CN212838936U - Hinge, hinge assembly and folding electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a hinge, a hinge assembly, and a folding electronic device. The hinge includes: the track limiting mechanism comprises a first hinge bracket, a first sliding block and a second sliding block, wherein the first hinge bracket comprises an arc-shaped sliding groove; the synchronous mechanism comprises a cylindrical gear set, a first guide rod gear and a second guide rod gear, the first guide rod gear and the second guide rod gear respectively comprise a gear end and a guide rod end, the gear end is meshed with the end gear of the cylindrical gear set, the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear extends to the first sliding block, and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear extends to the second sliding block so as to drive the first sliding block and the second sliding block to rotate in the arc-shaped sliding groove; the locking mechanism comprises a first transmission piece and a second transmission piece, the first transmission piece is connected with the first guide rod gear and/or the second guide rod gear so as to drive the first transmission piece to rotate when the cylindrical gear set rotates, and when the first transmission piece and the second transmission piece are switched to a preset matching state, the locking structure is switched to a locking state.

Description

Hinge, hinge assembly and folding electronic device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of terminal technologies, and in particular, to a hinge, a hinge assembly, and a foldable electronic device.

Background

With the development of the flexible OLED display screen technology and the extremely-sophisticated experience of the foldable electronic device with portability of the common electronic device and large-screen display after being unfolded, the foldable electronic device has gradually become an important trend of the development of the mobile terminal and has become an important field for competition of various large-terminal manufacturers.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The present disclosure provides a hinge, a hinge assembly, and a folding electronic device to solve the disadvantages of the related art.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a hinge comprising:

a track defining mechanism comprising a first hinge bracket, a first slider, and a second slider, the first hinge bracket comprising an arcuate chute;

the first guide rod gear and the second guide rod gear respectively comprise gear ends and guide rod ends, the gear end of the first guide rod gear is meshed with the end gear of the cylindrical gear set, the gear end of the second guide rod gear is meshed with the other end gear of the cylindrical gear set, the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear extends to the first sliding block, and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear extends to the second sliding block so as to drive the first sliding block and the second sliding block to rotate in the arc-shaped sliding groove;

the locking mechanism comprises a first transmission piece and a second transmission piece, the first transmission piece is connected with the first guide rod gear and/or the second guide rod gear so as to drive the first transmission piece to rotate when the cylindrical gear set rotates, and when the first transmission piece and the second transmission piece are switched to a preset matching state, the locking structure is switched to a locking state so as to maintain the relative position relation between the first sliding block and the second sliding block.

Optionally, one of the first transmission member and the second transmission member includes at least one protruding portion, and the other includes a recessed portion engaged with the protruding portion, and when the protruding portion extends into the recessed portion, the first transmission member and the second transmission member are switched to the preset engagement state.

Optionally, the locking mechanism further comprises a second hinge support and a buffer piece, the second hinge support comprises a holding tank, the first transmission piece, the second transmission piece and the buffer piece are both located in the holding tank, one end of the buffer piece is abutted against the bottom surface of the holding tank, and the concave part is compressed by the buffer piece when the convex part is separated.

Optionally, the bolster includes guide bar and compression spring, the guide bar connect in relative two surfaces on the holding tank, the second driving medium with compression spring wears to establish respectively the guide bar, just compression spring's one end butt in the second driving medium, the other end butt in second hinge support.

Optionally, the first slider includes a first hollow sliding groove, the second slider includes a second hollow sliding groove, a guide rod end of the first guide rod gear extends into the first hollow sliding groove, and a guide rod end of the second guide rod gear extends into the second hollow sliding groove.

Optionally, at least a part of an inner side wall of the first hollow chute and/or the second hollow chute is arranged in an arc shape.

Optionally, the extension directions of the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear are the same, and the extension direction is the length direction of the hinge.

Optionally, the track defining mechanism, the synchronizing mechanism and the locking mechanism are sequentially arranged along the length direction of the hinge.

Optionally, the arc chute includes a first arc guiding portion and a second arc guiding portion, the first slider includes a first arc portion, the second slider includes a second arc portion, the first arc portion is matched with the first arc guiding portion, and the second arc portion is matched with the second arc guiding portion;

the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear is connected to one side, close to the synchronizing mechanism, of the first sliding block, and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear is connected to one side, close to the synchronizing mechanism, of the second sliding block.

Optionally, the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear both extend along the width direction of the hinge, and the directions are opposite.

Optionally, the first slider includes a third arc portion, the second slider includes a fourth arc portion, and the third arc portion and the fourth arc portion are both matched with the surfaces of the arc chute facing the first slider and the second slider;

the first hinge support further comprises two vertical blocks extending upwards from the bottom surface of the arc-shaped sliding groove, the two vertical blocks are located between two third arc parts of the first sliding block and two fourth arc parts of the second sliding block, and the gear end of the first guide rod gear, the gear end of the second guide rod gear and the cylindrical gear set are located between the two vertical blocks.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a hinge assembly for an electronic device, the hinge assembly comprising:

at least one first hinge, the first hinge being as described in any one of the embodiments above;

the first supporting steel sheet is connected with the first sliding block;

and the second supporting steel sheet is connected with the second sliding block so as to drive the change of the relative position relation between the first supporting steel sheet and the second supporting steel sheet through the change of the relative position relation between the first sliding block and the second sliding block.

Optionally, the hinge assembly further comprises:

at least one second hinge, the second hinge comprising a third hinge bracket, a third slider and a fourth slider, the third hinge bracket comprising a circular arc guide;

the third slider includes fifth circular arc portion the fourth slider includes sixth circular arc portion, fifth circular arc portion with sixth circular arc portion respectively with the cooperation of circular arc guide part.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic apparatus including:

a hinge assembly as described in any of the embodiments above;

the middle frame is connected with a first supporting steel sheet and a second supporting steel sheet of the hinge assembly, so that the middle frame can be switched with the position change of the first supporting steel sheet and the second supporting steel sheet.

Optionally, the method further includes:

a hinge housing fixedly connected with a hinge bracket of the hinge assembly.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects:

it can be known from the above embodiments that, in the present disclosure, the rotation directions of the first slider and the second slider can be limited by the first hinge bracket, so as to avoid the first slider and the second slider from moving to generate an unnecessary movement stroke, and further, by the cooperation of the locking mechanism and the synchronization mechanism, and the cooperation of the synchronization mechanism and the trajectory limitation mechanism, the hinge can be locked in a target state of a user, and particularly, when the hinge is applied to a foldable electronic device, the foldable electronic device can be maintained in a flat or folded state by the locking mechanism, so as to improve the use experience of the user; moreover, the first transmission piece is connected with the first guide rod gear and/or the third guide rod gear, so that the path of acting force acting on the first sliding block and the second sliding block to be transmitted to the locking mechanism can be shortened, the hand feeling of the unlocking and locking mechanism in the locking process is improved, and the user experience is improved.

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

Drawings

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of a hinge according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another state of a hinge shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded schematic view of a hinge shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a synchronization mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the cooperation of a synchronization mechanism and a trajectory definition mechanism, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating another synchronization mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded schematic view illustrating a trajectory definition mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a state diagram illustrating a trajectory definition mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating another state of a trajectory defining mechanism in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a trajectory defining mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exploded schematic view illustrating a trajectory definition mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a state diagram illustrating engagement of a trajectory defining mechanism with a synchronizing mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustrating another state of engagement of a trajectory defining mechanism with a synchronizing mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a schematic view of a state of a hinge assembly shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a schematic view illustrating another state of a hinge assembly according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 16 is an exploded view of a second hinge shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a state diagram illustrating a second hinge according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of another state of a second hinge shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the mating of a hinge with a center frame according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an exploded view of a hinge and center frame shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

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

The terminology used in the present disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used in this disclosure and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It is to be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "when … …" or "in response to a determination", depending on the context.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a state of a hinge 100 shown according to an exemplary embodiment, fig. 2 is a schematic view of another state of a hinge 100 shown according to an exemplary embodiment, fig. 3 is an exploded schematic view of a hinge 100 shown according to an exemplary embodiment, and fig. 4 is a schematic view of a structure of a synchronization mechanism 2 shown according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 1-4, the hinge 100 may include a trajectory defining mechanism 1, a synchronizing mechanism 2, and a locking mechanism 3. The track defining mechanism 1 may include a first hinge bracket 11, a first slider 12, and a second slider 13, the first hinge bracket 11 may include an arc-shaped sliding slot 111, and the bottoms of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 are both arc-shaped, so that the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 may rotate along the track defined by the arc-shaped sliding slot 111. For example, the rotation of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 in the arc chute 111 can cause the hinge 100 to be switched from the state shown in fig. 1 to the state shown in fig. 2, or from the state shown in fig. 2 to the state shown in fig. 1.

The synchronizing mechanism 2 can cooperate with the trajectory defining mechanism 1, and the synchronizing mechanism 2 can be used for driving the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 to rotate along the arc-shaped sliding chute 111 respectively. Specifically, as shown in fig. 4, the synchronization mechanism 2 may include a cylindrical gear set 21, a first guide gear 22 and a second guide gear 23, the first guide gear 22 may include a gear end 222 and a guide end 221, and similarly, the second guide gear 23 may also include a corresponding gear end 232 and a guide end 231, the gear end 222 of the first guide gear 22 is engaged with the end gear of the cylindrical gear set 21, and the gear end 232 of the second guide gear 23 is engaged with the other end gear of the cylindrical gear set 21; the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 may extend to the first slider 12, and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 may extend to the second slider 13, so as to drive the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 to rotate relative to the arc-shaped sliding slot 111 of the first hinge bracket 11, respectively, and thus, the state change of the hinge 100 is realized.

The locking mechanism 3 may include a first transmission member 31 and a second transmission member 32, the first transmission member 31 is connected to both the first guide bar gear 22 and the second guide bar gear 23, when the cylindrical gear set 21 drives the first guide bar gear 22 and the second guide bar gear 23 to rotate, the first transmission member 31 is synchronously driven to rotate, so that the first transmission member 31 and the second transmission member 32 are switched to a preset matching state, and at this time, the locking mechanism 3 is in a locking state, and the relative position relationship between the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 and the first hinge bracket 11 can be maintained.

Of course, in the embodiment of fig. 3, the locking mechanism 3 includes two first transmission members 31, the first guide gear 22 may include a first rotating shaft (not shown), the second guide gear 23 may include a second rotating shaft (not shown), and the two first transmission members 31 are respectively connected to the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft, so that the first transmission members 31 rotate along with the first rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft. In fact, in other embodiments, the locking mechanism 3 may also include a first transmission member 31, and the first transmission member 31 may be connected to the first guide bar gear 22 and the second guide bar gear 23, respectively, or may also be connected to the first guide bar gear 22 or the second guide bar gear 23, which is not limited by the present disclosure.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, in the present disclosure, the rotation directions of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 can be limited by the first hinge bracket 11, so as to avoid the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 from moving to generate an unnecessary movement stroke, and further, by the cooperation of the locking mechanism 3 and the synchronization mechanism 2, and the cooperation of the synchronization mechanism 2 and the trajectory limiting mechanism 1, the hinge 100 can be locked in the target state of the user, and particularly when the hinge 100 is applied to a foldable electronic device, the foldable electronic device can be maintained in a flat or folded state by the locking mechanism 3, so as to improve the user experience; moreover, the first transmission member 31 is connected with the first guide rod gear 22 and/or the third guide rod gear 23, so that the path for transmitting the acting force acting on the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 to the locking mechanism 3 can be shortened, the hand feeling in the locking process of the unlocking locking mechanism 3 is improved, and the user experience is improved.

Still referring to fig. 3, the first transmission member 31 may include a protrusion 311, and the second transmission member 32 may include a recess 321 engaged with the protrusion 311, wherein when the first transmission member 31 rotates, the protrusion 311 rotates therewith, and when the protrusion 311 rotates to extend into the recess 321, the first transmission member 31 and the second transmission member 32 are switched to a predetermined engaged state. The first transmission member 31 may include a protruding portion 311, and the second transmission member 32 may include a plurality of recessed portions 321, so that when the protruding portion 311 extends into the recessed portions 321 at different positions, the relative positional relationship between the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 and the first hinge bracket 11 is different, so that the hinge 100 may be maintained in different folded states, for example, the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 may be maintained at an angle of 30 °, 45 °, 60 ° or 90 ° with respect to the horizontal plane. Of course, in other embodiments, the first transmission member 31 may include a plurality of protrusions 311, and the hinge 100 may be maintained in different folding states. In another embodiment, the first transmission member 31 may include a concave portion, and the second transmission member 32 includes a convex portion, and reference may be made to the above embodiments for specific implementation manners, which are not described herein again.

Further, still referring to fig. 3, the locking mechanism 3 may further include a second hinge bracket 33 and a buffer member 34, the second hinge bracket 33 may include a receiving slot 331, and the first transmission member 31, the second transmission member 32 and the buffer member 33 are all located in the receiving slot 331. One end of the buffer member 34 can be abutted against the second hinge bracket 32, and the other end can be abutted against the second transmission member 32, so that when the convex portion 311 on the first transmission member 31 is separated from the concave portion 321 of the second transmission member 32, the buffer member 34 is compressed to store potential energy, if the first transmission member 31 rotates, when the convex portion 311 and the concave portion 321 are about to be matched, the potential energy of the buffer member 34 is about to be released, so that the convex portion 311 rapidly extends into the concave portion 321, matching is realized, and hand feeling is improved. Because the first transmission member 31 is connected to the first guide rod gear 22 and the second guide rod gear 23 which are located at the end portions of the synchronization mechanism 2, the movement can be transmitted to the buffer member 34 along the axial direction of the gear ends of the first guide rod gear 22 and the second guide rod gear 23, and therefore, in the direction, a part of space corresponding to the cylindrical gear set 21 can be used for placing the buffer member 34, and compared with the scheme that the movement is transmitted to the locking mechanism 3 through the cylindrical gear 21, the buffering force which can be provided by the buffer member 34 is favorably improved, and the hand feeling can be further improved.

In one embodiment, the cushioning member 34 may comprise a flexible member, such as a silicone or rubber member or foam that may be compressed to store potential energy. Alternatively, in another embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the buffer 34 may include a guide rod 341 and a compression spring 342, the guide rod 342 is connected to two opposite surfaces of the receiving groove 331, the second transmission member 32 and the compression spring 332 are both disposed through the guide rod 342, and one end of the compression spring 342 abuts against the second transmission member 32 and the other end abuts against one surface of the receiving groove 331. Therefore, the second transmission member 32 can move along the extending direction of the guide rod 341, so that the compression spring 342 is compressed, and when the compression spring 342 is deformed again, the acting force can be provided, so that the second transmission member 32 moves along the guide rod 342, and the matching between the convex part 311 and the concave part 321 is accelerated.

In the above-described embodiments, the transmission of motion between the trajectory defining structure 1 and the synchronization mechanism 2 can be achieved by:

as shown in fig. 5, the first slider 12 may include a first hollow sliding slot 121, the second slider 13 may include a second hollow sliding slot 131, the guide rod end 221 of the first guide gear 22 may extend into the first hollow sliding slot 121, and the guide rod end 231 of the second guide gear 23 may extend into the second hollow sliding slot 131. Therefore, when the first sliding block 12 is stressed, the first guide rod gear 22 can be driven to rotate by the first sliding block 12, meanwhile, the motion is transmitted to the second guide rod gear 23 through the cylindrical gear set 21, and meanwhile, the second sliding block 13 is driven to rotate relative to the first hinge bracket 11 through the matching between the second guide rod gear 23 and the second sliding block 13. When the second slider 13 is stressed, the second slider 13 can drive the second guide rod gear 23 to rotate, and simultaneously the motion is transmitted to the first guide rod gear 22 through the cylindrical gear set 21, and simultaneously the first slider 12 is driven to rotate relative to the first hinge bracket 11 through the matching between the first guide rod gear 22 and the first slider 12. If the second slide block 12 and the third slide block 13 are simultaneously stressed, the motion can be synchronized through the cylindrical gear set 21. In this case, the cylindrical gear set 21 may include a plurality of cylindrical gears engaged with each other, and taking fig. 4 and 5 as an example, the cylindrical gear set 21 may include a first cylindrical gear 211 and a second cylindrical gear 212 engaged with the first cylindrical gear 211, where the first cylindrical gear 211 is engaged with the gear end 222 of the first guide rod gear 22, and the second cylindrical gear 212 is engaged with the gear end 232 of the second guide rod gear 23, so as to reduce the path of the movement when the movement is synchronized as much as possible. In other embodiments, the cylindrical gear set 21 may also include three or more than three cylindrical gears that mesh with each other, and this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the above.

In this embodiment, in order to improve the smoothness of the motion transmission between the track defining structure 1 and the synchronizing mechanism 2, as shown in fig. 5, at least a part of the inner side walls of the first hollow chute 121 and the second hollow chute 131 may be arranged in an arc shape, so as to reduce the probability of being stuck in the motion transmission between the track defining structure 1 and the synchronizing mechanism 2. Of course, in other embodiments, at least a portion of an inner side wall of the first hollow sliding groove 121 or the second hollow sliding groove 131 may be disposed in an arc shape, and may be specifically designed according to the rotation torque of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13.

In the above embodiments, when the extension directions of the guide rod end 221 of the first guide rod gear 22 and the guide rod end 231 of the second guide rod gear 23 are different, the first hollow sliding groove 121 included in the first slider 12 and the second hollow sliding groove 131 included in the second slider 13 need to be correspondingly and adaptively designed.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 5-7, the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 extend in the same direction, and the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 both extend in the length direction of the hinge 100, i.e., the direction indicated by the arrow a in fig. 5. At this time, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the trajectory defining mechanism 1, the synchronizing mechanism 2, and the lock mechanism 3 may be arranged in this order in the direction indicated by the arrow a.

In order to realize the folding of the hinge 100, as shown in fig. 7, the arc chute 111 may include a first arc guide 1111 and a second arc guide 1112, the first slider 12 may include a first arc 122, and the second slider 13 may include a second arc 132, wherein the first arc 122 is engaged with the first arc guide 1111 and the second arc 132 is engaged with the second arc guide 1112. For example, the outer arc surface of the first arc portion 122 contacts the arc surface of the first arc guide portion 1111 facing the first slider 12, and the outer arc surface of the second arc portion 132 contacts the arc surface of the second arc guide portion 1112 facing the second slider 13.

As described above, when the synchronizing mechanism 2 rotates, the first arc portion 122 can rotate under the restriction of the first arc guide portion 1111, and the second arc portion 132 can rotate under the restriction of the second arc guide portion 1112. For example, the relative position relationship between the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 may be switched between the states shown in fig. 8 and 9, the motion trajectories of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 are fixed, the rounded corners of the folded hinge 100 are determined by the first circular arc guide portion 111 and the second circular arc guide portion 112, and the rounded corners of the first circular arc guide portion 111 and the second circular arc guide portion 112 may be fixed values, so as to ensure that the rounded corners of the folded hinge 100 are fixed, which is beneficial to reducing the screen damage to the folded electronic device.

Further, the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 may be connected to an end of the first slider 12 disposed near the synchronization mechanism 2, and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 may be connected to an end of the second slider 13 disposed near the synchronization mechanism 2, and the specific connection manner may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 5

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 10-13, the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 extend in opposite directions relative to the width of the hinge 100. For example, as shown in fig. 10, the extending directions of the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 are both the directions indicated by arrow B, and the extending direction of the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 is rightward along arrow B, and the extending direction of the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23 is leftward along arrow B.

In this embodiment, the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 may be adaptively designed according to the extending directions of the guide end 221 of the first guide gear 22 and the guide end 231 of the second guide gear 23. For example, as shown in fig. 10 to 13, in order to realize the rotation of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 relative to the arc chute 11, as shown in fig. 11, the first slider 12 may include a third arc portion 123, and the third slider 13 may include a fourth arc portion 133, and the third arc portion 123 and the fourth arc portion 133 are both engaged with the surface of the arc chute 111 provided toward the first slider 12 and the second slider 13. Therefore, when the synchronizing mechanism 2 rotates, the third arc portion 123 and the fourth arc portion 133 rotate under the restriction of the arc chute 111, so that the trajectory limiting mechanism 1 switches between the filling shown in fig. 12 and fig. 13, and the movement trajectories of the first slider 12 and the second slider 13 can be fixed due to the limitation of the arc chute 111, and the arc chute 111 determines the side fillet after the hinge 100 is folded, and the fillet of the arc chute 111 can be a fixed value, so that the side fillet after the hinge 100 is folded can be ensured to be fixed, which is beneficial to reducing the screen damage to the foldable electronic device.

In this embodiment, in order to reduce the thickness of the hinge 100, as shown in fig. 11, the first hinge bracket 2 may further include two upright blocks 14, the two upright blocks 14 are formed by extending the surface of the arc-shaped sliding chute 111 upwards, the two upright blocks 14 are located between the two third arc portions 123 of the first slider 12 and the two fourth arc portions 133 of the second slider 13, and the gear end 222 of the first guide gear 22, the gear end 232 of the second guide gear 23, and the cylindrical gear set 21 may be disposed between the two upright blocks 14. The area between the two upright blocks 22 on the bottom surface of the arc chute 111 may be adaptively designed for the gear end 222 of the first guide gear 22, the gear end 232 of the second guide gear 23, and the cylindrical gear set 21, which is not limited by the present disclosure.

Based on the technical scheme of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 14, the present disclosure also provides a hinge assembly 200, the hinge assembly 200 may be used for a foldable electronic device, and the hinge assembly 200 may include at least one first hinge 201, a first support steel sheet 202 and a second support steel sheet 203. The first hinge 201 may be the hinge 100 described in any of the above embodiments, the first supporting steel sheet 202 may be connected to the first slider 12, and the second supporting steel sheet 203 may be connected to the second slider 13, so that the change of the relative positional relationship between the first supporting steel sheet 202 and the second supporting steel sheet 203 is driven by the change of the relative positional relationship between the first slider 12 and the second slider 13, so that the first supporting steel sheet 202 and the second supporting steel sheet 203 may both be in a flat state or may form a non-zero included angle.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 14 and 15, the hinge assembly 200 may include two first hinges 201, and the two first hinges 201 may be sequentially arranged along a length direction of the hinge assembly 200. Of course, the hinge assembly 200 may also include other number of first hinges 201, and the first hinges may be arranged in sequence along the length direction of the hinge assembly 200, which is not limited in the present disclosure. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the hinge assembly 200 may include other hinges. For example, as shown in fig. 14-18, the hinge assembly 200 can further include a second hinge 204, and the second hinge 204 can include a third hinge bracket 2043, a third slider 2041, and a fourth slider 2042. The third hinge support 2043 may further include a third arc guide portion 20431, the third slider 2041 may include a fifth arc portion 20411, the fourth slider 2042 may include a sixth arc portion 20421, and both the fifth arc portion 20411 and the sixth arc portion 20421 are matched with the third arc guide portion 20431, so that when the motion of the first hinge 201 is transmitted to the second hinge 204, the fifth arc portion 20411 and the sixth arc portion 20421 may be driven to rotate relative to the third arc guide portion 20431, and the second hinge 204 is switched between the state shown in fig. 17 and the state shown in fig. 18. The outer rounded corner of the third circular arc guide portion 20431 may be equal to the outer rounded corner of the third circular arc guide portion 21, so as to improve the aesthetic appearance of the hinge assembly 100. In fig. 14 and 15, the two first hinges 201 are disposed at two opposite ends of the hinge assembly 200, and the second hinge 204 is disposed between the two first hinges 201, for example, in other embodiments, the positions may be changed, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In addition, the second hinge 204 is described by taking the structure shown in fig. 16 as an example, and in other embodiments, the structure of the second hinge 204 may refer to the structure of the trajectory defining mechanism 1 of the first hinge 201, which is not described herein again. Alternatively, the relative structures of the third and fourth sliders 2041, 2042 may be adaptively designed.

Based on the hinge assembly 200 described in the above embodiments, as shown in fig. 19 and 20, the present disclosure also provides a folding electronic device, which may include a middle frame 301 and a hinge assembly 200, wherein the first supporting steel sheet 202 and the second supporting steel sheet 203 of the hinge assembly 200 are both connected to the middle frame 301, and since the first slider 12 of the first hinge 201 is connected to the first supporting steel sheet 202 and the second slider 13 is connected to the second supporting steel sheet 203, and in the case where the second hinge 204 is provided, the third slider 2041 of the second hinge 204 is connected to the first supporting steel sheet 202, the fourth slider 2042 is connected to the second supporting steel sheet 2042, and the first supporting steel sheet 202 and the second supporting steel sheet 203 are both connected to the middle frame 200, thereby driving the middle frame 301 to switch between the flat state and the folded state. For example, the middle frame 301 may include a first middle frame 3011 and a second middle frame 3012, where the first middle frame 3011 is connected to the first supporting steel sheet 202, and the second middle frame 3012 is connected to the second supporting steel sheet 203, so that the first middle frame 3011 and the second middle frame 3012 may be driven to fold from top to bottom as shown in fig. 19 or may also be folded from bottom to top by the movement of the first supporting steel sheet 202 and the second supporting steel sheet 203. The electronic device may include a holding terminal or an electronic reader, which is not limited by this disclosure.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 20, the foldable electronic device may further include a hinge housing 302, and the hinge housing 302 is fixedly connected to a hinge bracket of the hinge assembly 200. For example, the hinge housing 302 is connected to the first hinge support 11 of the first hinge 201, and when the foldable electronic device is configured with the second hinge 204, the hinge housing 302 can be further connected to the third hinge support 2041, so that the hinge assembly 200 can move relative to the hinge housing 302, and the hinge assembly 200 can not be viewed by the user due to the shielding of the hinge housing 302, thereby improving the aesthetic property.

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

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

Claims (15)

1. A hinge, comprising:

a track defining mechanism comprising a first hinge bracket, a first slider, and a second slider, the first hinge bracket comprising an arcuate chute;

the first guide rod gear and the second guide rod gear respectively comprise gear ends and guide rod ends, the gear end of the first guide rod gear is meshed with the end gear of the cylindrical gear set, the gear end of the second guide rod gear is meshed with the other end gear of the cylindrical gear set, the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear extends to the first sliding block, and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear extends to the second sliding block so as to drive the first sliding block and the second sliding block to rotate in the arc-shaped sliding groove;

the locking mechanism comprises a first transmission piece and a second transmission piece, the first transmission piece is connected with the first guide rod gear and/or the second guide rod gear so as to drive the first transmission piece to rotate when the cylindrical gear set rotates, and when the first transmission piece and the second transmission piece are switched to a preset matching state, the locking mechanism is switched to a locking state so as to maintain the relative position relation between the first sliding block and the second sliding block.

2. The hinge according to claim 1, wherein one of the first transmission member and the second transmission member includes at least one protrusion, and the other includes a recess engaged with the protrusion, and when the protrusion extends into the recess, the first transmission member and the second transmission member are switched to the predetermined engagement state.

3. The hinge according to claim 2, wherein the locking mechanism further comprises a second hinge bracket and a buffer member, the second hinge bracket comprises a receiving groove, the first transmission member, the second transmission member and the buffer member are all located in the receiving groove, one end of the buffer member abuts against the second transmission member, the other end abuts against the bottom surface of the receiving groove, and the buffer member is compressed when the recess is separated from the protrusion.

4. The hinge according to claim 3, wherein the buffer member comprises a guiding rod and a compression spring, the guiding rod is connected to two opposite surfaces of the receiving groove, the second driving member and the compression spring respectively penetrate through the guiding rod, and one end of the compression spring abuts against the second driving member and the other end abuts against the second hinge bracket.

5. The hinge according to claim 1, wherein the first slider includes a first hollow runner, the second slider includes a second hollow runner, a guide end of the first guide gear extends into the first hollow runner, and a guide end of the second guide gear extends into the second hollow runner.

6. The hinge according to claim 5, wherein at least a portion of an inner side wall of the first hollow runner and/or the second hollow runner is arcuately disposed.

7. The hinge of claim 1, wherein the guide bar end of the first guide bar gear and the guide bar end of the second guide bar gear extend in the same direction, and the direction of extension is the length direction of the hinge.

8. The hinge according to claim 7, wherein the trajectory defining mechanism, the synchronizing mechanism and the locking mechanism are arranged in sequence along a length of the hinge.

9. The hinge according to claim 8, wherein the arc-shaped chute comprises a first arc guide portion and a second arc guide portion, the first slider comprises a first arc portion, the second slider comprises a second arc portion, the first arc portion cooperates with the first arc guide portion, and the second arc portion cooperates with the second arc guide portion;

the guide rod end of the first guide rod gear is connected to one side, close to the synchronizing mechanism, of the first sliding block, and the guide rod end of the second guide rod gear is connected to one side, close to the synchronizing mechanism, of the second sliding block.

10. The hinge of claim 1, wherein the guide bar end of the first guide bar gear and the guide bar end of the second guide bar gear each extend in a width direction of the hinge and are opposite in direction.

11. The hinge according to claim 10, wherein the first slider includes a third arc portion, the second slider includes a fourth arc portion, and the third arc portion and the fourth arc portion are both engaged with surfaces of the arc chute facing the first slider and the second slider;

the first hinge support further comprises two vertical blocks extending upwards from the bottom surface of the arc-shaped sliding groove, the two vertical blocks are located between two third arc parts of the first sliding block and two fourth arc parts of the second sliding block, and the gear end of the first guide rod gear, the gear end of the second guide rod gear and the cylindrical gear set are located between the two vertical blocks.

12. A hinge assembly for an electronic device, the hinge assembly comprising:

at least one first hinge, the first hinge being a hinge according to any one of claims 1-11;

the first supporting steel sheet is connected with the first sliding block;

and the second supporting steel sheet is connected with the second sliding block so as to drive the change of the relative position relation between the first supporting steel sheet and the second supporting steel sheet through the change of the relative position relation between the first sliding block and the second sliding block.

13. The hinge assembly of claim 12, further comprising:

at least one second hinge, the second hinge comprising a third hinge bracket, a third slider and a fourth slider, the third hinge bracket comprising a third arc guide;

the third slider includes fifth circular arc portion the fourth slider includes sixth circular arc portion, fifth circular arc portion with sixth circular arc portion respectively with the cooperation of third circular arc guide part.

14. A folding electronic device, comprising:

the hinge assembly of claim 12 or 13;

the middle frame is connected with a first supporting steel sheet and a second supporting steel sheet of the hinge assembly, so that the middle frame can be switched with the position change of the first supporting steel sheet and the second supporting steel sheet.

15. The folding electronic device of claim 14, further comprising:

a hinge housing fixedly connected with a hinge bracket of the hinge assembly.

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