JP2004135056A - Foldable portable device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reliable foldable portable device which can fully secure the strength of a speed reduction mechanism even under a condition that the diameter of the speed reduction mechanism is restricted by the diameter of a hinge portion. <P>SOLUTION: The portable device of which the display side housing is freely developed or folded comprises a motor stored inside a hinge portion 4; an inner gear 4a disposed on an inner peripheral face of the hinge portion 4; a planet carrier unit 7 with a plurality of planet gears 12 engaged with the inner gear 4a; a male coupler 26 disposed at an output end of a planet carrier unit 10; and a female coupler disposed via an energizing member inside a hinge supporting portion and engaged with the male coupler 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a foldable portable device that can be manually or electrically unfolded or folded, and more particularly to an opening / closing structure using a speed reducer built in a hinge.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art A foldable mobile phone that can be manually and electrically opened and closed has been known (see Patent Document 1). As shown in FIG. 6, a motor 52 with a speed reducer is built in the hinge portion 51 of the foldable mobile phone. The housing 57 on the liquid crystal display portion side is opened and closed by the driving force of the motor 52. It has become.
[0003]
As shown in FIG. 6, the motor 52 with a speed reducer is fitted into the hinge 51 and fixed to the casing 58 on the operation button side. The housing of the motor 52 rotates. As shown in FIG. 7, the motor with speed reducer 52 is fitted into the hinge 51, and the housing of the motor with speed reducer 52 and the inner peripheral surface of the hinge 51 are adhesively fixed. The hinge 51 also rotates with the rotation of the housing 52. As described above, since the driving force of the motor 52 with the speed reducer is transmitted to the hinge 51, the liquid crystal display-side housing 57 fixed to the hinge 51 is driven to open and close with respect to the operation button-side housing 58. .
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-44208 A (FIG. 4 on page 4)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional foldable mobile phone (Patent Literature 1) has a structure in which a motor with a speed reducer is fitted inside a hinge portion, and the diameter of the speed reducer is restricted by the diameter of the hinge portion. Is not obtained.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to secure sufficient strength of a speed reducer even under conditions where the diameter of the speed reducer is restricted by the diameter of the hinge portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a foldable portable device which can be performed and has high reliability.
[0007]
The invention according to claim 1 is an operation button-side housing provided with an operation input button, a display unit-side housing provided with a display display unit, a hinge provided on the display unit-side housing, A hinge supporting portion provided on the button-side housing and rotatably supporting the hinge portion, wherein the display-portion-side housing is freely expandable or foldable; A planetary carrier unit having a plurality of planetary gears provided on the output side of the motor and meshing with the internal gears; a planetary carrier unit provided on an output side of the motor; A foldable portable device comprising: a male coupler provided at an output end of a unit; and a female coupler provided inside the hinge support via an urging member and meshing with the male coupler.
[0008]
Thus, the internal gear normally provided on the inner peripheral surface of the housing of the speed reducer is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the hinge portion. In the foldable portable device according to the present invention, when the driving force of the motor is transmitted to the female coupler that meshes with the male coupler via the planetary carrier unit, the hinge itself including the internal gear rotates. That is, since the female coupler is fixed via an urging member inside a hinge support portion provided on the operation button side housing, when the motor is driven, a male coupler engaged with the female coupler is provided. The hinge itself rotates about the output shaft of the planet carrier unit as a rotation axis.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, there is provided a foldable portable device including a plurality of stages of the planetary carrier units.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 3 is an operation button-side housing having an operation input button, a display unit-side housing having a display display unit, a hinge unit provided on the display unit-side housing, A hinge supporting portion provided on the button-side housing and rotatably supporting the hinge portion, wherein the display-portion-side housing is freely expandable or foldable, and is inserted into the hinge portion. Motor, a pinion provided on the rotating shaft of the motor, an internal gear formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hinge portion, three first planetary gears meshing with the pinion and the internal gear, and A first planetary carrier unit including a disk-shaped first planetary carrier that supports one planetary gear and a first sun gear provided on a center axis of the first planetary carrier; the first sun gear and the internal gear 3 second play that meshes with A second planetary carrier unit including a gear, a disk-shaped second planetary carrier supporting the second planetary gear, and a second sun gear provided on a center axis of the second planetary carrier; and the second sun gear And three third planetary gears meshing with the internal gear, a disk-shaped third planetary carrier for supporting the third planetary gears, and a third sun gear provided on a center axis of the third planetary carrier. A third planetary carrier unit, three fourth planetary gears meshing with the third sun gear and the internal gear, a disk-shaped fourth planetary carrier supporting the fourth planetary gear, and a center of the fourth planetary carrier; A fourth planetary carrier unit having an output shaft provided on a shaft, a male coupler provided on the output shaft of the fourth carrier unit, and a biasing spring provided inside the hinge support portion; Engage with the male coupler And the female coupler, a foldable mobile device comprising a.
[0011]
Thus, the internal gear normally provided on the inner peripheral surface of the housing of the speed reducer is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the hinge portion. In the foldable portable device according to the present invention, when the driving force of the motor is transmitted to the female coupler that meshes with the male coupler via the respective carrier units, the hinge itself including the internal gear rotates. That is, since the female coupler is fixed via an urging spring inside a hinge support portion provided on the operation button side housing, when the motor is driven, a male coupler engaged with the female coupler is provided. The hinge itself rotates about the output shaft of the planet carrier unit as a rotation axis.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
As shown in FIG. 1, a foldable mobile phone 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an operation button side housing 2 having operation buttons, a display unit side housing 3 having a display unit, and a display unit side. It has a hinge portion 4 provided on the housing 3 and a hinge support portion 5 provided on the operation button side housing 2, and the display portion side housing 3 is manually or electrically expanded or unfolded via the hinge portion 4. It is intended to be freely foldable.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, the hinge unit 4 accommodates a multi-stage planetary carrier unit 7 to 10 coaxially with a motor 6 that can open and close the display unit side housing 3 by electric power. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an internal gear 4a is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the hinge part 4, and the internal gear 4a and the planetary carrier units 7 to 10 constitute a speed reducer. The internal gear 4a is formed so as to reduce the rotation of the motor 6 to a predetermined reduction ratio.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 3, the first planetary carrier unit 7 includes a disk-shaped planetary carrier 11, three planetary gears 12, and a sun gear 13. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the planetary carrier 11 is provided with projections 11a for rotatably supporting the planetary gears 12 every 120 degrees. The projection 11a is formed integrally with the planet carrier 11. The three planetary gears 12 are rotatably supported by the protrusions 11a, respectively, and mesh with the internal gear 4a on the inner peripheral surface of the hinge 4 and also with the pinion 6b provided on the output shaft 6a of the motor 6. Has become. The sun gear 13 is press-fitted and fixed to the center axis of the planet carrier 11, and meshes with three planet gears 15 of the second planet carrier unit 8.
[0015]
As described above, the three planetary gears 12 are engaged with the pinion 6b and the internal gear 4a to rotate about the projection 11a as a rotation axis and revolve around the pinion 6b along the internal gear 4a. ing. Further, the planet carrier 11 is rotated by the rotation and revolution of the three planet gears 12.
[0016]
The second planetary carrier unit 8 and the third planetary carrier unit 9, like the first planetary carrier unit 7, have disk-shaped planetary carriers 14 and 17, three planetary gears 15 and 18, and sun gears 16 and 19. And is arranged coaxially with the first planetary carrier unit 7.
[0017]
The fourth planetary carrier unit 10 has a disk-shaped planetary carrier 20, three planetary gears 21, and an output shaft 22, and is arranged coaxially with the first planetary carrier unit 7. The output shaft 22 is fixed to the center axis of the planet carrier 20. Since the planet carrier 20 and the planet gear 21 are the same as the planet carrier 11 and the planet gear 12, respectively, the description is omitted.
[0018]
The male coupler 26 is provided at the end of the output shaft 22 via the liner 23, the bearing 24, and the bush 25. The male coupler 26 includes a disk-shaped base portion and a convex portion 26a. The convex portion 26a is formed in a substantially triangular prism shape, and is adapted to be engaged with a female coupler 27 described later to transmit the torque of the motor 6.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 2, the female coupler 27 is disposed coaxially with the male coupler 26 so as to mesh with the male coupler 26, and an urging spring as an urging member is provided inside the hinge support portion 5. It is fixed via 28. In the concave portion of the female coupler 27, a substantially V-shaped groove is formed so as to mesh with the convex portion 26a of the male coupler 26.
[0020]
As described above, in the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment, the male coupler 26 is engaged with the female coupler 27 fixed to the hinge support portion 5, so that the driving force of the motor 6 is transmitted via the speed reducer, The hinge portion 4 itself rotates from the output shaft 6a of the motor 6 to the female coupler 27 as a rotation shaft, and the display unit side housing 3 opens and closes electrically. On the other hand, at the time of manual opening / closing, since a torque larger than the torque due to the driving force of the motor 6 is applied to the male coupler 26 and the female coupler 27, the convex portion 26a of the male coupler 26 pushes the female coupler 27 while pressing the female coupler 27. It slides with respect to the mold coupler 27.
[0021]
Next, an electric opening / closing operation of the foldable mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment based on the above configuration will be described. First, when an open / close switch (not shown) provided on the operation button side housing 2 is pressed in a state where the foldable mobile phone 1 is folded, an output shaft 6 a of the motor 6, a pinion 6 b, sun gears 13 and 16 are pressed. 19, the output shaft 22, the male coupler 26, and the female coupler 27 become a rotation axis, and the hinge 4 rotates together with the housing of the motor 6. Then, as the hinge 4 rotates, the display-side housing 3 expands. When an open / close switch (not shown) is pressed in a state where the display unit side body 3 is expanded, the rotation from the output shaft 6a of the motor 6 to the female coupler 27 becomes a rotation axis in the same manner as the expansion operation. The hinge part 4 rotates together with the housing. Then, the display unit side housing 3 is folded with the rotation of the hinge unit 4.
[0022]
Next, a manual opening / closing operation of the foldable mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, when the display unit side housing 3 is manually unfolded from the state where the foldable mobile phone 1 is folded, the protrusion of the convex portion 26 a of the male coupler 26 presses the edge of the V-groove of the female coupler 27. Slide. On the other hand, when the female coupler 27 is pressed by the male coupler 26, it is contracted by the biasing spring 28. As described above, since the male coupler 26 slides with respect to the female coupler 27, the hinge unit 4 accommodating the planetary carrier units 7 to 10 and the motor 6 rotates with the expansion of the display unit side housing 3. Move. Further, when the display unit side body 3 is manually folded from the state where the display unit side body 3 is expanded, the male coupler 26 slides with respect to the female coupler 27 similarly to the unfolding operation. With the operation of the unit-side housing 3, the hinge unit 4 that houses the planetary carrier units 7 to 10 and the motor 6 rotates.
[0023]
In addition, the protrusion 11 a that supports the planetary gear 12 is not limited to one that is integrally formed with the planetary carrier 11. As shown in FIG. 5, a pin 29 that rotatably supports the planetary gear 12 may be press-fitted and fixed to the planet carrier 11. The other speed reduction mechanism shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the speed reduction mechanism shown in FIG.
[0024]
Further, the case where the planetary carrier units 7 to 10 are of a four-stage type has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
[0025]
Further, in the present embodiment, a mobile phone is described as an example.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
In the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, since the internal gear is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the hinge portion, the internal gear is reduced even under conditions where the diameter of the speed reducer is restricted by the diameter of the hinge portion. The outer diameter of the speed reducer can be increased by an amount corresponding to the housing of the machine, and the strength of the speed reducer (for example, wear resistance of teeth and strength of teeth) can be sufficiently ensured. As described above, since the strength of the speed reducer can be ensured, there is an effect that the reliability of the foldable portable device can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a foldable mobile phone according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge section taken along the axial direction of the hinge section.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the speed reducer.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge section taken perpendicular to the axis of the hinge section.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the hinge section taken along the axial direction of the hinge section.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a hinge portion of a conventional mobile phone.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a conventional motor with a speed reducer and a hinge portion.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Foldable mobile phone 2 Housing on operation button side 3 Housing on display side 4 Hinge part 5 Hinge support part 6 Motor 6a Output shaft 6b Pinion 7-10 Planet carrier unit 11.14.17 Planet carrier 12.15. 18.21 planetary gears 13,16,19 sun gear 22 output shaft 23 liner 24 bearing 25 bush 26 male coupler 26a convex part 27 female coupler 28 biasing spring 29 pin

Claims (3)

An operation button-side housing having an operation input button, a display unit-side housing having a display display unit, a hinge unit provided on the display unit-side housing, and provided on the operation button-side housing; A hinge supporting portion rotatably supporting the hinge portion, wherein the display-side housing is freely expandable or foldable.
A motor housed inside the hinge portion,
An internal gear provided on an inner peripheral surface of the hinge portion,
A planetary carrier unit provided on the output side of the motor and having a plurality of planetary gears meshing with the internal gear;
A male coupler provided at an output end of the planetary carrier unit,
A female coupler that meshes with the male coupler, which is provided via an urging member inside the hinge support portion,
A foldable portable device comprising: 2. The foldable portable device according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of stages of the planetary carrier unit. An operation button-side housing having an operation input button, a display unit-side housing having a display display unit, a hinge unit provided on the display unit-side housing, and provided on the operation button-side housing; A hinge supporting portion rotatably supporting the hinge portion, wherein the display-side housing is freely expandable or foldable.
A motor inserted into the hinge portion,
A pinion provided on the rotating shaft of the motor,
An internal gear formed on an inner peripheral surface of the hinge portion,
Three first planetary gears meshing with the pinion and the internal gear, a disk-shaped first planetary carrier supporting the first planetary gears, and a first sun gear provided on a central axis of the first planetary carrier; A first planetary carrier unit comprising:
Three second planetary gears meshing with the first sun gear and the internal gear, a disk-shaped second planetary carrier supporting the second planetary gears, and a second planetary carrier provided on the center axis of the second planetary carrier. A second planetary carrier unit comprising a sun gear;
Three third planetary gears meshing with the second sun gear and the internal gear, a disk-shaped third planetary carrier supporting the third planetary gears, and a third planetary gear provided on a central axis of the third planetary carrier. A third planetary carrier unit including a sun gear;
Three fourth planetary gears meshing with the third sun gear and the internal gear, a disk-shaped fourth planetary carrier supporting the fourth planetary gears, and an output shaft provided on a central axis of the fourth planetary carrier A fourth planetary carrier unit comprising:
A male coupler provided on an output shaft of the fourth carrier unit;
A female coupler that is provided inside the hinge support portion via an urging spring and meshes with the male coupler,
A foldable portable device comprising:

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