JP2006022868A - Automatic rotating hinge device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hinge structure capable of being operated even by one hand in opening a lid, with respect to a hinge device for horizontally rotating and opening/closing an appliance main body and the lid. <P>SOLUTION: This automatic rotating hinge device comprises (a) a rotating frame unit fixed to the appliance main body and the lid, and rotatably connected with each other, (b) a cam shaft having a shaft part penetrated through an opening part formed on the rotating frame unit, a cam part formed in the radial direction and a rotation locking part for controlling the rotation with the lid, (c) a spring shaft having a contact part for pressing and sliding the cam part on a shaft center vertical to the cam shaft, and (d) a spring for axially energizing the spring shaft. The lid is automatically rotated on the center of rotation determined by the rotating frame unit by the rotating torque of the cam shaft when the contact part of the spring shaft radially presses the cam part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a hinge device that connects a device main body and a lid so that the device can be rotated and opened horizontally, and automatically rotates the lid.

  In recent years, in the field of folding cellular phones, a configuration in which a lid is horizontally rotated and deployed has been sold.

JP2003-336620A (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-23469 (FIG. 6)

  In this mobile phone, when opening the lid, even if the lid was pushed up with the thumb, it could not be rotated to the regular position of 180 degrees with one hand, and there was a problem that it had to be opened with both hands .

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and after the lid is slightly pushed out with the thumb and rotated, the lid automatically rotates to a normal position, and the phone can be used immediately. The object is to provide a hinge structure that is very convenient to operate.

  In order to achieve the above object, a hinge device according to claim 1 of the present invention is a hinge device for connecting a device main body and a lid so as to be capable of horizontal rotation opening and closing, and (a) fixed to each of the device main body and the lid. A rotary frame unit that is rotatably coupled to each other; (b) a shaft portion that passes through an opening provided in the rotary frame unit; a cam portion having a cam wave surface formed in a radial direction of the shaft portion; One end has a cam shaft provided with a rotation locking portion that restricts rotation with the lid, and (c) a contact portion that is at the center of the axis perpendicular to the cam shaft and presses and slides the cam portion. A spring shaft installed in the device main body and (d) a spring for urging the spring shaft in the axial direction, and a center of rotation defined by the rotary frame unit and the contact portion of the spring shaft by the spring force By the torque of the camshaft generated by pressing the cam part of the camshaft in the radial direction Lid is characterized in that so as to automatically rotate.

  The rotating frame unit described in claim 1 is a coupling means that can rotate with the apparatus main body and the lid, and includes a plurality of parts.

  In the hinge device according to claim 2, the cam wavefront of the cam shaft according to claim 1 is provided with a trough, and when the lid is closed, the contact portion of the spring shaft is located in the trough, The contact portion presses the trough portion by the force of a spring to position the cam shaft in the rotational direction, and the lid is stably held in a closed state.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the cam wavefront of the camshaft according to the second aspect has a first trough portion, a mountain portion with a slightly larger radius, and an inclined portion with a gradually smaller radius as viewed in the rotational direction. When the contact part of the spring shaft exits the valley part and exceeds the peak part, the contact part presses the inclined part by the force of the spring to generate an automatic rotational torque on the cam shaft. The lid is first manually opened and automatically opened halfway.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the cam wavefront of the cam shaft according to the second aspect is provided with a second valley portion, and when the lid is open, the contact portion of the spring shaft is the second valley portion. And the contact portion presses the second trough portion by the force of the spring to position the cam shaft in the rotational direction so that the lid is stably held open. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the cam wave surface of the cam shaft according to the third aspect has a line symmetrical shape in a plan view when viewed in the axial direction, the cam shaft is rotatable in both the left and right directions, and the lid is left and right. The feature is that it can be opened in either direction.

  A hinge device according to a sixth aspect is the one according to the fifth aspect, wherein a stopper for preventing the lid from continuously rotating in the same direction is provided.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the hinge device according to the first aspect, a cable for electrical connection between the apparatus main body and the lid is passed through the space between the opening provided in the rotary frame unit according to the first aspect and the shaft portion of the cam shaft. It is characterized by that.

According to the present invention, in a mobile phone or a handy electronic device that horizontally opens and closes a lid, if the lid is first opened slightly manually, the lid automatically opens from the middle, so it can be opened with one hand. Is possible.
Since the rotation support unit (rotary frame unit in the embodiment) of the device main body and the lid and the shaft (cam shaft 7 in the embodiment) for transmitting torque are separated, the large force applied to the device during operation or due to impact, etc. On the other hand, the rotation support unit can be designed firmly, and one torque transmission part can be designed compactly. In order to rotate the inclined portion 7g by the pressure of the contact portion 8a, it is necessary to make the angle connecting the normal angle and the center at each point of the cam wavefront larger than the friction angle. Therefore, for example, if the minimum diameter of the cam wavefront is set to be slightly larger, the maximum diameter will soon increase, resulting in a cam with a large drop in diameter. That is, the spring has a large stroke, and therefore a large size is required, but since the torque transmission part can be designed separately from the rotation support unit, the cam is small, and therefore the spring is small. The apparatus can be downsized.
Since the cam wavefront has a planar shape, it can be formed by pressing or simple cutting, and can be produced at low cost.
As described above, it is possible to provide a hinge device that is very convenient to operate the device and that is compact and inexpensive.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an assembled cross-sectional view of a hinge device for a horizontal rotation type folding cellular phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. The annular frame 1 is caulked and fixed to the extruded portion 2a of the lower plate 2 at the lower end in the figure. There is a corner 1b at the upper part of the maximum diameter step 1c in the figure and a stopper 12 is mounted with its rotation restricted, and there is a small diameter part 1d at the upper part, which is rotatably engaged with the upper plate 3. These are attached by caulking through a washer 5 with a slight vertical clearance. On the outer periphery of the maximum diameter step portion 1c, a corrugated spring 4 and a ring 6 are arranged so as to push up the upper plate 3 to prevent tilting and position the height with the lower plate 2. The cam shaft 7 that passes through the hole 1a of the frame 1 and is arranged concentrically has a corner portion 7c that fixes the cam portion 7a and the square hole 11a of the cam shaft seat 11 in a non-rotatable manner and firmly by caulking 7d. The spring shaft 8 has a contact portion 8a that comes into contact with the cam portion 7a of the cam shaft and an angular flange portion 8b at the end. The contact portion 8a is formed by cutting both side surfaces of the cylinder and further forming the tip thereof in a crumpled shape. The two large and small springs 9 press the flange portion 8b of the spring shaft and press the contact portion 8a against the cam portion 7a of the cam shaft. Reference numeral 10 denotes a plastic case, which fixes the lower plate 2 (not shown), supports the lower end of the cam shaft 7 and the left end of the spring shaft 8, and further connects the spring shaft 8 and the spring 9. An accommodating portion 10a having an angular shape for accommodating is provided. The spring shaft 8 is moved in the left-right direction in the figure by the rotation restriction and the operation restriction in the front and back directions of the figure by the square-shaped flange portion 8b and the square-shaped accommodation portion 10a. A indicated by a thin broken line indicates a state in which the spring shaft 8 is pushed rightward in the drawing. The support plate 13 includes a square hole 13a that is rotationally restricted and fixed to the corner portion 11b of the camshaft seat, and a long hole 13b that makes the fixation elastic, and a light alloy spacer 14 is provided. The upper plate 3 is coupled with a screw 15. Reference numeral 16 denotes a pin that engages with the stopper, and is fixed to the upper plate 3. Reference numeral 17 denotes a cable for connecting an electric circuit disposed in each of the device main body 18 and the lid 19, and is routed around the space of the hole 1 a of the frame and the cam shaft 7. The lower plate 2 and the case 10 are fixed to the device main body 18, and the upper plate 3 and the support plate 13 are fixed to the lid (not shown). The outer periphery of the ring 6 is in close contact with the opening of the device main body 18 and the lid 19 in order to prevent dust and the like from entering from the hinge portion. The basic components of the rotating frame unit are a frame 1, a lower plate 2, and an upper plate 3.

  FIG. 2 is a partial operation diagram for explaining a rotation operation state of the cam portion 7a of the cam shaft of FIG. The state where the lid (19 in FIG. 1) is closed is (a), the state of the final stage of rotating by hand is (b), and the state where the lid is automatically rotating is (c). The operation when the lid is opened is shown in order, with the lid being opened as (d). In FIG. 2A, the contact portion 8a of the spring shaft falls into the first trough portion 7e of the cam wave surface 7b, and the cam portion 7a is in the rotation stable position. FIG. 2B shows a state where the camshaft 7 is rotated synchronously and the contact portion 8a rides on the mountain portion 7f when the lid is turned by hand in the direction indicated by the arrow. After the peak portion 7f, the contact portion 8a is positioned on the inclined portion 7g as shown in FIG. 2C, and the cam portion 7a rotates in the direction of the arrow by the pressing force of the contact portion 8a. FIG. 2D shows a state in which the lid after the camshaft 7 has been rotated 180 degrees has been opened, the contact portion 8a falls into the second valley portion 7h, and the cam portion 7a is in the rotation stable position.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic torque diagram for dynamically explaining the operation shown in FIG. The horizontal axis indicates the rotation angle of the cam shaft 7 (and the lid 19), and the vertical axis indicates the torque. When opening the lid, it operates in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. When the camshaft 7 is 0 ° to about 20 ° (Fig. 2 (b)), the torque is (+), that is, it is in the section where it is pushed up manually, The torque is (-), that is, the camshaft 7 is automatically rotated. When closing the lid, the torque number changes due to friction, but +-is reversed, and the camshaft 7 requires manual operation from 180 ° to about 20 °, and from about 20 ° to 0 °. The camshaft 7 automatically rotates and settles at a stable position of 0 °.

  FIG. 4 is an operation diagram illustrating the function of the stopper 12 shown in FIG. The stopper 12 has a protrusion 12 a that comes into contact with the pin 16 and a square hole 12 b that is restricted in rotation by the corner 1 b of the frame 1. When the pin 16 is rotated 180 ° in the direction of the arrow and positioned at B, the pin 16 does not rotate any more by coming into contact with the protrusion 12a in a state where the rotation direction clearance between the corner 1b and the square hole 12b is clogged. . When the pin 16 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow, the projection 12a comes into contact with the same B position rotated 180 ° as shown in FIG. C, and does not rotate any more. When stopping, the pin 16 and the protrusion 12a receive a very strong impact force due to the rotational inertia force of the lid. Therefore, although not shown, it is preferable to form an elastic part in a part.

  In this embodiment, the basic components of the rotary frame unit are the frame 1, the lower plate 2, and the upper plate 3. However, the inner two components are made into a composite component by integral molding, or instead of the lower plate 2, for example. It is also possible to change the form such as the case 10 and the spacer 14 instead of the upper plate 3. Moreover, it is not limited to a mobile phone. It can also be applied to handy electronic devices.

It is assembly sectional drawing of the hinge apparatus for horizontal rotation type folding portable telephones concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a partial operation | movement figure explaining the rotation operation condition of the cam part 7a of FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic torque diagram for explaining the operation shown in FIG. 2. It is an action | operation figure explaining the function of the stopper 12 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Frame 2 Lower plate 3 Upper plate 1 to 3 Basic components of the rotating frame unit 7 Cam shaft 8 Spring shaft 9 Spring

Claims (7)

In the hinge device that connects the device body and the lid horizontally and freely,
A rotating frame unit fixed to each of the device main body and the lid and coupled to each other rotatably;
A shaft portion that passes through an opening provided in the rotary frame unit, a cam portion having a cam wave surface formed in a radial direction of the shaft portion, and a rotation lock that restricts rotation with a lid at one end of the shaft portion A camshaft provided with a portion,
A spring shaft provided in the device main body, having a contact portion that presses and slides the cam portion, and is at an axis perpendicular to the cam shaft;
A spring for urging the spring shaft in the axial direction;
Due to the rotation torque of the cam shaft generated by the rotation center defined by the rotary frame unit and the contact portion of the spring shaft pressing the cam portion of the cam shaft in the radial direction by the force of the spring. An automatic rotary hinge device characterized in that the lid automatically rotates.   The cam wave surface of the cam portion of the cam shaft has a trough portion, and when the lid is closed, the contact portion of the spring shaft is located in the trough portion, and the contact portion is caused by the force of the spring. 2. The automatic rotary hinge device according to claim 1, wherein the trough portion is pressed to position the cam shaft in the rotational direction so that the lid is stably closed.   The cam wave front of the cam portion of the cam shaft is composed of the valley portion continuously viewed in the rotational direction, the peak portion having a slightly larger radius, and the inclined portion having a gradually decreasing radius, and the contact portion of the spring shaft. When the valve passes through the valley and exceeds the peak, the contact portion presses the inclined portion by the force of the spring to generate automatic rotational torque on the camshaft, and the lid is first manually opened. 3. The automatic rotary hinge device according to claim 2, wherein the automatic rotary hinge device opens automatically in the middle.   The cam wave surface of the cam portion of the cam shaft is provided with a second valley portion, and when the lid is open, the contact portion of the spring shaft is located in the valley portion, and the force of the spring 3. The automatic rotation according to claim 2, wherein the contact portion presses the valley portion to position the cam shaft in the rotational direction, and the lid is held in a stable open state. Hinge device.   The cam wave front of the cam portion of the cam shaft has a line symmetry when viewed in the axial direction, the cam shaft can be rotated in both the left and right directions, and the lid can be opened in either the left or right direction. 4. The automatic rotary hinge device according to claim 3, wherein   6. The automatic rotary hinge device according to claim 5, further comprising a stopper for preventing the lid from continuously rotating in the same direction.   2. The automatic according to claim 1, wherein a cable for electrical connection between the device main body and the lid is passed through a space between an opening provided in the rotary frame unit and a shaft portion of the camshaft. Rotating hinge device.

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