CN117714566A

CN117714566A - Hinge assembly and electronic equipment

Info

Publication number: CN117714566A
Application number: CN202310620001.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨德森; 臧永强; 吴崚; 霍国亮
Original assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-05-29
Filing date: 2023-05-29
Publication date: 2024-03-15

Abstract

The application discloses hinge assembly and electronic equipment, including base, backup pad, swing arm and elastic component. The backup pad with the base rotates to be connected, the backup pad is provided with the spout. One end of the swing arm is rotationally connected with the base, the other end of the swing arm is slidably arranged in the sliding groove, and the swing arm can also slide relative to the supporting plate in the sliding groove during rotation. The elastic piece is formed by bending strip-shaped base materials in a tortuous way, the elastic piece is arranged along the bottom wall of the chute, and two ends of the elastic piece are respectively connected with the swing arm and the supporting plate, so that the elastic piece can be compressed or released when the swing arm slides relative to the supporting plate. The hinge assembly that this application provided, the elastic component is less to thickness direction's occupation size, can save the guiding axle and reduced spare part cost. The final formed hinge assembly has the advantages of small thickness and low cost, and can be suitable for electronic equipment with light weight and small size.

Description

Hinge assembly and electronic equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the technical field of hinge assemblies, and more particularly, to a hinge assembly for a foldable electronic device and an electronic device.

Background

A foldable electronic device has a hinge assembly therein. In order to increase the damping hand feeling of the outer folding mobile phone when being folded, a damping mechanism is additionally arranged on the hinge assembly in general. At present, a damping mechanism of the hinge assembly mostly adopts a standard component of a cylindrical spring and is matched with a guide shaft for use. Because the occupation size of the cylindrical spring and the guide shaft in the thickness direction is larger, the thickness of the finally formed hinge assembly is also larger, and the finally formed hinge assembly cannot meet the development requirement of the electronic equipment for being increasingly lighter and thinner.

Therefore, how to reduce the thickness of the elastic member, so as to reduce the space occupation of the damping mechanism in the thickness direction, so that the hinge assembly meets the development requirement of the electronic device for ever-decreasing thickness and thinness, which is one of the problems to be solved in the industry.

Disclosure of Invention

The utility model provides an aim at provides a hinge assembly, connects the elastic component that is formed by buckling that strip substrate is tortuous between backup pad and swing arm, extrudees the elastic component when sliding for the backup pad through the swing arm and felt in order to produce the damping, compares cylindrical spring, and the elastic component in this application is less at the occupation size of thickness direction to do not need to match the guiding axle to use, make final fashioned hinge assembly have thickness little and advantage with low costs.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a hinge assembly including a base, a support plate, a swing arm, and an elastic member.

The backup pad with the base rotates to be connected, the backup pad is provided with the spout.

One end of the swing arm is rotatably connected with the base, the other end of the swing arm is slidably arranged in the chute, the swing arm can rotate between a flattened position and a folded position, and the swing arm can also slide relative to the support plate in the chute when rotating.

The elastic piece is formed by bending strip-shaped base materials in a tortuous way, the elastic piece is arranged along the bottom wall of the chute, and two ends of the elastic piece are respectively connected with the swing arm and the supporting plate, so that the elastic piece can be compressed or released when the swing arm slides relative to the supporting plate.

The utility model provides a hinge assembly sets up the elastic component that is formed by buckling that strip substrate is tortuous between backup pad and swing arm, extrudees the elastic component when sliding for the backup pad through the swing arm, and the elastic restoring force that the elastic component produced when warping will act on swing arm and backup pad for swing arm and backup pad receive the hindrance and are difficult to rotate, and this effect just forms the damping feel of user when folding hinge assembly. Compared with the cylindrical spring in the related art, the elastic piece in the application is formed by bending the strip-shaped base material in a tortuous way, and the elastic piece is distributed along the bottom wall of the chute, so that the occupied size of the elastic piece in the thickness direction after installation is smaller, and meanwhile, the cylindrical spring in the related art is not required to be matched with the guide shaft for use, and therefore the guide shaft can be omitted, and the cost of parts is reduced. The final formed hinge assembly has the advantages of small thickness and low cost, and can be suitable for electronic equipment with light weight and small size.

In one possible design, the swing arm is a plate-like structure, a gap is formed between the swing arm and the bottom wall of the tank, and at least part of the elastic piece is arranged in the gap.

The swing arm is of a solid plate-shaped structure, has higher structural strength, and can ensure the service life of the hinge assembly; the deformation trend of the elastic piece is restrained through the gap, so that the elastic piece deforms in the gap as much as possible, the middle part of the elastic piece is prevented from being raised to squeeze or scratch other parts when the elastic piece deforms, and the restoring force of the elastic piece can be utilized as much as possible when the elastic piece deforms in the gap.

In one possible design, the elastic element comprises a bendable section and a connecting section for connecting the swing arm and the support plate, wherein the surfaces of the bending section and the connecting section facing the swing arm are flush.

The bending section or the connecting section is prevented from affecting the sliding action of the swing arm, so that the folding hand feeling of the hinge assembly is ensured.

In one possible design, the curved sections are bent into an L-shaped configuration, a U-shaped configuration, an S-shaped configuration or a W-shaped configuration.

In one possible design, the curved section is formed by connecting a plurality of arc structures end to end, and the arching directions of two adjacent arc structures are opposite.

The elastic piece composed of the arc structures can enable the elastic piece to provide larger folding resistance for the hinge assembly under the limited layout size, so that the damping hand feeling force felt by a user is stronger.

In one possible design, the resilient member is configured to: in an uncompressed state, the radius of curvature of each of the arcuate structures is the same.

The curvature radius of each arc-shaped structure is the same, so that the arc-shaped structures have the same deformability, the bending sections can be deformed relatively uniformly, and the damping handfeel of the hinge assembly is ensured.

In one possible design, the curved section has a circular, elliptical or rectangular cross-sectional shape.

When the cross-sectional shape of the curved section is elliptical, the elastic member may be arranged in such a manner that the minor axis of the ellipse is directed toward the swing arm and the bottom wall of the groove, so as to save the dimension in the thickness direction.

When the cross-sectional shape of the curved section is rectangular, the elastic member may be arranged in such a manner that the short side of the rectangle is directed toward the swing arm and the bottom wall of the groove, so as to save the dimension in the thickness direction.

In one possible design, the number of the elastic pieces is a plurality, a plurality of the elastic pieces are arranged side by side and two adjacent elastic pieces are fixedly connected.

The folding resistance of the hinge assembly can be conveniently changed through the combination of the plurality of elastic pieces, so that the damping hand feeling force can be adjusted. Because the elastic pieces are arranged side by side, the size of the hinge assembly in the thickness direction is not occupied, and the double effects of large damping and light weight can be achieved.

In one possible design, the swing arm is provided with a first fixing part protruding towards the direction of the tank bottom wall, the tank bottom wall is provided with a second fixing part protruding towards the direction of the swing arm, and the connecting section with a ring-shaped structure is sleeved on the first fixing part and the second fixing part.

The connecting section of the ring-shaped structure is directly sleeved on the first fixing piece and the second fixing piece, the elastic piece can be conveniently and rapidly installed between the swing arm and the supporting plate, and the structure is simple and easy to implement.

In one possible design, the first fixture and the second fixture are configured to: when the swing arm rotates from the flattening position to the folding position, the distance between the first fixing piece and the second fixing piece is gradually reduced and then gradually increased.

The hinge assembly can be ensured not to rotate due to external shaking when in a flattened state and a folded state, and can avoid producing a loose feel, thereby improving the use hand feeling of a user; because the elastic component can also assist in swinging arm and backup pad rotation, and then can enrich the use experience of hinge assembly, make the user feel unusual folding feel.

In one possible design, the distance between the first fixing member and the second fixing member is a first distance when the swing arm is in the flattened position, and the distance between the first fixing member and the second fixing member is a second distance when the swing arm is in the folded position, and the first distance is greater than the second distance.

The support plate and the swing arm are slightly rotated, so that the elastic piece is transited to an unstable state from a second stable state, and then the swing arm and the support plate can be rapidly assisted to rotate to a flattening position, so that the hinge assembly is flattened.

In one possible design, the second fixing piece includes an integrally formed plugging portion and a pressing portion, the plugging portion is connected with a mounting hole formed in the bottom wall of the groove, and the pressing portion is in a cake-shaped structure, so that the connecting section and a part adjacent to the connecting section, which is the bending section, can be pressed and fixed at the orifice of the mounting hole.

The pressing part presses and fixes the connecting section and part of the bending section adjacent to the connecting section at the orifice of the mounting hole, so that the situation that the connecting section and the adjacent bending section tilt up is avoided, and the swing arm is not blocked and the rotation of the swing arm is not influenced when the swing arm slides to the other side of the chute.

In one possible design, the second fixing element is a pin or a screw.

In one possible design, the thickness of the connecting section and the part of the bending section pressed by the pressing part is smaller than the thickness of other parts of the bending section.

Thinning the connecting section and part of the bending section pressed by the pressing part, so as to ensure that the pressing part after installation cannot rub the swing arm; the bending sections at other parts keep normal thickness, so that the damping hand feeling transmitted to the hinge assembly by the elastic piece is unchanged.

In one possible design, the swing arm is provided with a third fixing part protruding towards the direction of the bottom wall of the swing arm, the bottom wall of the swing arm is provided with a fourth fixing part protruding towards the direction of the swing arm, the first fixing part and the third fixing part, the second fixing part and the fourth fixing part are symmetrically arranged along the central line of the swing arm, and the elastic part is connected between the third fixing part and the fourth fixing part.

The single-side sliding connection structure of the swing arm and the sliding chute can be prevented from excessively rubbing for a long time, so that the friction loss between the swing arm and the supporting plate is avoided, the working stability of the hinge assembly is further ensured, and the service life of the hinge assembly is prolonged; due to the arrangement of the two symmetrical elastic pieces, folding resistance is improved, and damping hand feeling force of the hinge assembly is stronger.

In one possible design, the swing arm includes a main swing arm, the base is provided with a folding synchronization assembly for driving the support plate to rotate synchronously, the folding synchronization assembly includes two intermeshing synchronizing gears, and the main swing arm is fixedly connected with the synchronizing gears.

In one possible design, the swing arm includes a secondary swing arm having an arcuate slide, the base is provided with an arcuate chute, and the secondary swing arm is slidably connected to the arcuate chute through the arcuate slide.

In one possible design, the thickness of the elastic member is 1/2-4/5 of the length of the gap in the thickness direction of the elastic member.

The elastic effect of the elastic piece can be ensured to be exerted, the damping handfeel of the hinge assembly is ensured, and meanwhile, the sliding of the swing arm in the chute is not interfered, so that the rotation action of the swing arm is prevented from being influenced.

In one possible design, the plurality of elastic members are identical in structure.

The elastic pieces are convenient to fix, and meanwhile, due to the fact that the overall shape and the cross section shape of the bending sections are the same, the overall trend of the bending sections of each elastic piece is the same when the bending sections are deformed in a compression mode, the tearing force away from each other cannot be generated between every two elastic pieces, and then the connecting strength of the elastic pieces can be guaranteed.

In one possible embodiment, the connecting section is fixedly connected to the first and second fastening elements, respectively.

The limiting connecting section and the first fixing piece and the second fixing piece rotate relatively, so that the connecting section can exert a damping effect similar to a torsion spring, and damping handfeel of the hinge assembly is further improved.

In one possible embodiment, the connecting section has a closed loop-like structure or a semi-closed loop-like structure.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides an electronic device, including a first housing, a second housing, and the hinge assembly described above, where the hinge assembly is connected between the first housing and the second housing.

The electronic equipment provided by the application, because the hinge assembly is adopted, the elastic piece is formed by bending the strip-shaped base material in a tortuous way, and the elastic piece is distributed along the bottom wall of the chute, so that the occupied size of the elastic piece in the thickness direction after installation is smaller, and meanwhile, the cylindrical spring in the related art is not required to be matched with the guide shaft for use, and therefore, the guide shaft can be omitted, and the cost of parts is reduced. The hinge assembly formed finally has the advantages of small thickness and low cost, and can meet the development requirement of the trend of thinning and thinning of electronic equipment.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an external folding mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is an assembly view of a hinge assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a partial exploded view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the hinge assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an example of a swing arm provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of an example of a hinge assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of multiple examples of elastic members provided in embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of another example of an elastic member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of A-A of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of another example of an elastic member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of another example of a hinge assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a process for compression set of an elastic member provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a partial schematic view of a hinge assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application in a flattened state;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the spring member of the hinge assembly of FIG. 14 in a flattened condition;

FIG. 16 is a partial schematic view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 14 during folding;

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of the spring of the hinge assembly of FIG. 16 during folding;

FIG. 18 is a partial schematic view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 14 in a folded condition;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of the spring member of the hinge assembly of FIG. 18 in a folded state;

FIG. 20 is a partial cross-sectional view of another example of a hinge assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 21 is a schematic view of a second mount provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 22 is a partial cross-sectional view of another example of a hinge assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a schematic view of a swing arm, an elastic member, and a support plate provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 24 is a schematic view of a primary swing arm provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 25 is an enlarged view at B in fig. 7.

Reference numerals:

10. a base; 11. an arc chute;

20. a support plate; 21. a chute; 211. a bottom wall of the tank; 212. a mounting hole; 213. a guide groove; 22. a second fixing member; 221. a plug-in part; 222. a pressing part; 23. a fourth fixing member;

30. swing arms; 31. a first fixing member; 32. a third fixing member; 33. a main swing arm; 331. a synchronizing gear; 34. an auxiliary swing arm; 341. an arc-shaped sliding part; 35. a slide block; 36. a center line;

40. an elastic member; 41. a curved section; 411. an arc-shaped structure; 42. a connection section;

50. A gap;

100. a hinge assembly; 200. a first housing; 300. and a second housing.

Detailed Description

The following is an exemplary description of relevant content that may be relevant to embodiments of the present application. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected, for example; can be mechanically connected, electrically connected or can be communicated with each other; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this application will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "upper," "lower," "side," "inner," "outer," "top," "bottom," and the like indicate an orientation or positional relationship based on installation, and are merely for convenience of description and to simplify the description, rather than to indicate or imply that the devices or elements being referred to must have a particular orientation, be configured and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present application.

It should be further noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, the same reference numerals denote the same components or the same parts, and for the same parts in the embodiments of the present application, reference numerals may be given to only one of the parts or the parts in the drawings by way of example, and it should be understood that, for other same parts or parts, the reference numerals are equally applicable.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the term "and/or" is merely an association relationship describing an association object, and indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone.

The curved screen electronic product refers to an electronic product with a certain radian at the edge of the screen. Taking a curved screen mobile phone as an example, when the front side of the mobile phone is seen, the side frames on two sides of the curved screen mobile phone are smaller, and if the curvature of the edge of the screen is large enough, the side frames on two sides can disappear completely. Compared with a flat screen mobile phone, the curved screen mobile phone has better visual effect, and is popular with consumers.

Flexible screens, as the name implies, are flexible screens that are manufactured by replacing the screen substrate with a flexible material (e.g., plastic) from an original rigid material (e.g., glass). Flexible screens have the property of being flexible and are now widely used in foldable cellular phones and other electronic devices. The display screen of the electronic equipment can be increased in size on the basis of not increasing the volume, and meanwhile, the electronic equipment also has high screen occupation ratio and definition, for example, a foldable mobile phone is taken as an example, the electronic equipment can be folded to be only the size of a traditional mobile phone, can be conveniently carried, and can be flattened to be the display size of a tablet personal computer. These characteristics make foldable electronic devices highly popular with consumers.

The current foldable mobile phone mainly comprises an inner folding mobile phone and an outer folding mobile phone. The folding part of the flexible screen of the external folding mobile phone has smaller external folding amplitude compared with internal folding amplitude, so the damage to the flexible screen is relatively weaker, and the folding part of the flexible screen has almost no crease after the mobile phone is flattened, so that the whole screen is very smooth in appearance, the texture of the mobile phone is greatly improved, and the service life of the mobile phone screen is prolonged.

The technical scheme is shown below by taking an example that the electronic equipment is an external folding mobile phone. Of course, in other embodiments, the electronic device may also include, but is not limited to, a fold-in cell phone, tablet computer, game palm, electronic reader, wearable device, and the like.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an external folding mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, taking an example that the electronic device is an external folding mobile phone, the external folding mobile phone includes a first housing 200, a second housing 300, a screen and a hinge assembly 100, the hinge assembly 100 is connected between the first housing 200 and the second housing 300, and the screen is disposed above the first housing 200, the hinge assembly 100 and the second housing 300.

The first and second cases 200 and 300 are used for carrying the screen while protecting the components inside the mobile phone. The parts of the screen at both ends are respectively adhered and fixed with the first casing 200 and the second casing 300 through adhesives, the first casing 200 can be a hard casing, and the second casing 300 can also be a hard casing, so that the first casing 200 and the second casing 300 can firmly support both ends of the screen.

The hinge assembly 100 may deform as the second housing 300 is folded or flattened with respect to the first housing 200 and restrict the second housing 300 from being separated from the first housing 200.

Specifically, the hinge assembly 100 includes a base 10 and support plates 20 located at two sides of the base 10, the support plates 20 can rotate relative to the base 10, the two support plates 20 are respectively connected to the first housing 200 and the second housing 300, and the hinge assembly 100 uses a rotatable characteristic of itself, so that the first housing 200 can be turned over relative to the second housing 300, and the first housing 200 is folded, flattened, or a state between folding and flattening relative to the second housing 300.

The first casing 200 and the second casing 300 can be mutually folded or flattened, so that the external folding mobile phone provided by the embodiment of the application has multiple modes, and can meet the use requirements of users in different scenes.

The first casing 200 and the second casing 300 can be relatively flattened, and an included angle of 180 degrees is formed between the first casing 200 and the second casing, so that the external folding mobile phone provided by the embodiment of the application can realize large-screen display, can provide richer information for a user, and brings better use experience for the user.

The first housing 200 and the second housing 300 can be mutually folded to be tightly attached, and can be mutually attached, so that the external folding mobile phone is switched to a closed mode, and the external folding mobile phone has smaller volume at the moment, so that a user can conveniently store and carry the external folding mobile phone; alternatively, the information is displayed in half of the screen while being operated by the user.

It can be understood that when the user holds the external folding mobile phone, the position of the earphone module of the external folding mobile phone can be defined as the upper edge of the external folding mobile phone, the position of the microphone module of the external folding mobile phone can be defined as the lower edge of the external folding mobile phone, and the two sides of the external folding mobile phone held by the left and right hands of the user can be defined as the left and right sides of the external folding mobile phone.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first housing 200 and the second housing 300 are arranged up and down so that the outer folding mobile phone can be folded up and down.

In other embodiments of the present application, the first housing 200 is arranged in a left-right arrangement with the second housing 300 such that the out-folding mobile phone can be folded in half from side-to-side.

Alternatively, the screen may be a flexible screen that is foldable as a whole, or the screen may be a combination of a flexible screen that is foldable in the middle region and rigid screens in both end portions, which is not limited in this application.

Alternatively, the screen may be an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display, a mini-led (micro organic light-emitting diode) display, a mini-organic led (micro organic light-emitting diode) display, a quantum dot led (quantum dotlight emitting diodes, QLED) display, or the like.

Optionally, the external folding mobile phone may further include: processor, universal serial bus (universal serial bus, USB) interface, charge management module, power management module, battery, microphone, motor, speaker, mobile communication module, antenna, wireless communication module, audio module, headset interface, sensor module, keys, camera, and subscriber identity module (subscriber identificationmodule, SIM) card interface, etc.

In order to increase the damping feel of the folding cell phone when folded, the hinge assembly 100 typically requires the addition of a damping mechanism. In the industry, damping mechanisms are mainly of two types, one being an outside damping mechanism provided on the support plate 20 or the swing arm 30, and the other being an in-shaft damping mechanism provided on the base 10.

The principle of operation of both the outboard damping mechanism and the inboard damping mechanism is substantially similar, with the folding action of the hinge compressing the resilient member to produce the damping effect. The current damping mechanism mostly adopts a standard part of a cylindrical spring and is matched with a guide shaft for use. Because the space occupation of the cylindrical spring and the guide shaft in the thickness direction is larger, the thickness of the finally formed hinge assembly 100 is also larger, and the development requirement of the electronic equipment for increasing lightness and thinness cannot be met.

Therefore, how to reduce the thickness of the elastic member 40, thereby reducing the space occupation of the damping mechanism in the thickness direction, so that the hinge assembly 100 meets the development requirement of the electronic device for ever-decreasing thickness and thinness, which is one of the problems to be solved in the industry.

In order to solve the technical problem, the application provides a hinge assembly 100, connect the elastic component that is formed by bending strip substrate tortuous between backup pad and swing arm, extrude the elastic component in order to produce the damping and feel when sliding for the backup pad through the swing arm, compare cylindrical spring, the elastic component in this application is less in the occupation size of thickness direction to do not need to match the guiding axle to use, make final fashioned hinge assembly 100 have thickness little and advantage with low costs.

The hinge assembly 100 provided herein will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is an assembly view of a hinge assembly 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3 is a partial exploded view of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a schematic view of another view of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 2 to 5, a hinge assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a base 10, a support plate 20, a swing arm 30, and an elastic member 40.

The base 10 is used to provide a mounting base for the support plate 20 and swing arm 30.

The support plate 20 is rotatably connected with the base 10, and the support plate 20 is provided with a chute 21. Wherein the support plate 20 is used for being connected with the first housing 200 and the second housing 300 of the folding cellular phone. Alternatively, the slide groove 21 may be opened to extend in the width direction a of the support plate 20.

One end of the swing arm 30 is rotatably connected with the base 10, the other end of the swing arm 30 is slidably disposed in the slide groove 21, the swing arm 30 is rotatable between a flattened position and a folded position, and the swing arm 30 is also slidable in the slide groove 21 with respect to the support plate 20 upon rotation.

Because the rotation axis of the support plate 20 relative to the base 10 is different from the rotation axis of the swing arm 30 relative to the base 10, when the user folds the mobile phone housing, the first housing 200 and the second housing 300 respectively drive the respective support plate 20 to rotate, and the support plate 20 drives the swing arm 30 to slide in the chute 21 and also rotate relative to the base 10 through the chute wall of the chute 21. The flattened position refers to the position in which the swing arm 30 is located when the hinge assembly 100 is in the flattened state; the folded position refers to a position where the swing arm 30 is located when the hinge assembly 100 is in a folded state.

The elastic member 40 is formed by bending a strip-shaped base material in a tortuous manner, the elastic member 40 is arranged along the bottom wall 211 of the chute 21, and two ends of the elastic member are respectively connected with the swing arm 30 and the support plate 20, so that the elastic member 40 can be compressed or released when the swing arm 30 slides relative to the support plate 20.

The base material of the elastic member 40 may be a metal material or a non-metal material having elasticity.

Alternatively, when the base material of the elastic member 40 is a metal material such as iron, steel, copper alloy, nickel alloy, etc., it may be integrally formed by a mold casting process; or, the strip-shaped base material made of iron, steel, copper alloy, nickel alloy and the like is formed by winding one time.

Alternatively, when the base material of the elastic member 40 is a nonmetallic material such as resin, rubber, elastomer, etc., it may be integrally formed by an injection molding process, or may be integrally formed by a 3D printing technique; alternatively, the elastic member 40 is formed by a laser etching process from a base material of a material such as resin, rubber, or elastomer.

The hinge assembly 100 provided in this embodiment sets up the elastic component 40 that is formed by bending strip substrate tortuous between backup pad 20 and swing arm 30, extrudes elastic component 40 when sliding for backup pad 20 through swing arm 30, and the produced elasticity restoring force of elastic component 40 when the deformation will act on swing arm 30 and backup pad 20 for swing arm 30 and backup pad 20 receive the hindrance and are difficult to rotate, and this effect just forms the damping feel of user when folding hinge assembly. Compared with the cylindrical spring in the related art, the elastic element 40 in the embodiment of the present application is formed by bending the strip-shaped base material in a meandering manner, and the elastic element 40 is arranged along the bottom wall 211 of the chute 21, so that the space occupation of the elastic element 40 in the thickness direction after installation is smaller, and meanwhile, the cylindrical spring in the related art does not need to be matched with a guide shaft for use, so that the guide shaft can be omitted, and the cost of parts is reduced. The final formed hinge assembly 100 has the advantages of small thickness and low cost, and is suitable for use in thin and small-sized electronic devices.

The hinge assembly 100 has two support plates 20 connected to the first and second housings 200 and 300, respectively, and each support plate 20 has at least one swing arm 30 thereon. Alternatively, the two swing arms 30 may be arranged on the base 10 in a facing manner; alternatively, the two swing arms 30 may be arranged on the base 10 so as to be offset from each other.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2-3, the two swing arms 30 are arranged on the bracket of the chute 21 in a facing manner, so that the occupation range of the swing arms 30 in the length direction of the base 10 can be reduced, and on the premise of not changing the length of the base 10, the layout space saved by the swing arms 30 can be saved for other functional parts of the hinge assembly 100, so that the structural design of the hinge assembly 100 is more flexible and changeable, and the optimization of the structural design is facilitated.

Alternatively, the swing arm 30 is slidably disposed in the slide groove 21, and may be implemented by a sliding connection structure formed by the slider 35 and the guide groove 213.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 4 to 5, the side wall of the swing arm 30 has a slider 35, and the groove side wall of the slide groove 21 is provided with a guide groove 213 for sliding the slider 35; the slide 35 and the guide groove 213 can also be arranged interchangeably, i.e. the side wall of the swing arm 30 is provided with the guide groove 213, while the groove side wall of the slide 21 is provided with the slide 35.

Optionally, the surface of the sliding block 35 and the groove wall of the guide groove 213 are coated with a self-lubricating material, so that the friction resistance of the sliding block 35 and the guide groove 213 during relative sliding can be reduced, the sliding block 35 slides smoothly in the guide groove 213, and the adverse conditions of jamming, shaking and the like of the swing arm 30 are avoided.

Alternatively, the self-lubricating material may use engineering plastics such as polytetrafluoroethylene, polyacetal, polyoxymethylene, polycarbonate, polyamide, etc.; electroplated alloy layers may also be employed.

Alternatively, the swing arm 30 may be a hollowed-out frame structure. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of a swing arm 30 provided in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, a portion of the swing arm 30 used for connecting the elastic member 40 has a hollow structure, and the hollow structure can reduce the weight of the swing arm 30, which is beneficial to saving the material cost of the swing arm 30, and is convenient to design the light hinge assembly 100.

Alternatively, when the swing arm 30 is a hollowed frame structure, the elastic member 40 may be deformed toward the hollowed structure when compressed.

Fig. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of an example of a hinge assembly 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

As further shown in fig. 4-5, and as further shown in fig. 7, in one embodiment provided in the present application, the swing arm 30 has a solid plate structure, and a gap 50 is formed between the swing arm and the groove bottom wall 211, and at least a portion of the elastic member 40 is disposed in the gap 50.

In addition to the hollow frame structure of the swing arm 30, the swing arm 30 in the embodiment is of a solid plate structure, which has higher structural strength than the hollow frame structure, and can ensure the service life of the hinge assembly 100; the gap 50 is formed between the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211, at least part of the elastic element 40 is arranged in the gap 50, and the deformation trend of the elastic element 40 can be restrained by the gap 50, so that the elastic element 40 deforms in the gap 50 as much as possible, and the design has two functions: firstly, the middle part of the elastic piece 40 can be prevented from being raised to squeeze or scratch other parts when being deformed, and adverse effects on other parts caused by the elastic piece 40 when being deformed are avoided; secondly, the elastic member 40 can be deformed in the gap 50 as much as possible by using the restoring force of the elastic member 40, and it is supposed that if the elastic member 40 is not constrained by the gap 50, the elastic member may be deformed in a manner of bulging in the middle, and the restoring force of the deformation is weak, so that the hinge assembly 100 cannot respond to the damping hand feeling force of the elastic member 40.

When the swing arm 30 is in the flattened position, only a part of the overlapping area of the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211 is provided with a gap 50, and as the swing arm 30 rotates towards the folded position, the swing arm 30 also slides towards the chute 21, so that the overlapping area of the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211 is larger and larger, and the range of the gap 50 is larger, thereby completely restraining the elastic piece 40 in the gap 50.

As further shown in fig. 7, in one embodiment provided herein, the elastic member 40 includes a bending section 41 that is bendable and deformable, and a connecting section 42 for connecting the swing arm 30 and the support plate 20, and the surfaces of the bending section 41 and the connecting section 42 facing the swing arm 30 are flush.

The elastic member 40 in this embodiment has a connecting section 42 to facilitate the installation connection with the swing arm 30 and the support plate 20, and the elastic member 40 is mainly deformed by the bending section 41 to store elastic potential energy when compressed. The surfaces of the bending section 41 and the connecting section 42 facing the swing arm 30 are flush, so that the sliding action of the swing arm 30 is not affected by the bending section 41 or the connecting section 42. Referring to fig. 7, the surfaces of the curved section 41 and the connecting section 42 facing the swing arm 30 are flush, so that the swing arm 30 is prevented from being blocked by the curved section 41 or the connecting section 42 when sliding rightward, and the folding feel of the hinge assembly 100 is ensured.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of several examples of the elastic member 40 according to the embodiment of the present application. Wherein (a) in fig. 8 is a schematic view of the curved section 41 of the elastic member 40 having an L-shaped structure; fig. 8 (b) is a schematic view of the bent section 41 of the elastic member 40 having a U-shaped structure; fig. 8 (c) is a schematic view of the curved section 41 of the elastic member 40 having an S-shaped structure; fig. 8 (d) is a schematic view of the bent section 41 of the elastic member 40 having a W-shaped structure.

As shown in fig. 8 (a), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 is bent into an L-shaped structure.

As shown in fig. 8 (b), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 is bent into a U-shaped configuration.

As shown in fig. 8 (c), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 is bent into an S-shaped configuration.

As shown in fig. 8 (d), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 is bent into a W-shaped configuration.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of another example of the elastic member 40 according to the embodiment of the present application.

In one embodiment provided herein, as shown in fig. 9, the curved section 41 is formed by a plurality of arcuate structures 411 joined end to end, with the arcuate directions of adjacent arcuate structures 411 being opposite.

The more deformable points on the curved section 41 of the resilient member 40, the stiffer and more difficult to compress the resilient member 40, and thus the greater the folding resistance exhibited by the hinge assembly 100, the greater the damping feel experienced by the user. In this embodiment, each arc structure 411 is a deformable position point, and the elastic member 40 formed by a plurality of arc structures 411 can provide a larger folding resistance for the hinge assembly 100 under a limited layout size, so that the damping hand feeling force felt by the user is stronger.

Alternatively, the number of arcuate structures 411 may be three to ten.

As further shown in fig. 9, in one embodiment provided herein, the resilient member 40 is configured to: in the uncompressed state, the radius of curvature r of each arcuate structure 411 is the same.

In this embodiment, the radius of curvature r of each arc structure 411 is the same, so that the arc structures 411 have the same deformability, and thus the bending section 41 can be deformed relatively uniformly when the elastic member 40 is compressed, and the folding resistance of the hinge assembly 100 is ensured. When the radius r of curvature of a certain arc-shaped structure 411 is not too large, the arc-shaped structure 411 is easier to bend and deform, so that the hand feeling of the elastic member 40 is softer, and when the situation occurs, the folding resistance of the hinge assembly 100 is smaller, and the damping hand feeling force felt by a user is weaker.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of A-A in fig. 9. Wherein (a) in fig. 10 is a schematic view in which the base surface of the curved section 41 is circular in shape; fig. 10 (b) is a schematic view of the curved section 41 having an elliptical shape of the basal plane; fig. 10 (c) is a schematic view of the curved section 41 having a rectangular shape as a basal plane.

As shown in fig. 10 (a), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 is circular in cross-sectional shape.

As shown in fig. 10 (b), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 has an elliptical cross-sectional shape.

Alternatively, when the cross-sectional shape of the curved section 41 is elliptical, the elastic member 40 may be arranged in such a manner that the major axis of the ellipse is directed toward the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211; alternatively, it is also possible to arrange the elastic member 40 in such a manner that the minor axis of the ellipse is directed toward the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211, which is a comparatively saving in size in the thickness direction in the case of the same sectional area.

As shown in fig. 10 (c), in one embodiment provided herein, the curved section 41 is rectangular in cross-sectional shape.

Alternatively, when the cross-sectional shape of the curved section 41 is rectangular, the elastic member 40 may be arranged in such a manner that the long side of the rectangle is directed toward the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211; alternatively, it is also possible to arrange the elastic member 40 in such a manner that the short side of the rectangle is directed toward the swing arm 30 and the groove bottom wall 211, which in the case of the same sectional area, saves the dimension in the thickness direction comparatively.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view of another example of the elastic member 40 according to the embodiment of the present application. Fig. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of another example of a hinge assembly 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 11-12, in one embodiment provided herein, the number of elastic members 40 is plural, and plural elastic members 40 are arranged side by side and fixedly connected between two adjacent elastic members 40.

In this embodiment, the folding resistance of the hinge assembly 100 can be conveniently changed by combining the plurality of elastic members 40, so that the damping hand feeling force can be adjusted. Since the plurality of elastic members 40 are arranged side by side, the hinge assembly 100 does not occupy the dimension in the thickness direction, and the dual effects of large damping and light weight can be achieved.

In one embodiment provided herein, the plurality of elastic members 40 are identical in structure.

The plurality of elastic members 40 in this embodiment have the same structure, and it is understood that the curved sections 41 of the elastic members 40 have the same overall shape and cross-sectional shape. In this way, the elastic members 40 are convenient to fix, and meanwhile, as the overall shape and the cross-sectional shape of the bending sections 41 are the same, the overall trend of the bending sections 41 of each elastic member 40 is the same when in compression deformation, and the tearing force away from each other can not be generated between every two elastic members, so that the connection strength of the elastic members can be ensured.

Of course, in other embodiments, the structures of the plurality of elastic members 40 may be different.

As shown in fig. 7, in an embodiment provided in the present application, the swing arm 30 is provided with a first fixing member 31 protruding toward the bottom wall 211, the bottom wall 211 is provided with a second fixing member 22 protruding toward the swing arm 30, and the connecting section 42 with a ring-shaped structure is sleeved on the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22.

In this embodiment, the connection structure of the connection section 42 and the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 is specifically defined, the connection section 42 with a ring-shaped structure is directly sleeved on the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, and the elastic member 40 can be conveniently and rapidly installed between the swing arm 30 and the support plate 20, so that the structure is simple and easy to implement.

Alternatively, the overall shape of the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 may be a cylinder, an elliptic cylinder, a polygonal column, or a rectangular parallelepiped.

Alternatively, the loop profile of the connecting segment 42 may be circular, oval, polygonal, rectangular, etc.

Optionally, there is a slight gap between the first fixing member 31 and the groove bottom wall 211, and between the second fixing member 22 and the swing arm 30, so that friction is prevented from being formed to cause the sliding of the swing arm 30 to be affected.

As shown in fig. 12, if the number of elastic members 40 is plural and the plurality of elastic members 40 are arranged side by side, it is only necessary to fix the innermost connecting section 42 to the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22.

Alternatively, the annular connecting section 42 can be rotated relative to the first and second fastening members 31, 22 without affecting the compression deformation of the curved section 41.

Alternatively, in some embodiments provided herein, the connecting segments 42 are in a closed loop-like structure or in a semi-closed loop-like structure.

In one embodiment provided herein, the connecting section 42 is fixedly connected to the first and second fixing members 31 and 22, respectively. To restrict the connection section 42 from rotating relative to the first and second fixing members 31 and 22, respectively.

Alternatively, the connecting section 42 may be fixedly coupled to the first and second fixing members 31 and 22 by bonding, welding, fastening, or the like.

In this embodiment, after the connecting section 42 with the ring-shaped structure is sleeved on the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, the connecting section 42 is fixedly connected with the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, so as to limit the relative rotation between the connecting section 42 and the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, so that the connecting section 42 can exert a damping effect similar to that of a torsion spring, and further improve the damping feel of the hinge assembly 100.

Fig. 13 is a schematic process view of compression deformation of the elastic member 40 according to the embodiment of the present application. Wherein (a) in fig. 13 is a schematic view of the uncompressed elastic member 40; fig. 13 (b) is a schematic view of the compression elastic member 40.

To facilitate an understanding of the advantages of the above embodiment, fig. 13 will now be introduced, and the compression set process of the elastic member 40 of fig. 13 will be described in detail. In fig. 13, the elastic member 40 is not fixed to the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, as shown in fig. 13 (a), in the initial situation, the swing arm 30 is located above the chute 21, when the swing arm 30 slides toward the inside of the chute 21, as shown in fig. 13 (b), the distance between the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 becomes smaller, so as to compress the elastic member 40, and during the compression process, the connecting section 42 is driven by the bending section 41, so that the connecting section 42 rotates on the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, respectively, and the compression deformation of the elastic member 40 is only reflected on the bending section 41. If the connecting section 42 is fixed with the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22, the connecting section 42 cannot rotate under the driving of the bending section 41, so that the connecting section 42 has a tendency of resisting rotation, a damping effect similar to a torsion spring is formed, and the damping effect is finally reflected on the damping hand feeling of the hinge assembly 100, thereby further improving the damping hand feeling of the hinge assembly 100.

In some embodiments provided herein, the first and second fixtures 31, 22 are configured to: when the swing arm 30 is rotated from the flattened position to the folded position, the distance between the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 gradually decreases and then gradually increases.

The first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 in this embodiment are designed in the above layout manner, so that the elastic member 40 can be made into a bistable elastic member 40, and further the hinge assembly 100 can not rotate due to external shaking in the flattened state and the folded state, thereby avoiding the occurrence of a loose feeling. For an understanding of this advantage, see below.

The specific movement process of the hinge assembly 100 in this embodiment is as follows.

Fig. 14 is a partial schematic view of hinge assembly 100 provided in an expanded state according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 15 is a schematic view of the elastic member 40 of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 14 in a flattened state.

As shown in fig. 14 to 15, when the hinge assembly 100 in the present embodiment is in the flattened state, the support plate 20 and the swing arm 30 are both in the flattened position, and at this time, the distance between the center of the first fixing member 31 and the center of the second fixing member 22 is d1, and the elastic member 40 may be in a state of not being deformed by compression, so that the elastic member 40 naturally expands, and provides a supporting force for the support plate 20 and the swing arm 30, so that the hinge assembly 100 is prevented from rotating due to external shaking in the flattened state, and avoiding occurrence of a loose feeling. The state of the elastic member 40 at this time is referred to as a first steady state.

Fig. 16 is a partial schematic view of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 14 during folding. Fig. 17 is a schematic view of the elastic member 40 of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 16 during folding.

When the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 14 to 15 is folded, the two support plates 20 are relatively rotated, the swing arm 30 slides from one end of the slide slot 21 near the base 10 to the middle position of the slide slot 21, and the distance between the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 is gradually reduced, so that the elastic member 40 is compressively deformed, and the generated restoring force blocks the swing arm 30 from sliding, thereby blocking the rotation of the support plates 20, so as to form the damping effect of the hinge assembly 100. When the swing arm 30 slides to the state as shown in fig. 16 to 17, the center of the first fixing piece 31 and the center of the second fixing piece 22 are in the same straight line, the distance between the first fixing piece 31 and the second fixing piece 22 is the smallest, the distance is d2, and d1 > d2. At this time, the elastic member 40 is in a maximum compression state, which is very unstable.

Fig. 18 is a partial schematic view of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 14 in a folded state. Fig. 19 is a schematic view of the elastic member 40 of the hinge assembly 100 of fig. 18 in a folded state.

When the hinge assembly 100 in fig. 16-17 continues to be folded, the elastic member 40 releases the restoring force, the power-assisted swing arm 30 slides from the middle position of the chute 21 to the end of the chute 21 far from the base 10, and the power-assisted swing arm 30 and the support plate 20 rotate to the folded position, that is, as shown in fig. 18-19, the hinge assembly 100 in the embodiment is in the folded state, where the distance between the center of the first fixing member 31 and the center of the second fixing member 22 is d3, and d3 > d2. Meanwhile, the elastic member 40 expands under the restoring force and provides a supporting force for the supporting plate 20 and the swing arm 30, so that the hinge assembly 100 is prevented from rotating due to external shaking in the folded state, and the loose feeling is prevented. The elastic member 40 is in the second stable state.

It can be seen that, in this embodiment, the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 are designed in the layout manner, so that the hinge assembly 100 is not rotated due to external shake in the flattened state and the folded state, and the loose feeling can be avoided, thereby improving the use feeling of the user. Meanwhile, the elastic piece 40 can also assist the swing arm 30 and the supporting plate 20 to rotate, so that the use experience of the hinge assembly 100 can be enriched, and a user can feel a distinctive folding hand feeling.

The specific movement process described in the above embodiment is only described for the case where the hinge assembly 100 is changed from the flattened state to the folded state, the elastic member 40 is changed from the first stable state to the second stable state, and the power-assisted swing arm 30 and the support plate 20 are rotated to the folded position. Of course, when the hinge assembly 100 is moved from the folded state to the flattened state, the elastic member 40 can likewise be shifted from the second stable state to the first stable state, and the assist swing arm 30 and the support plate 20 are rotated to the flattened position.

In some embodiments provided herein, the distance between the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 is a first distance d1 when the swing arm 30 is in the flattened position, and the distance between the first fixing member 31 and the second fixing member 22 is a second distance d3 when the swing arm 30 is in the folded position, and the first distance d1 is greater than the second distance d3.

In this embodiment, when the hinge assembly 100 is in the folded state and the swing arm 30 is in the folded position, the support plate 20 and the swing arm 30 are slightly rotated, so that the elastic member 40 can be transited from the second stable state to the unstable state, and the swing arm 30 and the support plate 20 can be quickly assisted to rotate to the flattened position, so that the hinge assembly 100 is flattened. Thus allowing the hinge assembly 100 to be folded to a smaller amount of rotation during the flattening process and allowing the user to easily open for use in a flattened condition when used on an electronic device.

Fig. 20 is a partial cross-sectional view of another example of a hinge assembly 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Normally, the connecting section 42 and the bending section 41 of the elastic member 40 are both disposed against the groove bottom wall 211, but when an error occurs in the fixed connection between the connecting section 42 and the second fixing member 22, a situation that the connecting section 42 lifts up the adjacent bending section 41 easily occurs, or after a long time use, a crack occurs at the connection between the connecting section 42 and the second fixing member 22 due to fatigue, so that the fixed connection between the connecting section 42 and the second fixing member 22 is unstable, especially when the elastic member 40 is compressed, a situation that the connecting section 42 lifts up and lifts up the adjacent bending section 41 easily occurs, i.e., a situation shown at G in fig. 20. When this occurs, the tilted bending section 41 and the connecting section 42 may block the swing arm 30 from sliding toward the chute 21, thereby affecting the rotation of the swing arm 30, such that the hinge assembly 100 fails.

Fig. 21 is a schematic view of a second fixture 22 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 22 is a partial cross-sectional view of another example of a hinge assembly 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned possible technical problems and reduce the failure rate of the hinge assembly 100, as shown in fig. 21 to 22, in some embodiments provided in the present application, the second fixing member 22 includes an integrally formed plugging portion 221 and a pressing portion 222, where the plugging portion 221 is connected with the mounting hole 212 formed on the bottom wall 211 of the slot, and the pressing portion 222 has a pie-shaped structure, so that the connecting section 42 and a portion of the bending section 41 adjacent to the connecting section 42 can be pressed and fixed at the opening of the mounting hole 212.

As shown at G' in fig. 22, the pressing portion 222 presses the connection section 42 and a portion of the bent section 41 adjacent to the connection section 42 at the aperture of the mounting hole 212, thereby avoiding the tilting of the connection section 42 and the adjacent bent section 41, and preventing the swing arm 30 from being blocked and preventing the swing arm 30 from being affected when the swing arm 30 slides to the other side of the chute 21.

Alternatively, in some embodiments provided herein, the second securing member 22 is a pin or screw, and the mounting hole 212 is a pin or screw hole, respectively.

In some embodiments provided herein, the thickness of the connecting section 42 and the portion of the curved section 41 pressed by the pressing portion 222 is smaller than the thickness of the other portions of the curved section 41.

In the present embodiment, the connecting section 42 pressed by the pressing portion 222 and the part of the bent section 41 adjacent to the connecting section 42 are thinned, thereby ensuring that the pressing portion 222 after installation does not rub against the swing arm 30. The curved section 41 at the other location maintains a normal thickness so that the damping feel imparted to the hinge assembly 100 by the resilient member 40 is unchanged.

Fig. 23 is a schematic view of the swing arm 30, the elastic member 40, and the support plate 20 provided in the embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 23, in some embodiments provided herein, the swing arm 30 is provided with a third fixing member 32 protruding toward the bottom wall 211 of the swing arm, the bottom wall 211 of the swing arm 30 is provided with a fourth fixing member 23 protruding toward the swing arm 30, the first fixing member 31 and the third fixing member 32, and the second fixing member 22 and the fourth fixing member 23 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the center line 36 of the swing arm 30, and an elastic member 40 is connected between the third fixing member 32 and the fourth fixing member 23.

In this embodiment, each swing arm 30 is symmetrically provided with the first fixing member 31 and the third fixing member 32, and each tank bottom wall 211 is symmetrically provided with the second fixing member 22 and the fourth fixing member 23, so that two symmetrical elastic members 40 can be arranged between the swing arm 30 and the tank bottom wall 211, so that the restoring forces of the elastic members 40 received by the swing arm 30 in the length direction b of the supporting plate 20 can be mutually offset, and further, the long-term excessive friction of the unilateral sliding connection structure of the swing arm 30 and the sliding chute 21 can be prevented, thereby avoiding the friction loss of the swing arm 30 and the supporting plate 20, further ensuring the working stability of the hinge assembly 100, and improving the service life of the hinge assembly 100. Meanwhile, since two symmetrical elastic members 40 are provided, folding resistance is improved, so that the damping hand feeling force of the hinge assembly 100 is stronger.

Alternatively, in other embodiments, more than two, even number of elastic members 40 may be connected between the first and second fixing members 31 and 22, and the third and fourth fixing members 32 and 23 in a symmetrical arrangement.

Fig. 24 is a schematic view of a main swing arm 33 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 24, in some embodiments provided herein, the swing arm 30 includes a main swing arm 33, and the base 10 is provided with a folding synchronization assembly for driving the support plate 20 to rotate synchronously, the folding synchronization assembly includes two intermeshing synchronization gears 331, and the main swing arm 33 is fixedly connected with the synchronization gears 331.

The main swing arm 33 in this embodiment is connected to the folding synchronization assembly for driving the two support plates 20 to rotate synchronously. The main swing arm 33 is rotatably connected to the base 10 and slidably disposed in the slide groove 21, the main swing arm 33 being rotatable between a flattened position and a folded position, and the swing arm 30 being slidable in the slide groove 21 with respect to the support plate 20 upon rotation.

The folding synchronization assembly in this embodiment may be connected by two intermeshing synchronization gears 331, the main swing arm 33 is fixedly connected with the synchronization gears 331, and the synchronization gears 331 are rotatably connected with the base 10. When the folding synchronization assembly in this embodiment works, one of the support plates 20 and the corresponding main swing arm 33 rotate relative to the base 10, the corresponding synchronization gear 331 is driven to rotate, and the synchronization gear 331 transmits torque to the other synchronization gear 331, so as to drive the other main swing arm 33 and the support plate 20 to synchronously and reversely rotate, thereby synchronously rotating the two support plates 20 relative to the base 10, and synchronously rotating the first housing 200 and the second housing 300.

Alternatively, in other embodiments, the folding synchronization assembly may further include two idler gears and two synchronizing gears 331 meshed in sequence, the two idler gears being located between the two synchronizing gears 331, and the main swing arm 33 being fixedly connected with the synchronizing gears 331.

In operation, the folding synchronization assembly of the above embodiment drives the corresponding synchronization gear 331 to rotate when one support plate 20 and the corresponding main swing arm 33 rotate relative to the base 10, and the synchronization gear 331 sequentially transmits torque to the other synchronization gear 331 via the two idle gears, so as to drive the other main swing arm 33 and the support plate 20 to synchronously and reversely rotate, thereby synchronously rotating the two support plates 20 relative to the base 10, and synchronously rotating the first housing 200 and the second housing 300.

As also shown in fig. 4 and 7, in some embodiments provided herein, the swing arm 30 includes a sub-swing arm 34 having an arc-shaped sliding portion 341, the base 10 is provided with an arc-shaped chute 11, and the sub-swing arm 34 is slidably connected to the arc-shaped chute 11 through the arc-shaped sliding portion 341.

The auxiliary swing arm 34 in this embodiment is used to increase the connection strength between the base 10 and the support plate 20, and also to increase the stability of the support plate 20 when rotating relative to the base 10.

Fig. 25 is an enlarged view at B in fig. 7.

As shown in FIG. 25, in some embodiments provided herein, the thickness L1 of the elastic member 40 is 1/2-4/5 of the length L2 of the gap 50 in the thickness direction of the elastic member 40.

The thickness L1 of the elastic member 40 should be as small as possible smaller than the length L2 of the gap 50, so that the elastic member 40 can be prevented from interfering with the sliding of the swing arm 30 in the chute 21, but the thickness L1 of the elastic member 40 cannot be too small to affect the restoring force of the elastic member 40. Therefore, the thickness L1 of the elastic member 40 is not easily too large nor too small. In the present embodiment, the ratio of the thickness L1 of the elastic member 40 to the length L2 of the gap 50 is limited, and when L1 is 1/2-4/5 of L2, the elastic effect of the elastic member 40 can be ensured, the damping feel of the hinge assembly 100 is ensured, and the sliding of the swing arm 30 in the chute 21 is not disturbed, so that the rotation of the swing arm 30 is not affected.

Finally, it should be noted that: the foregoing is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A hinge assembly, comprising:

a base (10);

the support plate (20) is rotationally connected with the base (10), and the support plate (20) is provided with a chute (21);

a swing arm (30) with one end rotatably connected with the base (10) and the other end slidably arranged in the chute (21), wherein the swing arm (30) can rotate between a flattened position and a folded position, and the swing arm (30) can also slide relative to the support plate (20) in the chute (21) when rotating;

the elastic piece (40) is formed by bending a strip-shaped base material in a tortuous way, the elastic piece (40) is arranged along the bottom wall (211) of the chute (21) and two ends of the elastic piece are respectively connected with the swing arm (30) and the supporting plate (20), so that the elastic piece (40) can be compressed or released when the swing arm (30) slides relative to the supporting plate (20).

2. The hinge assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the swing arm (30) has a plate-like structure with a gap (50) between the swing arm and the groove bottom wall (211), at least part of the elastic member (40) being arranged in the gap (50).

3. Hinge assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the elastic member (40) comprises a bendable and deformable bending section (41) and a connecting section (42) for connecting the swing arm (30) and the support plate (20), the bending section (41) and the connecting section (42) being flush with the surface facing the swing arm (30).

4. A hinge assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that the curved section (41) is bent in an L-shaped configuration, a U-shaped configuration, an S-shaped configuration or a W-shaped configuration.

5. A hinge assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that said curved section (41) is formed by a plurality of arcuate structures (411) joined end to end, the arcuate directions of adjacent two of said arcuate structures (411) being opposite.

6. The hinge assembly of claim 5, wherein the resilient member (40) is configured to: in the uncompressed state, the radius of curvature (r) of each of the arcuate structures (411) is the same.

7. Hinge assembly according to any one of claims 3-6, characterized in that the cross-sectional shape of the curved section (41) is circular, elliptical or rectangular.

8. Hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the number of said elastic elements (40) is plural, a plurality of said elastic elements (40) being arranged side by side and fixedly connected between two adjacent elastic elements (40).

9. Hinge assembly according to any one of claims 3-7, characterized in that the swing arm (30) is provided with a first fixing part (31) protruding towards the swing arm (30), the swing arm (30) is provided with a second fixing part (22) protruding towards the swing arm (211), and the connecting section (42) in a ring-shaped structure is sleeved on the first fixing part (31) and the second fixing part (22).

10. The hinge assembly of claim 9, wherein the first mount (31) and the second mount (22) are configured to: when the swing arm (30) rotates from the flattened position to the folded position, the distance between the first fixing piece (31) and the second fixing piece (22) gradually decreases and then gradually increases.

11. The hinge assembly according to claim 10, wherein the first fixing member (31) is at a first distance (d 1) from the second fixing member (22) when the swing arm (30) is in the flattened position, and wherein the first fixing member (31) is at a second distance (d 3) from the second fixing member (22) when the swing arm (30) is in the folded position, the first distance (d 1) being greater than the second distance (d 3).

12. The hinge assembly according to claim 9, wherein the second fixing member (22) comprises an integrally formed plugging portion (221) and a pressing portion (222), the plugging portion (221) is connected with a mounting hole (212) formed in the bottom wall (211) of the groove, and the pressing portion (222) has a cake-shaped structure, so that the connecting section (42) and a part of the bending section (41) adjacent to the connecting section (42) can be pressed and fixed at the hole opening of the mounting hole (212).

13. Hinge assembly according to claim 12, characterized in that the second fixing element (22) is a pin or a screw.

14. Hinge assembly according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the thickness of the connecting section (42) and the part of the curved section (41) pressed by the pressing part (222) is smaller than the thickness of the other parts of the curved section (41).

15. The hinge assembly according to claim 9, wherein the swing arm (30) is provided with a third fixing member (32) protruding toward the bottom wall (211) of the swing arm, the bottom wall (211) is provided with a fourth fixing member (23) protruding toward the swing arm (30), the first fixing member (31) and the third fixing member (32), the second fixing member (22) and the fourth fixing member (23) are symmetrically arranged with a center line (36) of the swing arm (30), and the elastic member (40) is connected between the third fixing member (32) and the fourth fixing member (23).

16. Hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1-15, characterized in that the swing arm (30) comprises a main swing arm (33), the base (10) is provided with a folding synchronization assembly for driving the support plate (20) to rotate synchronously, the folding synchronization assembly comprises two intermeshing synchronization gears (331), the main swing arm (33) is fixedly connected with the synchronization gears (331).

17. Hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1-16, characterized in that the swing arm (30) comprises a secondary swing arm (34) with an arc-shaped slide (341), the base (10) being provided with an arc-shaped chute (11), the secondary swing arm (34) being slidingly connected to the arc-shaped chute (11) by means of the arc-shaped slide (341).

18. Hinge assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the thickness (L1) of the elastic member (40) is 1/2-4/5 of the length (L2) of the gap (50) in the thickness direction of the elastic member (40).

19. The hinge assembly of claim 8, wherein the plurality of resilient members (40) are identical in structure.

20. Hinge assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the connecting section (42) is fixedly connected to the first fixing element (31) and the second fixing element (22), respectively.

21. Hinge assembly according to claim 20, characterized in that the connecting segments (42) are in a closed loop-like structure or in a semi-closed loop-like structure.

22. An electronic device comprising a first housing (200), a second housing (300) and a hinge assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-21, the hinge assembly (100) being connected between the first housing (200) and the second housing (300).