JP2004011718A - Hinge unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an improved hinge unit of a portable telephone capable of suitably opening and closing bodies of the folding portable telephone. <P>SOLUTION: When the hinge unit 1 is released at the range of angle from a close state to a first angle α which is slightly opened, the hinge unit 1 capable of opening and closing a first member 10 and second member 11 gives operating force operated to the close state. The hinge unit 1 gives operating force to an opening direction at the range of angle beyond the first angle α to a second angle β which is on the way to an open state. Even though the hinge unit 1 is released at the range of angle beyond the second angle β to a third angle γ which is in the vicinity of the open state, the hinge unit 1 at the position of angle remains as it is. When the hinge unit 1 is released at the range of angle beyond the third angle γ to the open state, the hinge unit 1 provides operating force operated to the open state. When the hinge unit 1 is released at the range of angle exceeding the first angle α and being in the vicinity of the first angle α, the hinge unit 1 is operated at the open state by operating force to an opening direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to a hinge device, and more particularly, to a hinge device configured to enable an optimal main body opening / closing operation.
[0002]
[Prior art]
One of the functions required for a foldable mobile phone is to open the body from the closed state to the talk angle by the elastic force of a spring so that a call can be started immediately upon receiving a call. In addition, it is necessary to be able to freely adjust the opening / closing angle of the main body in order to make the display easier to read when inputting mail or viewing images on a desk. Furthermore, it is necessary to perform an operation of closing the phone by using the elastic force of the spring from the open state so that the main body can be immediately closed when the use of the telephone is finished. There is a need for a hinge device that can realize all these operations.
[0003]
Two conventional examples of the hinge device will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a hinge device according to a first conventional example, for example, a hinge device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-284165. FIG. 12A is a perspective view of a portable wireless device to which the hinge device is applied. Referring to FIG. 12A, a mounting base 51 is provided on main body case 50. The flip 52 sandwiches the mounting base 51 from both sides. The flip means a main body cover that covers a part or the whole of the radio main body and protects a switch and the like. The flip 52 is pivotally supported using a hinge device described later provided on the mounting table 51.
[0004]
FIG. 12B is a partial cross-sectional view of the portable wireless device shown in FIG. A pair of such hinge devices is provided symmetrically in the mounting table 51. FIG. 12C is a cross-sectional view of the hinge device shown in FIG.
[0005]
Referring to these figures, a mounting base 51 is provided at the center of main body case 50. An octagonal concave portion is provided as a mounting hole 57 on the wall surface of the mounting base 51. In addition, the mounting base 51 has an abutting wall 59 provided inside the case. The hinge body 63 of the hinge device 53 includes a hinge body cylinder 65 and a bottom plate 67.
[0006]
The hinge main body 65 has a cylindrical shape, has an octagonal prism side surface such that the side surface engages with the mounting hole 57, and has a hexagonal column hollowed out so that the inner surface engages with a slide piece 85 described later. It is. Four engagement holes 69 are provided on the side surface near one end of the hinge main body cylinder 65, and a hinge shaft abutting wall 71 is provided at the other end toward the central axis.
[0007]
On the other hand, the bottom plate 67 is a hexagonal plate corresponding to the inner surface shape of the hinge main body cylinder 65. At the edge of the bottom plate 67, four columnar engaging portions 72 are provided. The engaging portions 72 are provided toward the inside of the hinge main body, and a locking claw 73 is provided at an end of each of the engaging portions 72 toward the outside. The distance between the opposed engaging portions 72 is slightly larger than the outer shape of an elastic member 91 described later.
[0008]
The locking claws 73 of the bottom plate 67 are locked in the engaging holes 69 of the hinge main body cylinder 65 to form the hinge main body 63. The hinge body 63 is inserted into the mounting hole 57 of the body case 50. At this time, the outer side surface of the hinge main body cylinder 65 is engaged with the mounting hole 57, and the bottom plate 67 abuts against the wall 59. The dump 59a of the abutting wall 59 supports the hinge body 63 in a direction perpendicular to the axis as shown in the figure. Thus, the hinge main body 63 is non-rotatably attached to the main body case 50. The hinge shaft 77 is supported by the hinge main body cylinder 65.
[0009]
When such a hinge device is used, an end cam 93 formed on an end surface of a hinge shaft 77 provided inside the hinge device, and a driven pin 83 formed on a slide piece 85 that slides in the axial direction inside the hinge device are provided. Are configured to abut against each other by the biasing force of the elastic member 91 and to hold the flip 52 in the open state and the closed state. When the flip 52 is opened, the flip 52 can be urged to the open state to be opened. When closing from the open state, the flip 52 can be urged to the closed state when closed to a certain angle or less. it can. Therefore, by using this hinge device for a mobile phone, a telephone call can be started immediately upon receiving an incoming call, and the main body can be immediately closed when the use of the telephone is finished.
[0010]
Next, a hinge device according to a second conventional example described in JP-A-10-65778 will be described. FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a hinge device used for a folding mobile phone according to a second conventional example.
[0011]
Referring to FIG. 13, hinge device 1 includes bearing portion 3. The bearing 3 bears the rotating shaft 2. The sliding cam 4 is urged in the axial direction while rotating with the rotating shaft 2 by passing the rotating shaft 2 through the center thereof. The sliding cam 4 has a pair of cam grooves 4a, 4a, which are concave portions. The sliding cam 4 and the fixed cam provided on the bearing portion 3 abut each other by the elastic force of the spring 7. One end of the rotating shaft 2 is inserted through the friction plate 5 and the holding washer 5a and caulked.
[0012]
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the structure of the bearing unit 3 as viewed from the sliding cam 4 side in FIG. In FIG. 14, reference numeral 3a denotes a pair of cam projections formed on the bearing portion 3 at 180 ° intervals and constituting a fixed cam. The pair of cam projections 3a, 3a are formed corresponding to the positions of the pair of cam grooves 4a shown in FIG.
[0013]
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the operation of a folding mobile phone to which the hinge device according to the second conventional example is attached. Referring to FIGS. 13, 14 and 15, mounting portion 2 a is provided on the other side of rotating shaft 2. The mounting portion 2a is fixedly mounted on one of the folding mobile phone main bodies 9, and the bearing portion 3 is fixedly mounted on the other side of the main body 9. Thus, when one of the main bodies 9 is rotated with respect to the other, the opening operation of the main body of the folding portable telephone is regulated by the configuration of the cam surface formed on the bearing portion 3.
[0014]
At an opening angle close to the open state of the main body, the cam surface has a gentle slope close to flat, and the friction plate 5 functions as a resistance of the opening operation by being pressed by the bearing portion 3 as the rotating shaft 2 rotates. By doing so, the portable telephone can be arbitrarily stopped in a state where the main body 9 is opened (so that the portable telephone can be held at a free stop).
[0015]
On the other hand, when trying to open the main body from the closed state to the open state, the main body 9 is held in the free stop as described above before reaching the open state, and therefore, as shown in FIG. Is released vertically, the release lock 7 is released, and the transmitting section 11 as the other side of the main body 9 is opened to 160 ° with the help of its own weight in addition to the rotational urging force of the cam mechanism. Further, when it is desired to further open the transmitting section 11, one of the transmitting section 11 and the receiving section 10 is held with one hand, and the other is pushed in the opening direction, whereby opening of 180 ° is possible. Note that a whip antenna 13 is attached to the main body 9.
[0016]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The conventional hinge device is configured as described above. However, the hinge device according to the first conventional example is most suitable for a flip-type mobile phone that is used only when the main body is open during a call and is used only when the phone is closed except during a call. This hinge device is not suitable for a mobile phone having a mail / image browsing function. In other words, in the case of a mobile phone having an e-mail / image browsing function, when inputting e-mail or the like on a desk, it is necessary to adjust the body angle in order to make the display easier to see, but the open state or the closed state This cannot be realized in the hinge device according to the first conventional example, which can hold the main body only by the hinge.
[0017]
On the other hand, the hinge device according to the second conventional example is used for a foldable mobile phone, and can hold the main body at an angle within a certain range in an open state, thereby making the display easier to see. Although it is possible to input mails and the like in the state, it lacks responsiveness as a telephone. That is, for example, when a telephone call is received, the main unit cannot be opened immediately to the open state, and the main unit cannot be closed immediately at the end of the call. is not.
[0018]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is possible to maintain a responsiveness as a telephone, such as being able to answer a call immediately upon receiving an incoming call, and to maintain a constant response when inputting an e-mail or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hinge device capable of adjusting an opening angle of a mobile phone main body so that the mobile phone main body can be used with the main body opened in the range described above.
[0019]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is a hinge device that opens and closes the first member and the second member, whereby the angle region from the closed state to the slightly opened first angle α is opened to be closed. An operating force to be operated is given, and an angle range from the first angle α to the second angle β in the middle of the opening state is given an operating force in the opening direction, and the opening angle exceeds the second angle β. Even if the angle region up to the third angle γ in the vicinity of the state is open, it stays at this angular position, and the angle region beyond the third angle γ and up to the open state is opened to operate in the open state. When the opening is performed in an angle region exceeding the first angle α and in the vicinity of the first angle α, the opening operation is performed by the operating force in the opening direction.
[0020]
According to the present invention, regardless of the orientation of the folding mobile phone, slightly opening the main body urges the main body to the communication angle and opens the main body. Therefore, the operation responsiveness when using the device can be realized such that the device can be opened and used immediately when desired, and can be immediately closed after use. In addition, the angle of the display mounted on one of the housings can be adjusted so that it is easy to use at the time of use, so adjust the open angle of the two housings to make the display easier to see and operate. That is, it is possible to realize the freedom of angle adjustment when the device is used.
[0021]
The invention according to claim 2 is a hinge device for connecting the first member and the second member so as to be openable and closable, wherein the hinge main body provided non-rotatably on one of the first member and the second member; A rotating shaft rotatably supported by the hinge body so as to be rotatably provided on the other of the first member and the second member, and biased to abut on the rotating shaft end of the hinge body. And a slide piece slidable in the axial direction of the rotary shaft, a cam portion provided on one of the two contact portions of the hinge shaft or the slide piece, and a cam portion provided on the other of the two contact portions. And a driven part that slides and comes into contact with the driven part. The cam section has a cam surface for opening and closing the first member and the second member. The cam surface is opened in an angle range from the closed state to a slightly opened first angle α, thereby providing an operating force for operating in the closed state, and exceeding the first angle α in the open state. The angle area up to the second angle β on the way provides an operating force in the opening direction, and the angle area exceeding the second angle β and extending to the third angle γ near the open state is open, The angle range from the third angle γ to the open state beyond the third angle γ is opened to provide an operating force for operating in the open state, and exceeds the first angle α. When it is opened in an angle region near the first angle α, it is formed to be operated in an open state by an operation force in the opening direction.
[0022]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0023]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a folding mobile phone to which the present invention is applied.
Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile phone main body 9 includes a receiving unit 10, a receiver 14, a display unit 15, a transmitting unit 11 as another main body, and a microphone unit as one of the main units of the folding mobile phone. 16, a keyboard 17, and the hinge device 1 attached to the receiver 10 or the transmitter 11.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a telephone body to which the hinge device 1 is attached. At each end of the receiving section 10 and the transmitting section 11, a mounting section 10a and a mounting section 11a for mounting the hinge device 1 are provided. The mounting portion 10a and the mounting portion 11a are provided with a mounting hole 10b and a mounting hole 11b, respectively. The receiver 10 and the transmitter 11 are openably and closably connected via the hinge device 1 installed on the attachment 10a and the attachment 11a.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal structure of the hinge device 1. Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, case 18 of hinge device 1 is non-rotatably fixed to receiver hinge mounting portion 11 a. The fixed cam 8 has an attachment portion 8b attached to the transmission portion hinge attachment portion 10a, and is rotatably provided inside the case 8. The rectangular parallelepiped case 18 has a hole 18a for allowing the mounting portion 8b to protrude from the case 18.
[0026]
The fixed cam 8 has a disk shape, and is formed with a pair of driven pins 8a at 180 ° intervals. The fixed cam 8 is housed in the case 18, and allows the mounting portion 8 b to pass through the hole 18 a of the case 18. The slide piece 4 abuts on the driven pin 8a and is stored in the case 18 in a non-rotatable manner. The low friction plate 6 is sandwiched between the fixed cam 8 and the inner surface of the case 18 to smooth the rotation of the fixed cam 8. The spring 7 urges the slide piece 4 toward the fixed cam 8 to make it contact.
[0027]
FIGS. 5 to 9 are developed views of the cross section of the circumference of the fixed cam 8 and the slide piece 4. Referring to these drawings, slide piece 4 has a pair of cam grooves 4a provided at 180 ° intervals on the side facing driven pin 8a, cam flat surface 4b, and inclined surfaces 4d and 4e. A cam projection 4c and a cam section 4g composed of an inclined surface 4f are provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the hinge devices 1 are symmetrically mounted as a pair when viewed from the front toward the body 9.
[0028]
5 to 9, how the contact position of the cam portion 4g of the slide piece 4 with the driven pin 8a of the fixed cam 8 changes depending on the open positions of the receiver 10 and the transmitter 11. Is shown.
[0029]
When the receiving unit 10 and the transmitting unit 11 are folded as shown in FIG. 10A, the driven pin 8a of the fixed cam 8 is positioned at the position shown in FIG. Yes, this is 0 °. At this time, the operating force for operating the closed state is applied by the rotational torque generated by the biasing force of the driven pin 8a to slide down the inclined surface of the cam surface 4e, and the mobile phone body 9 can be maintained in the closed state. .
[0030]
From this state, when the receiving unit 10 is opened to the first angle α of 25 ° by applying the opening operation force as shown in FIG. 10B while holding the transmitting unit 11 in a hand, the receiving unit 10 Then, the driven pin 8a starts to open by receiving a rotational torque caused by an urging force sliding down the inclined surface of the cam surface 4d from the position shown in FIG.
[0031]
When the driven pin 8a reaches the position shown in FIG. 7 where the inclined surface 4d ends, and the receiving unit 10 is opened to the second angle β of 90 ° as shown in FIG. It has enough kinetic energy to open the third angle γ with respect to the talker 11 until the third angle γ forms 150 °, the main body opening operation is continued, and as shown in FIG. 8, the driven pin 8a is at the position shown in FIG. 8, tries to fall into the cam groove 4a, and the driven pin 8a comes into contact with the inclined surface 4f. As a result, an urging force acts in a direction in which the receiver 10 opens. When the driven pin 8a is lowered to the position shown in FIG. 9, the connection ends of the reception unit 10 and the transmission unit 11 come into contact with each other, as shown in FIG. Stop at an angle. In this way, the receiving unit 10 is opened by the operation force in the opening direction from 25 ° to 160 ° which is the talking angle.
[0032]
Here, regardless of the attitude of the main body transmission unit 11, the height of the cam projection 4c that provides the inclined surface of the cam surface 4g is determined by the reception unit 10 with respect to the transmission unit 11 only by operating force in the opening direction. From 25 ° of the first angle α to 150 ° of the third angle γ, it is provided to generate a torque to be opened by being biased by the elastic force of the spring.
[0033]
When adjusting the angle formed by the main body in order to make the display 15 of the receiving unit 10 an angle that is easy for the user to see, as shown in FIGS. 7, 10 c, 8, and 10 d. In addition, between 90 ° of the second angle β and 150 ° of the third angle γ, the receiving section 10 can be stopped at an arbitrary angle by the cam torque caused by the contact between the driven pin 8a and the cam surface 4b.
[0034]
When closing the telephone body, when the receiver 10 or the transmitter 11 is closed to the first angle α of 25 ° as shown in FIG. 10B, the driven pin 8a is at the position shown in FIG. In response to the rotational torque associated with the urging force that slides down the surface 4e, an operating force for operating in the closed state is applied, and the receiver 10 and the transmitter 11 are urged by the elastic force of the spring to start closing. Then, the receiving unit 10 and the transmitting unit 11 are closed as shown in FIG.
[0035]
FIG. 11 schematically shows a closing angle between the receiver 10 and the transmitter 11 when the receiver 10 and the transmitter 11 are fixed by hand once at an angle and then released again. This is for clearly explaining the operation in the above embodiment.
[0036]
Note that, in the above-described embodiment, a foldable mobile phone is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to any hinge device used for a foldable device.
[0037]
In the above embodiment, the cam surface 4g is formed on the slide piece 4, and the driven pin 8a is formed on the fixed cam 8. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 8, the same operation can be obtained even when the driven pin 8a is formed on the slide piece 4.
[0038]
The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, regardless of the orientation of the folding mobile phone, by slightly opening the main body, the main body can be opened by being urged to the call angle. Therefore, at the time of an incoming call, the operation becomes easy, for example, it is possible to immediately start a call with one hand regardless of the posture. In addition, since the body angle can be arbitrarily adjusted, the visibility of the display is improved when inputting mail on a desk, browsing images, and the like. Further, since the main body is biased and closed below a certain angle, the main body can be closed immediately at the end of the call or at the end of use.
[0040]
Further, according to the present invention, since no button or the like is used to start the opening operation of the main body of the folding mobile phone, it is possible to prevent erroneous operation due to erroneous pressing of the button and to simplify the structure of the hinge device. can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a folded mobile phone to which the present invention is applied, in an open state.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a telephone body to which the hinge device according to the present invention is attached.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the hinge device according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a positional relationship between a fixed cam and a slide piece when the main body is closed.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a positional relationship between a fixed cam and a slide piece when the main body is opened at a first angle α of 25 °.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a positional relationship between a fixed cam and a slide piece in a state where the main body is opened by a second angle β of 90 °.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a positional relationship between a fixed cam and a slide piece in a state where the main body is opened by 150 ° of a third angle γ.
FIG. 9 is an expanded sectional view showing a positional relationship between a fixed cam and a slide piece when the main body is opened to a talking angle.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation of the folding mobile phone to which the hinge device according to the present invention is attached.
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the hinge device according to the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a hinge device according to a first conventional example.
FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a hinge device according to a second conventional example.
FIG. 14 is a view showing a shape of a fixed cam of a hinge device according to a second conventional example.
FIG. 15 is a view showing the operation of a folding mobile phone to which a hinge device according to a second conventional example is attached.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hinge device, 2 rotating shafts, 3 bearing portions, 4 slide pieces, 4a cam grooves, 4b cam flat surfaces, 4c cam convex portions, 4d, 4e, 4f inclined surfaces, 4g cam portions, 5 friction means, 6 low friction plates , 7 spring, 8 fixed cam, 8a driven pin, 8b mounting portion, 9 mobile phone main body, 10 receiver, 10a mounting portion, 10b mounting hole, 11 transmitting portion, 11a mounting portion, 11b mounting hole, 12 lock, 13 whip antenna, 14 receiver, 15 display, 16 microphone, 17 keyboard, 18 case, 18a case hole.

Claims (2)

In a hinge device for connecting the first member and the second member to be openable and closable,
The angle region from the closed state to the slightly opened first angle α is opened to provide an operating force for operating the closed state,
An angle region beyond the first angle α and up to the second angle β on the way to the open state gives an operating force in the opening direction,
Even if the angle region beyond the second angle β to the third angle γ in the vicinity of the open state is open, it remains at this angular position,
The angle range from the third angle γ to the open state is opened to provide an operating force for operating the open state,
A hinge device, wherein when opened in an angle region exceeding the first angle α and in the vicinity of the first angle α, the hinge device is operated in an open state by an operation force in an opening direction. In a hinge device for connecting the first member and the second member to be openable and closable,
A hinge body non-rotatably provided on one of the first member and the second member,
A rotation shaft provided non-rotatably on the other of the first member and the second member, and rotatably supported on the hinge body;
A slide piece that is urged to abut on the end of the rotating shaft in the hinge body and that can slide in the axial direction of the rotating shaft,
A cam portion provided on one of the contact portions of the rotating shaft or the slide piece,
A driven portion provided on the other of the two contact portions and slidably contacted with the cam portion;
The cam section is
A cam surface for opening and closing the first member and the second member,
This cam surface is
The angle region from the closed state to the slightly opened first angle α is opened to provide an operating force for operating the closed state,
An angle region beyond the first angle α and up to the second angle β on the way to the open state gives an operating force in the opening direction,
Even if the angle region beyond the second angle β to the third angle γ in the vicinity of the open state is open, it remains at this angular position,
The angle region extending from the third angle γ to the open state is opened to give an operating force for operating the open state,
A hinge device characterized in that the hinge device is configured to be operated in an open state by an operation force in an opening direction when opened in an angle region exceeding the first angle α and near the first angle α.

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