CN209990773U - Hinge assembly and foldable display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A hinge assembly comprises a main shaft, a plurality of hinge strips hinged to two transverse sides of the main shaft and at least one pair of gear connecting pieces assembled on the main shaft, wherein the main shaft comprises a first shaft body and a second shaft body assembled at two ends of the first shaft body, the first shaft body comprises an assembling space formed by transverse penetration and a bolt hole penetrating through the assembling space in the length direction of the first shaft body, a first hinge part is arranged at the free end of the second shaft body, each hinge strip comprises a hinge strip main body and a second hinge part positioned at two ends of the hinge strip main body, and the pair of gear connecting pieces are respectively arranged at two sides of the assembling space, are mutually toothed and penetrate through the bolt hole through bolt posts to fix the gear connecting pieces in the assembling space; the hinge strips are hinged with each other through the second hinge parts, and the hinge strips positioned on two sides of the main shaft are hinged on the first hinge parts through the second hinge parts; the application also includes a foldable display device.

Description

Hinge assembly and foldable display device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications electronics, and more particularly, to a hinge assembly and a foldable display device.

Background

With the development of the folding screen technology, the folding screen mobile phone has become a hot spot technology. Although the folding screen can be bent, the 180-degree bending cannot be realized, and the bent part still needs to keep a certain R angle, otherwise the screen can be damaged. The existing folding mode is divided into inward folding and outward folding, namely the screen is positioned at the inner side or the outer side after being folded, for example, Mate X issued by Huawei is outward folding, but the outward folding has the problems that the screen is in an exposed state and is easily scratched by a hard object, and the folding screen is fragile.

No matter the folding screen is folded outwards or inwards, the problem to be solved is how to ensure that when the folding screen is bent, the bending mechanism is adapted to the R-angle radian required by the bending part of the screen, at the moment, the inner side of the bending part of the folding screen can shorten the slight distance, while the outer side of the folding screen can lengthen the slight distance, at the moment, the parts tightly attached to the folding screen must keep synchronous change, otherwise, the screen can be damaged by extrusion. And guarantee that there is support in the folding screen back, otherwise unsettled screen can cause the damage when the finger is pressed.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above, it is desirable to provide a hinge assembly that achieves the balance of the folding process of a folding screen, and a folding display device.

In order to solve the technical problems, the present application provides a hinge assembly, which includes a main shaft, a plurality of hinge strips hinged to two lateral sides of the main shaft, and at least one pair of gear connectors assembled on the main shaft, wherein the main shaft includes a first shaft body and a second shaft body assembled at two ends of the first shaft body, the first shaft body includes an assembly space formed by traversing and a bolt hole formed in the length direction of the first shaft body, the free end of the second shaft body is provided with a first hinge portion, the hinge strips include hinge strip main bodies and second hinge portions located at two ends of the hinge strip main bodies, and the pair of gear connectors are respectively arranged at two sides of the assembly space, are mutually toothed, and pass through the bolt hole through a bolt column to fix the gear connectors in the assembly space; the hinge strips are hinged with each other through the second hinge parts, and the hinge strips positioned on two sides of the main shaft are hinged on the first hinge parts through the second hinge parts.

Preferably, the first hinge portion includes a pair of wall portions located at an upper side and a first hinge space formed between the pair of wall portions, and a pair of wall portions on both lateral sides of the first hinge space are respectively provided with a keyhole on both lateral sides; the second hinge part comprises a first hinge protruding block protruding and extending towards the first hinge space and a second hinge space arranged on the opposite side of the first hinge protruding block, hinge strips positioned on two sides of the main shaft are inserted into one side of the first hinge space through the first hinge protruding block and are rotationally fixed through a bolt, and the hinge strips are inserted into the second hinge space through the first hinge protruding block and are rotationally fixed through the bolt.

Preferably, the middle of the two lateral sides of the wall portion of the first hinge portion is recessed inwards to form a recessed portion, a protruding convex arc structure is formed on the outer side of the wall portion of the upper side of the recessed portion, protruding convex arc structures are formed at the tail ends of the outer side walls of the second hinge spaces, a recessed arc structure is formed on one side, facing the main shaft, of the outer side wall of each second hinge space, the recessed arc structures of the hinge strips are matched with the convex arc structures of the adjacent hinge strips, and the recessed arc structures of the hinge strips on the two sides of the main shaft are matched with the convex arc structures of the main shaft.

Preferably, the first shaft body and the second shaft body of the main shaft comprise an upper convex part protruding upwards, first inclined planes positioned at two sides of the upper convex part and second inclined planes formed at two transverse sides of the upper convex part, and an inner concave part is formed at the intersection of the first inclined planes and the second inclined planes; the included angle between the first inclined plane and the second inclined plane is an acute angle.

Preferably, the cross section of the hinge strip main body of the hinge strip is in a trapezoid structure, the width of the upper side of the hinge strip main body is greater than the width of the lower side of the hinge strip main body, and inclined parts are formed on two sides of the hinge strip main body.

Preferably, an inwardly recessed cut-out portion is formed below the first hinge portion on both sides of the main shaft, and a bolt hole is formed on the cut-out portion.

Preferably, the gear connecting piece comprises a gear end, a connecting end opposite to the gear end, a tooth structure arranged on the periphery of the gear end, and a bolt hole penetrating through the gear end in the length direction of the main shaft.

Preferably, two assembly spaces are arranged on the first shaft body of the main shaft, a gear connecting piece is fixed on the left side and the right side of each assembly space through a bolt, and the gear connecting pieces in the assembly spaces are mutually meshed and are used for controlling the folding balance of the hinge strips on the two sides of the main shaft through a pair of gear connecting pieces when the hinge assembly is folded.

Preferably, two ends of the first shaft body are provided with tenons or mortises, one side of the second shaft body, facing the first shaft body, is provided with a mortise or tenon matched with the tenons or the mortises, and the bolt hole penetrating through the assembly space on the first shaft body penetrates through at least one end of the second shaft body.

In order to solve the technical problem, the present application further provides a foldable display device including the hinge assembly.

The hinge assembly is high in precision, a plurality of hinge strips positioned on the outer side of a main shaft are arranged by taking the main shaft as a reference, the main shaft is matched with a concave arc structure through a convex arc structure, and the main shaft is provided with a first inclined plane to allow a hinge strip main body to retract to the first inclined plane when being folded, so that the precision is prevented from being influenced by the interference problem; the cross section of the hinge strip main body is of a trapezoidal structure, and when the hinge strip main body is folded, gaps between the inner sides of the hinge strip main body can be contracted. The main shaft is provided with a transversely penetrating assembling space, and gear connecting pieces meshed with each other are fixed on two sides of the assembling space respectively.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application.

Fig. 1 is a perspective assembly view of the foldable display device of the present application in an unfolded state;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the foldable display device of the present application with the flexible sheet removed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the foldable display device of the present application with the first and second support panels separated from the first and second hinges;

fig. 4 is a perspective view of the foldable display device according to the present application at another angle after the first and second support plates are separated from the first and second hinges;

FIG. 5 is a perspective assembly view of the foldable display device of the present application in a folded state;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the foldable display device of the present application in a folded state;

FIG. 7 is a perspective assembly view of the hinge assembly of the present application in a deployed condition;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a front view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view and a close up view of the hinge assembly of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the main shaft of the hinge assembly of the present application and an enlarged view of a portion thereof;

FIG. 12 is a perspective assembly view of the hinge assembly of the present application in a folded condition;

FIG. 13 is a front view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the flexible panel of the present application in an expanded condition;

FIG. 16 is a front view of the flexible panel of the present application in an expanded condition;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged partial view of the dotted circle shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a front view of the flexible panel of the present application in a folded condition;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the gear and slider assembly of the foldable display device of the present application;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of another angle of the gear and slider assembly of the foldable display device of the present application;

fig. 21 is a perspective view of a folding prompter of the folding display device of the present application;

FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view of a fold indicator of the folding display apparatus of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a hinge and its upper components of the foldable display device of the present application;

fig. 24 is a perspective view of a support plate and its upper components of the foldable display device of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail and completely with reference to the following specific embodiments of the present application and the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, the foldable display device of the present invention includes a hinge assembly 40, a pair of hinges 20 assembled to both lateral sides of the hinge assembly 40, a pair of support plates 30 assembled to both lateral sides of the hinge assembly 40 and respectively assembled below the pair of hinges 20, a flexible plate 10 attached above the hinges 20 and the hinge assembly 40, and a foldable screen (not shown) attached above the flexible plate 10.

As shown in fig. 15 to 18, the flexible board 10 includes an elastic substrate 12 and a metal cover 11 integrally formed on the elastic substrate 12. The elastic substrate 12 is formed by molding a high elastic material, such as silicone rubber. The metal cover 11 includes a first plate portion 111, a second plate portion 112, and a bar 113 between the first plate portion 111 and the second plate portion 112. The metal cover 11 and the insulating material are integrally formed to form the elastic substrate 12, and the metal cover 11 and the elastic substrate 12 are integrally combined.

The thickness of the metal cover 11 is between 0.05 and 0.2mm, preferably 0.1 mm. The overall thickness of the resilient base 12 is 0.15-0.3mm, preferably 0.2 mm. The metal cover 11 is flush with the upper surface of the elastic base plate 12. The first and second plate portions 111, 112 and the strip 113 of the metal cover 11 are all of a mesh structure, and when the metal cover is integrally formed with the elastic base plate 12, the silicone material penetrates into the mesh structure of the metal cover. The width of the strip 113 is between about 0.4 and 1mm, preferably 0.5 mm. The width of the strip 113 exposed on the upper surface of the elastic substrate 12 is smaller than the width embedded on one side of the elastic substrate 12, so that the strip 113 is better fixed with the elastic substrate 12. The strips 113 are each filled with a highly elastic material.

When the folding screen attached above the flexible board 10 needs to be folded, the flexible board 10 is bent from the middle of the area where the strip-shaped bodies 113 are located as a central line, a U-shaped structure with a certain R angle is formed to complete folding of the folding screen, the high-elasticity material of the elastic base plate 12 of the inner arc surface of the U-shaped structure contracts, the length of the inner arc is shortened, and the high-elasticity material between the strip-shaped bodies of the outer arc surface of the U-shaped structure stretches to match folding of the folding screen. In a natural state, after the flexible board 10 is bent, the elastic substrate 12 can be restored by its own elasticity, i.e. restored to an unfolded flat state, without applying an external force.

The utility model provides a flexbile plate 10 is used for supporting folding screen's folding, forms elastic substrate 12 through high elastic material and metal covering 11 integrated into one piece, metal covering 11 lays in elastic substrate 12 upper surface with folding screen laminating, metal covering 11 the bar 113 part not with folding screen is fixed to be laminated. The elastic substrate 12 provides a certain elastic restoring force to keep the flexible board from being elastically deformed due to folding, and the metal cover 11 adopts a net structure to enhance the bonding force with the elastic substrate 12 and provide rigid support for the folding screen.

Referring to fig. 7 to 14, the hinge assembly 40 of the present application includes a main shaft 41 and hinge strips 42 hinged to both lateral sides of the main shaft 41, wherein the hinge strips 42 are symmetrical to each other. The hinge strips 42 are connected by bolts.

Referring to fig. 10 and 11, the main shaft 41 includes a first shaft body 411, two second shaft bodies 412 joggled at two ends of the first shaft body 411, and a first hinge portion 413 formed at free ends of the two second shaft bodies 412.

Two ends of the first shaft body 411 are provided with tenons (mortises) 4111, and one end of the second shaft body 412 facing the first shaft body 411 is provided with a mortise (tenon) 4121 matched with the tenons (mortises) 4111. The combination of the tenon and the mortise prevents the first shaft 411 and the second shaft 412 from being dislocated in the transverse direction. Two ends of the first shaft 411 penetrate in the lateral direction to form an assembling space 4112, a pair of pin holes 4113 penetrating the assembling space 4112 are formed in the first shaft 411 in the longitudinal direction, and the pair of pin holes 4113 are respectively arranged on two lateral sides of the assembling space 4112. The pair of pin holes 4113 may extend through the entire first shaft 411, or two pairs of independent pin holes 4113 may extend through two assembling spaces 4112 from two ends of the first shaft 411.

Referring to fig. 9 and 10, the first hinge portions 413 at both ends of the main shaft 41 include a pair of wall portions (not numbered) at an upper side and a first hinge space 4131 formed therebetween. The middle of the two lateral sides of the pair of wall parts is inwards sunken to form a sunken part 4134, and the outer side of the wall part at the upper side of the sunken part 4134 forms a convex arc structure 4132. A pair of wall portions at both lateral sides of the first hinge space 4131 are provided with a keyhole at both lateral sides, respectively.

The hinge strip 42 includes a hinge strip main body 421 and second hinge parts 422 at both ends of the hinge strip main body 421. The second hinge portion 422 includes a first hinge protrusion 424 protruding toward the first hinge space 4131, and a second hinge space 423 disposed at an opposite side of the first hinge protrusion 424. The ends of the outer side walls of the second hinge spaces 423 are formed into convex arc structures 425, the outer side walls of the second hinge spaces 423 are formed into concave arc structures 426 towards the side of the main shaft, and the concave arc structures 426 are matched with the convex arc structures 425 of the adjacent hinge strips 42. The convex arc structure 4132 of the main shaft 41 is matched with the concave arc structure 426 of the adjacent hinge strip 42. The second shaft 412 of the main shaft 41 is located below the second hinge 413 and is cut to form a cut-out portion 4133, bolt holes (not numbered, see fig. 9) are respectively formed at the left and right sides of the cut-out portion 4133, the outer surface of the cut-out portion 4133 and the outer surface of the first hinge 413 are in different planes in the vertical direction, and the cut-out portion 4133 does not indicate a cutting action, but indicates a recessed structure.

Referring to fig. 8, the cross sections of the first shaft body 411 and the second shaft body 4412 of the spindle 41 are similar to cup lid shapes, and include an upper convex portion 415 protruding upward, first inclined surfaces 416 located above the first shaft body 411 and the second shaft body 412 and located on two sides of the upper convex portion 415, and second inclined surfaces 418 formed on two lateral sides of the upper convex portion 415, an inner concave portion 417 is formed at the intersection of the first inclined surfaces 416 and the second inclined surfaces 418, and an included angle between the first inclined surfaces 416 and the second inclined surfaces 418 is an acute angle.

The cross section of the hinge strip main body 421 of the hinge strip 42 is a trapezoid structure, and the width of the upper side of the hinge strip main body 421 is greater than the width of the lower side of the hinge strip main body 421, thereby forming inclined portions 428 at both sides of the hinge strip main body 421.

The hinge assembly 40 is assembled such that the first hinge protrusions 424 of the hinge strips 42 are received in the first hinge spaces 4131 of the main shaft 41 and fixed by means of studs inserted into the stud holes; the first hinge protrusions 424 of the remaining hinge strips 42 are inserted into the second hinge spaces 423 of the installed hinge strips 42 and fixed by means of the studs inserted into the studs.

Referring to fig. 12-14, when the hinge assembly 40 is folded, the convex arc structure 4132 on the first hinge portion 413 of the second shaft 412 of the main shaft 41 and the concave arc structure 425 and the convex arc structure 424 on the second hinge portion 422 of the hinge strip 42 are engaged with each other. The existence of the inclined parts 428 at the two sides of the hinge strip main body 421 of the hinge strip 42 reduces the length of the inner arcs of the hinge strip main bodies 421, and the gaps among the inclined parts 428 are reduced; and the hinge strip main bodies 421 of the two hinge strips 42 at two sides of the first shaft body 411 and the second shaft body 412 are arranged on the first inclined surface 416 of the main shaft 41 and do not interfere with each other due to the fact that the inner arcs are reduced.

Referring to fig. 19 and 20, the hinge assembly 40 of the present application further includes two pairs of gear connectors 50 corresponding to the two assembling spaces 4112 of the first shaft 411. The gear coupling 50 includes a gear end 51, a coupling end 52 opposite to the gear end 51, a tooth structure 55 disposed on an outer periphery of the gear end 51, and a bolt hole 53 penetrating the gear end 51 in a longitudinal direction of the main shaft 41.

Referring to fig. 3, 10, 11, 19 and 20, the installation process of the gear connector 50 is as follows:

the gear ends 51 of the two pairs of gear connectors 50 are symmetrically placed into the two sides of the assembly recess 4112 of the first shaft 411, and a pin is inserted into the pin hole 4113 of the first shaft 411, and the pin passes through the pin hole 4113 and the pin hole 53 of the gear end 51 to fix the gear connectors 50 in the assembly space 4112. Wherein the tooth structures 55 of two gear connectors 50 in one assembling space 4112 are engaged with each other and can rotate oppositely. Then, the second shaft 412 is assembled to two ends of the first shaft 411, and the second shaft 412 and the first shaft 411 are positioned and matched with each other through the tenon and the mortise; finally, the hinge strips 42 are assembled on both sides of the main shaft 41 in the aforementioned assembling manner, so that the relative positions of the first shaft 411 and the second shaft 412 in the length direction are fixed.

The reason why the main shaft 41 is divided into three sections (i.e., the first shaft 411 and the two second shafts 412) is that a bolt hole 4113 penetrating the assembling space 4112 needs to be formed in the first shaft 411, and a bolt hole needs to be formed in a cut-out portion 4133 of the first hinge 413 of the second shaft 412. To ensure the accuracy of the key holes, it is not desirable to directly machine the way in which two pairs of key holes are formed through the body. In principle, the spindle 41 may be integrally designed, that is, the first shaft body 411 and the second shaft body 412 are integrally configured, a pair of bolt holes 4113 penetrating the assembling space 4112 are formed through the spindle 41 in the longitudinal direction of the spindle 41, and a pair of bolt holes not penetrating the spindle 41 may be formed in the cut-away portion 4133 below the first hinge portion 413 of the spindle 41.

The hinge assembly 40 is high in precision, a main shaft 41 is used as a reference, a plurality of hinge strips 42 positioned on the outer side of the main shaft 41 are arranged, the main shaft 41 is matched with a concave arc structure through a convex arc structure, and the main shaft 41 is provided with a first inclined surface which allows the hinge strip main body 421 to retract to the first inclined surface 416 when being folded, so that the precision is prevented from being influenced by the interference problem; the cross section of the hinge strip main body 421 is a trapezoid structure, and when the hinge strip main body 421 is folded, the gap between the inner sides of the hinge strip main body 421 is retractable.

Referring to fig. 3, 4, and 19 to 24, the foldable display device of the present application includes a sliding block 60, an elastic element 70, a torsion spring 38, and rivets 35 and 239, which are coupled to the gear coupling member 50, in addition to the hinge assembly 40, the flexible plate 10, the hinge 20, and the support plate 30.

Referring now more particularly to fig. 23, the hinge 20 includes first and second hinges 21, 22 of a bilateral symmetrical design. Each hinge 21, 22 includes a plate body portion 23, a pair of rivet grooves 231 provided in the middle of the plate body 23, a rivet 239 inserted into the rivet groove 231, a pair of first protrusions 233 formed by protruding the plate body portion 23 downward from the outer sides of the rivet grooves 231, a sliding rail 234 formed on the inner sides of the pair of first protrusions 233, a second protrusion 236 formed on the outer sides of the pair of first protrusions 233, a mounting groove 24 formed on the second protrusion 236 in the length direction of the hinge 20, a slide piece 237 formed on the outer edge of the second protrusion 236, and second hinge protrusions 25 provided on the side portions of both ends of the plate body portion 23 and hinged to the second hinge space 423 of the hinge strip 42.

The rivet groove 231 includes a recessed lower space and a shielding portion 232 shielding the upper side of the lower space, and one end of the rivet 239 is inserted into the lower space and is limited by the shielding portion 232. The pair of first protrusions 233 extend in the width direction of the hinge 20, and the slider 60 is mounted between the pair of first protrusions 233. The mounting groove 24 is opened toward the first protrusion 233, the mounting groove 24 includes a wide groove portion 241 away from the opening side and a narrow groove portion 242 located at the opening side, and a fixing groove 243 is disposed at the inner bottom of the narrow groove portion 242. The lower portion of the slide 237 is suspended to form a gap 238.

Referring to fig. 24, the support plate 30 includes first and second support plates 31 and 32 corresponding to the first and second hinges 21 and 22. Each support plate 31, 32 includes a pair of rivets 35 corresponding to rivet holes 231 of the hinge 20. A groove 33 corresponding to the pair of first protrusions 233 at the outer side of the rivet 35, a protrusion 34 protruding upward at the outer side of the groove 33, a sliding slot 37 matching with the sliding piece 237 at the outer side of the protrusion 34, and a third hinge protrusion 36 provided at the outer side of both ends of the support plates 31, 32 and hinged with a bolt hole of the cut-out 4133 under the first hinge 413 at both ends of the main shaft 41.

The torsion spring 38 is fixed to the rivet 239 of the hinge 21, 22 at one end and to the rivet 35 of the support plate 31, 32 at the other end to provide resistance and pushing force for relative movement therebetween. The torsion spring 38 is made of a rigid material, such as steel bars. The groove 33 covers the pair of first protrusions 233. A platform portion 341, a protrusion portion 342 and a locking groove 343 are disposed at one time outside the protruding strip 34, the platform portion 341 penetrates the protruding strip 34 and faces one side of the hinge assembly 40, and the depth of the locking groove 343 is not less than the depth of the platform portion 341. A sliding slot 371 is arranged in the middle of the sliding slot 37, and the sliding sheet 237 of the hinge 21 and the hinge 22 is clamped in the sliding slot 371 to move.

Referring to fig. 19, as shown in fig. 20, the slider 60 includes a slider main body 61, a limiting groove 62 penetrating through the slider main body 61, sliding flanges 63 extending from two sides of the bottom of the slider main body 61 and engaged with the sliding tracks 234 at the bottoms of the pair of first protrusions 233, a recessed platform 65 disposed on the periphery of the limiting groove 62, and a connecting portion 64 rotatably connected to the connecting end 52 of the gear connecting member 50.

Referring to fig. 21 and 22, the elastic element 70 includes a housing 71 penetrating through the housing, a bracket 73 inserted from one end of the housing 71 and partially exposed from the other end of the housing 71, a wheel 74 fixed to the bracket 73 and located outside the housing 71, a rear cover 72, and a spring 75 clamped between the rear cover 72 and the bracket 73. Fixing blocks 713 are formed by protruding outward at both lateral sides of the housing 71, and hooks 712 are formed by punching outward at both lateral sides opposite to the other end of the fixing blocks 713. The bracket 73 includes an exposed portion 732 exposed at one end of the housing 71 for holding the wheel 74, an inner portion 731 clamped in the housing 71, and a spring post 733 extending rearward from the inner portion 731 for engaging the spring 75. The rear cover 72 includes a cross member 721 covering the rear end of the housing 71, a fastening portion 722 formed by bending and extending from both ends of the cross member 721 toward the housing 71, and a fastening hole 723 formed in the fastening portion 722.

The elastic assembly 70 is assembled and fixed in the mounting groove 24 of the hinge 21, 22, and the assembling steps are as follows:

the rear cover 72 is firstly arranged at the rear end of the wide groove part 241 of the mounting groove 24; inserting the bracket 73 from one end of the housing 71, and extending the exposed part 732 of the bracket 73 out of the other end of the housing 71 to expose the wheel 74 at the other end of the housing 71; then the spring 75 is sleeved on the spring post 733; the housing 71 is inserted from the opening side of the mounting groove 24, and the fixing block 713 is inserted into the fixing groove 243 at the bottom of the narrow groove portion 242 of the mounting groove 24. The spring 75 is compressed, and the fastening hole 723 of the rear cover 72 is fastened to the hooks 712 on the two sides of the housing 71.

The folded display device of the present application is shown in fig. 5 and 6 after being folded.

Referring to fig. 1 to 24, the assembly method of the foldable display device of the present application is as follows:

the hinge assembly 40 is first assembled as previously described; then, the elastic member 70 is assembled into the mounting groove 24 of the hinge 21, 22 as described above, the slider 60 connected to the gear connecting member 50 is inserted into the sliding rails 234 in the pair of first protrusions 233, and is fixed to the hinge 21, 22 after passing through the limiting groove 62 of the slider 60 by a rivet 66, and the rivet 66 is inserted into the recessed platform 65 at the periphery of the limiting groove 62, so that the upper surface of the rivet 66 does not exceed the upper surface of the slider 60; fixing one end of the torsion spring 38 to the rivet 35 of the support plates 31, 32; the other end of the torsion spring 38 is fixed to the rivet 239 of the hinge 21, 22. And then the hinge 21(22) and the support plate 31(32) are buckled together, namely the sliding piece 237 of the hinge 21(22) is inserted into the sliding slot 371 of the support plate 31(32) in parallel. Finally, the two pairs of hinges 21(22) and the supporting plates 31(32) are assembled to both lateral sides of the hinge assembly 40, wherein the second hinge protrusions 25 of the hinges 21(22) are hinged in the second hinge spaces 423 of the hinge strips, and the third hinge protrusions 36 of the supporting plates 31(32) are hinged in the bolt holes of the cut-out portions 4133 below the first hinge portions 413 of the main shaft 41, thereby completing the assembly.

The operation principle of the folding display device of the application is as follows:

when the hinge assembly 40 is in the unfolded state, the hinges 21, 22 and the hinge assembly 40 are in the horizontal plane to support the folding screen flatly, the metal covering 11 on the flexible board 10 abuts under the folding screen, and at this time, the wheels 74 of the elastic set 70 abut on the platform parts 341 of the convex strips 34 of the support boards 31, 32; the torsion springs 38 provide a holding force between the hinges 21, 22 and the support plates 31, 32, so that the hinges 21, 22 and the support plates 31, 32 are not easily slid relative to each other. When folded, the tooth structures 55 of the pair of mutually engaged gear connectors 50 in the assembly space 412 rotate in opposite directions and control the components on both sides of the hinge assembly 40 to rotate at the same constant speed, so as to push the slider 60 to move towards the side away from the hinge assembly 40, and finally enable the wheel 74 of the elastic component 70 to fall into the clamping groove 343 beyond the protrusion 342, and simultaneously generate the clicking sound of folding in place, while the torsion spring 38 is initially compressed, which requires a large external folding force until the torsion spring 38 reaches the maximum compression force when the distance between the hinge 21, 22 and the rivet 239, 35 of the support plate 31, 32 is the minimum, and at this time, the folding resistance is the folding resistance; subsequently, the distance between the hinges 21, 22 and the rivets 239, 35 of the support plates 31, 32 is gradually increased, at which time the torsion spring 38 provides the assist force of the folding until the folding is completed.

According to the folding display device, the hinges 21 and 22 at the two sides of the hinge assembly 40 and the supporting plates 31 and 32 are controlled to move uniformly through the ingenious design of the gear connecting piece 50, so that the folding precision is improved, meanwhile, the gear connecting piece 50 is assembled in the assembling space 4112 of the spindle 41, and in the unfolding state, the gear connecting piece 50 can only rotate towards one direction, so that the wrong folding direction is prevented; the design of the torsion springs 38 maintains the stability of the hinges 21, 22 and the support plates 31, 32 in the unfolded and folded states; the design of the elastic component 70 provides cues for folding into place and unfolding into place to prevent over folding from damaging the product.

The above description is only an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims (10)

1. A hinge assembly is characterized by comprising a main shaft, a plurality of hinge strips hinged to two transverse sides of the main shaft and at least one pair of gear connecting pieces assembled on the main shaft, wherein the main shaft comprises a first shaft body and a second shaft body assembled at two ends of the first shaft body, the first shaft body comprises an assembling space formed by transverse penetration and a bolt hole penetrating through the assembling space in the length direction of the first shaft body, a first hinge part is arranged at the free end of the second shaft body, each hinge strip comprises a hinge strip main body and second hinge parts positioned at two ends of the hinge strip main body, and the pair of gear connecting pieces are respectively arranged at two sides of the assembling space, are mutually toothed and penetrate through the bolt hole through bolt posts to fix the gear connecting pieces in the assembling space; the hinge strips are hinged with each other through the second hinge parts, and the hinge strips positioned on two sides of the main shaft are hinged on the first hinge parts through the second hinge parts.

2. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first hinge part includes a pair of wall parts at an upper side and a first hinge space formed between the pair of wall parts, the pair of wall parts at both lateral sides of the first hinge space being provided with a keyhole at both lateral sides, respectively; the second hinge part comprises a first hinge protruding block protruding and extending towards the first hinge space and a second hinge space arranged on the opposite side of the first hinge protruding block, hinge strips positioned on two sides of the main shaft are inserted into one side of the first hinge space through the first hinge protruding block and are rotationally fixed through a bolt, and the hinge strips are inserted into the second hinge space through the first hinge protruding block and are rotationally fixed through the bolt.

3. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the middle of both lateral sides of the wall portion of the first hinge portion is recessed inwardly to form a recess, the outer side of the wall portion of the upper side of the recess forms a convex arc structure, the end of the outer side wall of the second hinge space forms a convex arc structure, the side of the outer side wall of the second hinge space facing the main shaft forms a concave arc structure, the concave arc structure of the hinge strip is matched with the convex arc structure of the adjacent hinge strip, and the concave arc structure of the hinge strip on both sides of the main shaft is matched with the convex arc structure of the main shaft.

4. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the first and second shafts of the main shaft comprise an upper protrusion protruding upward, first inclined surfaces formed at both lateral sides of the upper protrusion, and second inclined surfaces formed at both lateral sides of the upper protrusion, and an inner recess is formed at an intersection of the first and second inclined surfaces; the included angle between the first inclined plane and the second inclined plane is an acute angle.

5. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the hinge strip body of the hinge strip has a trapezoidal cross-section, the hinge strip body has an upper side having a width greater than a lower side, and inclined portions are formed at both sides of the hinge strip body.

6. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein an inwardly recessed cut-out portion is formed below the first hinge portion at both sides of the main shaft, and the cut-out portion is provided with a key hole.

7. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the geared connection includes a geared end, a connection end opposite the geared end, a tooth structure disposed on an outer periphery of the geared end, and a key hole extending through the geared end in a length direction of the spindle.

8. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein two assembly spaces are provided on the first shaft body of the main shaft, one gear connector is fixed to each of left and right sides of each assembly space through a bolt, the gear connectors in one assembly space are engaged with each other and control folding balance of hinge strips at both sides of the main shaft through a pair of gear connectors when the hinge assembly is folded.

9. The hinge assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein a tenon or a mortise is formed at both ends of the first shaft, a mortise or a tenon engaged with the tenon or the mortise is formed at one side of the second shaft facing the first shaft, and a bolt hole penetrating the assembly space of the first shaft penetrates at least one end of the second shaft.

10. A folding display device comprising a hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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