CN116931662A - Hinge assembly and foldable device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a hinge assembly and a foldable device, the hinge assembly provided by the present disclosure includes a first rotating member; the first rotating piece is rotationally connected with the second rotating piece; the support piece is rotationally connected with the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece; when a first preset angle is formed between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece, the supporting surface of the supporting piece and the supporting surface of the second rotating piece are located on the same plane, and the projection of the gravity center of the first rotating piece on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece is located in the supporting surface of the supporting piece. The arrangement of the present disclosure makes it possible for the support member to support the first rotating member and/or the second rotating member when a first predetermined angle is formed between the first rotating member and the second rotating member, so that the problem of inconvenient use caused by unfixed positions of the first rotating member and/or the second rotating member can be avoided.

Description

Hinge assembly and foldable device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of terminal manufacturing, and more particularly, to a hinge assembly and a foldable device.

Background

The use demands of the existing folding electronic equipment are more and more, such as a notebook computer, a folding mobile phone and the like, and when the electronic equipment is unfolded and used, such as the notebook computer is opened and closed to an angle of more than 90 degrees, the risk of dumping of the electronic equipment can occur, so that the electronic equipment is inconvenient to use.

The existing products have the design proposal of adding the support additionally, or have complex structure or complex unfolding action, which possibly causes the increase of the weight or the volume of the equipment and even causes the interference on the rotating structure, thereby being inconvenient for users to use.

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome the problems in the related art, the present disclosure provides a hinge assembly and a foldable device.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a hinge assembly comprising a first rotating member; the first rotating piece is rotationally connected with the second rotating piece; the support piece is rotationally connected with the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece; when a first preset angle is formed between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece, the supporting surface of the supporting piece and the supporting surface of the second rotating piece are located on the same plane, and the projection of the gravity center of the first rotating piece on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece is located in the supporting surface of the supporting piece.

In an embodiment, when the first rotating member and the second rotating member form a second predetermined angle, at least part of the supporting member is embedded on the first rotating member or the second rotating member.

In one embodiment, the first rotating member includes: the first rotating connecting part is used for connecting the second rotating piece with the first rotating piece in a rotating way, and the supporting piece is connected with the first rotating piece in a rotating way; the second rotating member is provided with a first recess configured to receive the first rotating connection.

In an embodiment, the first rotational connection is provided with a hollow area; the supporting piece comprises an ejection connecting part and a supporting part, and the ejection connecting part is arranged in the hollow area; the first rotating piece comprises a first connecting portion, a hollow area is arranged on the first connecting portion, the hollow area is communicated with the hollow area, and when the supporting piece and the first rotating piece are located on the same plane, the supporting piece is embedded in the hollow area.

In an embodiment, the second rotating member includes a second rotating connecting portion and a second connecting portion, and the second rotating connecting portion is movably connected with an end portion of the first rotating connecting portion.

In an embodiment, the hinge assembly further includes an elastic linkage member including a first end and a second end disposed opposite to each other, the elastic linkage member penetrating the first rotational connection portion and being disposed at the pop-up connection portion and the second rotational connection portion, respectively.

In an embodiment, the ejecting connection portion is provided with a concave hole in an inward concave manner, and the first end of the elastic linkage piece is arranged in the concave hole; the second rotating connecting portion is provided with a second groove, the second end of the elastic linkage piece is arranged in the second groove and is configured to slide from one end of the second groove to the other end, and the depths of the second grooves are different in the axial direction of the second rotating connecting portion.

In an embodiment, the second groove has a first depth and a second depth different from the first depth; when the second end of the elastic linkage piece is positioned at the second groove with the second depth, the supporting surface of the supporting piece and the supporting surface of the second rotating piece are positioned on the same plane, and the gravity center of the first rotating piece is positioned in the supporting surface of the supporting piece in a projection mode on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece.

In an embodiment, the first depth is less than the second depth.

In an embodiment, the elastic linkage member includes a linkage rod and a compression spring, and the compression spring is sleeved on the linkage rod and abuts between the first rotating connection part and the linkage rod.

In one embodiment, the hinge assembly further comprises a shaft, the first rotational connection comprises a first shaft hole, the second rotational connection comprises a second shaft hole, the pop-up connection comprises a third shaft hole, and the shaft passes through the first shaft hole, the second shaft hole, and the third shaft hole.

In an embodiment, at least one end of the ejecting connection portion is connected with an ejecting member, and the shaft penetrates through the ejecting member and is arranged in the first shaft hole.

In an embodiment, the ejector is configured to provide an elastic force to the support, such that the support surface of the support and the support surface of the second rotating member are located on the same plane when the second end of the elastic linkage is located at the second groove having the second depth, and the center of gravity of the first rotating member is located in the support surface of the support by projection on the support surface of the second rotating member.

In one embodiment, the ejector is a torsion spring.

In an embodiment, a damping member is disposed between the first rotating member and the second rotating member; and/or a damping piece is arranged between the first rotating piece and the supporting piece.

According to a second aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a foldable device comprising a first body, a second body and a hinge assembly according to any of the preceding embodiments, wherein a first rotating member is connected to the first body, a second rotating member is connected to the second body, and a center of gravity of the first body is projected on a support surface of the second rotating member to be located in the support surface of the support member.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can comprise the following beneficial effects: the first rotating member and the second rotating member may be rotatably coupled, and the support member may also be rotatably coupled to the first rotating member and/or the second rotating member. It can be seen that the three can be close to or far from each other. Meanwhile, the arrangement of the present disclosure also enables the projection of the center of gravity of the first rotating member on the supporting surface of the second rotating member to be located on the supporting surface of the supporting member when the supporting surface of the first rotating member and the supporting surface of the second rotating member are on the same plane. By the arrangement, the supporting piece can support the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece when the first predetermined angle is formed between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece, so that the angle between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece is stable, and the problem of inconvenient use caused by unfixed positions of the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece can be avoided.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1A is a schematic exploded perspective view of a hinge assembly according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 1B is a schematic exploded perspective view of a hinge assembly according to another exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 2A is a schematic view of the assembled hinge assembly shown in fig. 1A.

Fig. 2B is a schematic view of the assembled hinge assembly shown in fig. 1B.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the left-hand resilient linkage assembly of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 to 6 are operational state diagrams of a hinge assembly according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a foldable device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing a closed state of a foldable device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples are not representative of all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the disclosure as detailed in the scope of the claims.

The use demands of the existing folding electronic equipment are more and more, such as a notebook computer, a folding mobile phone and the like, and when the electronic equipment is unfolded and used, such as the notebook computer is opened and closed to an angle of more than 90 degrees, the risk of dumping of the electronic equipment can occur, so that the electronic equipment is inconvenient to use.

The existing products have the design proposal of adding the support additionally, or have complex structure or complex unfolding action, which possibly causes the increase of the weight or the volume of the equipment and even causes the interference on the rotating structure, thereby being inconvenient for users to use.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present disclosure provides a hinge assembly and a foldable device. The folding electronic equipment has the advantages that the folding electronic equipment is simple and ingenious in structure, the design space of the folding position is reasonably utilized, the electronic equipment can be unfolded automatically when being unfolded to the using position, and the electronic equipment can be supplemented with different functions through the action of the automatic unfolding, such as supporting function, auxiliary tool providing and the like.

The hinge assembly provided by the present disclosure includes a first rotating member; the first rotating piece is rotationally connected with the second rotating piece; the support piece is rotationally connected with the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece; when a first preset angle is formed between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece, the supporting surface of the supporting piece and the supporting surface of the second rotating piece are located on the same plane, and the projection of the gravity center of the first rotating piece on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece is located in the supporting surface of the supporting piece.

The first rotating member and the second rotating member may be rotatably coupled, and the support member may also be rotatably coupled to the first rotating member and/or the second rotating member. It can be seen that the three can be close to or far from each other. Meanwhile, the arrangement of the present disclosure also enables the projection of the center of gravity of the first rotating member on the supporting surface of the second rotating member to be located on the supporting surface of the supporting member when the supporting surface of the first rotating member and the supporting surface of the second rotating member are on the same plane. By the arrangement, the supporting piece can support the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece when the first predetermined angle is formed between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece, so that the angle between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece is stable, and the problem of inconvenient use caused by unfixed positions of the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece can be avoided.

The application provides a hinge assembly. Fig. 1A is a schematic exploded perspective view of a hinge assembly according to an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 1B is a schematic exploded perspective view of a hinge assembly according to another exemplary embodiment. Fig. 2A is a schematic view of the assembled hinge assembly shown in fig. 1A. Fig. 2B is a schematic view of the assembled hinge assembly shown in fig. 1B.

As shown in fig. 1A and 1B, the hinge assembly may include a first rotating member 10, a second rotating member 20, a supporting member 30, an elastic linkage member 40, and an ejector member 50. Which are assembled to form the structure shown in fig. 2A and 2B. The hinge assemblies herein may be adapted for use with foldable devices, as well as any electronic equipment requiring the use of foldable devices. The electronic device described in the present disclosure may be, for example, a mobile phone, a notebook computer, an electronic reading device, an electronic video device, an electronic drawing device, a tablet computer, a wearable electronic device, a personal digital assistant, and so on. The switching of the foldable device between the folded state and the unfolded state (in use state) can be achieved by the relative rotation of the first rotary member 10 and the second rotary member 20, and the support member 30 is self-unfolded during the unfolding process, which can provide different functions to the foldable device, such as supporting, providing auxiliary tools, etc.

In the present disclosure, at least part of the support 30 may be embedded on the first rotating member 10 or the second rotating member 20 when the second predetermined angle is formed between the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20. In the present disclosure, the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 may rotate with each other, and an angle may be formed therebetween during rotation. As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, when the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 are parallel to each other (i.e., the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 form 0 °), the hinge assembly can be considered as a closed state.

In the present disclosure, when the hinge assembly is in the closed state, the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 form 0 ° therebetween, and 0 ° may be regarded as a second predetermined angle. At this time, the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 are parallel to each other, and at least a portion of the supporting member 30 is embedded in the first rotating member 10 or the second rotating member 20.

As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, the entirety of the support 30 may be embedded in the first rotation member 10. The support 30 can be considered to be housed in the first rotor 10. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in some embodiments, the support member 30 may be only partially embedded in the first rotating member 10.

It should be noted that, although fig. 2A and 2B illustrate an embodiment in which the support member 30 is embedded in the first rotating member 10, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and in other possible embodiments, at least a portion of the support member 30 may be embedded in the second rotating member 20, i.e. accommodated in the second rotating member 20.

In the present disclosure, when the first rotary member 10 and the second rotary member 20 are opened, an angle formed between the first rotary member 10 and the second rotary member 20 may be a first predetermined angle. For example, the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 are opened until the angle therebetween is 100 °, and the first predetermined angle is 100 °. When the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 form 100 °, the projection of the center of gravity of the first rotating member 10 on the plane of the supporting surface of the second rotating member 20 is not located in the second rotating member 20, and thus, the hinge assembly may be unstable, for example, the hinge assembly may fall to one side of the first rotating member 10 or the second rotating member 20.

In the above case, the support 30 may be formed to be in the same plane as the second rotation member 20. In this case, the support surface of the support member and the support surface of the second rotation member are considered to be on the same plane. The projection of the center of gravity of the first rotating member 10 onto the support surface of the second rotating member is located within the support surface of the support member, for example, the center of gravity of the first rotating member 10 may be located within the support portion 36 of the support member 30. It can be seen that in this case, the support 30 can provide a certain supporting effect to the first rotating member 10, so as to prevent the hinge assembly from tilting or even overturning due to unstable support.

In the present disclosure, the first rotary member 10 may include a first rotary connection portion 12, the second rotary member 20 may be rotatably connected to the first rotary member 10 through the first rotary connection portion 12, and the support member 30 may be rotatably connected to the first rotary member 10 through the first rotary connection portion 12. In the present disclosure, the first rotary member 10 may have a pair of first rotary connecting portions 12, and an inner connecting position may be formed between the two first rotary connecting portions 12, and an outer connecting position may be formed outside the two first rotary connecting portions 12. This distinction between inner and outer sides can be aided by a line between the two first rotational connections 12, on which the region between the two first rotational connections 12 is the inner connection position and the region outside the two rotational connections is the outer connection position.

It is noted that the arrangement of the present disclosure is not limited to the first rotary member 10 including a pair of first rotary connecting portions 12, and in some embodiments, may include one or more first rotary connecting portions 12, as long as it is capable of functioning in rotary connection with the second rotary member 20 and the support member 30.

In fig. 1A and 1B, the first rotating member has a columnar shaft structure at the pair of first rotating connecting portions 12, a hollow region 17 may be provided between the two first rotating connecting portions 12, the hollow region 17 constitutes the above-mentioned inner connecting position, and the position where the pair of first rotating connecting portions 12 deviate from the hollow region 17, that is, the position where the columnar shaft structure deviates from the hollow region, may be understood as the outer connecting position.

In this disclosure, the first rotating member 10 may further include a first connecting portion 16, where the first connecting portion 16 may be provided with a hollow area 18, and the hollow area 18 may be in communication with the hollow area 17, and when the supporting member 30 and the first rotating member 10 are located on the same plane (i.e., the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 form a first predetermined angle), the supporting member 30 is embedded in the hollow area 18. Support 30 may be considered to be received in hollowed out region 18.

In the present disclosure, when the support member 30 is accommodated in the second rotating member 20, the second rotating member 20 may be correspondingly provided with a hollow area for accommodating the support member 30.

In the present disclosure, the hinge assembly may further include a shaft 71, and the first rotary member 10, the second rotary member 20, and the support member 30 may be coaxially rotated, i.e., the shafts of all three may be the shaft 71. In this case, the first rotational coupling portion 12 may include a first shaft hole, the second rotational coupling portion 22 may include a second shaft hole, the eject coupling portion 32 may include a third shaft hole, and the shaft 71 may pass through the first shaft hole, the second shaft hole, and the third shaft hole.

The second rotating member 20 may be mounted on an outer side of the first rotating member 10 at a connection position, that is, connected to the outer sides of the pair of first rotating connection portions 12, so as to achieve a rotational connection relationship between the second rotating member 20 and the first rotating member 10, and may form a folding and unfolding mechanism of the foldable device, which will be described in detail later.

The second rotating member 20 is provided with a corresponding second rotating connecting portion 22 for axial connection with the first rotating connecting portion 12 of the first rotating member 10, and in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the second rotating connecting portion 22 is also provided with a columnar shaft structure, and is coaxially arranged with the first rotating connecting portion 12 to form the same rotating shaft, and the design facilitates control of the rotating planes of the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20, and naturally, the rotating relationship between them can be different according to some special design requirements.

In the present disclosure, the second rotating member 20 may include a second rotating connection 22 and a second connection 26, the second rotating connection 22 being movably connected with an end of the first rotating connection 12.

In the present disclosure, the second rotation member 20 may be provided with a first groove 23, the first groove 23 being configured to accommodate the first rotation connection 12. The first groove 23 may be located in the middle of the second rotation coupling portion 22 of the second rotation member 20 as shown in fig. 1A and 1B, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in some embodiments, the first groove 23 may be located at one side of the second rotation coupling portion 22. Along the rotational axis of the second rotating member 20, the second rotating connecting portion 22 of the second rotating member 20 for rotational connection with the first rotating member 10 is further provided with a groove 24. As shown in fig. 1, on the connection end surface of the second rotation connection portion 22 of the second rotation member 20 connected to the first rotation connection portion 12 of the first rotation member 10, the connection portion 22 of the second rotation member 20 is provided with a groove 24, and the second groove 24 may be an arc-shaped track provided around the rotation axis. The arc-shaped rail in fig. 1A and 1B is a groove-shaped rail of the second groove 24, but the rail arrangement may be realized by other structures or modes depending on the design requirements, and is not limited to the one shown in the drawings, and the rail design may be formed by arranging a convex structure, for example, or by forming the rail design by other structures.

In the present disclosure, the support 30 may include an ejection connection portion 32 and a support portion 36, and the ejection connection portion 32 may be disposed at the hollow region 17. I.e. the hollow area 17 may be used to accommodate the support 36.

In the present disclosure, the hollow region 17 and the hollowed-out region 18 of the first rotary member 10 as shown in fig. 1A and 1B may be located at an intermediate position of the first rotary member 10, such that the support member 30 may be located at an intermediate position of the first rotary member 10. In this case, the supporting member 30 can uniformly support both sides of the first rotary member 10. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in some embodiments, the hollow area and the hollowed-out area may be provided at other positions of the first rotary member 10 than the intermediate position, depending on the related components of the hinge assembly and the purpose of the arrangement.

The support member 30 is mounted at an inner side connection position of the first rotating member 10, i.e., connected between the pair of first rotating connection portions 12, so as to achieve a rotational connection relationship between the support member 30 and the first rotating member 10, and the support member 30 is provided with a corresponding pop-up connection portion 32, and in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the pop-up connection portion 32 is also provided with a columnar shaft type structure, and since it is located between the pair of first rotating connection portions 12, the pop-up connection portion 32 of the support member 30 may be provided with a pair of corresponding pop-up connection portions 32, or as a whole as shown in fig. 1, the pop-up connection portion 32 of the support member 30 and the first rotating connection portion 12 are coaxially arranged, forming the same rotational shaft, which facilitates control of a rotational plane between the first rotating member 10 and the support member 30, and of course, according to some special design requirements, also may be made different in rotational relationship therebetween.

In connection with the above, fig. 1A and 1B show the application modes commonly adopted in the prior art, that is, the first rotating member 10, the second rotating member 20 and the supporting member 30 form a coaxial structure, and rotate around the same rotation axis, and the ejecting linkage structure of the supporting member 30 is arranged in the same rotation axial relation, which contributes to the overall structural design, but the rotation axes between them are not necessarily coaxial, for example, can also rotate around the respective rotation axes according to different design needs.

The first rotating member 10 can drive the supporting member 30 to rotate to a triggering position (a first predetermined angle is formed between the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20), so as to achieve a supporting function of automatically ejecting the hinge assembly when the hinge assembly is opened or closed for use, which will be described in detail later. In general, the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 may be configured to enable the first rotating member 10 to rotate the supporting member 30 through a structural linkage, where the linkage is generally from a folded state to an unfolded state, so that the first rotating member 10 can enable the supporting member 30 to rotate together when being unfolded relative to the second rotating member 20, and reach a triggering position, that is, a position where the supporting member 30 pops out from the first rotating member 10.

As shown in fig. 1A and 1B, along the rotational axis of the support member 30, the ejection connection portion 32 of the support member 30 for connection with the first rotation member is also provided with a concave hole 34 concavely inward, which will be described in detail later in connection with the elastic link member 40.

The elastic linkage member 40 is disposed through the first rotation connection portion 12 of the first rotation member 10, and is configured to cooperate with the second groove 24 of the second rotation member 20 and the concave hole 34 of the support member 30 to trigger the ejection operation when the support member reaches the trigger position. For example, the resilient linkage 40 may include oppositely disposed first and second ends, and the resilient linkage 40 may extend through the first rotational connection 12 and be disposed at the ejection connection 32 and the second rotational connection 22, respectively.

In the present disclosure, the second rotational link 20 may be provided with a second groove 24, and the second end of the elastic link 40 may be disposed within the second groove 24 and configured to slide from one end of the second groove 24 to the other.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, a pair of resilient linkages 40 are provided to correspondingly mate with a pair of second recesses 34 (the recesses on the left side of the view angle cause being obscured in the figures) and a pair of second recesses 24 (the second recesses on the right side of the view angle cause being obscured in the figures). It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the design of the pair of elastic linkages 40 is not necessary, and that the technical purpose of the present disclosure may be achieved by providing one elastic linkage 40 and a corresponding second groove 24 and a recess 34 on one side according to the design requirement. Specific connection structure of the elastic linkage 40 can be seen in fig. 3, and fig. 3 is an exploded view of the assembly structure of the left elastic linkage 40 in fig. 1A and 1B. To clearly see the connection between the resilient linkage 40 and the recess 24 and recess 34, the first rotary member is omitted from fig. 3 and only a partial structure is cut out.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1A and fig. 3, the concave hole 34 of the support member 30 is formed in the concave hole 34 of the ejecting connection portion 32, the elastic linkage member 40 may have a rod structure, one end of which can be inserted into the concave hole 34, so that the elastic linkage member 40 can be engaged with the concave hole 34 in the rotation direction, that is, in the combined state, when the support member 30 is driven by the first rotation member 10 (see fig. 1 and fig. 2) to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in fig. 3, the support member 30 drives the elastic linkage member 40 to rotate around the rotation axis of the support member 30 together through the concave hole 34, and the other end of the elastic linkage member 40 can move along the second groove 24 on the connection portion of the second rotation member 20 in the rotation process.

The second groove 24 may have a different depth in the axial direction of the second rotational connection 22, e.g., the second groove 24 may have a first depth and a second depth different from the first depth, e.g., the first depth may be less than the second depth. When the second end of the elastic linkage 40 is located at the second groove 24 having the second depth, the supporting surface of the supporting member 30 and the supporting surface of the second rotating member 20 are located on the same plane, and the center of gravity of the first rotating member 10 is projected on the supporting surface of the second rotating member 20 to be located in the supporting surface of the supporting member 30.

For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 1A and 3, the second groove 24 is a groove-type track in which the groove depth gradually increases along the track extending direction thereof. That is, as shown in fig. 3, after the support member 30 drives the elastic linkage member 40 to rotate around the rotation axis, it can be understood that the elastic linkage member 40 can move along the second groove 24 from the original solid line position to the dashed line position in the drawing, and the groove depth of the second groove 24 gradually increases (from the first depth to the second depth), so that the second groove 24 allows the elastic linkage member 40 to move away from the support member 30 (see the straight arrow in the drawing) under the action of the elastic force during the movement process until the rotation reaches the triggering position, and in this position, the groove depth of the corresponding second groove 24 is deep enough (the depth of the second groove 24 is the second depth), so that the elastic linkage member 40 has enough movement space in the direction away from the support member 30, and the elastic linkage member 40 can be separated from the concave hole 34 of the support member 30, so that the support member 30 is not limited by the elastic linkage member 40 any more, and can perform the ejecting action to be located on the same plane as the first rotation member 10.

The spring force providing the ejecting action comes from the ejector 50 shown in fig. 1, which provides the spring force to the support 30 to act to eject the support 30 out of the linkage restriction to a side away from the second rotation member 20 with respect to the first rotation member 10.

The process by which the support 30 acts to support in practical applications can be understood with reference to fig. 4 to 6:

in fig. 4, the first rotating member and the second rotating member 20 are shown in a folded position, and the folded state can also be seen in fig. 2A and 2B, where the elastic linking member 40 is located at a shallower position in the second groove 24 shown in fig. 3, and the other end of the elastic linking member 40 is located in the concave hole 34 in fig. 3, where the supporting member 30 is limited by the elastic linking member 40 and cannot be ejected.

When the first rotating member 10 is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing, the first rotating member 10 drives the supporting member 30 to move together to the position shown in fig. 5, in which the groove depth of the second groove 24 is not deep enough (the depth of the second groove 24 is smaller than the second depth), the movement of the elastic linking member 40 in the axial direction of the rotation axis in fig. 3 is not enough to disengage from the concave hole 34, the linkage restriction cannot be disengaged, and the supporting member 30 cannot pop out.

The first rotating member 10 is continuously turned over in the arrow manner in the drawing until the elastic linkage member 40 is driven by the supporting member 30 to reach the triggering position, as shown in fig. 6, at this time, the elastic linkage member 40 is located at a position deep enough in the groove of the second groove 24 under the action of elastic force, so that the elastic linkage member 40 moves upwards along the rotation axis in fig. 3 enough to separate from the concave hole 34, and separation from the concave hole 34 is achieved, at this time, the supporting member 30 is not constrained by the elastic linkage member 40, and can pop up to a side far away from the second rotating member 20 relative to the first rotating member under the action of the popping member 50 (see fig. 1A and 1B), so as to automatically reach the supporting position, as shown in fig. 7, the supporting member 30 in the popping-up state can effectively support the structure of the whole hinge assembly, and can effectively prevent the foldable device from toppling over on a use plane such as an office desk.

After the foldable device is used, in an open state, the supporting piece 30 needs to be manually retracted against the action of the elastic force of the ejector 50, at this time, the elastic linkage piece 40 is still in a release state of releasing from the concave hole 34, the first rotating piece 10 is pushed to rotate towards the second rotating piece 20 to complete the folding action, in the action process, under the action of the second groove with the change of the groove depth, the elastic linkage piece 40 is pushed to move towards the concave hole 34 in the rotating shaft direction until the elastic linkage piece 40 stretches into the concave hole 34, at this time, the linkage relation is established, the supporting piece 30 is limited to be ejected by the elastic force of the ejector 50, the user can not need to manually control the supporting piece 30 again, at this time, the supporting piece 30 can continue to move along with the first rotating piece, and folding and storage are convenient.

The hinge assembly provided by the present disclosure includes a first rotating member 10, a second rotating member 20, a supporting member 30, an elastic linkage member 40, and an ejector 50. The first rotating member 10 has a pair of first rotating connecting portions 12, an inner connecting position is formed between the pair of first rotating connecting portions 12, and an outer connecting position is formed outside the pair of first rotating connecting portions 12. The second rotating member 20 is rotatably connected to the first rotating member 10 at an outer connecting position through the first rotating connecting portion 12, and the second rotating connecting portion 22 of the second rotating member 20 rotatably connected to the first rotating member 10 in the rotational axis direction is provided with a second groove 24. The support member 30 is rotatably connected to the first rotating member 10 at an inner connecting position through the first rotating connecting portion 12, the first rotating member 10 can drive the support member 30 to rotate to a triggering position, and a concave hole 34 is formed in a connecting portion 32 of the support member 30, which is connected to the first rotating member 10 in a rotating axial direction. The elastic linkage piece 40 is arranged on the rotating connection part in a penetrating manner, one end of the elastic linkage piece 40 can be clamped with the concave hole 34 in the rotating direction, the other end of the elastic linkage piece 40 can move along the second groove 24, and under the action of elastic force, the second groove 24 allows the elastic linkage piece 40 to move in the direction away from the supporting piece 30 in the moving process, so that the elastic linkage piece 40 at the triggering position is separated from the concave hole 34. The ejector 50 can provide an elastic force to the support 30, and after the elastic linkage member is disengaged from the concave hole 34 in the rotation direction, the support 30 is ejected to a side away from the second rotation member 20 with respect to the first rotation member 10.

It can be seen that, in the use process of the above folding device, the supporting member 30 does not need to be manually operated in the ejecting operation, and can automatically eject out of the first rotating member 10 when the user turns over the first rotating member 20 relative to the second rotating member 20, so that the folding device is fast and convenient, the self-unfolding operation can supplement different functions to the electronic device, the triggering position can be set at the use position where the unstable gravity center is likely to fall easily, and the supporting member can automatically eject out of the supporting member at the position, so that the supporting member plays an auxiliary supporting role, and the stability of the electronic device in the use process is increased. The structural design for forming the pop-up structure can be designed at the connecting positions of the first rotating piece, the second rotating piece and the third rotating frame, so that extra space is not occupied, and the weight of the electronic equipment is not increased additionally.

It should be noted that the linkage cooperation between the second recess 24, the elastic linkage member 40 and the recess 34 is completed by using the cooperation of the rotation movements between the first rotation member 10, the second rotation member 20 and the support member 30, and is integrated into the linkage cooperation relationship of the rotation movements, which is more conducive to precisely controlling the connection between the trigger position and the rotation angle.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1A to 3, the second groove 24 is a groove-shaped track with gradually increasing groove depth along the track extending direction, and forms an arc-shaped groove-shaped track. The structure is stable and reliable, is easy to design, and can be realized by grooving on the connecting end surface of the connecting part of the second rotating part. However, it will be understood that, according to different design requirements, the second groove with other structures may be designed to implement the above-mentioned scheme, for example, the displacement of the elastic linkage member 40 in the axial direction of the rotation axis is controlled by the height change of the groove side wall of the groove-shaped track, that is, the groove depth of the groove-shaped track may be consistent, the end portion of the elastic linkage member 40 does not need to contact the groove bottom, the elastic linkage member may make the top of the end portion go deep into the groove-shaped track, and the circumferential protrusion of the end portion of the elastic linkage member 40 is utilized to cooperate with the groove wall of the groove-shaped track, so that the elastic linkage member 40 can abut against the side wall under the action of the elastic force due to the height change of the side wall of the groove-shaped track, implement the displacement of the elastic linkage member 40 in the axial direction of the rotation axis under the guidance of the side wall, and finally implement the limitation of disengaging from the concave hole 34.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1A to 3, the concave hole 34 is a linkage hole formed in the connecting portion 32 of the support member 30, it is to be understood that, according to different design requirements, the design structure of the concave hole 34 is not limited to that shown in the drawings, any fastening structure that can be fastened to the elastic linkage member 40 in the rotation direction in the prior art, such as a slot structure, a limiting protrusion, etc., may be adopted, and those skilled in the art can understand that the concave hole 34 only needs to satisfy that the support member 30 can drive the elastic linkage member 40 in the process of following the unfolding of the first rotation member 10 relative to the second rotation member 20, so that the structure such as a hole or a slot is not necessarily required, and a single protrusion may also realize the above-mentioned functions.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1A to 3, the elastic linkage 40 includes a linkage rod 44 and a compression spring 42, which is sleeved on the linkage rod and abuts between the first rotation connection portion 12 and the linkage rod 44. The circumferential surface of the link lever 44 shown in fig. 1A and 3 is provided with a positioning projection (not shown) against which one end of the compression spring 42 abuts and the other end of which abuts against the first rotation connecting portion 12 of the first rotation member 10. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the design of the resilient linkage rod is not limited to that shown, and in particular the mating relationship between the compression spring 42 and the linkage rod 44, depending on the design requirements.

To save space, the elastic linkage 40 is disposed through the first rotary connecting portion 12 of the first rotary member 10, the first rotary connecting portion 12 of the first rotary member 10 may have a connecting channel (not shown) through which the linkage rod 44 is disposed, and the compression spring 42 may be abutted between an end surface of the connecting channel and the linkage rod 44. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the structural design of the elastic linkage 40 is not limited to the above, that is, the structural combination of the compression spring 42 and the linkage rod 44 may be designed, and the assembly manner of the compression spring 42 may be completely different, for example, the compression spring 42 may be directly abutted against the connecting end surface of the support member 30 through the first rotation connecting portion 12 of the first rotation member 10.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1A-3, the ejector 50 is a torsion spring disposed within the support 30, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that the structural form and design location of the ejector 50 is not limited to that shown. In addition, in the embodiment shown in fig. 1 to 3, only one ejector 50 is provided, and the number of ejectors 50 may be different according to specific design requirements, and for the number of ejectors 50, reference may be made to the actual weight of the electronic device, the rotation angle at which the trigger position is located when the electronic device is in use, the support position of the support, the shape of the support, and so on. Under the condition of limited structural design space, the adoption of a torsion spring structure for providing the elastic force is a good choice.

As shown in fig. 1B, the hinge assembly may further include a main shaft male shaft coupled to the shaft 71, and may include, for example, a first main shaft male shaft 35 and a second main shaft male shaft 36. The first and second main shaft male shafts 35 and 36 may be provided at both ends of the support 30, respectively.

As shown in fig. 1B, the hinge assembly may further include a main shaft female shaft coupled to the shaft 71, and may include, for example, a first main shaft female shaft 72 and a second main shaft female shaft 73. The first main shaft female shaft 72 and the second main shaft female shaft 73 may be respectively provided inside the pair of second rotation coupling parts 22. And the first and second main shaft female shafts 72 and 73 may be provided with second shaft holes so that the shaft 71 may pass through.

As shown in fig. 1B, the hinge assembly may further include a leg cap disposed at an end of the support 30, for example, may include a first leg cap 37 and a second leg cap 38. The first and second leg caps 37 and 38 may be provided at both ends of the supporter 30, respectively. The first and second leg caps 37 and 38 may be provided with through holes for passing the elastic link 40 and the male shaft of the main shaft, respectively.

As shown in fig. 1B, the hinge assembly may also be disposed on the cover 25 of the outer end portion of the second rotating connection portion 22, where the cover 25 is disposed on the outer end portion of the second rotating connection portion 22, so as to avoid the user from directly observing the arrangement of the second rotating connection portion 22.

In one embodiment of the hinge assembly, a damping member may be disposed between the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20, so that the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 may be damped to rotate, that is, when the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 rotate relative to each other, a damping force is applied to the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20, so that the rotation between the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 may be more stable.

In the present disclosure, a damping member may be disposed between the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30, so that the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 may be damped to rotate, that is, when the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 rotate relative to each other, a damping force is applied to the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30, so that the rotation between the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 may be more stable.

However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and in some embodiments, the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 may be configured to cooperate with each other such that the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 are in a damped rotational connection, and the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 may be configured to cooperate with each other such that the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 are in a damped rotational connection. That is, when the first rotating member 10 rotates relative to the second rotating member 20, damping friction exists between the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 when the first rotating member 10 rotates relative to the supporting member 30, so that the first rotating member 10, the second rotating member 20 and the supporting member 30 cannot freely rotate due to self gravity. Of course, according to different design requirements, the damping rotation connection mode between the first rotation member 10 and the second rotation member 20 and between the first rotation member 10 and the support member 30 may be omitted, so long as the support member 30 is ensured to automatically pop up to the supporting position after the first rotation member 10 and the second rotation member 20 are opened and closed.

In one embodiment of the hinge assembly shown in fig. 1A-2B, the first rotary member 10 further includes a first connection portion 16 rotatable about a rotational axis. The second rotating member 20 further includes a second connecting portion 26 rotatable about a rotational axis, and the first connecting portion 16 and the second connecting portion 26 are used for connecting electronic devices. The second connecting portion 26 has a folding position parallel to each other with respect to the first connecting portion 16, where the folding position is used to facilitate folding placement of the electronic device, and generally, the first connecting portion 16 and the second connecting portion 26 are located on the outer side of the foldable device along the folding direction, that is, on the back surface of the foldable device, and the inner surfaces of the foldable device, such as a screen, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc., are attached to each other after folding to form a protection, which is generally a regular cuboid structure, and is easy to store after folding.

The triggering position of the first connecting portion 16 to move the supporting member 30 is a position where the first connecting portion 16 and the second connecting portion 26 are opened from the folded position to a position above 90 °, for example, 100 °, see fig. 6. The position of opening to above 90 degrees is more favorable for the supporting piece 30 to pop up under the condition of preventing overturning, and the supporting piece does not pop up in advance within 90 degrees, so that the use habit of a user is better met. The trigger position typically requires a comprehensive consideration of the weight, center of gravity position, usage habit, etc. of the electronic device, typically in the range of 95 ° to 135 °. Of course, the above consideration is applied to a plane use environment, and the supporting member mainly plays a supporting role, but in some specific occasions, the supporting member 30 may not be limited to the above angle, and the supporting member 30 may play a supporting role, for example, may play a role of ejecting a portable auxiliary tool, such as a stylus pen, a power line, a usb disk, etc. for carrying a foldable device.

In one embodiment of the hinge assembly shown in fig. 1A to 2B, the support member 30 further includes a support portion 36 rotatable about the rotation axis, and the support portion 36 is engaged with the first connecting portion 16 when the folded position is not reached to the triggered position, and referring to the state shown in fig. 2, the first connecting portion 16 of the first rotation member 10 has a hollow area 17, and the support portion 36 is engaged with the hollow area 17 when not opened, and forms an integral structure with the first connecting portion 16, and the structural design is such that the support member 30 in the retracted state does not add additional weight and space, and does not cause structural movement interference and other effects during rotation. The supporting member can be opened 180 ° with the first connecting portion 16, because the whole surface of the supporting portion 36 can form a supporting surface, the available supporting area is fully utilized, the structural design does not need to increase the occupied area of the first connecting portion 16 of the first rotating member 10 and the supporting member 30 in the electronic device, and the supporting stability of the electronic device in use and the structural strength of the first connecting portion 16 can be effectively ensured.

Based on the same concept, the present application also provides a foldable device 60, as shown in fig. 7 and 8, comprising a first body 61, a second body 62 and the above-mentioned hinge assembly. The first rotating member 10 is connected to the first main body 61, and the second rotating member 20 is connected to the second main body 62.

In the present disclosure, when the first rotary member 10 and the second rotary member 20 are opened, an angle formed between the first rotary member 10 and the second rotary member 20 may be a first predetermined angle. At this time, the first predetermined angle is also formed between the first body 61 and the second body 62. For example, the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 are opened until the angle therebetween is 100 °, and the first predetermined angle is 100 °. When the first rotating member 10 and the second rotating member 20 form 100 °, the projection of the center of gravity of the first main body 61 on the plane of the supporting surface of the second rotating member 20 is not located in the second rotating member 20, and thus, the hinge assembly may be unstable, for example, the foldable device may fall to one side of the first main body 61 or the second main body 62.

In the above case, the first body 61 may be formed to be in the same plane as the second rotation member 20 and the second body 62. In this case, the support surface of the support member and the support surface of the second rotation member are considered to be on the same plane. The projection of the center of gravity of the first body 61 onto the support surface of the second rotation member is located in the support surface of the support member, for example, the center of gravity of the first body 61 may be located in the support portion 36 of the support member 30. It can be seen that in this case the support 30 can provide a certain support for the first body 61, avoiding tilting or even turning of the foldable device due to instability of the support.

The foldable device 60 may include a keyboard, a display screen or a touch screen, and although the foldable device 60 shown in fig. 7 is a notebook computer, the foldable device 60 according to the present application may also include any electronic device that may use the hinge assembly as described above, such as a foldable mobile phone, a foldable tablet computer, etc. according to different application scenarios. And as described above, the design of the support 30 is not limited to providing a support function for the hinge assembly and the foldable device 60, but may provide any other function that may be provided, such as providing an auxiliary tool in a use state.

It is further understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like are used to describe various information, but such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another and do not denote a particular order or importance. Indeed, the expressions "first", "second", etc. may be used entirely interchangeably. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

It will be further understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "transverse," "front," "rear," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like, as used herein, refer to an orientation or positional relationship based on that shown in the drawings, merely for convenience in describing the present embodiments and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operate in a particular orientation.

It will be further understood that "connected" includes both direct connection where no other member is present and indirect connection where other element is present, unless specifically stated otherwise.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any adaptations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be effected without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (16)

1. A hinge assembly, comprising:

a first rotating member;

the first rotating piece is rotationally connected with the second rotating piece;

The support piece is rotationally connected with the first rotating piece and/or the second rotating piece; when a first preset angle is formed between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece, the supporting surface of the supporting piece and the supporting surface of the second rotating piece are located on the same plane, and the projection of the gravity center of the first rotating piece on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece is located in the supporting surface of the supporting piece.

2. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the support member is embedded on either the first rotating member or the second rotating member when a second predetermined angle is formed between the first rotating member and the second rotating member.

3. The hinge assembly of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first rotating member comprises:

the first rotating connecting part is used for connecting the second rotating piece with the first rotating piece in a rotating way, and the supporting piece is connected with the first rotating piece in a rotating way;

the second rotating member is provided with a first recess configured to receive the first rotating connection.

4. A hinge assembly according to claim 3, wherein the first rotatable connection is provided with a hollow region;

the supporting piece comprises an ejection connecting part and a supporting part, and the ejection connecting part is arranged in the hollow area;

the first rotating piece comprises a first connecting portion, a hollow area is arranged on the first connecting portion, the hollow area is communicated with the hollow area, and when the supporting piece and the first rotating piece are located on the same plane, the supporting piece is embedded in the hollow area.

5. The hinge assembly of claim 4 wherein,

the second rotating piece comprises a second rotating connecting part and a second connecting part, and the second rotating connecting part is movably connected with the end part of the first rotating connecting part.

6. The hinge assembly of claim 5, further comprising an elastic linkage including oppositely disposed first and second ends, the elastic linkage extending through the first rotational connection and being disposed at the pop-up connection and the second rotational connection, respectively.

7. The hinge assembly of claim 6 wherein the hinge assembly comprises a hinge assembly,

The ejecting connection part is inwards concavely provided with a concave hole, and the first end of the elastic linkage piece is arranged in the concave hole;

the second rotating connecting portion is provided with a second groove, the second end of the elastic linkage piece is arranged in the second groove and is configured to slide from one end of the second groove to the other end, and the depths of the second grooves are different in the axial direction of the second rotating connecting portion.

8. The hinge assembly of claim 7 wherein the hinge assembly comprises a hinge assembly,

the second groove has a first depth and a second depth different from the first depth;

when the second end of the elastic linkage piece is positioned at the second groove with the second depth, the supporting surface of the supporting piece and the supporting surface of the second rotating piece are positioned on the same plane, and the gravity center of the first rotating piece is positioned in the supporting surface of the supporting piece in a projection mode on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece.

9. The hinge assembly of claim 8 wherein the hinge assembly comprises a hinge assembly,

the first depth is less than the second depth.

10. The hinge assembly of claim 7 wherein the resilient linkage comprises a linkage rod and a compression spring, the compression spring being nested within the linkage rod and abutting between the first rotational connection and the linkage rod.

11. The hinge assembly of claim 8 wherein the hinge assembly comprises a hinge assembly,

the hinge assembly further includes a shaft that,

the first rotating connecting part comprises a first shaft hole, the second rotating connecting part comprises a second shaft hole, the ejecting connecting part comprises a third shaft hole,

the shaft passes through the first shaft hole, the second shaft hole, and the third shaft hole.

12. The hinge assembly of claim 11 wherein the hinge assembly comprises a hinge assembly,

at least one end part of the ejecting connection part is connected with an ejecting part, and the shaft penetrates through the ejecting part and is arranged in the first shaft hole.

13. The hinge assembly of claim 12 wherein the hinge assembly comprises,

the ejector is configured to provide an elastic force to the support, such that a support surface of the support is in a same plane as a support surface of the second rotating member when the second end of the elastic linkage is located at the second groove having the second depth, and a center of gravity of the first rotating member is projected to be located in the support surface of the support on the support surface of the second rotating member.

14. The hinge assembly of claim 12 wherein the ejector is a torsion spring.

15. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein the hinge assembly comprises a hinge assembly,

a damping piece is arranged between the first rotating piece and the second rotating piece; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

a damping piece is arranged between the first rotating piece and the supporting piece.

16. A foldable device comprising a first body, a second body, and a hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 15,

the first rotating piece is connected with the first main body, the second rotating piece is connected with the second main body, and the gravity center of the first main body is located in the supporting surface of the supporting piece in a projection mode on the supporting surface of the second rotating piece.