JP2005311004A - Fpc packaging structure and electronic equipment using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an FPC packaging structure for accommodating an FPC with a margin without losing the degree of freedom in the FPC, when accommodating the FPC in the biaxial hinge unit assembly of a folding cellular phone unit. <P>SOLUTION: When accommodating the FPC 2 in the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 by making portions 22, 21 of the FPC 2 wound to two shafts (first and second rotary shafts) 11, 14 for accommodation, a mounting mechanism 12 of the second rotary shaft 14 orthogonally crossing the first rotary shaft, and a development regulation mechanism 13 for regulating the development angle (development position) of the second unit are provided at the first rotary shaft 11, so that one portion 22 of the FPC 2 is wound around a part whose diameter is small in the first rotary shaft 11 by avoiding the mechanisms 12, 13, thus winding the FPC with a margin and improving the degree of freedom of the FPC 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) mounting structure and an electronic device using the same, and more particularly to mounting an FPC in a hinge unit in an electronic device such as a folding cellular phone having a biaxial hinge unit. The structure of the case.

  In a mobile phone which is a mobile terminal, an upper unit having a display unit and a lower unit having an operation unit are connected using a hinge unit assembly so that the upper unit can be expanded relative to the lower unit. Foldable mobile phones that are widely used are widely used. Further, a so-called biaxial hinge in which the upper unit is rotatable about a rotation axis orthogonal to the expansion axis while the upper unit is expanded by a predetermined angle (for example, 90 degrees) with respect to the lower unit. The unit structure is also well known.

  In such a mobile phone having a biaxial hinge unit structure, an FPC cable (hereinafter simply referred to as FPC) for electrically connecting both printed circuit boards of the upper unit and the lower unit is required. This FPC is connected to the printed circuit board of the upper and lower units via the biaxial hinge unit assembly described above. In this case, when the FPC is stored in the biaxial hinge unit assembly, the degree of freedom of the FPC is increased. It is necessary to make the storage space as small as possible without damaging it.

Here, referring to Patent Document 1, an FPC connection structure in a biaxial hinge unit assembly is disclosed. According to this structure, the FPC is wound around each of the first and second hinge shafts (rotating shafts orthogonal to each other).
JP 2003-152357 A

  In the structure of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the FPC is wound around the two axes of the two-axis hinge unit assembly, but the deployment axis for deploying the upper unit relative to the lower unit is orthogonal to the deployment axis. In addition to the structure for attaching the rotating shaft, a deployment restricting structure for regulating the deployment angle (deployment position) when the second unit is deployed is attached, and it is avoided that the diameter of the deployment shaft increases. I can't. In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there is no particular mention about the size of such a deployment shaft. Therefore, the FPC is wound around the deployment shaft having a large diameter, and winding with a margin is performed. There is a problem that the degree of freedom of FPC is impaired.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an FPC mounting structure and an electronic device using the same that can be accommodated with a margin without impairing the degree of freedom of the FPC when the FPC is accommodated in a two-axis hinge unit assembly. It is to be.

  In the FPC mounting structure according to the present invention, the first unit and the second unit are connected to the first unit so that the second unit can be unfolded around the first rotation shaft, and the first rotation shaft is connected to the first unit. A hinge unit that rotatably couples the second unit around a second rotation axis that is orthogonal to the flexible printed board (hereinafter simply referred to as FPC) that makes electrical connection between the first and second units. A first rotation shaft of the hinge unit, and a deployment mechanism that regulates a deployment position of the second rotation shaft and a deployment position of the second unit. And a part of the FPC is wound around a part of the first rotating shaft other than the attachment mechanism part and the development restricting part.

  Further, a part of the FPC is wound around the second rotation shaft, and the FPC is attached to the attachment mechanism portion via an FPC holding member. The FPC holding member has an elastically deformable claw portion for attachment to the attachment mechanism portion.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention is a foldable electronic apparatus including the FPC mounting structure described above.

  The operation of the present invention will be described. When the FPC is stored in the two-axis hinge unit assembly, when a part of the FPC is wound around each of the two axes, the expansion shaft (first rotation shaft) is orthogonal to the expansion shaft at the center thereof. Since the mounting mechanism part of the second rotating shaft and the deployment restricting mechanism that regulates the deployment angle (deployment position) of the second unit are provided, a portion where the diameter of the deployment shaft is reduced by avoiding these mechanism units Next, a part of the FPC is wound. As a result, the FPC can be wound with a margin, and the degree of freedom of the FPC is improved.

  According to the present invention, when the FPC is wound around the deployment shaft that is the first rotation shaft of the two-axis hinge unit assembly, the FPC is wound around the portion having a small diameter. This makes it possible to rotate and has the effect of improving the degree of freedom of FPC.

  Hereinafter, it will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an FPC used in an embodiment of the present invention. The FPC 2 basically includes an upper unit connecting portion 24 connected to the printed circuit board of the upper unit, a lower unit connecting portion 25 connected to the printed circuit board of the lower unit, and the upper unit connecting portion 24 as shown in FIG. It consists of a horizontal extension portion 21 extending in the horizontal direction, a vertical extension portion 22 extending in the vertical direction in the figure from the lower unit connection portion 25, and a bent portion 23 for connecting both the extension portions. . Each of these parts 21 to 25 has a planar shape.

  FIG. 2 shows the structure of the FPC holder 5 for holding the FPC 2 and fixing it to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). 2A is a front perspective view, FIGS. 2B and C are rear perspective views, and FIG. 2D is a six-view diagram including a front view, a side view, and a rear view. As shown in the figure, the FPC holder 5 has an FPC placement surface and three FPC clamping claws 51 to 53 provided in a plane parallel to the FPC placement surface on the back surface portion. As shown in FIG. 3, the FPC 2 and the FPC holder 5 are attached to each other at three portions of the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2, and the three claw portions 51 to 53 of the FPC holder 5 and the FPC that is the holder main body are mounted. It is clamped between the surfaces and fixed.

  That is, by inserting the three side edge portions of the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 into the gap between the claw portions 51 to 53 of the FPC holder 5 and the FPC placement surface, the FPC placement surface of the FPC holder 5. On the upper side, the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 is positioned and placed, and fixed by the three FPC clamping claw portions 51 to 53.

  On the back surface of the FPC holder 5, holder fixing claws 54 and 55 for attaching the holder to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) are further provided. The pair of claw portions 54 and 55 are adapted to fit into the central portion 12 of the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 (so-called snap fastening).

  Since the FPC holder 5 is made of an elastically deformable plastic material or the like, when the FPC holder 5 is attached to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10, the holder fixing claws 54 and 55 are deformed. When the fixed position is reached, the central portion 12 of the first rotating shaft 11 is sandwiched between the claw portions 54 and 55 so that the FPC holder 5 can be easily attached to the central portion 12 by a so-called one-touch operation. (Snap stop) can be done.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 is a first rotation shaft that functions as a deployment shaft for deploying the upper unit (not shown) with respect to the lower unit (not shown). 11 and a second rotation shaft for rotating the upper unit in a direction orthogonal to the first rotation shaft 11 in a state where the upper unit is expanded by a predetermined angle (generally 90 degrees). 14 is provided. An attachment mechanism 12 for attaching the second rotation shaft 14 is provided at the center of the first rotation shaft 11. Further, the first rotation shaft 11 is provided with a deployment restriction mechanism portion 13 for regulating a deployment angle (deployment position) when the upper unit rotates about the first rotation shaft 11 and deploys. .

  3 again, with the FPC holder 5 attached to the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 as shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIGS. The FPC holder 5 is attached to the hinge unit assembly 10, but after processing the horizontal extension portion 21 and the vertical extension portion 22 of the FPC 2 as described below, the FPC holder 5 is a central portion of the first rotation shaft 11. It attaches to the two rotation axis attachment mechanism part 12.

  Referring to FIG. 4, (A) is a front view when the FPC 2 is attached to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 via the FPC holder 5, (B) is a rear view thereof, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the attachment relation of the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 to which FPC2 was attached, and the upper unit printed circuit board 3. FIG.

  In the state shown in FIG. 3, that is, with the FPC holder 5 attached to the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2, the horizontal extending portion 21 of the FPC 2 protrudes vertically from the central portion 12 of the hinge unit assembly 10. Wrap around 14 several times with a margin. After that, the FPC holder 5 is attached to the second rotating shaft attaching mechanism 12 with the one-touch operation snapping as described above.

  Then, the vertical extending portion 22 of the FPC 2 is wound around the first rotating shaft 11 of the hinge unit assembly 10 several times with a margin. At this time, the first rotating shaft 11 is wound around a portion having a smaller diameter (a portion other than the second rotating shaft attaching mechanism portion 12 and the deployment restricting mechanism portion 13).

  Thereafter, the upper unit connecting portion 24 of the FPC 2 is connected to the printed circuit board 3 of the upper unit in FIG. 5, and the lower unit connecting portion 25 is connected to the printed circuit board of the lower unit (not shown).

  In FIG. 5, a member 18 attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 14 is a hinge bracket for mechanically connecting the hinge unit assembly 10 and the printed circuit board 3, and is a plastic that is an elastic material. The printed circuit board 3 and the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 are connected using an attachment frame 4 made of

  That is, in a state where the printed circuit board 3 and the hinge bracket 18 are aligned and overlapped, the hinge bracket 18 is sandwiched by using the mounting frame 4, and the four claw portions 41a, 41b, 42a, 4b of the mounting frame 4 are By fitting (snapping) the corresponding portions 31a, 31b, 32a, 32b of the printed circuit board 3, the printed circuit board 3 and the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 can be mechanically connected.

  6 shows an external perspective view of the mobile phone when the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 is used. FIG. 6A shows a normal closed state in which the back surface 202 of the upper unit 200 is the upper surface. (B) is a state in which the upper unit 200 having the display surface 201 is rotated about the first rotation shaft 11 and is unfolded with respect to the lower unit 100 having the operation surface 101 and opened about 90 degrees. Is shown. (C), from the state of (B), the upper unit 200 is rotated around the second rotation shaft 14, and the upper unit 200 is oriented just 180 degrees with respect to the state of (B). (D) shows the changed state, and (D) rotates the upper unit 200 around the first rotation shaft 11 from the state of (C) so that the display surface 201 of the upper unit 200 comes up. It shows the state. The receiver 6 is also attached to the display surface 201 side of the upper unit 200 so that a call can be made even in this state (D).

  In the above embodiment, a mobile phone has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in general, it is applicable to an electronic apparatus having a two-axis hinge unit assembly, such as a digital camera or a video camera. It is obvious.

It is a top view of FPC used for embodiment of this invention. The structure of the FPC holder in embodiment of this invention is shown, (A) is a front surface perspective view, (B) and (C) are back surface perspective views, (D) is a front view, both side views, and a back view. FIG. It is a figure which shows the attachment relationship of FPC2 and FPC holder 5. FIG. (A) is a front view when FPC2 is attached to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 via the FPC holder 5, and (B) is a rear view thereof. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the attachment relation of the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 to which FPC2 was attached, and the upper unit printed circuit board 3. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a foldable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

1 Hinge unit
2 FPC
3 Upper unit printed circuit board
4 frames
5 FPC holder
6 Receiver 10 Biaxial Hinge Unit Assembly 11 First Rotating Shaft 12 Second Rotating Shaft Mounting Mechanism Part 13 Deployment Restricting Part 14 Second Rotating Shaft 18 Hinge Bracket 21 Horizontal Extending Part 22 Vertical Extending Part 23 Bending Part 24 Upper Unit Printed circuit board connection portion 25 Lower unit printed circuit board connection portion 51 to 53 FPC clamping claw portions 54, 55 Holder fixing claw portion 100 Lower unit 101 Operation surface 200 Upper unit 201 Display surface 202 Rear surface

Claims (5)

A second rotation unit that couples the second unit to the first unit and the first unit so that the second unit is expandable about the first rotation axis, and is orthogonal to the first rotation axis. An electronic device including a hinge unit that rotatably couples the second unit about an axis, and a flexible printed board (hereinafter simply referred to as FPC) that makes electrical connection between the first and second units FPC mounting structure in
The first rotation shaft of the hinge unit is provided with an attachment mechanism portion for the second rotation shaft and a deployment regulating portion that regulates the deployment position of the second unit,
An FPC mounting structure, wherein a part of the FPC is wound around a portion of the first rotating shaft other than the attachment mechanism portion and the development restricting portion.   2. The FPC mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein a part of the FPC is wound around the second rotating shaft.   The FPC mounting structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the FPC is attached to the attachment mechanism portion via an FPC holding member.   The FPC mounting structure according to claim 3, wherein the FPC holding member has an elastically deformable claw portion for attachment to the attachment mechanism portion. A foldable electronic apparatus comprising the FPC mounting structure according to claim 1.

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