JP2009041729A - Hinge mechanism and portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hinge device well operable when transferred from the closed condition into the opened condition, smaller, and stably movable. <P>SOLUTION: The hinge mechanism 10 is provided for connecting a first casing 1 and a second casing as parts of a portable terminal to each other in a foldably openable/closable manner with pivotal motion. It comprises a pivotal shaft 13 as an axis of pivotal motion, a first cam 40 to be associatively rotated with the first casing, a second cam 50 to be associatively rotated with the second casing, an energizer for energizing at least one of the first cam and the second cam toward the other, a holding part for holding the pivotal shaft at one end movably in the radial direction of the axis of pivotal motion, and a rotation forcing means for forcibly rotating the second cam when one end of the pivotal shaft is moved in the radial direction of the axis. The first cam and the second cam have protruded portions on the mutually opposed faces, respectively. The protruded portions are arranged where they ride over peak points when rotated by the rotation forcing means in the state that their side faces abut on each other or one protruded portion abuts on the side face of the other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a hinge mechanism and a mobile terminal used for a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA in which a first casing and a second casing are connected so as to be foldable and openable.

  Conventionally, in a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, a hinge mechanism called a clamshell type that opens and closes is often used. Such a hinge mechanism that opens and closes is configured such that when the lid is rotated from the main body to the opening direction to some extent, the lid naturally rotates thereafter.

  Here, when opening the lid of such a portable terminal with one hand, the user must open it by inserting a finger between the lid that is closed without a gap and the main body. For this reason, it is difficult to open the portable terminal with one hand, and it is inconvenient to use both hands if it is easy to open.

  To solve this problem, there has been proposed a hinge device that automatically opens when one of the two units is pivoted in the closed state (see Patent Document 1). This hinge device can be conveniently used without inserting a finger.

  However, the hinge device has a large area occupied by the hinge device, such as having two rotating shafts or requiring a gear for rotating the shaft. For this reason, there has been a problem that the degree of freedom in designing the casing of the portable terminal is impaired. Moreover, when using a gear, there also existed a problem that durability was low and it was difficult to make it move stably. In addition, since the initial rotation of the hinge device is realized by a gear or the like provided in the housing, there is a possibility of malfunction due to an assembly accuracy error.

JP 2005-299924 A

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge device that has good operability when shifting from a closed state to an open state and is small and can be stably moved.

  The present invention is a hinge mechanism for connecting a first housing and a second housing constituting a portable terminal so that the first housing and the second housing can be folded and opened by pivoting, and the pivot serving as the pivot axis and the pivot shaft inserted therethrough A first cam that rotates with the first housing around the axis, a second cam that rotates with the second housing about the inserted pivot, and the first cam and the second cam An urging body that urges at least one of the pivots toward the other, a holding portion that holds one end of the pivot movably in the radial direction of the pivot, and one end of the pivot is moved in the radial direction. A rotation forcing means for forcibly rotating the second cam, and providing convex portions on the opposing surfaces of the first cam and the second cam, respectively, From the contact state in which the side surfaces are in contact with each other or one convex part is in contact with the other side surface, the rotation strength is increased. When the rotation by means are made to each other, characterized in that a hinge mechanism to a position to overcome the vertex.

  Thereby, the operability at the time of shifting from the closed state to the open state is good, and a small and stable hinge device can be provided. In particular, since the rotation forcing means is provided in the hinge device, the incorporation of the hinge device into the portable terminal can be facilitated.

As an aspect of the present invention, a pivot urging body that urges one end of the pivot moved in the movable range of the holding portion toward the original position can be provided.
Thereby, operation | movement of a hinge apparatus can be stabilized.

Further, as an aspect of the present invention, the second cam is provided with a protruding portion protruding in the axial radial direction from an insertion hole through which the pivot is inserted, and the rotation forcing means is engaged with the tip of the protruding portion. The movement of the stop portion and the second cam, the tip of which is locked by the locking portion, is allowed to rotate in a direction in which the apex of the convex portion can be overcome and the movement in the other direction is restricted. It can be composed of restricting means.
Accordingly, it is possible to reliably realize the opening operation by shifting the first casing and the second casing while being overlapped.

Further, as an aspect of the present invention, the holding portion is configured with a slot that slidably supports the pivot shaft in a direction orthogonal to the protruding direction of the protruding portion, and the restricting means is configured with the slot. it can.
Accordingly, it is possible to reliably realize the opening operation by shifting the first casing and the second casing while being overlapped with a simple configuration.

As an aspect of the present invention, the slot can be formed in a long longitudinal shape in a direction parallel to the inner surface of the second housing.
Thereby, operation | movement of a 1st housing | casing and a 2nd housing | casing can be stabilized.

  The present invention also includes the hinge mechanism, the first casing, and the second casing, and includes display means for displaying an image on one of the first casing and the second casing, and an input on the other. It can be set as the portable terminal provided with the input means which permits operation.

The portable terminal can be constituted by a portable terminal device such as a cellular phone or a PDA.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a portable terminal provided with a hinge device that has good operability when shifting from the closed state to the open state and is small and can be stably moved.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hinge device that has good operability when shifting from the closed state to the open state and is small and can be stably moved.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cellular phone 1 in an open state, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the AA cross section of FIG.

  In the mobile phone 1, an upper housing 2 and a lower housing 3 are connected to each other by connecting portions 5 and 6 (6 a and 6 b) so as to be opened and closed. The upper housing 2 is provided with a display device D such as a liquid crystal display and a speaker S for sound output on the folding inner surface (front surface in FIG. 1). The lower housing 3 is provided with an input device I such as a push button and a microphone M for sound collection on the folding inner side surface.

As shown in FIG. 2, a hinge device 10 is provided in the connecting portions 5 and 6b.
A housing 20 of the hinge device 10 is fixed in the connecting portion 5 of the upper housing 2. A cap 70 of the hinge device 10 is fixed in the connecting portion 6b of the lower housing 3. Accordingly, the housing 20 is rotated with the upper casing 2, and the cap 70 is rotated with the lower casing 3. The connecting portion 6a and the connecting portion 5 are rotatably connected by a shaft member (not shown).

  3 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device 10 as viewed from the upper right, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device 10 as viewed from the upper left, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the hinge device 10. It is.

  The hinge device 10 is mainly composed of a housing 20, compression springs 31, 33, 35, an upper housing side cam 40, a lower housing side cam 50, a rubber 60, a cap 70, and a shaft 13 inserted through them in this order. ing. The E-ring 11 is fitted to the end portion 14a of the shaft 13 on the housing 20 side. The end portion 14b on the cap 70 side of the shaft 13 is fitted with the E-ring 11 after the washer 15 is inserted.

  The housing 20 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is provided with an opening 25 on one side and a bottom 24 on the other side. The bottom 24 is provided with a shaft hole 21 through which the shaft 13 is inserted. The end portion 14 a of the shaft 13 is fixed to the shaft hole 21 of the bottom portion 24. Therefore, the end portion 14a cannot move like the end portion 14b, and is always fixed at the same position.

  The housing 20 is provided with two slide guides 22 symmetrically on the opening 25 side of the peripheral surface. The slide guide 22 is a slit-like hole formed in a straight line parallel to the axial direction of the shaft 13.

  The housing 20 is provided with two locking projections 23 symmetrically on the opening 25 side of the peripheral surface. The locking protrusion 23 is a protrusion that protrudes outward from the outer peripheral surface of the housing 20. The housing 20 is fixed in the connecting portion 5 of the upper housing 2 by the locking projection 23. Accordingly, the housing 20 is rotated together with the upper housing 2.

  The compression springs 31, 33, and 35 are constituted by string winding springs having the same length and different overall diameters. A compression spring 33 is accommodated in the compression spring 31, a compression spring 35 is accommodated in the compression spring 33, and the shaft 13 is inserted into the compression spring 35. Thereby, the compression springs 31, 33, and 35 are triple springs. Therefore, a strong biasing force obtained by combining the biasing forces of the compression springs 31, 33, and 35 can be obtained.

  The upper housing side cam 40 is substantially disk-shaped and has a cam surface 47 formed on one side. The cam surface 47 includes a vertex convex portion 42, a rotation biasing slope 43, and a rotation locking end surface 44. A shaft hole 46 through which the shaft 13 is inserted is formed at the center of the upper housing side cam 40. Two engaging protrusions 41 that are engaged with the slide guide 22 of the housing 20 are provided symmetrically on the outer periphery of the upper housing side cam 40. By engaging the engagement protrusion 41 with the slide guide 22 of the housing 20, the engagement protrusion 41 can slide in the axial direction of the shaft 13 while maintaining the relative angle between the housing 20 and the upper housing 2.

  The lower housing side cam 50 includes two cam protrusions 51 that face the cam surface 47 of the upper housing side cam 40. The lower housing side cam 50 has a bearing portion 54 on the side opposite to the cam projection 51. A shaft hole 52 for inserting the shaft 13 is formed at the center of the bearing portion 54. The bearing portion 54 is provided with a projecting arm 53 extending in the radial direction from the center of the shaft.

  The rubber 60 is formed of a rubber material having elasticity. The rubber 60 is formed in a shape having a cut portion 62 obtained by cutting a cylindrical position side portion. In addition, a holding hole 61 is provided at the center of the rubber 60 so that the bearing portion 54 of the lower housing side cam 50 through which the shaft 13 is inserted is inserted to hold the bearing portion 54. Accordingly, the protruding arm 53 of the lower housing side cam 50 is disposed so as to fit within the cut portion 62 of the rubber 60.

  The cap 70 is substantially cylindrical and has one end opened to form an opening 71, and the other end closed to form a bottom 75. A shaft hole guide 74 through which the shaft 13 is inserted is formed at the center of the bottom portion 75. The shaft hole guide 74 is formed to be slightly horizontally long from the center of the bottom portion 75 in the radial direction.

  A shaft hole guide 74 for engaging with the connecting portion 6 of the lower housing 3 is provided on the outer periphery of the cap 70. On the inner side of the engagement protrusion 72, an engagement recess 73 is provided in which the tip of the protruding arm 53 of the lower housing side cam 50 is housed and engaged. Accordingly, the rubber 60 is housed inside the cap 70, and the bearing portion 54 of the lower housing side cam 50 is housed further inside. Thereby, the lower housing side cam 50 can slide along the shaft hole guide 74 of the cap 70 together with the shaft 13 while deforming the rubber 60. At this time, the tip of the protruding arm 53 of the lower housing side cam 50 is in contact with the engaging recess 73 of the cap 70 in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction of the shaft hole guide 74. For this reason, when the lower housing side cam 50 slides together with the shaft 13, the lower housing side cam 50 rotates slightly because the tip of the protruding arm 53 cannot move.

  6 shows an explanatory view of the mobile phone 1 when shifting from the closed state to the open state, FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional explanatory view of the hinge device 10 during the transition, and FIG. 8 shows the hinge during the transition. FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the hinge device 10 at the time of transition, and FIG. 10 shows a partially enlarged side view of the mobile phone 1.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, when the mobile phone 1 is in the closed state, the shaft 13 is positioned at the center position of the cap 70 as shown in FIGS. 7A and 8A. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9 (A2), the cam projection 51 of the lower housing side cam 50 is positioned on the rotation locking end face 44 side with respect to the apex convex portion 42 of the upper housing side cam 40.

  Next, when the upper casing 2 of the cellular phone 1 is opened, as shown in FIG. 6B, the upper casing 2 of the cellular phone 1 is pushed left by the right thumb, for example, by the user, On the other hand, the upper casing 2 is shifted obliquely while being superimposed. At this time, since the connecting portion 6a and the connecting portion 5 are connected by a shaft member (not shown), the connecting portion 6b and the connecting portion 5 are displaced and the upper housing 2 is slightly slid with respect to the lower housing 3. Dynamic rotation.

  During this shifting movement, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 8B, the positions of the shaft 13 and the cap 70 move relative to each other in the direction of the arrow Y1 inside the connecting portion 6b and the connecting portion 5, and the shaft 13 The end portion 14b of the cap is located away from the center of the cap 70. Here, since the tip of the projecting arm 53 of the lower housing side cam 50 is engaged with the engaging recess 73 of the cap 70, the lower housing side cam 50 is moved at an angle α (FIG. 8 ( Rotate in the direction of arrow Y2 only (see B). As a result, as shown in FIG. 9 (B2), the cam projection 51 of the lower housing side cam 50 gets over the apex convex portion 42 of the upper housing side cam 40 against the urging force of the compression springs 31, 33, 35, It abuts against the rotation biasing slope 43.

  Thereafter, the cam projection 51 is rotated so as to move along the rotation biasing slope 43 of the upper housing side cam 40 which tends to approach the lower housing side cam 50 by the biasing force of the compression springs 31, 33 and 35. Accordingly, the upper housing side cam 40 and the lower housing side cam 50 rotate relative to each other, whereby the housing 20 and the cap 70 rotate relative to each other, and at the same time, the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 rotate relative to each other. This relative rotation becomes semi-automatic by the urging force of the compression springs 31, 33, 35, and stops in the fully open state shown in FIG. Further, since the pressing force by the user is lost, the shaft 13 returns to the center position of the cap 70 by the elastic force of the rubber 60.

  With the above configuration, it is possible to obtain good operability that it is only necessary to shift the upper housing 2 with respect to the lower housing 3 when shifting from the closed state to the open state. In addition to opening the mobile phone 1 in such a manner, the mobile phone 1 can be opened by a user with both hands, or can be opened by putting a finger between the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3. It can also be opened.

  Further, it is possible to provide the hinge device 10 that is small and can be stably moved without using a gear or the like. In particular, by using the projecting arm 53 having a sufficient length and thickness, it is possible to avoid a failure such as chipping or wear of a tooth when using a gear, and to improve durability.

  Further, by using the rubber 60, the sliding movement of the shaft 13 with respect to the cap 70 can be allowed, and the operation of returning the shaft 13 to the center of the cap 70 with an elastic force can be easily realized.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, since the longitudinal direction of the shaft hole guide 74 of the cap 70 is configured in parallel with the inner surface of the lower housing 3, an unstable operation can be prevented. In other words, the upper housing 2 can be shifted with respect to the lower housing 3 only by slightly rotating the upper housing 2 to the left in the overlapped state. If the shaft 13 is moved along the shaft hole guide 74 shown in FIG. 8B in the fully open state shown in FIG. 1, the upper housing 2 is attached to the connecting portion 6 shown in FIG. Collide and move no further. Therefore, in the fully open state, the shaft 13 cannot move along the shaft hole guide 74 and can be used in a stable state.

  Further, since the shaft 13 can freely rotate within the shaft hole guide 74 of the cap 70, the mobile phone 1 can be opened and closed stably without being caught.

  Further, the hinge device 10 can be easily replaced with a hinge device of a conventional folding open / close type mobile phone. That is, when opening with one hand, the hinge device of a mobile phone having a simple structure in which a finger must be inserted between the lid that is closed without a gap and the main body is replaced with the hinge device 10 of the above embodiment. Thus, the opening / closing operability of the mobile phone 1 can be easily improved.

  In addition, since the hinge device 10 described above adopts an epoch-making idea of moving the rotation axis, not the idea of pressing with a button, many parts necessary for the push button can be omitted, and the size can be reduced. Can do.

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment,
The mobile terminal of the present invention corresponds to the mobile phone 1 of the embodiment,
Similarly,
The first housing corresponds to the upper housing 2,
The second housing corresponds to the lower housing 3,
The hinge mechanism corresponds to the hinge device 10,
The pivot corresponds to the shaft 13,
One end side of the pivot corresponds to the end portion 14b side,
The biasing body corresponds to the compression springs 31, 33, 35,
The first cam corresponds to the upper housing side cam 40,
The convex portion corresponds to the vertex convex portion 42 and the cam projection 51,
The opposing surface corresponds to the cam surface 47 and the side surface of the cam projection 51,
The second cam corresponds to the lower housing side cam 50,
The insertion hole corresponds to the shaft hole 52,
The protrusion corresponds to the protrusion arm 53,
The pivot urging body corresponds to the rubber 60,
The rotation forcing means and the locking portion correspond to the engaging recess 73,
The holding part, the regulating means and the slot correspond to the shaft hole guide 74,
The movable range corresponds to the shaft hole guide 74,
The display means corresponds to the display device D,
The input means corresponds to the input device I,
The direction orthogonal to the protruding direction of the protruding portion and the direction parallel to the inner surface of the second housing correspond to the arrow Y1 direction,
The present invention is not limited only to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and many embodiments can be obtained.

The perspective view of the mobile phone of an open state. AA sectional drawing of a mobile telephone. The disassembled perspective view of the hinge apparatus seen from the diagonally upper right. The disassembled perspective view of the hinge apparatus seen from the diagonally left upper side. The perspective view of a hinge apparatus. Explanatory drawing of the mobile telephone at the time of making it transfer from a closed state to an open state. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the hinge apparatus at the time of transfer from a closed state to an open state. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the hinge apparatus at the time of transfer from a closed state to an open state. The perspective explanatory view of the hinge device at the time of transition from the closed state to the open state. The partial expanded side view of the mobile phone of a closed state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mobile phone, 2 ... Upper housing | casing, 3 ... Lower housing | casing, 10 ... Hinge apparatus, 13 ... Shaft, 14b ... End part, 31, 33, 35 ... Compression spring, 40 ... Upper housing side cam, 42 ... Vertex Projection, 47 ... cam surface, 50 ... lower housing side cam, 51 ... cam projection, 52 ... shaft hole, 53 ... projection arm, 60 ... rubber, 73 ... engagement recess, 74 ... shaft hole guide, D ... display device , I ... input device, Y1 ... arrow

Claims (6)

A hinge mechanism for connecting the first housing and the second housing constituting the mobile terminal so as to be foldable by a pivot,
A pivot serving as the pivot axis,
A first cam that rotates with the first housing around the inserted pivot axis;
A second cam that rotates with the second casing around the inserted pivot axis;
A biasing body that biases at least one of the first cam and the second cam toward the other;
A holding part for holding one end side of the pivot so as to be movable in the axial radial direction of the pivot;
Rotation forcing means for forcibly rotating the second cam when one end side of the pivot is moved in the axial radial direction;
Protrusions are provided on the opposing surfaces of the first cam and the second cam, respectively, and the protrusions are arranged such that the side surfaces of both convex portions abut each other or one convex portion and the other side surface abut. A hinge mechanism that is positioned so as to cross each other when rotation by the rotation forcing means is made from the state. The hinge mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a pivot urging body that urges one end of the pivot moved in a movable range of the holding portion toward an original position. The second cam is provided with a protruding portion that protrudes in the axial radial direction from an insertion hole through which the pivot is inserted,
The rotation forcing means is rotated in a direction in which it is possible to overcome the apex of the convex portion with a locking portion for locking the tip of the protruding portion and the second cam whose tip is locked by the locking portion. The hinge mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a restricting means that permits movement in a moving direction and restricts movement in another direction. The holding portion is configured by a slot that slidably supports the pivot shaft in a direction perpendicular to the protruding direction of the protruding portion,
The hinge mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the restricting means is constituted by the slot. The hinge mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the slot is formed in a long longitudinal shape in a direction parallel to the inner surface of the second housing. The hinge mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the first housing, and the second housing,
Display means for displaying an image on one of the first casing and the second casing;
On the other hand, a portable terminal provided with an input means that allows an input operation.

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