KR19990068115A - Hinge mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

The hinge mechanism 114 for the radio communication device 100 having the main body 102 and the cover 104 is integrally formed on the cover, and has a barrel 124 having a closed end and an open end 122, of the closed end. Pin 127 formed on the outer surface, a spring 116 disposed within barrel 124, a cam 118 connected to spring 116, an open end 122 of barrel 124 connected to cam 118 It includes a follower 120 extending through. The pin 127 formed in the barrel 124 is rotatably disposed in the cavity of the left shoulder 109 of the body 102. The portion of the follower 120 extending through the open end 12 of the barrel 124 is the body in such a way as to limit the rotation of the follower 120 when the cover 104 moves between the open and closed positions. It is disposed in the cavity in the right shoulder 111 of 102.

Description

Hinge Mechanism {HINGE MECHANISM}

The present invention relates to a device for pivoting a housing of a foldable portable wireless communication device. The present invention applies in various areas, and is particularly suitable for use in gripped cordless telephones and will be described in detail in this regard.

Portable cordless phones are increasingly used to allow users to communicate via the wireless system in virtually any location. The portable telephone transmits a low wattage radio frequency signal to a receiving base that can be connected to a telephone system of a conventional landline.

Portable telephones are known in the art that have two housings and allow these housings to be folded against each other by hinges. Some such folding cordless telephones have most of the electronics in one housing, called the main housing, and some electronics in the other housing, called the cover. Other foldable cordless phones have covers that cover the phone's key pad or cover the phone's key pad and display, and the body is equipped with all the electronics.

Some known portable cellular radiotelephones include a spring 742 and hinge pins 736 and 748 disposed in a tubular hinge arm 724 formed at the end of the cover 706 and a body 712 as shown in FIG. A hinge mechanism having a bushing 760 formed therein is used. The spring 742 is located between the hinge pins 736 and 748, and always pushes the hinge pins 736 and 748 outward from the cover 706 to the body 712. Examples of such known cordless telephones are described in PCT Publication No. WP 93/18592, published September 16, 1993, and US Pat. No. 5,274,882, issued January 4, 1994. Cordless telephones employing the hinge mechanism described above typically have a "square" bottom of the main housing to accommodate the bushing 760. While the appearance of a "square" may be desirable for some, it is sometimes desirable to have a smaller volume and a more human-friendly design.

Another portable telephone is a hinge 301, shown and described in US Pat. No. 5,628,089, issued March 13, 1997, assigned to Motorola Inks, entitled “Wireless Telephone with Self-Complete Hinge” by Wilcox et al. Use The hinge 301 is assembled by a cap 305 assembled into the cylindrical hollow can 303 via a spring 405, a cam 404 and an open end and coupled to the can 303 over the open end. Follower 403 is included. The assembled hinge 301 in the can 303 is disposed in the cavity 307 of the cover 103 and in the cavity 503 of the body 101. Self-finished hinges may be desirable for some cordless phone manufacturers because they can be purchased in separate units, thereby eliminating the processes associated with hinge assembly during manufacture. However, for other cordless phone manufacturers that produce their own hinges, self-finished hinges complicate the manufacturing process and increase the number of parts used.

Accordingly, there is a need for a hinge for use in a folding device such as a portable cordless phone that allows for the design of a curved surface for the folding device while reducing the number of parts and simplifying the manufacturing process.

The present invention provides a hinge mechanism for a wireless communication system. In a preferred embodiment, the hinge mechanism comprises a body and a cover of a wireless communication device, the body having a groove delimited by a left shoulder and a right shoulder for attaching the cover. The hinge is integrally formed in the cover and has a barrel having a closed end and an open end, a pin formed on the outer surface of the closed end of the barrel, a spring disposed in the barrel, a front surface in contact with the spring and a curved profile. A cam disposed in the barrel with a rear surface having a back portion, the key being formed on its body, and on the opposite end extending through the open end of the barrel and the head on one end in contact with the cam's shape. And a follower disposed partially within the barrel with a connector comprising a first portion and a second portion formed on an outer surface of the first portion. In a manner that limits the movement of the follower when the cover moves between the open and closed positions, the pins formed in the barrel are rotatably disposed in the cavity in the left shoulder, and the connector is disposed in the cavity in the right shoulder. .

The hinge shape of the present invention allows the bottom portion to have a curved contour design by removing pins that press against the bottom portion of the body of the cordless phone. Cost savings are realized by eliminating the process associated with pressing these pins and pins onto the cordless telephone body. Moreover, the hinge can be placed directly within the portion of the cover of the cordless telephone, thereby eliminating the cost and process associated with the detachable housing for the hinge element.

Additional advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described. Embodiments constructed in accordance with the present invention will be described in detail.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional wireless telephone.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a cordless telephone in an open position that includes a preferred embodiment of the hinge according to the present invention.

3 is an exploded, right side perspective view of the wireless telephone of FIG. 2 showing the hinge component in more detail;

4 is an exploded left side perspective view of the wireless telephone of FIG. 2 showing the hinge component in more detail;

5 is a left perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the follower of the hinge shown in FIG.

6 is a right perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the follower of the hinge shown in FIG.

7 is a left perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the cam of the hinge shown in FIG.

8 is a right perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the cam of the hinge shown in FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view of the wireless telephone of FIG. 1 in an open position, showing the connection of the hinge component.

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view of the wireless telephone of Fig. 1 in the closed position showing the connection of the hinge component.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

102: main body

104: cover

114: hinge mechanism

116: spring

118: cam

120: Follower

124: barrel

The cordless telephone includes a cover and a body, which are two housings rotatably connected by a hinge about a rotational axis. The hinge has a fixing element such as a follower and a movable element such as a cam and a spring which are held in engagement with the fixing element in the barrel formed at the end of the cover. The cover containing the hinge elements therein is engaged with the body at one end of the barrel by a cylindrical pin molded thereon and with the body at the other end by a pin integrally formed on a follower extending through the opposite end of the barrel. do. This configuration reduces the number of hinge components and allows the bottom portion of the device to achieve a contoured design of the surface.

The wireless communication device in combination with the preferred embodiment of the hinge of the present invention is shown as a wireless telephone 100 in FIG. The cordless phone 100 has two parts, a body 102 and a cover 104. 1 shows the cover 104 in an open position so that a user of the cordless phone 100 can hear through the earpiece 106 and speak into the microphone 108. The main body 102 includes a keypad 110 having a plurality of buttons labeled 1 through 0, # and * in a conventional telephone arrangement. Keypad 110 may also have additional buttons for power, function, transfer, etc., and other buttons related to redialing a phone number. Body 102 also has an antenna 112 capable of wireless communication between wireless telephone 100 and a base station (not shown) of a cellular wireless telephone system.

As embodied herein, referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a left exploded perspective view of the hinge 114 of the present invention. 3 shows a partial perspective view of the cover 104 and the main body 102 of the cordless telephone 100. As shown, the hinge 114 includes a spring 116, a cam 118, and a follower 120. During assembly, the hinge 114 is preferably disposed in the open end of the barrel 124 of the cover 104. The cover 104 is disposed within the recess 103 of the body 102, and the shoulder 109 (109) of the body 102 in a manner that allows the cover 104 to move between open and closed positions with respect to the body 102. 4), 111 is rotatably connected.

The hinge 114 will be described in detail. The hinge 114 has a fixed element that is the follower 120 in a preferred embodiment and a movable element that is a cam 118 and a spring 116. The follower 120 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is cylindrical with a central axis 122 in the longitudinal direction. Preferably, follower 120 is Delrin 500 commercially available from Dupont. Injection molded using an acetal resin or other suitable material, such as 500, and preferably, the follower 120 is provided along three axes of the body 121, the head 123 and the connector 125 along the axis 122. Has an integral part.

The follower 121 is formed of a cylindrical portion. Preferably, one end of the body 121 is defined by a flat front surface 126. The other end of the body 121 is preferably defined by a flat rear surface 128 (FIG. 6).

The connector 125 is formed into a cylindrical portion with a positioning rib 130 integrally formed thereon. Preferably, the diameter of the cylindrical portion is slightly smaller than the diameter of the follower body 121. Both the front end 132 and the rear end (not shown) of the connector 125 are defined by a plane. The rear end is connected to the flat rear surface 128 of the body 121.

The head 123 of the follower 120 is coupled to the body 121 in its plane (not shown). Preferably, the head 123 is conical and has a depth D of about 2.0 mm. The function of the head 123 is to follow the contour of the cam 118 (described in detail below) when the cover 104 is pivoted between the open and closed positions.

The cam 118 is shown cylindrical in shape with the longitudinal central axis 146 in FIGS. 7 and 8. The cam 118 is a Delrin 500 commercially available from Dupont. Injection molded using an acetal resin or other suitable material. Preferably, the cam 118 has two distinct integral portions of the cam body 148 and the cam head 150 along the axis 122.

The cam body 148 is formed of a cylindrical portion. In a preferred embodiment, the cam body 148 has a length L of about 3.0 mm and a diameter of about 3.25 mm. Preferably, one end of the cam body 148 is defined by a flat circular front surface 154. The other end of the cam body 148 is preferably defined by a flat circular rear surface 156. The surface of the cam body 148 has a preferably rectangular key 152 formed thereon.

The cam head 150 is approximately cylindrical. Preferably, one end (not shown) of the cam head 150 is defined by a flat circular surface and connected to the flat circular rear surface 156 of the cam body 148. The other end of the cam head 150 is defined by the curved profile portion 158. Profile portion 158 has one valley 160 and two vertices 162.

The spring 116 (FIG. 3) is in the form of a spiral having an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the barrel 124 of the cover 104. Preferably, the spring 116 is a piano wire or other suitable having an outer diameter of about 3.0 mm, a length of about 12.4 mm in its free state, about 12 coils and a spring rate of about 1125.1 kg / m (63 lbs / in) Compression spring made of material.

The end of the spring 116 is closed and polished (ie flattened) to facilitate mating once the hinge 114 is assembled.

Referring to Figure 3, the barrel 124 of the cover 104 has a forming pin 127 integrally formed at one end and an opposite end 122 that is open to receive the hinge component. Open end 122 has a substantially circular opening with key slot 129 (FIG. 4) extending into barrel 124 to receive and mate key 152 attached to cam body 148 (FIG. 8). It is limited. Barrel 124 preferably has an inner diameter of about 3.12 mm. Forming pin 127 preferably has a diameter of about 2.50 mm and a length of about 2.00 mm. Preferably, cover 104 (including barrel 124 and forming pin 127) is injection molded using polycarbonate mixtures such as Cycoloy, commercially available from General Electric.

The assembly of the hinge is described below. First, the spring 116 is inserted into the barrel 124 of the cover 104. Next, the cam 118 is inserted into the barrel 124 such that the flat front surface 154 of the cam 118 is coupled to the spring 116. The follower 120 is then inserted into the barrel 124 such that the follower head 123 is coupled to the curved contour 158 of the cam 118. Next, the cover 104 is disposed in the groove 103 of the main body 102 of the wireless telephone 100. In the groove 103, the left shoulder 109 (FIG. 4) includes a first cavity 105 formed to receive the forming pin 127 of the barrel 124. The groove 103 also includes a right shoulder 111 (FIG. 3) with a second cavity 107 formed to receive the connector 125 of the follower 120. As shown, the cavity 107 includes a rectangular portion to receive the positioning rib 130 of the connector 125.

Once the forming pin 127 of the barrel 124 is received into the first cavity 105 of the left shoulder 109, the follower connector 125 is inserted into the second cavity 107 of the right shoulder 111. Will find the location. The positioning rib 130 of the follower connector 125 engages with the mating rectangular portion of the second cavity 107 to guide the follower into place. The follower 120 is permanently locked in place by the force transmitted via the cam 118 by the spring 116. Once the cover 104 of the wireless telephone 100 is coupled to the body 102, the spring 116 provides the necessary force to move the cover 104 between the open and closed positions relative to the body 102.

9 and 10, it can be seen that when the cover 104 moves between the open and closed positions, the spring 116 expands and contracts, respectively. This movement causes the cam 118 to move horizontally along the axis 146. The cam 118 also rotates about the axis 146 along the movement of the cover 104 between the open and closed positions. The key 152 of the cam body 148 disposed in the key slot 129 extending into the barrel 142 allows the cam 148 to remain coupled to the cover when it is opened and closed. As noted above, the follower remains locked in place when the cover 104 is opened and closed.

As shown in FIG. 9, when cover 104 is in the open position, valleys 160 of cam contour 158 (FIG. 8) maintain follower 120 to maintain cover 104 in the open position. To receive the head 123. When the cover 104 moves from the open position to the closed position, the cam 118 blocks the apex 162 of the cam contour 158 as the head 123 of the follower 120 is shown in FIG. Rotate around its axis 146 until it is in the last position.

The hinge of the present invention provides advantages over known hinges. This eliminates the need to press the pin into the bottom portion of the body of the cordless phone, thereby allowing the bottom portion to have a curved contour design. Moreover, cost savings are realized from the omission of the work associated with assembling the pins with the body of the cordless telephone. Moreover, the hinge can be placed directly on the cover portion of the cordless telephone, thereby eliminating the cost and work associated with the detachable housing for the hinge element.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made in the construction of the apparatus without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention in the apparatus.

According to the present invention described above, there is an effect of providing a portable cordless telephone having a curved outer design for the folding device while reducing the number of parts and simplifying the manufacturing operation.

Claims (8)

A wireless communication having a main body 102 and a cover 104 such that the main body 102 has a groove delimited by a left shoulder 109 and a right shoulder 111 for attaching the cover 104. In the device 100, A barrel 124 formed integrally with the cover 104 and having a closed end and an open end 122, A pin 127 formed on the outer surface of the closed end of the barrel 124, A spring 116 disposed within the barrel 124, Cam 118 having a front surface in contact with spring 116 and a rear surface with curved profile portion 158 disposed within barrel 124, with a key 152 formed in its body 148. and, The first portion and the first portion are on the head 123 on one end that contacts the profile portion 153 of the cam 118 and on the opposite end that extends through the open end 122 of the barrel 124. A follower 120 partially disposed within the barrel 120 with a connector 125 having a second portion formed on an outer surface thereof, The pin 127 is rotatably disposed in the cavity in the left shoulder 109 and the connector 125 in a manner that limits the motion of the follower 120 when the cover 104 moves between the open and closed positions. ) Is disposed in the cavity in the right shoulder (111). The device of claim 1, wherein the curved profile portion (158) of the cam (118) forms a valley (160). The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the curved profile portion (158) of the cam (118) forms a plurality of vertices (162). The device according to claim 2, wherein the head (123) of the follower (120) is disposed in the valley of the curved profile portion (158) when the cover (104) is in the open position. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the head (123) of the follower (120) contacts a plurality of vertices (162) of the curved profile portion (158) when the cover (104) is in the closed position. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the open end (122) of the barrel (124) defines a key slot (129) extending into the barrel (124). The key 152 of claim 6, wherein the key 152 formed on the body 102 of the cam 118 is such that the cam 118 can rotate with the cover 104 as the key 152 moves between the open and closed positions. The key of the barrel (124) is inserted into the slot (129). A main body 102; A cover 104; A hinge 114 having a groove delimited by the left shoulder 109 and the right shoulder 111, and rotatably coupling the cover 104 to the main body 102; The hinge is A barrel 124 formed integrally with the cover 104 and having a closed end and an open end 122, A pin 127 formed on the outer surface of the closed end of the barrel 124, A spring 116 disposed within the barrel 124, Cam 118 having a front surface in contact with spring 116 and a rear surface with curved profile portion 158 disposed within barrel 124, with a key 152 formed in its body 148. and, The first portion and the first portion on the opposite side extending through the open end 122 of the barrel 124 and the head 123 on one side end in contact with the profile portion 158 of the cam 118. A follower 120 partially disposed within the barrel 120 with a connector 125 having a second portion formed on an outer surface of the The pin 127 is rotatably disposed in the cavity in the left shoulder 109 and the connector 125 in a manner that limits the motion of the follower 120 when the cover 104 moves between the open and closed positions. ) Is disposed in the cavity in the right shoulder (111).