JP2000049470A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize electronic equipment where a connector is automatically exposed when used and surely covered when the equipment is not used. SOLUTION: A lid case 2 is linked to a main body case 1 with a hinge 3 in a manner where it is capable of freely pivoting, and when the lid case 2 and the main body ease 1 are made to pivot relatively on the hinge 3 to put the lid case 2 upright on the main body case 1, a cover member 7 that covers a connector provided to the rear of the main body case 1 is moved by a linking member 11 so as to expose the connector. Therefore, the main body case 1 and the lid case 2 are made to pivot relatively so as to put the lid case 2 upright on the main body case 1, whereby the cover member 7 is moved by the linking member 11 to make the connector exposed in operation, and the main body case 1 and the lid case 2 are made to pivot relatively so as to enable the lid case 2 to overlap the main body case 1 when an equipment is not in use, whereby the cover member 7 is moved by the linking member 11 to surely cover the connector 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a portable electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electronic device such as a mobile device which can be easily carried, it is necessary to make the entire device compact in consideration of portability and also to consider functionality and operability. As such an electronic device, for example, a keyboard serving as a key input unit is provided on the upper surface of a main body case, and a lid case is rotatably mounted on the main body case by a hinge portion, and a display unit is provided inside the lid case. 2. Description of the Related Art There has been known a liquid crystal display device provided so as to be exposed on a main body case side.
With this type of electronic equipment, with the increase in the number of functions, it is required to connect to external devices such as a personal computer or printer or a television or camera to exchange data. A connector section having various connectors is provided.

[0003]

However, in such an electronic device, if the connector portion provided on the back of the main body case is always exposed, dust adheres to the electronic device, or the electronic device is damaged by hitting an object. There is such a problem. For this reason,
Conventionally, a lid is provided on the back of the main body case, and the lid is configured to cover and protect the connector portion.
When using the connector, the lid must be opened and closed each time, so opening and closing the lid is troublesome, and if the opening and closing structure is simple, the lid will open when carrying. There's a problem.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to automatically expose a connector portion when used and to surely cover the connector portion when not in use.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a lower case having a key input section on an upper surface and a connector section on a rear face, and an upper case having a display section facing the key input section. A hinge portion rotatably connecting the lower case and the upper case; a cover member covering the connector portion; and the lower case and the upper case rotating relatively around the hinge portion. Interlocking means for moving the cover member and exposing the connector portion when the upper case rises on the lower case by moving. According to this invention, when the lower case and the upper case are relatively rotated during use and the upper case is erected on the lower case, the interlocking means is operated in accordance with the relative rotation of the lower case and the upper case. Move the cover member to expose the connector,
When the lower case and the upper case are rotated relative to each other when not in use, such as when carrying, and the upper case is overlaid on the lower case, the interlocking means is provided according to the relative rotation of the lower case and the upper case. Since the member is moved to cover the connector portion, the connector portion can be automatically exposed when used, and the connector portion can be reliably covered when not in use.

In this case, the cover member has a cover main body that covers the connector portion, and a cover arm provided on the cover main body and housed in a lower portion of the lower case. The interlocking means includes a support shaft that supports an intermediate portion of the cover arm so as to be rotatable in a vertical direction, an end portion connected to the inner end portion of the cover arm, and another end portion connected to the upper case side. And a connecting member for vertically rotating the cover arm in accordance with the relative rotation of the upper case with respect to the lower case,
When the lower case and the upper case rotate relative to each other and the upper case stands on the lower case, the connecting member rotates the cover arm about the support shaft to cover the cover. 2. A configuration in which the outer end of the arm is pushed downward from the lower surface of the lower case to move the cover body to expose the connector portion and tilt the lower case. Similar to the described invention, the connector portion can be automatically exposed when used, and the connector portion can be securely covered when not in use. In particular, the key input portion can be tilted at a predetermined angle by tilting the lower case. Thus, input operability can be improved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is a front perspective view when the electronic device is used, FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view when not in use, and FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view when used in FIG. The electronic device is portable such as a mobile device, and a main case 1 as a lower case and a lid case 2 as an upper case.
Are rotatably attached by hinges 3. As shown in FIG. 1, a keyboard 4 on which a number of various keys are arranged is provided on the upper surface of the main body case 1, and a liquid crystal display device 5 for displaying inputted information is provided on the lid case 2. The display screen is provided so as to be exposed on the keyboard 4 side. In addition, a connector 6 is provided on the back of the main body case 1 as shown in FIG. The connector section 6 includes a universal serial bus (USB) connector for connecting to an external device such as a personal computer, a printer, or a camera, a PS2 connector for connecting to another external input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, a television, It has a CRT connector for connecting to video equipment such as video, a parallel port for connecting to a dedicated printing device such as a printer, and the like.

Then, on the back side of the main body case 1, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 3, a cover member 7 that covers the connector portion 6 so as to be able to open and close is provided. This cover member 7
Includes a cover body 8 that covers the connector portion 6 and cover arms 9 provided at lower portions on both sides of the cover body 8 and housed in a lower portion of the main body case 1. An intermediate portion of the cover arm 9 is shown in FIG. a) to 4 (c), as shown in FIG.
The cover body 8 is attached so as to be rotatable in the up-down direction by 0, so that the cover main body 8 moves in the up-down direction. In this case, the support shaft 10 is fixed to a lower portion inside the rear side of the main body case 1. In the vicinity of the hinge portion 3 in the main body case 1 and the lid case 2, FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, a connecting member 11 for rotating the cover arm 9 in the vertical direction in accordance with the relative rotation of the lid case 2 with respect to the main body case 1 is arranged.
The connecting member 11 includes an interlocking arm 12 and a telescopic pipe 13.
And The interlocking arm 12 is rotatably mounted by a pin 12a at one end (the upper end in the figure) at a position eccentric from the center of rotation of the lid case 2 in the vicinity of the hinge 3 and the other end (the same figure). The lower end is pin 12
It is configured to move along a guide groove 14 provided in the main body case 1 by b. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the telescopic pipe 13 has a structure in which an inner pipe 16 is attached to an outer pipe 15 so as to be able to protrude and retract, and a coil spring 17 is housed inside these. Has become.

In this case, one end (the left end in FIG. 5) of the outer pipe 15 abuts on the outer surface of the inner pipe 16 to restrict the entire length of the telescopic pipe 13 to a predetermined length.
6a is provided. Further, the coil spring 17 is configured as shown in FIG.
4A to 4C, the upper end protrudes from the outer pipe 15 and the pin 12 at the lower end of the interlocking arm 12 is protruded.
b, and a lower end protrudes from the inner pipe 16 and is attached to a pin 9a provided at an inner end (right end in FIG. 4A) of the cover arm 9. Thus, the telescopic pipe 13 draws the pin 9 a of the cover arm 9 toward the pin 12 b of the interlocking arm 12 by the spring force of the coil spring 17 and moves the end of the outer pipe 15 to the regulating protrusion 1 of the inner pipe 16.
6a, the length of the outer pipe 15 and the inner pipe 16 is kept constant, and the pin 12b at the lower end of the interlocking arm 12 and the pin at the inner end of the cover arm 9 are fixed. When the distance to the inner pipe 9a is increased, the coil spring 17 is extended, so that the entire length of the outer pipe 15 and the inner pipe 16 is also extended. When the lid case 2 is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the main body case 1, a stopper pin 18 with which the cover arm 9 abuts is provided in the main body case 1 as shown in FIG. Is provided.

Next, the operation of such an electronic device will be described. When the electronic device is used by being mounted on a mounting table 19 such as a desk, the main body case 1 is mounted around the hinge 3.
When the lid case 2 is turned upward by approximately 90 degrees, the pin 12a at the upper end of the interlocking arm 12 is moved along with the rotation of the lid case 2 as shown in FIG. And the pin 12b at the lower end of the interlocking arm 12 moves upward along the guide groove 14 in the main body case 1. At the same time, as the pin 12b at the lower end of the interlocking arm 12 moves upward,
The third coil spring 17 pulls up the pin 9a of the cover arm 9 with a substantially constant spring force. At this time, the outer pipe 1
5 and the inner pipe 16 are not stretched.
As shown in (a), the end of the outer pipe 15 is
Move while maintaining a certain length in a state of contact with the regulating protrusion 16a. Thereby, the cover arm 9 rotates counterclockwise about the support shaft 10 as shown in FIG. 4B, and the outer end of the cover arm 9 is pushed out from the lower surface of the lower case 1 to the lower side. Then, the cover body 8 moves downward while separating from the back surface of the lower case 1 to expose the connector portion 6 of the body case 1.

As described above, when the lid case 2 is turned about 90 degrees and stands on the main body case 1, the cover arm 9 comes into contact with the stopper pin 18 as shown in FIG. 9 is stopped. At this time, the outer end of the cover arm 9 is pushed downward from the lower surface of the lower case 1, and the lower case 1 is tilted on the mounting table 19 by the outer end of the cover arm 9. Thereby, the keyboard 4 of the lower case 1 can be tilted at a predetermined angle, and the input operability of the keyboard 4 can be improved. Thereafter, when the lid case 2 is further rotated, as shown in FIG. 4C, the pin 12 a at the upper end of the interlocking arm 12 is further upwardly centered on the hinge portion 3 with the rotation of the lid case 2. To the pin 12b at the lower end of the interlocking arm 12.
Moves upward along the guide groove 14 in the main body case 1, but since the cover arm 9 is in contact with the stopper 15, the cover arm 9 does not rotate any more and the lower end of the interlocking arm 12. The distance between the pin 12b and the pin 9a of the cover arm 9 becomes longer. At this time, the coil spring 17 extends in accordance with the movement of the pin 12b of the interlocking arm 12, and the outer pipe 15 and the inner pipe 16 slide with each other, so that the telescopic pipe 13 extends as shown in FIG.

Thus, the cover case 2 can be turned by 90 degrees or more to set the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 5 at an easy-to-view angle, for example, at an angle of approximately 120 degrees. At this time, since the cover arm 9 abuts on the stopper pin 18 and does not rotate, the lower case 1 and the keyboard 4 can be maintained in a state of being rotated by approximately 90 degrees, and a state in which the input operation can always be easily performed is maintained. it can. Further, in this state, the cover body 8 of the cover member 7 is also separated from the back surface of the lower case 1 and moved downward by the cover arm 9, so that the connector portion 6 of the body case 1 is always exposed. Can be. For this reason, when the lid case 2 is used standing up on the main body case 1, the exposed connector portion 6 allows the external device such as a personal computer or a printer, or another device such as a video device such as a television or video to be used. And can be easily connected and used.

On the other hand, when carrying this electronic device,
The lid case 2 is rotated downward about the hinge portion 3 with respect to the main body case 1, and the lid case 2 is overlaid on the main body case 1 as shown in FIG. At this time,
With the rotation of the lid case 2 with respect to the main body case 1, the pin 12b at the lower end of the interlocking arm 12 moves downward along the guide groove 14 in the main body case 1 from the state shown in FIG. At the same time, the coil spring 17 contracts, causing the outer pipe 15 and the inner pipe 16 to slide with each other.
As shown in (a), the end of the outer pipe 15 is brought into contact with the regulating protrusion 16a of the inner pipe 16, and the telescopic pipe 13 is contracted to a certain length. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4B, the telescopic pipe 13 having a certain length pushes down the pin 9a of the cover arm 9. As a result, the cover arm 9 rotates clockwise about the support shaft 10, and as shown in FIG. 4A, the cover arm 9 is housed in the lower portion of the lower case 1, and the cover body 8 is The connector 6 of the main body case 1 is closed by approaching the back surface of the lower case 1. In this state, since the cover member 7 is fixed by the telescopic pipe 13, the cover body 8 does not move and the connector portion 6 is securely closed unless the lid case 2 is rotated and opened with respect to the main body case 1. Therefore, the cover body 8 does not open and the connector portion 6 is not exposed when the camera is carried.

In the first embodiment, the connecting member 11 for rotating the cover arm 9 in the vertical direction according to the relative rotation of the lid case 2 with respect to the main body case 1 comprises the interlocking arm 12 and the telescopic pipe 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the telescopic pipe 13 alone may be used. In this case, one end of the coil spring 17 of the telescopic pipe 13 protrudes from the outer pipe 15 and is rotatably mounted by the pin 12a at a position eccentric from the center of rotation of the lid case 2 near the hinge part 3, The other end may be protruded from the inner pipe 16 and attached to a pin 9 a provided at the inner end of the cover arm 9. Even in this case, it goes without saying that the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment are obtained.

[Second Embodiment] Next, an electronic apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. This electronic apparatus differs from the first embodiment in the opening / closing mechanism of a cover member 7 that covers the connector section 6 on the back surface of the main body case 1, and has the same configuration as the first embodiment except for this. That is, the cover member 7 includes a cover body 8 and a cover arm 9, a support shaft 10 is attached to an intermediate portion of the cover arm 9, and the support shaft 10 is provided substantially horizontally at a lower portion in the main body case. The shaft guide groove 20 is provided so as to be movable. In this case, a guide pin 21 that moves in a pin guide groove 22 provided in the main body case 1 is provided at an inner end (right end in FIGS. 6 and 7) of the cover arm 9. The pin guide groove 22 is provided so as to be inclined such that one end (the right end in the drawing) is low and the other end (the left end in the drawing) is high.

The main body case 1 and the lid case 2 are provided with coil springs (FIG. 1) for vertically turning the cover arm 9 in accordance with the relative rotation of the lid case 2 with respect to the main body case 1. A connecting member 23 is provided. The coil spring 23 is attached by a pin 23 a at an upper end thereof eccentric from the center of rotation of the lid case 2 in the vicinity of the hinge portion 3, and a lower end is provided at a guide pin provided at an inner end of the cover arm 9. 21. For this reason, the coil spring 23 pushes the guide pin 21 of the cover arm 9 down to one end (the right end in the figure) of the pin guide groove 22 when the lid case 2 is overlaid on the main body case 1. When the cover case 2 stands on the main body case 1, the guide pin 21 of the cover arm 9 is urged so as to be pulled up to the other end (the left end in the figure) of the pin guide groove 22.

In such an electronic apparatus, when the electronic apparatus is mounted on a mounting table 19 such as a desk and used, the lid case 2 is turned upward with respect to the main body case 1 around the hinge 3. As shown in FIG. 7, the pin 23a at the upper end of the coil spring 23 is turned upward on the back side of the main body case 1 (upper left side shown in FIG. 7) around the hinge portion 3 with the rotation of the lid case 2. The guide pin 21 of the cover arm 9 is moved to the pin guide groove 22 while the coil spring 23 is extended.
Up from the lower end toward the upper end. Then, the cover arm 9 moves as shown in FIG. 7 to move the support shaft 10 from right to left along the shaft guide groove 20 and rotate the cover arm 9 counterclockwise around the support shaft 10. Move. As a result, the outer end of the cover arm 9 is pushed downward from the lower surface of the lower case 1, and the cover body 8 is moved downward while being pushed to the rear side of the body case 1, and the connector section of the body case 1 is moved. Expose 6.

At this time, as in the first embodiment, the main body case 1 is inclined on the mounting table 19 by the outer end of the cover arm 9 pushed downward from the lower surface of the lower case 1, so that the keyboard 4 is also Similarly, it can be inclined at a predetermined angle, thereby improving input operability. Even if the lid case 2 is rotated by about 90 degrees or more as shown in FIG. 7, the guide pins 21 and the support shaft 10 abut on the respective ends of the pin guide grooves 22 and the shaft guide grooves 20.
The inclination angles of the main body case 1 and the keyboard 4 can be kept constant. In this state, the connector portion 6 of the main body case 1 is always exposed, and thus, as in the first embodiment,
It can be easily connected to other devices for use.

When carrying this electronic device,
The lid case 2 is turned downward with respect to the main body case 1 around the hinge portion 3, and the lid case 2 is superimposed on the main body case 1. At this time, the pin 2 at the upper end of the coil spring 23 is
Since 3a moves downward toward the upper surface of the main body case 1, the guide pin 21 of the cover arm 9 is pushed down from the upper end to the lower end along the pin guide groove 22 while the coil spring 23 contracts. Along with this, the cover arm 9
Moves as shown in FIG. 6, and the support shaft 1 of the cover arm 9 is moved.
0 along the shaft guide groove 20 from the left to the right, and the cover arm 9
Is rotated clockwise. Thereby, the cover arm 9
Is stored in the lower part of the lower case 1, and the cover body 8 approaches the back surface of the lower case 1 to close the connector portion 6 of the main body case 1. In this state, the guide pin 21 of the cover arm 9 is in contact with the lower end of the pin guide groove 22 due to the spring force of the coil spring 23, so that the lid case 2 rotates relative to the main body case 1 as in the first embodiment. As long as the cover body 8 is not moved and opened, the cover body 8 can reliably close the connector portion 6 and the cover body 8 does not open and expose the connector portion 6 when carrying.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lower case and the upper case are relatively rotated about the hinge for rotatably connecting the lower case and the upper case. When the upper case is erected on the lower case, the interlocking means moves the cover member that covers the connector provided on the back of the lower case to expose the connector. And the upper case is raised on the lower case by relatively rotating
The interlocking means can move the cover member to expose the connector portion, and by rotating the lower case and the upper case relatively when not in use, such as when carrying, by overlapping the upper case with the lower case. In addition, the interlocking means can move the cover member to cover the connector portion reliably, so that a user-friendly one can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary front perspective view of an electronic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of FIG. 1 when not in use.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view at the time of use of FIG. 1;

4A and 4B schematically show an operation state when the cover member of FIGS. 2 and 3 is opened and closed, and FIG. 4A shows a state in which a cover case overlaps a main body case and a cover main body closes a connector portion. FIG. 2B is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where the lid case is turned upright by substantially 90 degrees on the main body case, and FIG.
The schematic block diagram which showed the state rotated 0 degree.

5A and 5B show the telescopic pipe of FIG. 4, wherein FIG. 5A is an enlarged sectional view showing a state where a coil spring is contracted, and FIG. 5B is an enlarged sectional view showing a state where the coil spring is extended.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which a lid case is overlaid on a main body case in a second embodiment of the electronic apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which the lid case is rotated substantially 90 degrees on the main body case in the electronic device of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 2 Lid case 3 Hinge part 4 Keyboard 5 Liquid crystal display part 6 Connector part 7 Cover member 8 Cover main body 9 Cover arm 10 Support shaft 11 Connecting member 23 Coil spring

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lower case having a key input portion on the upper surface and a connector portion on the rear surface, an upper case having a display portion facing the key input portion, the lower case and the upper case. A hinge portion that rotatably connects the case, a cover member that covers the connector portion, and the lower case and the upper case are relatively rotated about the hinge portion so that the lower case and the upper case are rotated. An electronic device, comprising: interlocking means for moving the cover member to expose the connector when the upper case stands. 2. The cover member includes a cover main body that covers the connector portion, and a cover arm provided on the cover main body and housed in a lower portion of the lower case. A support shaft that supports an intermediate portion of the cover arm so as to be rotatable in the up and down direction, one end of the upper case is connected to the inner end of the cover arm, and the other end is connected to the upper case. A coupling member for rotating the cover arm in the vertical direction in accordance with the relative rotation of the upper case, wherein the lower case and the upper case are relatively rotated and the upper case is placed on the lower case. When the erecting is performed, the connecting member pivots the cover arm about the support shaft and pushes the outer end of the cover arm downward from the lower surface of the lower case, so that the cover body is Moved The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein to expose the connector portion and wherein the tilting of the lower case Te.