JP2003331978A - Connector for external connection and protective cover structure as well as cell phone equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector and a protective structure capable of realizing miniaturization of the size of a protective cover and simplification of an assembly process of an electronic equipment, especially a connector for external connection and a connector cover structure of a cell phone as well as a cell phone equipped with the same structure. <P>SOLUTION: The connector 4 main body including an external interface part 6 connected with an external equipment and terminals 7 for charging arranged at its both sides is provided with an insertion-coupling part 8 insertion- coupled with a base part of a hinge part 9 of a T-shape or the like supporting the protective cover 5 of the connector in free opening and closing. An exposure area of the protective cover 5 can be made small by setting the insertion- coupling part 8 between the interface part 6 and the charging terminal 7 so as not to be a constraint for designing, and the number of components can be curtailed and assembly man-hour at a equipment manufacturer can be curtailed by providing the manufacturer with the connector with the protective cover already mounted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector and a connector cover of an electronic device, and more particularly to a structure of a connector and a connector cover for external connection of a mobile phone and a mobile phone having the structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, connectors for electronic devices such as mobile phones have been provided with charging terminals on both sides of an external interface for connecting to external devices for supplying power from a desktop charger or the like. Many. In the connector having such a structure, a protective cover that covers only the external interface portion is attached so that charging can be performed even when the protective cover is attached.

There is also a detachable structure as the mounting structure of the protective cover, but with the detachable structure, the protective cover may be lost when the electronic device and the external device are connected, and therefore the protective cover is usually protected. A method of fixing the hinge part of the protective cover to the electronic device body is used so that the cover does not come off from the electronic device body. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, a hinge portion 9 of the protective cover 10 is provided between the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 outside the connector 4 including the external interface portion 6 and the charging terminal 7. The mountable mechanism is provided, and the hinge 9 is sandwiched between the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 to support the protective cover 10.

[0004]

However, the protective cover 10 is attached to the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 outside the connector 4.
If the hinge part 9 is attached, the protective cover 10
Since this covers a wider area than the connector 4, the size of the protective cover 10 itself becomes large, which is unattractive and imposes restrictions on the design design. Further, there is a problem that the space of the hinge portion 9 has to be provided inefficiently, which hinders downsizing of electronic devices such as mobile phones.

Further, in such a structure of the connector 4 and the protective cover 10, since the connector 4 and the protective cover 10 are supplied as separate parts, when the electronic equipment manufacturer assembles the upper casing, A process of sandwiching and fixing the hinge part 9 between the body 2 and the lower housing 3 is required, which complicates the work process, which also hinders cost reduction of electronic devices such as mobile phones. there were.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to reduce the size of a protective cover and to simplify the assembly process of electronic equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cover structure, particularly a connector for external connection of a mobile phone and a connector cover structure, and a mobile phone having the structure.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the connector of the present invention is provided with a fitting portion in the connector body for fitting with a base portion of a hinge that supports the protective cover of the connector in an openable and closable manner. It is a thing.

Further, in the connector with the integrated protective cover of the present invention, a hinge having a base portion that fits into a fitting portion provided in the connector is fixed to the connector body, and the hinge has a protective cover of the connector. Is supported so that it can be opened and closed.

Further, the connector of the present invention is provided with a fitting portion for locking a hook of a hinge which supports the protective cover of the connector in an openable and closable manner in the connector body, and after the connector is attached to a device, The protective cover can be attached to the connector.

In the present invention, the connector includes an external interface section connected to an external device, and charging terminals provided on both sides of the external interface section, and the base section or the hook of the hinge is provided. The fitting portion that fits with is disposed between the external interface portion and the charging terminal, and the exposed area of the protective cover can be small.

The mobile phone of the present invention is characterized by including the connector having the above-described structure.

Further, the method of assembling a mobile phone according to the present invention includes an upper casing, a lower casing, an external connection connector,
A method for assembling a mobile phone having at least a protective cover that is openably and closably supported by a hinge, wherein the external connection connector is fitted with a base portion of the hinge, or a fitting portion for locking a hook of the hinge. And attaching the hinge of the protective cover to the external connection connector in advance, and then assembling the upper housing, the lower housing, and the external connection connector.

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, a structure for fixing the hinge portion of the protective cover to the external connection connector itself used in an electronic device such as a mobile phone is provided, and the connector and the protective cover are provided. Since it can be integrated, the size of the protective cover can be reduced, and restrictions on the design design can be relaxed. Further, since the connector and the protective cover can be provided to the device maker of the electronic device in an integrated state, the step of attaching the hinge part of the protective cover is not necessary when assembling the electronic device, and the mounting process can be simplified. You can

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An external connection connector according to the present invention is, in a preferred embodiment thereof, a connector including an external interface section connected to an external device and charging terminals arranged on both sides thereof. The main body is provided with a fitting portion that fits with a base portion such as a T-shaped hinge portion that supports the protective cover of the connector so that the connector cover can be opened and closed, and a hook. By arranging it in between, it is possible to reduce the exposed area of the protective cover, making it less likely to be a constraint on the design design, and
By attaching the protective cover to the connector in advance and providing it to the device maker, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and the number of assembly steps in the device maker.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings in order to describe the above-described embodiments of the present invention in more detail.

[Embodiment 1] First, a connector for external connection and connector cover structure of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a mobile phone having the structure will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described with reference to. 1A and 1B are views showing a structure of a connector portion of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment, FIG. 1A is a plan view of the connector portion viewed from below the mobile phone, and FIG. 1B is a top view of the connector portion. FIG. In the following description, the case where the connector and connector cover structure of the present invention is applied to the I / O connector portion of a mobile phone will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 is roughly divided into an upper housing 2 and a lower housing 3, a connector 4 arranged so as to be sandwiched between the two housings, and a connector. 4, a cover 5 for the purpose of protection, and a hinge portion 9 for supporting the protective cover 5 in an openable and closable manner. Further, the connector 4 is provided with an external interface section 6 connected to a cable of an external device and a charging terminal 7 for supplying power from a desk charger or the like.

As shown in the prior art, in recent years, an external interface has been installed in the connector 4 of an electronic device such as a mobile phone.
Charging terminals 7 for supplying power from a desk charger or the like are often provided on both sides of the face portion 6, and if the protective cover for protecting the connector 4 is also detachable, the protective cover may be lost. Therefore, it is necessary to fix the hinge part 9 of the protective cover to the mobile phone 1.

Therefore, heretofore, this hinge portion 9 has been used for the connector 4
The upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 outside the above are sandwiched and fixed, and the connector 4 is protected by a large protective cover 10 as shown in FIG. 3B, but the protective cover 10 becomes large. There are restrictions on the design of the mobile phone 1
There was a problem that a step of attaching the hinge part 9 was newly required at the time of assembling.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a fitting portion 8 having a T-shaped cross section is provided between the external interface portion 6 and the charging terminal 7 in the connector 4,
The T-shaped hinge portion 9 of the protective cover 5 is fitted therein. With such a structure, it is possible to deliver the protective cover 5 to the connector 4 in advance with the protective cover 5 attached to the connector 4 all at once.

When the mobile phone 1 is assembled by the device manufacturer, if the connector 4 is assembled by sandwiching the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3, it is possible to rotate around the hinge portion 9. It becomes possible to open and close the protective cover 5 by operation.

Therefore, the connector 4 is previously prepared by the component manufacturer.
If the protection cover 5 and the protection cover 5 are set in a set state, the number of parts handled by the device manufacturer can be reduced, and the number of assembling steps can be reduced by one step, and the cost reduction of the mobile phone is realized by the effect of reducing the number of steps. can do.

By attaching the hinge part 9 of the protective cover 5 to the connector 4, the size of the protective cover 5 can be made smaller than that of the conventional structure, and the appearance of the mobile phone 1 can be improved. At the same time, it is possible to make it less likely to be a constraint in design design.

The shapes of the fitting portion 8 and the hinge portion 9 are not limited to the T-shape, but any shape may be used as long as the fitting portion 8 cannot be easily removed after the hinge portion 9 is fitted into the fitting portion 8. It may be. Further, in FIG. 1, the hinge portion 9 of the protective cover 5 is shown.
The connector 4 is slid from the side surface of the connector 4 and fitted into the fitting portion 8. However, the connector 4 is inserted from the lower surface of the connector 4, or the projections and depressions for engaging the fitting portion 8 and the hinge portion 9 are provided. The hinge part 9 is fixed at the position so that the protective cover 5 can be prevented from coming off easily.

[Embodiment 2] Next, a connector and connector cover structure for external connection of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a mobile phone having the structure will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described with reference to. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the fitting portion of the mobile phone according to the second embodiment, and FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

In the above-described first embodiment, the T-shaped hinge portion 9 is fitted into the fitting portion 8, but as shown in FIG. 2, the hinge portion 9 having the hook shape at the tip is It is also possible to adopt a structure in which the fitting portion 8 composed of a recess that can be fitted is provided. With such a structure, it becomes possible to attach the protective cover 5 after assembling the mobile phone 1, and the size of the protective cover 5 can be reduced in the same manner as in the first embodiment to restrict the design. Can be relaxed.

In each of the above embodiments, the connector and the connector cover structure of the present invention are shown as being suitable for the I / O connector of the mobile phone, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The present invention can be applied to any connector used in an electronic device, particularly a portable terminal device having a small device size and being portable.

[0028]

As described above, according to the connector and connector cover structure of the present invention and the mobile phone having the structure, the following effects can be obtained.

The first effect of the present invention is that the size of the protective cover can be reduced, and it can be less likely to be a constraint in design design.

The reason is that by providing a fitting portion to which the hinge portion of the protective cover can be attached just beside the external interface portion in the connector, it is not necessary to provide a hinge fixing mechanism outside the connector. is there.

The second effect of the present invention is that the mounting process at the device maker can be reduced and the cost of the mobile phone can be reduced.

The reason is that by providing the connector to the device maker with the protective cover attached in advance, the device maker does not need to attach the hinge part of the protective cover when assembling the housing.

The third effect of the present invention is that the mounting process at the device maker can be made efficient.

The reason is that it is not necessary to separately arrange the layout area of the hinge portion of the connector and the hinge portion of the protective cover.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the structure of an external connection connector section of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing a structure of a fitting portion of an external connection connector portion of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram comparing a structure of a connector portion for external connection of a mobile phone of the present invention with a conventional structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mobile phone 2 Upper case 3 Lower case 4 connectors 5 protective cover 6 External interface 7 charging terminal 8 Fitting part 9 Hinge part 10 Protective cover (conventional structure)

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5E023 AA02 AA04 AA13 AA24 BB02                       BB11 DD25 HH20                 5E087 EE07 EE11 FF08 LL04 LL17                       LL29 LL33 MM08 PP01 QQ02                       RR04 RR25                 5K023 AA07 BB04 MM03 NN06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A connector body has a protective cover for the connector.
A connector comprising a fitting portion that fits with a base portion of a hinge that supports the opening and closing of the connector. 2. A hinge having a base portion fitted to a fitting portion provided on the connector is fixed to the connector body, and the hinge is provided with the hinge.
A connector with a protective cover integrated therein, wherein a protective cover of the connector is supported to be openable and closable. 3. A connector body having a protective cover for the connector.
A connector that is fitted with a hook of a hinge that supports the connector so that the connector can be opened and closed, and the protective cover can be attached to the connector after the connector is attached to a device. 4. The connector includes an external interface part connected to an external device, and charging terminals provided on both sides of the external interface part, and is fitted to the base part or the hook of the hinge. The connector is characterized in that the fitting portion is disposed between the external interface portion and the charging terminal, and the exposed area of the protective cover is small. 5. A mobile phone comprising the connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A method of assembling a mobile phone, which comprises at least an upper housing, a lower housing, an external connection connector, and a protective cover that is openably and closably supported by a hinge. A fitting portion for fitting with the base portion of the hinge or for locking the hook of the hinge, and after previously attaching the hinge of the protective cover to the external connection connector, the upper housing and the lower portion. A method of assembling a mobile phone, comprising assembling a side casing and the external connection connector.