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the center of the recessed part in the vertical surface of a cover. It is a principal part enlarged view in FIG. It is explanatory drawing for latching and fixing a cover to a lower housing | casing. It is a principal part enlarged view in FIG. It is a block diagram of the conventional mobile phone.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper housing | casing 2 Lower housing | casing 3 Cover 10 Crevice 11 Display part 20 Operation part 30 Terminal for external connection

Claims (6)

Two or more housings to house the equipment,
Provide a gap in the overlapping part of the housing,
An openable and closable cover, which is provided adjacent to the gap, and is a lid for internal protection having a notch for hooking a fingertip or a nail on the housing side adjacent to the gap. Small electronic equipment.   The small electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the housing does not include a recess for opening the cover.   The small electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the cover is connected to the housing with one point as a fulcrum.   The small electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the fulcrum portion of the cover is made of an elastic material.   The small electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cover has an arc shape in the notch so that a fingertip or a nail can be easily applied.   The small electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cover includes a groove on the surface for indicating the notch.

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