CN117386936A

CN117386936A - Bendable supporting device

Info

Publication number: CN117386936A
Application number: CN202210785746.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李哲纬; 詹金龙; 林宜宪
Original assignee: Primax Electronics Ltd
Current assignee: Primax Electronics Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-04
Filing date: 2022-07-04
Publication date: 2024-01-12

Abstract

A bendable supporting device comprises a supporting plate, a slidable plate and a pivoting mechanism. The support plate has a first portion and a second portion laterally adjacent to the first portion. The slidable plate is disposed over the first portion of the support plate. The pivoting mechanism is pivoted between the first part and the second part. The slidable plate is configured to move toward the pivoting mechanism when an angle between the lower surface of the first portion and the lower surface of the second portion transitions from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

Description

Bendable supporting device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a bendable supporting device.

Background

In order to provide a comfortable reading angle for the user, a support frame is usually disposed on the back of the tablet computer. And a part of the support frame is bent to enable the tablet personal computer to present a proper inclination angle. However, when the bending angle of the supporting frame is larger, the stretching amount of the surface layer of the supporting frame facing the tablet computer is larger, so that the surface layer is elastically fatigue, wrinkled or deformed. In addition, the bending angle is limited due to the material characteristics of the surface layer, so that large-angle bending cannot be realized.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a bendable supporting device, which solves at least one of the above problems.

The invention provides a bendable supporting device, which comprises a supporting plate, a slidable plate and a pivoting mechanism. The support plate has a first portion and a second portion laterally adjacent to the first portion. The slidable plate is disposed over the first portion of the support plate. The pivoting mechanism is pivoted between the first part and the second part. The slidable plate is configured to move toward the pivoting mechanism when an angle between the lower surface of the first portion and the lower surface of the second portion transitions from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the first portion of the support plate has a recess and a chute communicating with the recess, and the slidable plate has a body and a protrusion protruding laterally from the body are disposed in the recess and the chute, respectively, the body and the protrusion disposed in the recess and the chute are configured to slide toward the pivoting mechanism when the included angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

In some embodiments of the invention, the first portion of the support plate further has an opening adjacent to and spaced from the chute, the opening communicating with the chute through the recess.

In some embodiments of the invention, the pivoting mechanism includes a pivot axis, and the slidable plate is configured to move toward the pivot axis when the included angle transitions from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

In some embodiments of the invention, the pivoting mechanism further comprises at least two vanes, one of which is disposed between the first portion and the slidable plate.

In some embodiments of the invention, the support device further comprises: and a fixing plate disposed above the second portion of the support plate, wherein another one of the at least two blades is disposed between the second portion and the fixing plate.

In some embodiments of the invention, the securing plate is secured to the second portion of the support plate or the securing plate is integrally formed with the second portion of the support plate.

In some embodiments of the invention, the support device further comprises: and an upper surface layer disposed above the second portions of the slidable plate and the support plate and directly or indirectly fixed to the second portions of the slidable plate and the support plate, wherein a portion of the upper surface layer directly or indirectly fixed to the slidable plate is configured to move with the slidable plate toward the pivoting mechanism when the included angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

In some embodiments of the invention, the support device further comprises: the lower surface layer is arranged below the supporting plate and is directly or indirectly fixed on the supporting plate.

In some embodiments of the invention, the slidable plate has an extension extending downwardly and adjacent the pivoting mechanism, one side of the extension facing one side of the first portion of the support plate, and the support device further comprises: a reset mechanism is disposed between the side of the extension and the side of the first portion or on the side of the extension and the side of the first portion.

In some embodiments of the invention, the reset mechanism includes an elastomer disposed between the side of the extension and the side of the first portion.

In some embodiments of the invention, the reset mechanism includes a pair of magnetic elements that attract each other, respectively disposed on the side of the extension and the side of the first portion.

In some embodiments of the invention, the support device further comprises: the resetting mechanism comprises a pair of first magnetic elements and second magnetic elements which are attracted to each other and are respectively arranged in the slidable plate and the first part of the supporting plate, and when the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees, the first magnetic elements and the second magnetic elements are dislocated; at an included angle of 180 degrees, the first magnetic element is substantially aligned with the second magnetic element.

In some embodiments of the invention, the support device further comprises: the reset mechanism comprises a pair of second magnetic elements and third magnetic elements which repel each other and are respectively arranged in the first part of the supporting plate and the slidable plate, wherein when the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees, a first distance is arranged between the second magnetic elements and the third magnetic elements, and when the included angle is 180 degrees, a second distance is arranged between the second magnetic elements and the third magnetic elements, and the first distance is smaller than the second distance.

The invention has the beneficial effects that by arranging the slidable plate, the stretching amount of the upper surface layer is small or even zero when the supporting device is bent, thereby avoiding the phenomena of elastic fatigue, wrinkling or deformation and the like caused by the too large stretching amount of the upper surface layer, ensuring that the upper surface layer can still maintain the appearance and visual effect under the non-stretching state, and also realizing large-angle bending of the supporting device.

Drawings

The aspects of the invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It will be appreciated, however, that in accordance with common practice in the industry, various features are not necessarily drawn to scale. Indeed, the shape of the various features may be suitably adapted for clarity, and the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced.

Fig. 1A and 1B are schematic cross-sectional views of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention when the included angle is 180 degrees and the included angle is less than 180 degrees.

Fig. 2A and 2B are schematic partial cross-sectional views of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention when the included angle is less than 180 degrees and the included angle is 180 degrees, respectively.

Fig. 3A and 3B are schematic partial cross-sectional views of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention when the included angle is less than 180 degrees and the included angle is 180 degrees, respectively.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is an exploded schematic view of the supporting device of fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the support device of fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the support plate, slidable plate, fixed plate and pivoting mechanism of fig. 4.

Fig. 8A and 8B are enlarged views of the first portions of the slidable plate and the supporting plate of fig. 4 when the included angle is 180 degrees and the included angle is less than 180 degrees, respectively.

The reference numerals are as follows:

110: supporting plate

112: first part

112c: sliding chute

112h: perforating the hole

112r: concave part

114: second part

120: slidable plate

120e: extension part

120m: body

120p: convex part

125: fixing plate

130: pivot mechanism

132: pivot joint shaft

134: blade

140: upper surface layer

150: lower surface layer

160: cover layer

172: elastic body

174a, 174b: magnetic element

176a: first magnetic element

176b: second magnetic element

176c: third magnetic element

Detailed Description

The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner in which the same are accomplished will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Spatially relative terms, such as "lower" and "upper", may be used herein to describe one element or feature's relative relationship to another element or feature in the figures. The true meaning of these spatially relative terms encompasses other orientations. For example, when the drawing is turned over 180 degrees up and down, the relationship between one element and another element might be changed from "lower" to "upper". The spatially relative terms used herein should be interpreted as such.

As described in the prior art, the existing support frame can cause elastic fatigue, wrinkling or deformation of the surface layer under the condition of large bending angle. In addition, the bending angle is limited due to the material characteristics of the surface layer, so that large-angle bending cannot be realized. Accordingly, the present invention provides a bendable supporting device to solve the above-mentioned problems. Various embodiments of the support device of the present invention will be described in detail below.

Fig. 1A and 1B are schematic cross-sectional views of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention when the included angle is 180 degrees (i.e. the supporting device is not bent, the bending angle is 0 degrees) and the included angle is less than 180 degrees (i.e. the supporting device is bent, the bending angle is 180 degrees-included angle). As shown in fig. 1A, the bendable supporting device includes a supporting plate 110, a slidable plate 120 and a pivoting mechanism 130. The support plate 110 has a first portion 112 and a second portion 114 laterally adjacent the first portion 112, the first portion 112 and the second portion 114 being separated from one another. The support plate 110 may be made of a hard plastic material or other suitable material. The material of the first portion 112 may be the same as or different from the material of the second portion 114.

A slidable plate 120 is disposed over the first portion 112 of the support plate 110, which is slidable over the first portion 112. The slidable plate 120 may be made of a hard plastic material or other suitable material.

The pivoting mechanism 130 is pivoted between the first portion 112 and the second portion 114. Bending of the support means is achieved by means of the pivoting mechanism 130. The pivoting mechanism 130 may be, for example, a hinge. The pivoting mechanism 130 provides torsion to provide the support device with various bending angles (e.g., 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees, 120 degrees, 150 degrees, or more). It should be noted that, as shown in fig. 1A and 1B, the slidable plate 120 is configured to move toward the pivot mechanism 130 when the supporting device is bent, i.e. the angle between the lower surface of the first portion 112 and the lower surface of the second portion 114 (hereinafter referred to as "angle") is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees. In some embodiments, the pivot mechanism 130 includes a pivot shaft 132, and the slidable plate 120 is configured to move toward the pivot shaft 132 when the supporting device is bent (i.e., the included angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees). In some embodiments, the pivoting mechanism 130 further includes at least two vanes 134 disposed between the first portion 112 and the slidable plate 120 and within the second portion 114, respectively. The at least two blades 134 may be adhesively secured to the first portion 112 and within the second portion 114, respectively.

However, when the supporting device is bent, a portion of the pivoting mechanism 130 (such as the pivot 132) may directly contact or even strike the electronic device (such as the tablet computer) to cause wear of the electronic device, so in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1A and 1B, the supporting device further includes an upper surface layer (or inner surface layer, which may face the electronic device) 140 disposed above the slidable plate 120 and the second portion 114, and directly or indirectly fixed (such as glued) on the slidable plate 120 and the second portion 114, so as to prevent the portion of the pivoting mechanism 130 (such as the pivot 132) from directly contacting or even striking the electronic device, thereby protecting the electronic device. The upper skin layer 140 may be made of synthetic leather, natural leather, fiber-containing material, or other suitable material. In particular, a portion of the upper surface layer 140 directly or indirectly fixed to the slidable plate 120 is configured to move together with the slidable plate 120 toward the pivot mechanism 130 (e.g. the pivot shaft 132) when the supporting device is bent (i.e. the angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees), so that the stretching amount of the upper surface layer 140 is small or even zero, thereby avoiding the phenomena of elastic fatigue, wrinkling or deformation caused by too large stretching amount of the upper surface layer, and maintaining the appearance and visual effect of the upper surface layer 140 in the unstretched state, and allowing the supporting device to bend at a large angle.

In some embodiments, when the supporting device is bent, the upper surface layer 140 can drive the slidable plate 120 to move together towards the pivot 132; when the supporting device is bent back to the original state, the slidable plate 120 can be assisted to return to the original position by the reset mechanism. Several embodiments of the reset mechanism are provided below.

Fig. 2A and 2B are schematic partial cross-sectional views of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention when the included angle is less than 180 degrees and the included angle is 180 degrees, respectively. Fig. 3A and 3B are schematic partial cross-sectional views of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention when the included angle is less than 180 degrees and the included angle is 180 degrees, respectively. As shown in fig. 2A and 2B and fig. 3A and 3B, the slidable plate 120 has an extension 120e extending downward and adjacent to the pivoting mechanism (e.g., the pivoting shaft 132), one side of the extension 120e faces one side of the first portion 112 of the support plate, and the support device further includes a reset mechanism disposed between the one side of the extension 120e and the one side of the first portion 112 (refer to fig. 2A and 2B), or disposed on the one side of the extension 120e and the one side of the first portion 112 (refer to fig. 3A and 3B).

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2A and 2B, the return mechanism includes an elastomer 172, which may be, for example, a spring or rubber, disposed between the side of the extension 120e and the side of the first portion 112. As shown in fig. 2A, when the supporting device is bent (i.e. the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees), the elastic body 172 is in a stretched state, and the elastic restoring force thereof can help the extension portion 120e of the slidable plate 120 to restore to the original position later; as shown in fig. 2A and 2B, when the supporting device is bent back to the original state (i.e. the included angle is changed from less than 180 degrees to 180 degrees), the elastic restoring force helps the slidable plate 120 to return to the original position, and at this time, the elastic body 172 returns to the original length.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2A and 2B, a recess (not shown) is provided on a side of the first portion 112 away from the pivoting mechanism (e.g., the pivot 132) for placing a stylus or other accessory. When the supporting device is bent, the slidable plate 120 slides towards the pivot shaft 132 to expose the groove, so as to facilitate the user to take out the stylus or other accessories; when the supporting device is bent back to the original state, the slidable plate 120 returns to the original position to cover the opening of the groove, so as to receive the stylus or other accessories.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the reset mechanism includes a pair of magnetic elements 174a, 174B that attract each other, respectively disposed on the side of the extension 120e and the side of the first portion 112. As shown in fig. 3A, when the supporting device is bent (i.e. the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees), the pair of magnetic elements 174a and 174b have a distance, and the magnetic attraction force of the pair of magnetic elements can help the extension 120e of the slidable plate 120 to return to the original position; as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, when the supporting device is bent back to the original state (i.e., the included angle is changed from less than 180 degrees to 180 degrees), the magnetic attraction force helps the slidable plate 120 return to the original position, and the distance between the pair of magnetic elements 174a and 174B is shortened.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the reset mechanism includes a pair of first and second magnetic elements 176a and 176B that are attracted to each other and disposed within the slidable plate 120 and the first portion 112 of the support plate, respectively. As shown in fig. 3A, when the supporting device is bent (i.e. the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees), the first magnetic element 176a and the second magnetic element 176b are dislocated, and the magnetic attraction force of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element can help the slidable plate 120 to return to the original positions later; as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the attractive magnetic force helps the slidable plate 120 return to the original position when the supporting device is bent back to the original state (i.e. the angle is changed from less than 180 degrees to 180 degrees), and the first magnetic element 176a is substantially aligned with the second magnetic element 176B.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the reset mechanism includes a pair of opposing second and third magnetic elements 176B and 176c disposed within the first portion 112 of the support plate and the slidable plate 120, respectively. As shown in fig. 3A, when the supporting device is bent (i.e. the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees), the second magnetic element 176b and the third magnetic element 176c have a shorter first distance therebetween, and the repulsive force of the magnetic force can help the slidable plate 120 to return to the original position later; as shown in fig. 3A and 3B, when the supporting device is bent back to the original state (i.e. the included angle is changed from less than 180 degrees to 180 degrees), the magnetic repulsive force helps the slidable plate 120 to return to the original position, and a second distance is between the second magnetic element 176B and the third magnetic element 176c, and the first distance is smaller than the second distance.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a supporting device according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 5 is an exploded schematic view of the supporting device of fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the support device of fig. 4. The differences between fig. 4, 5 and 6 and fig. 1 are described in detail below. As shown in fig. 4, 5 and 6, the supporting device includes a lower surface layer 150 and a cover layer 160 in addition to the supporting plate 110, the slidable plate 120, the pivoting mechanism 130 and the upper surface layer 140. The lower skin 150 is disposed below the support plate 110 and is directly or indirectly fixed (e.g., glued) to the support plate 160. An optional cover layer 160 is provided to cover irregularities of the underlying component. The cover 160 may be made of a composite material (e.g., fiberglass board) or other suitable material.

In addition, as shown in fig. 4, 5 and 6, the support device further comprises a fixing plate 125, which is disposed above the second portion 114 of the support plate 110 and can be fixed (e.g., glued) to the second portion 114 of the support plate 110. The blade 134 is disposed between the second portion 114 and the fixed plate 125, and may be fixed (e.g., glued) between the second portion 114 and the fixed plate 125. The fixing plate 125 may have a single-layer or multi-layer structure, and may be made of a hard plastic material or other suitable material. In other embodiments, the fixing plate may be integrally formed with the second portion of the support plate, and corresponds to the second portion 114 of the support plate 110 shown in fig. 1A and 1B.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the support plate, slidable plate, fixed plate and pivoting mechanism of fig. 4. Fig. 8A and 8B are enlarged schematic views of the slidable plate (shown in dashed lines) and the first portion of the supporting plate of fig. 4 when the angle is 180 degrees and the angle is less than 180 degrees, respectively. As shown in fig. 4, 7, 8A and 8B, the first portion 112 of the support plate 110 has a recess 112r and a chute 112c communicating with the recess 112r, and the slidable plate 120 has a body 120m and a protrusion 120p protruding laterally from the body 120m, which are disposed in the recess 112r and the chute 112c, respectively. The body 120m and the protrusion 120p in the recess 112r and the chute 112c, respectively, are configured to slide toward the pivot mechanism 130 (e.g., the pivot shaft 132) when the supporting device is bent (i.e., the included angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees). The sliding direction of the slidable plate 120 is completely perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the pivot shaft 132.

As shown in fig. 8A and 8B, the first portion 112 of the support plate 110 further has an opening 112h adjacent to the chute 112c and separated from the chute 112c, and the opening 112h communicates with the chute 112c through the recess 112 r. The opening 112h is configured to make the sidewall of the sliding slot 112c adjacent to the opening 112h have elasticity, so that the protrusion 120p of the slidable plate 120 can be smoothly installed into the sliding slot 112c. However, based on the design of the opening of the chute 112c, the protrusion 120p does not fall out of the opening of the chute 112c.

Therefore, the sliding plate is arranged, so that the stretching amount of the upper surface layer is small or even zero when the supporting device is bent, the phenomena of elastic fatigue, wrinkling or deformation and the like caused by the too large stretching amount of the upper surface layer can be avoided, the upper surface layer can still maintain the appearance and visual effect under the non-stretching state, and the supporting device can also realize large-angle bending.

However, the above description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, but is defined by the appended claims and their description, and all the simple equivalent changes and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, not all of the objects, advantages, or features of the present disclosure are required to be achieved by any one embodiment or claim of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the abstract sections and headings are for use only in connection with searching patent documents and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A bendable support device comprising:

a support plate having a first portion and a second portion laterally adjacent to the first portion;

a slidable plate disposed over the first portion of the support plate; and

a pivoting mechanism pivoted between the first part and the second part;

wherein the slidable plate is configured to move toward the pivoting mechanism when an angle between a lower surface of the first portion and a lower surface of the second portion changes from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

2. The bendable supporting device according to claim 1, wherein the first portion of the supporting plate has a recess and a chute communicating with the recess, the slidable plate has a body and a protrusion protruding laterally from the body disposed in the recess and the chute, respectively, the body and the protrusion disposed in the recess and the chute, respectively, for sliding toward the pivoting mechanism when the angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

3. The bendable support device of claim 2, wherein the first portion of the support plate further has an opening adjacent to and separate from the chute, the opening communicating with the chute through the recess.

4. The bendable support device according to claim 1, wherein the pivoting mechanism comprises a pivot shaft, the slidable plate being configured to move toward the pivot shaft when the angle transitions from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

5. The bendable support device of claim 1, wherein the pivoting mechanism further comprises at least two vanes, one of the at least two vanes disposed between the first portion and the slidable plate.

6. The bendable support device of claim 5, further comprising:

and a fixing plate disposed above the second portion of the support plate, wherein another one of the at least two blades is disposed between the second portion and the fixing plate.

7. The bendable support device of claim 6, wherein the fixing plate is fixed to the second portion of the support plate or the fixing plate is integrally formed with the second portion of the support plate.

8. The bendable support device of claim 1, further comprising:

an upper surface layer disposed above the second portions of the slidable plate and the supporting plate and directly or indirectly fixed to the second portions of the slidable plate and the supporting plate, wherein a portion of the upper surface layer directly or indirectly fixed to the slidable plate is configured to move with the slidable plate toward the pivoting mechanism when the angle is changed from 180 degrees to less than 180 degrees.

9. The bendable support device of claim 1, further comprising:

a lower surface layer arranged below the supporting plate and directly or indirectly fixed on the supporting plate.

10. The bendable support device of claim 1, wherein the slidable plate has an extension extending downward and adjacent to the pivoting mechanism, one side of the extension facing one side of the first portion of the support plate, and the support device further comprises:

a reset mechanism is disposed between the side of the extension and the side of the first portion or on the side of the extension and the side of the first portion.

11. The bendable support device of claim 10, wherein the return mechanism comprises an elastomer disposed between the side of the extension and the side of the first portion.

12. The bendable support device of claim 10, wherein the return mechanism comprises a pair of magnetic elements attracted to each other disposed on the side of the extension and the side of the first portion, respectively.

13. The bendable support device of claim 1, further comprising:

a reset mechanism, which comprises a pair of first magnetic elements and a second magnetic element which are attracted to each other, and are respectively arranged in the slidable plate and the first part of the supporting plate, wherein when the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees, the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element are dislocated; when the included angle is 180 degrees, the first magnetic element is aligned with the second magnetic element.

14. The bendable support device of claim 1, further comprising:

the reset mechanism comprises a pair of second magnetic elements and a third magnetic element which repel each other and are respectively arranged in the first part of the supporting plate and the slidable plate, wherein when the included angle is smaller than 180 degrees, a first distance is arranged between the second magnetic element and the third magnetic element, and when the included angle is 180 degrees, a second distance is arranged between the second magnetic element and the third magnetic element, and the first distance is smaller than the second distance.