JP2008160649A - Folding portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain the wobbly state of a casing in a folded state that does not require separate components, in a folding portable terminal. <P>SOLUTION: An operation-side casing 1 has a stopper 14 that is mounted to a key rubber 16 with a key button 13 of an operation key, is positioned at a portion to the key button 13 and has a portion higher than the key button 13. A display-side casing 2 is rotatably connected about a support shaft orthogonally crossing a hinge section. The stopper 14 is arranged on both sides near the hinge section of the operation-side casing 1. The stopper 14 is formed on an inclined plane, where both the sides become higher than a portion near the center section in the width direction of the operation-side casing 1. The key button 13, which is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the operation-side casing 1, while sandwiching the stopper 14, is formed on the inclined plane, where both the sides become lower than a portion near the center section in the width direction of the operation-side casing 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a foldable portable terminal device in which an operation-side casing and a display-side casing are coupled by a hinge portion.

Patent Document 1 discloses a foldable portable terminal that is less likely to be scratched on the surface of the display by the action of force, and that can suppress the generation of annoying noise when both cabinets are closed. It is disclosed. That is, in Patent Document 1, one or a plurality of elastic protrusions 22 protrude from the surface of the display-side cabinet 2 at the end opposite to the hinge mechanism 3, and the surface of the operation-side cabinet 1. Is provided with a buffer member 4 made of a material having a hardness higher than that of the elastic convex portion 22 and a hardness lower than that of the cabinet, and the buffer member 4 has a protruding height from the cabinet surface of the cabinet surface of the operation key 11. The height of the protrusion is the same as or higher than the protrusion height.
JP 2005-295070 A

  As described above, conventionally, it is necessary to provide another part in the housing, such as providing the buffer member 4 in the operation-side cabinet 1 and providing the elastic convex portion 22 in the display-side cabinet 2, which increases the number of parts and the number of assembly steps. Also needed.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to suppress backlash of a housing in a folded state without requiring separate parts in a foldable portable terminal.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention described in claim 1 is a portable terminal device in which an operation side housing having an operation key and a display side housing having a display screen are foldably coupled by a hinge portion. The operation-side casing is provided with a stopper attached to the key rubber together with the key button of the operation key, and having a portion located between the key buttons and higher than the key button.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the foldable portable terminal according to the first aspect, wherein the display-side casing is coupled to be rotatable around a support shaft orthogonal to the hinge portion. It is characterized by.

  Invention of Claim 3 is a foldable portable terminal of Claim 1 or 2, Comprising: The said stopper is arrange | positioned at the both sides near the said hinge part of the said operation side housing | casing. Features.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the foldable portable terminal according to the third aspect, wherein the stopper is formed on an inclined surface whose both side portions are higher than the central portion in the width direction of the operation side casing. It is characterized by being.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the foldable portable terminal according to the fourth aspect, wherein the key button arranged in the longitudinal direction of the operation side casing with the stopper interposed therebetween is the operation side casing. It is formed in the inclined surface where both sides become low with respect to the width direction center part of a body.

  According to the present invention, since the backlash of the display-side housing in the folded state can be pressed by the stopper that is attached to the key rubber and positioned between the key buttons, there is no need to provide separate parts, and the number of parts and assembly man-hours are reduced. Can reduce the cost.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show a cellular phone as a configuration of an embodiment of a foldable portable terminal to which the present invention is applied. 1 is an operation side case, 2 is a display side case, 3 is a hinge part, Is an operation key, 5 is a main display screen, 6 is a sub display section, 7 is a numeric keypad section, 8 is a function key section, and 9 is a back-pressing member.

The operation side case 1 and the display side case 2 are coupled via a biaxial hinge. That is, the operation-side casing 1 having the operation keys 4 and the display-side casing 2 having the main display screen 5 and the sub-display portion 6 divided into front and back are foldably coupled by the hinge portion 3, and further, the display side The housing 2 is coupled so as to be rotatable around a support shaft (not shown) orthogonal to the hinge portion 3.
FIG. 1A shows a folded state with the main display screen 5 on the inside, and FIG. 1B shows a folded state with the main display screen 5 on the outside. Further, FIG. 2A shows a state in which the display side housing 2 is opened from the state of FIG. 1A, and FIG. 2B shows an operation state in which the display side housing 2 is rotated. Yes.

  In the portable terminal using the above two-axis hinge, the operation key 4 of the operation side housing 1 is composed of the numeric keypad portion 7 and the function key portion 8. That is, the function key portion 8 is located closer to the hinge portion 3 than the numeric keypad portion 7 with respect to the operation side housing 1. The function key unit 8 includes a center determination key 11, a ring-shaped cross direction key 12 around the center key, and two key buttons 13 on the left and right sides thereof. On both sides of the operation-side casing 1, a stopper 14 having a portion higher than the key button 13 is provided between the key buttons 13 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the operation-side casing 1.

  Note that a ratchet pressing member 9 is provided at the end of the operation side housing 1 opposite to the hinge portion 3. The backlash pressing member 9 is in contact with the display unit housing 2 in a protruding state across the width direction of the operation side housing 1, and presses back in the vicinity of the end of the display unit housing 2 opposite to the hinge portion 3. is there.

  FIG. 3 shows a cross section of each part in the folded state, and shows the shape of the left and right key buttons 13 and the shape of the stopper 14. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the key button 13 is formed on an inclined surface whose both side portions are lower than the central portion in the width direction of the operation-side housing 1. That is, in a folded state in which the main display screen 5 is inward (downward in the drawing), the key button 13 is pressed in order to avoid contact between the key button 13 and the main display screen 5 and to prevent the key button 13 from reacting unnecessarily. The both sides of the operation-side casing 1 are formed on inclined surfaces so as to escape from the main display screen 5 and become lower than the central portion in the width direction.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, the stopper 14 is formed on an inclined surface whose both side portions are higher than the central portion in the width direction of the operation side housing 1, and both side portions of the stopper 14 are formed. Is formed higher than the other side of the key button 13. That is, in a folded state in which the main display screen 5 is inward (downward in the drawing), in order to avoid contact between the key button 13 and the main display screen 5 and prevent the key button 13 from reacting unnecessarily, the stopper 14 is Both sides of the operation-side casing 1 are formed on an inclined surface so as to approach the main display screen 5 and become higher than the central portion in the width direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3C, in the folded state in which the main display screen 5 is on the outside (upward in the drawing), the inclined surface of the stopper 14 is an inclined R-shaped surface on the back surface of the display-side housing 2. It is designed to be almost parallel. That is, the stopper 14 is an inclined surface that escapes the R-shaped surface on the back surface of the display-side housing 2.

  FIG. 4 shows the operation keys 4 (tenkey portion 7 and function key portion 8), the stainless steel plate 15, and the key rubber 16. The numeric keypad portion 7 and the function key portion 8 are stacked on the stainless steel plate 15, and each key of the numeric keypad portion 7, the determination key 11, the cross direction key 12, the key button 13 and the stopper 14 of the function key portion 8 are made of stainless steel. It is bonded to a key rubber 16 stacked under the plate 15. That is, as shown in the figure, button portions formed on the key rubber 16 protrude from button holes formed on the stainless steel plate 15, and each button portion protruding from the stainless plate 15 of the key rubber 16 has each button of the numeric keypad 7. A determination key 11, a cross direction key 12, a key button 13, and a stopper 14 of the key and the function key unit 8 are attached by adhesion.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the key rubber 16 is mounted on the key board 19 on the shield case 18 fixed on the main board 17 fixedly attached to the inside of the operation-side casing 1. Is done. Each key of the numeric keypad 7 operates separately and independently, and the determination key 11, the cross direction key 12, the key button 13 and the stopper 14 of the function key unit 8 operate separately and independently.

  In the mobile phone using the above-described biaxial hinge, rattling caused by swinging around a support shaft orthogonal to the hinge portion 3 of the display-side housing 2 in the folded state is caused by both side portions of the function key portion 8 of the operation-side housing 1. It is buffered and pressed by the stopper 14 provided in the. That is, in FIGS. 1A and 3B showing the folded state in which the main display screen 5 is inward, the display-side housing 2 swings around a support shaft orthogonal to the hinge portion 3 due to an external force. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5A, the display screen 5 comes into contact with the inclined surface of the stopper 14 from the outside and is buffered by the elastic deformation of the key rubber 16 below the stopper 14 so that the display-side housing 2 is shaken. Shaking due to movement is suppressed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5B, the key button 13 sandwiching the stopper 14 is not pressed because a slight clearance is secured from the display screen 5.

  Further, in FIGS. 1B and 3C showing the folded state with the main display screen 5 on the outside, the display-side housing 2 swings around a support shaft orthogonal to the hinge portion 3 due to an external force. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6A, the back surface of the display-side housing 2 comes into surface contact with the inclined surface of the stopper 14 and is buffered by the elastic deformation of the key rubber 16 below the stopper 14. Shaking caused by rocking is suppressed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6B, the key button 13 sandwiching the stopper 14 is not pressed because a slight clearance is secured from the back surface of the display-side housing 2.

  In addition, rattling caused by swinging around a support shaft orthogonal to the hinge portion 3 of the display-side housing 2 in the folded state as described above is caused on both sides of the function key portion 8 of the operation-side housing 1 by the key buttons 13. A portion that is not conspicuous in between can be used as the stopper 14 and can be pressed while being buffered by the key rubber 16. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide separate parts as in the prior art for holding the housing back and forth, and cost reduction can be achieved by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembly steps.

  Note that the rattling in the vicinity of the end of the operation side housing 1 and the display side housing 2 opposite to the hinge portion 3 in the folded state protrudes across the width direction to the end of the operation side housing 1 opposite to the hinge portion 3. The rattle pressing member 9 provided in the state is pressed by contacting the display unit housing 2.

In the above embodiments, the mobile phone has a biaxial hinge. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the PDA of the biaxial hinge, other portable terminals, the mobile phone of the single axial hinge, and the PDA. Other portable terminals may also be used.
Also, the shape of the stopper and the like are arbitrary, and it is needless to say that other specific detailed structures and the like can be appropriately changed.

1 shows a mobile phone as a configuration of an embodiment of a foldable portable terminal to which the present invention is applied, and is a perspective view (a) showing a folded state with the display screen on the inside and a folded state with the display screen on the outside. It is the shown perspective view (b). FIG. 2 is a perspective view (a) showing a state in which the mobile phone of FIG. 1 is opened and a perspective view (b) showing an operation state in which the display-side casing is rotated. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. It is the same sectional view (c) which showed the folded state which turned the screen outside. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view (a) of the operation key, the stainless steel plate, and the key rubber of FIG. 2 and an exploded view of the stopper from the operation key. It is the enlarged view (a) of the stopper part of Fig.3 (a), and the enlarged view (b) of the key button part of FIG.3 (b). FIG. 5A shows a state in which the display-side casing is slightly rotated around the second hinge axis from the state of FIG. 5A, and FIG. It is the figure (b) which showed the state rotated a little around the axis | shaft.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation side housing | casing 2 Display side housing | casing 3 Hinge part 4 Operation key 5 Main display screen 6 Sub display part 7 Numeric keypad part 8 Function key part 9 Backlash member 11 Determination key 12 Cross direction key 13 Key button 14 Stopper 15 Stainless steel plate 16 Key rubber 17 Main board 18 Shield case 19 Key board

Claims (5)

A portable terminal device in which an operation side housing having an operation key and a display side housing having a display screen are foldably coupled by a hinge part,
A foldable portable terminal comprising a stopper attached to a key rubber together with a key button of the operation key and having a portion higher than the key button and located between the key buttons.   The foldable portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the display-side casing is coupled to be rotatable around a support shaft orthogonal to the hinge portion.   The foldable portable terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the stopper is disposed on both sides of the operation side casing near the hinge.   The foldable portable terminal according to claim 3, wherein the stopper is formed on an inclined surface whose both side portions are higher than the central portion in the width direction of the operation side casing.   The key button disposed in the longitudinal direction of the operation side casing with the stopper interposed therebetween is formed on an inclined surface whose both side portions are lower than the central portion in the width direction of the operation side casing. The foldable portable terminal according to claim 4.

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