JP2003060756A - Folding type portable radio equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide portable radio equipment for enabling a user to operate both an opened state and a closed state with one hand and also to adjust an open angle between two housings with one hand. SOLUTION: When the user presses down a dial 5 with a finger in the case of changing a closed state to an opened state, a portion of a female screw 8 of the dial 5 is screwed to a male screw 10 of a shaft 9. When the user turns the dial 5 in a first direction with a finger while maintaining this screwed state, the shaft 9 is made to move in the direction of a hinge part 3 to push an arm 11, a turning arm 12 is thereby turned counterclockwise centering on a turning shaft 13, and an upper housing 2 is turned integrally with the turning arm 12 counterclockwise centering on the turning shaft 13 with accordance with the turning of the turning arm 12. for this reason, the upper housing 2 is turned toward a lower housing 1 centering on the turning shaft 13 to be closed. An open angle can be adjusted according to the turning quantity of the dial 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a foldable portable wireless device, and more particularly to a foldable portable wireless device such as a foldable portable telephone in which an upper casing and a lower casing are rotatably connected by a hinge portion. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional foldable portable telephone, which is an example of a foldable portable wireless device, has a structure in which an upper casing and a lower casing are rotatably connected by a hinge portion, and when not in use, the upper casing is placed above. The inner surface of the lower housing is expanded by opening the upper housing and the lower housing by a predetermined angle when the housing and the lower housing are in a folded state (closed state) in close contact with each other. The various keys provided on the upper side of the upper case can be used, and the display on the inner surface of the upper housing can be visually recognized.

Here, a user of a mobile phone (carryer)
In both the closed state and the open state described above, the upper casing and the lower casing are held and closed or opened with both hands. That is, in the conventional foldable mobile phone, normally, the user cannot put the mobile phone into the closed state or the open state without using both hands, which is a problem in operability.

Therefore, conventionally, various types of portable wireless devices have been proposed which can be opened and closed with one hand (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-102953 and 6-3).
No. 38837, JP-A-7-131850, and JP-A-7-202787). JP-A-2000-
Reference numeral 102953 denotes a foldable portable wireless communication device configured such that a pair of housings are hinge-coupled at their respective base end portions so that they can be rotated and opened / closed. However, there is disclosed a configuration in which a user holds one housing with one hand and arranges an operating rod for rotating and opening / closing with a finger of the same hand.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-338837, a case is provided with a movable magnet which can be moved by a manual operation of an operating knob, and the movable magnet is moved by operating it with one hand to move it in the length direction. There is disclosed a foldable portable wireless device in which a magnet and a fixed magnet are opposed to each other, a repulsive force between the magnets is generated, and the repulsive force causes the cover to open with respect to the case to bring the cover into a use state.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-131850, a coil spring for urging the hinge mechanism of the upper casing and the lower casing in the opening direction is provided, and the upper casing and the lower casing are closed. It is equipped with a lock mechanism that holds the lock mechanism, and when in use, the movable magnet provided in the lower housing that constitutes the lock mechanism is moved by the operation of the operating section with one hand, and the fixed magnet provided in the upper housing that constitutes the lock mechanism. There is disclosed a foldable portable wireless device in which the upper casing and the lower casing are opened by the elastic force of the coil springs by weakening the suction force, and can be operated with one hand.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-202787, the first and second housings are closed in a hinge portion that rotatably connects the first housing and the second housing. The two poles face each other so that the repulsive force in the opening direction of the second casing acts, and the different poles face each other so that the suction force acts so that the first and second casings keep the state in the open state. A first magnet and a second magnet are provided respectively, and a third magnet and a fourth magnet are internally provided in each of the first casing and the second casing so that different poles face each other, One of the third and fourth magnets is slidable with one hand, and the repulsive force between the first and second magnets causes the attraction between the third and fourth magnets at the first sliding position. When the force is smaller than the force, the state becomes a closed state, and at the second slide position, the repulsive force between the first and second magnets becomes the third and Folding the open state by greater than the attraction force between 4 magnets portable radio apparatus is disclosed.

[0008]

However, since the conventional folding portable radio apparatus described in JP 2000-102953 A has a structure in which the operating lever is operated by a finger to rotate and open / close the hinge, There is a problem that it is difficult to make a space for passing electric wiring inside. Further, in the conventional folding type portable wireless device described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-338837, the open state can be opened by moving the movable magnet with one hand, but both hands must be used to close it. .

Further, in each of the conventional folding type portable wireless devices described in JP-A-7-131850 and JP-A-7-202787, the opening angle of the two housings cannot be adjusted with one hand. Also, JP-A-7-1318
The conventional device described in Japanese Patent No. 50 has a problem that it cannot be closed with one hand.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable wireless device that can be operated with one hand in both the open state and the closed state.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable radio device capable of adjusting the opening angles of two housings with one hand.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a structure in which an upper casing and a lower casing are rotatably coupled by a hinge portion, and when not in use, the upper casing is And the inner surface of the lower housing are in close contact with each other, and when used, the upper housing and the lower housing are separated from each other to enable use of various keys provided on the inner surface of the lower housing. In addition, in the foldable portable wireless device in which the display of the display unit provided on the inner surface of the upper housing is in the open state, the foldable portable wireless apparatus is provided in either one of the upper housing and the lower housing. A rotatable dial on which a screw is engraved and a shaft that linearly moves in the direction of the hinge part or in the direction opposite to the hinge part according to the rotating direction of the dial, and that moves by the moving amount according to the rotating amount of the dial. The linear movement mechanism including the The shaft rotates in a direction corresponding to the moving direction of the shaft of the mechanism, and the inner surface of one of the upper housing and the lower housing closes with the inner surface of the other housing in accordance with the rotation. Or a rotating mechanism that is in an open state in which both inner surfaces are separated from each other.

In the present invention, by rotating the dial, the rotational force is converted into the linear movement of the shaft of the linear movement mechanism, and the linear movement is transmitted to the rotation mechanism.
It is converted into rotation in a direction corresponding to the moving direction of the shaft of the linear movement mechanism, and with this rotation, the upper housing and the lower housing can be rotated in a direction toward each other or in a direction away from each other. . Further, according to the present invention, the shaft moves by a movement amount according to the rotation amount of the dial, and the upper casing and the lower casing approach each other or are separated from each other by the rotation angle corresponding to the movement amount of the shaft. You can rotate in the direction you want.

Here, the above linear movement mechanism includes a first screw threaded on the surface of the inner wall of the hollow cylindrical dial,
It is characterized by comprising a shaft having a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the dial, penetrating the hollow cylindrical portion of the dial, and having a second screw threaded on the outer peripheral surface to be screwed into the first screw. .

Further, the above rotating mechanism is integrated with an arm connected to one end of the shaft of the linear moving mechanism and an end portion of the upper casing or the lower casing which is not provided with the dial. And a rotary arm that is coupled to move in a horizontal direction and that rotates together with the housing without the dial around the rotation axis of the hinge part according to the moving direction of the arm. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention applies a spring force to the dial toward the outside of the housing in which the dial is provided, so that the dial is opened or closed. When operating to the other side, the dial and the linear movement mechanism are mechanically connected by pushing the dial inward of the housing provided with the dial against the spring force, and the dial is moved inward of the housing with respect to the dial. When the urging of the force is released, a spring is further provided which automatically returns to the mechanically disconnected state between the dial and the linear movement mechanism.

According to the present invention, when the urging of the inward force of the housing to the dial is released, the mechanical connection between the dial and the linear movement mechanism is released by the spring. You can open and close freely by holding the case and upper case with both hands. Further, the dial may be provided on one side surface of the lower housing or the upper housing, and when the dial is provided, it may be provided on both side surfaces of the lower housing or the upper housing. It may be.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of a foldable portable communication device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is FIG.
3 is a sectional view taken along line a in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line b in FIG. In each figure, the same reference numerals are given to the same components.

This embodiment is an example applied to a foldable mobile phone, and has a structure in which a lower housing 1 and an upper housing 2 are rotatably coupled by a hinge portion 3 as shown in FIG. is there.
Various keys 4 such as numeric keys for inputting a telephone number are provided on the inner surface of the lower housing 1, and a dial 5 having an exposed outer periphery is provided on the side surface of the lower housing 1. On the other hand, a display portion 6 for displaying various characters, numbers and symbols is provided on the inner surface of the upper housing 2, and an antenna 7 is provided on the upper portion. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a microphone for transmission is provided at a predetermined position on the inner surface of the lower housing 1, and a speaker for reception is provided at a predetermined position on the inner surface of the upper housing 2. ing.

As shown in FIG. 2 which is a sectional view taken along the arrow a in FIG. 1, the dial 5 has a hollow cylindrical shape in which a female screw 8 is threaded on the inner peripheral surface and is rotatable. A shaft 9 having a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the dial 5 penetrates the hollow inside of the dial 5, and the female screw 8 can be screwed onto a male screw 10 threaded on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 9. ing. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 which is a sectional view taken along the arrow b in FIG. 1, the spring force biases the dial 5 from the inside of the mobile phone to the outside by the spring 14.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the shaft 9 has an arm 1 whose one end is rotatably locked to the hinge portion 3 side.
Have one. The arm 11 has a rotating arm 12 locked on the opposite side of the shaft 9. The rotary arm 12 is pivotally supported on the rotary shaft 13 of the hinge portion 3,
Moreover, the side opposite to the rotary shaft 13 is rotatably locked to the upper housing 2.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. Now, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower housing 1 and the upper housing 2
Is opened at a certain angle so that various keys 4 provided on the inner surface of the lower housing 1 can be used, and the upper housing 2
It is assumed that the display of the display unit 6 provided on the inner surface of the is in an open state where the display can be visually recognized.

In the open state, as shown in FIG. 3, the female screw 8 of the dial 5 is separated from the male screw 10 threaded on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 9. When changing from this open state to the closed state, the user first pushes the dial 5 with his finger.
The arrow 14 is pushed in the direction of the arrow 15, that is, inward of the lower housing 1 against the spring force of the spring 14. As a result, FIG.
As shown in, a part of the female screw 8 of the dial 5 is screwed into the male screw 10 of the shaft 9.

When the dial 5 is rotated in the first direction with a finger while maintaining this screwed state, the shaft 9 moves toward the hinge portion 3 as shown in FIG. 5, and thereby the arm 11 shown in FIG. When is pressed, the rotary arm 12 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 about the rotary shaft 13, and as the rotary arm 12 rotates, the upper housing 2 also rotates.
2, it rotates counterclockwise around the rotary shaft 13 in FIG.

Therefore, the upper casing 2 rotates about the rotary shaft 13 in the direction of the lower casing 1, and the inner surface of the upper casing 2 has a lower casing as shown in the sectional view of FIG. It is brought into a closed state (folded state) in which the body 1 is opposed to and closely contacted with the inner surface thereof. When the finger for turning the dial 5 is released, the dial 5 is pushed outward by the spring force of the spring 14, and the female screw 8 of the dial 5 is separated from the male screw 10 of the shaft 9. It automatically returns to the state shown in. In this way, the open state can be changed to the closed state by simply rotating the dial 5 with one hand.

Next, the case where the closed state shown in FIG. 6 is changed to the open state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. In the closed state, as shown in FIG. 6, the female screw 8 of the dial 5 is separated from the male screw 10 threaded on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 9. When changing from this closed state to the open state, the user first uses his or her finger to move the dial 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow 15 in FIG. Inwardly against the spring force of the spring 14. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4, a part of the female screw 8 of the dial 5 is screwed into the male screw 10 of the shaft 9.

When the dial 5 is rotated with a finger in the second direction opposite to the first direction while maintaining this screwed state, the shaft 9 moves downward in FIG. 4 (direction away from the hinge portion 3). 6 and thereby pulling the arm 11 shown in FIG. 6, the rotary arm 12 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 6 about the rotary shaft 13, and as the rotary arm 12 rotates, The housing 2 is also integrated with the rotary arm 12 in FIG.
Inside, it rotates clockwise about the rotary shaft 13.

Therefore, the upper housing 2 rotates about the rotary shaft 13 in the direction away from the lower housing 1, and the inner surface of the upper housing 2 is lowered as shown in the sectional view of FIG. Side housing 1
The open state is separated from the inner surface of the. When the finger for turning the dial 5 is released, the dial 5 is pushed outward by the spring force of the spring 14, and the female screw 8 of the dial 5 is separated from the male screw 10 of the shaft 9. It automatically returns to the state shown in. Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to change from the closed state to the open state by simply turning dial 5 with one hand.

Further, in the present embodiment, the shaft 9 is adjusted by adjusting the number of times the dial 5 is turned in the second direction.
Can be adjusted, and the rotation angle of the rotating arm 12 can be adjusted accordingly. Therefore, the expansion angle (opening angle) between the lower housing 1 and the upper housing 2 is adjusted to the angle desired by the user. be able to.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the dial 5
In the state before pressing, the female screw 8 of the dial 5 and the male screw 10 of the shaft 9 are in a state of being closely spaced from each other. When the shafts 2 and 3 are opened and closed, the shaft 9 slides without rotating the dial 5, so that the shaft 9 can be opened and closed without load.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the dial 5 is arranged on the side surface (left side surface) of the lower housing 1 opposite to the one shown in FIG. May be operated. Further, the dials 5 may be provided not only on the left or right side surface but also on both side surfaces. In this case, if one dial is in the state of FIG. 3 and the other dial is in the state of FIG. The desired action can be taken. The dial can also be provided on the side surface of the upper housing 2. Further, the present invention can be applied to a foldable communication device other than the foldable mobile phone.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By rotating the dial, the upper casing and the lower casing can be rotated in the direction of approaching each other or in the direction of separating from each other according to the rotating direction, so that the dial can be opened by rotating with one hand. It can be in either the closed state or the closed state.

Further, according to the present invention, the amount of movement of the shaft can be adjusted by an amount corresponding to the amount of rotation of the dial, whereby the expansion angle (opening angle) between the lower casing and the upper casing can be adjusted. Therefore, the opening angle can be adjusted to the angle desired by the user by operating the dial with one hand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention in an open state.

FIG. 2 is a view on arrow a of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view on arrow b in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention when a dial is pressed.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention when the dial is rotated while being pressed.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention in a closed state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Lower case 2 Upper case 3 Hinge part 5 dial 6 Display 8 female screw 9 shaft 10 male screw 11 arms 12 rotating arms 13 rotation axis 14 spring

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A structure in which an upper housing and a lower housing are rotatably coupled by a hinge portion, and when not in use, the inner surfaces of the upper housing and the lower housing face each other and are in close contact with each other. In a closed state, at the time of use, it is possible to use the various keys provided on the inner surface of the lower housing by separating the upper housing and the lower housing.
Further, in the foldable portable wireless device which is in an open state in which the display of the display unit provided on the inner surface of the upper housing can be viewed, the folding portable wireless device is provided in either the upper housing or the lower housing. A rotatable dial on which a first screw is engraved, and linearly moving in the direction of the hinge portion or in a direction opposite to the hinge portion according to the rotating direction of the dial, and A linear movement mechanism including a shaft that moves by a corresponding movement amount; and a linear movement mechanism that is provided in the hinge portion and that rotates in a direction corresponding to the movement direction of the shaft of the linear movement mechanism, and that rotates in association with the rotation A rotating mechanism for setting one of the upper housing and the lower housing in a closed state in which an inner surface thereof is in close contact with an inner surface of the other housing or in an open state in which both inner surfaces are separated from each other. And when Folding-type portable radio apparatus. 2. The linear movement mechanism includes the first screw threaded on the surface of the inner wall of the hollow cylindrical dial,
A second diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the dial, penetrating the hollow cylindrical portion of the dial, and threaded on the outer peripheral surface.
2. The foldable portable wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the screw is formed of the shaft that is screwed onto the first screw. 3. The rotating mechanism includes an arm coupled to one end of the shaft of the linear moving mechanism and a casing of the upper casing and the lower casing which is not provided with the dial. A rotary arm that is coupled to the end so as to move integrally, and that rotates together with the housing in which the dial is not provided around the rotation axis of the hinge according to the moving direction of the arm. The foldable portable wireless device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising: 4. A spring force is applied to the dial in a direction outward of a housing in which the dial is provided,
When operating from one of the open state and the closed state to the other, the dial and the linear movement mechanism are pushed by pushing the dial inward of the housing in which the dial is provided against the spring force. When a mechanical connection is made, and when the bias of the inward direction of the casing to the dial is released, a spring is further provided for automatically returning to the mechanical connection released state between the dial and the linear movement mechanism. The foldable portable wireless device according to claim 1, wherein 5. The foldable portable radio apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dial is provided on one side surface of the lower housing or the upper housing. 6. The foldable portable wireless device according to claim 4, wherein the dial is provided on both side surfaces of the lower housing or the upper housing.