JP2012253179A - Electronic apparatus and cover member used in the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus which enables a cover member to be easily attached to an apparatus body and achieves high waterproofness, and to provide the cover member used in the electronic apparatus.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus 1 includes: an apparatus body 2 including a housing part 3 for housing a housed object 1a in a state of opening; and a detachable cover member 10 covering an opening of the housing part 3. The apparatus body 2 includes an elastic member 6, having a closed loop shaped groove part 7 recessed from a surface facing the cover member 10 to the apparatus body 2 side, in at least an outer periphery of the opening. The cover member 10 includes a rib 12, which protrudes to and is inserted into the groove part 7, at a position facing the groove part 7 when the cover member 10 is attached to the apparatus body 2. The width W1 of the groove part 7 on the opening side is larger than the width W2 of a tip of the rib 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device that covers a storage portion and a cover member used for the electronic device.

  In recent years, a waterproof function or the like may be required in an electronic device such as a mobile phone. In order to provide a waterproof function to an electronic device, it is necessary to prevent water from entering through a gap between a cover member that covers a storage portion for storing an object to be stored in the device body and the storage portion. For example, in order to prevent water from entering the battery storage unit, the battery storage unit cover includes an annular protrusion having an elastic body, and a structure including a groove into which the elastic body is press-fitted on the outer periphery of the battery storage unit. It is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-288174 A

  According to the structure disclosed in Patent Document 1, the protrusion having the elastic body is inserted into the groove, so that the elastic body and the inside of the groove are in close contact with each other, preventing water from entering the storage portion from the outside. Can do. However, the elastic body that covers the protrusions has a problem that it is difficult to insert into the groove because it exhibits slipperiness with respect to the resin surface forming the groove. In particular, when the dimensional error between the battery storage cover and the groove is large, it becomes more difficult to insert the elastic body into the groove. A state in which the protruding portion is incompletely inserted into the groove is not preferable because the waterproof performance is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device that can be easily attached to a device main body and that can realize high waterproofness, and a cover member used therefor. .

  In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention includes an apparatus main body provided with an opening for storing a storage object, and a cover member provided detachably so as to cover the opening of the storage part. The device body includes an elastic member having a closed loop-shaped groove portion that is recessed toward the device body side from the surface facing the cover member, at least on the outer periphery of the opening, and the cover member is attached to the device body At this time, a rib that protrudes toward the groove and can be inserted into the groove is provided at a position facing the groove, and the width of the groove on the opening side is larger than the width of the end of the rib.

  Moreover, it may be preferable that the groove part has an inclined surface in which the width on the opening side is larger than the width on the bottom surface side.

  Furthermore, it may be preferable that the width on the bottom side of the groove is smaller than the width on the tip side of the rib.

  Furthermore, it may be preferable that the width on the tip side of the rib is smaller than the width on the root side.

  In some cases, it is preferable that a convex portion or a concave portion is provided on the side surface of the groove portion, and the convex portion or the concave portion can be fitted to another concave portion or another convex portion provided on the rib, respectively.

  Another embodiment of the present invention is a cover member that is detachably provided so as to cover an opening of a storage unit with respect to a device main body of an electronic device provided with an opening of a storage unit for storing an object to be stored. And having a rib that can be inserted into a closed-loop groove formed in an elastic member provided at least on the outer periphery of the opening and recessed toward the apparatus body, and the width of the tip of the rib is larger than the width of the opening on the groove Is also small.

  Moreover, it may be preferable that the width | variety of the front end side of a rib is larger than the width | variety of the bottom face side of the groove part with which an electronic device is provided.

  Moreover, it may be preferable that the side surface of a rib has another recessed part or another convex part which can be fitted with the convex part or recessed part provided in the side surface of the groove part, respectively.

  According to the present invention, the cover member can be easily attached to the apparatus main body, and high waterproofness can be realized.

It is a perspective view at the time of seeing the mobile telephone which is an example of the electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention from the operation surface side. It is a disassembled perspective view at the time of seeing the mobile phone shown in FIG. 1 from the back side. It is a perspective view at the time of seeing the cover member shown in FIG. 2 from the surface side which opposes a to-be-contained object. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA showing the cellular phone shown in FIG. 1 separately into a device main body and a cover member in which an object to be stored is stored. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of the mobile phone shown in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which expands and shows the part shown by B of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which expands and shows the part shown by C of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the area | region similar to C shown in FIG. 5 about the mobile telephone which concerns on the modification 1 of this invention. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the area | region similar to B shown in FIG. 4 about the mobile telephone which concerns on the modification 2 of this invention. FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a region similar to C shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the area | region similar to FIG. 5 about the mobile telephone which concerns on the modification 3 of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the area | region similar to FIG. 5 about the mobile telephone which concerns on the modification 4 of this invention.

  Next, each embodiment of the electronic device of the present invention and the cover member used therefor will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the embodiment of the electronic apparatus, the embodiment of the cover member will also be described.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone 1 as an example of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the operation surface side.

  The device main body 2 of the mobile phone 1 is a thin, substantially rectangular parallelepiped. Moreover, the apparatus main body 2 has a detachable cover member 10 on the side opposite to the operation surface (hereinafter referred to as the back side). Since the cover member 10 constitutes a part of the casing of the device main body 2, it is preferable that the cover member 10 is composed of the same member as the back surface of the device main body 2.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the back side.

  The device main body 2 is provided with an opening of a storage portion 3 that stores the storage object 1a. The to-be-contained object 1a is a thin substantially rectangular parallelepiped in this Embodiment. Examples of the objects to be stored 1a include an electronic control unit, a storage unit, a battery, a memory disk, or a PCB of the mobile phone 1. The storage object 1 a may be fixed so as not to drop out of the storage unit 3, or may be held by being sandwiched between the storage unit 3 and the cover member 10.

  The device main body 2 has a side wall 4 on the outer periphery thereof. The side wall 4 has the latching claw 4a which protrudes to the inner peripheral side on the inner peripheral surface. In addition, the device main body 2 has an elastic member 6 in a flat portion 5 between the inside of the side wall 4 and the storage portion 3. The elastic member 6 is disposed in a closed loop around the outer periphery of the storage unit 3. The elastic member 6 is fixed to the flat portion 5 with an adhesive or the like. The elastic member 6 may be fixed to the flat portion 5 by a method other than bonding with an adhesive. For example, the elastic member 6 may be provided on the flat portion 5 by insert molding or two-color molding. The flat portion 5 may have a protrusion (not shown) at a position where the elastic member 6 is fixed in order to facilitate positioning when attaching the elastic member 6. The elastic member 6 has a closed-loop groove 7 that is recessed toward the device main body 2 from the surface facing the cover member 10. The groove portion 7 is provided at a position that bisects the width of the elastic member 6 when the elastic member 6 is viewed from the back side.

  The elastic member 6 is mainly formed of a flexible material so that the elastic member 6 can be brought into close contact with at least the corner portion of the rib 12 while being deformed when pressed against the rib 12 described later. For example, the JIS-A hardness is 90 degrees or less, more preferably 60 degrees or less. When the JIS-A hardness of the elastic member 6 is 60 degrees or less, since the stress when the cover member 10 is mounted on the device main body 2 is small, the cover member 10 can be easily mounted on the device main body 2 and the cover member 10 is hard to break. Further, in order to maintain the shape of the groove portion 7 of the elastic member 6, the elastic member 6 has a JIS-A hardness of 10 degrees or more, more preferably 30 degrees or more.

  Further, the elastic member 6 is preferably made of a material capable of retaining its shape to some extent because the elastic member 6 is repeatedly compressed and released by the ribs 12 when the cover member 10 is repeatedly attached and detached. For example, the compression set (CS) measured by a measurement method based on JIS K 6262 is 50% or less, preferably 20% or less. When CS is 50% or less, the elastic member 6 can be easily restored to its original shape when released after being deformed several times by compression, so that the dimensional accuracy can be maintained and sufficient waterproof performance can be exhibited.

  Examples of the material constituting the elastic member 6 include thermoplastic elastomers such as polyester, polyurethane, and polyolefin, or natural rubber, isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), butyl rubber, Thermosetting elastomers such as ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM), acrylic rubber, silicone rubber or fluoro rubber can be suitably used. Among them, a silicone rubber which is excellent in properties necessary for packing, for example, heat resistance, cold resistance, weather resistance, chemical resistance, compression set, and the like, and relatively inexpensive, can be particularly preferably used.

  The cover member 10 is a thin tray-shaped molded body. The cover member 10 is preferably composed of a thermoplastic resin such as ABS resin, polycarbonate resin, polyamide resin or PBT resin, or an alloy thereof for reasons such as moldability and workability. Furthermore, you may mix glass fiber etc. in those resin. The cover member 10 is attached to the device main body 2 so as to cover the storage object 1a stored in the storage unit 3. The device main body 2 and the cover member 10 are configured such that both side surfaces of the device main body 2 are substantially flat when the cover member 10 is attached to the device main body 2.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cover member 10 shown in FIG. 2 when viewed from the surface facing the object 1a.

  The cover member 10 has a closed-loop rib 12 that protrudes toward the groove 7 and can be inserted into the groove 7 at a position facing the groove 7 when the cover member 10 is attached to the device main body 2. The cover member 10 has a wall portion 13 that surrounds the outer periphery of the rib 12. The wall portion 13 is provided apart from the rib 12. Further, the cover member 10 has a substantially horizontal outer peripheral surface 14 on the outer periphery of the wall portion 13. The outer peripheral surface of the wall portion 13 has a locking projection 15 that protrudes toward the outer peripheral side so as to surround the outer periphery.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA, showing the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 1 as being separated into a device main body 2 and a cover member 10 in which the object to be stored 1a is stored. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the mobile phone 1 shown in FIG. Note that, in FIG. 5 and subsequent cross-sectional views, the thickness ratio of each member is changed from the actual ratio in consideration of easy viewing. Moreover, the to-be-contained object 1a is illustrated as a thin substantially rectangular parallelepiped form.

  When the cover member 10 is attached to the device main body 2, the locking protrusion 15 of the cover member 10 is locked by being caught by the locking claw 4 a of the device main body 2. When the cover member 10 is attached to the device body 2, the rib 12 is inserted into the groove portion 7 of the elastic member 6.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion indicated by B in FIG. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion indicated by C in FIG.

  The rib 12 is provided in a closed loop shape with a width W2 and a height H on the front end side so that the rib 12 can be inserted into the groove portion 7. The cross section of the rib 12 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and both the width on the tip side and the base side are preferably 0.2 mm or more in consideration of strength and formability. Since the height H of the rib 12 needs to be sufficiently high with respect to the compression amount of the elastic member 6, it is, for example, 0.5 mm or more, and more preferably 1.0 mm or more. The rib 12 may be fixed separately from the cover member 10 or may be integrally formed. In addition, as for the front-end | tip part of the rib 12, it is more preferable that the curved surface or the corner | angular part is chamfered. In such a case, even if the rib 12 repeatedly inserts and removes the elastic member 6 into and from the groove portion 7, cracks and the like are unlikely to enter the elastic member 6.

  The groove portion 7 is a recess having a substantially trapezoidal cross section with a width W1 on the opening side and a width W3 on the bottom surface side, and is provided in a closed loop shape at the center portion in the width direction of the elastic member 6. The width W1 on the opening side of the groove portion 7 is larger than the width W2 on the front end side of the rib 12 facing this. Since W1 is larger than W2, in the initial stage of inserting the rib 12 into the groove portion 7, it can be inserted without any resistance. Further, the width W3 on the bottom surface side of the groove portion 7 is smaller than the width W2 on the tip side of the rib 12. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7, when the rib 12 is inserted into the groove 7, at least two corners in the width direction of the rib 12 are pressed against the inner side surface (inclined surface) of the groove 6. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent water that has entered from the outside from entering the storage unit 3.

  In this embodiment, the inner surface of the groove 7 is an inclined surface that is inclined at a constant angle from the opening side of the groove 7 toward the bottom surface. An angle θ formed by the opening surface of the elastic member 6 and the inner surface of the groove portion 7 is greater than 0 degree and less than 90 degrees, and is 30 to 60 degrees in order to smoothly insert the rib 12. Is preferred. Moreover, the thickness of the wall of the elastic member 6 (the width from the inner surface of the groove 7 to the outer surface of the elastic member 6) is, for example, 0.2 mm or more, and more preferably 0.5 mm or more. In such a case, the elastic member 6 can be formed by a general forming method, and the shape of the elastic member 6 can be maintained.

  In the mobile phone 1 as described above, when the cover member 10 is attached to the device body 2, the rib 12 is easily inserted into the groove portion 7 in the initial stage, and as the insertion proceeds, the groove portion 7 is pushed and expanded. Is inserted in the direction. The elastic member 6 is pressed against at least two corners of the rib 12 at the inner corner and the outer corner, so that the foreign matter (water, etc.) from the outside is effectively sealed so as not to enter the storage portion 3. You can stop. Therefore, in the mobile phone 1 as described above, the cover member 10 can be easily attached to the apparatus main body 2 and high waterproofness can be realized.

  Further, as described above, since the rib 12 can be smoothly inserted into the groove portion 7 of the elastic member 6, it is not necessary to provide the elastic member 6 or the rib 12 with a coating layer for improving slipperiness. Therefore, in addition to the improvement of productivity, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. The elastic member 6 has a coating layer formed on a surface different from that of the elastic member 6 in order to improve at least one of adhesion to foreign matters, slipperiness, and water repellency. Also good. The covering layer may be formed of, for example, a fluorine-containing resin.

  Further, in the mobile phone 1 as described above, even when the error occurs in the dimensions of the device body 2 and the cover member 10 and the rib 12 is slightly displaced from the position corresponding to the groove portion 7, Since the inner side surface is an inclined surface, the rib 12 can be guided to the groove portion 7.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of the electronic device of this invention and the cover member used for it has been demonstrated, this invention is not limited to each above-mentioned embodiment, It can implement by giving various deformation | transformation. .

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the mobile phone 1 is exemplified, but the present invention can also be applied to electronic devices other than the mobile phone 1, for example, a PDA, a fixed phone, a home audio device, an in-vehicle audio device, a car navigation system. It can also be applied to devices such as electric vehicles equipped with devices and batteries. In the above-described embodiment, the structure that prevents water from entering the storage unit 3 is exemplified. However, in the above-described structure, other foreign matters such as liquid and dust other than water can be prevented.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the storage unit 3 is a rectangular parallelepiped with corners as viewed from the back side, but is not limited to such a form. The shapes of the storage unit 3 and the cover member 10 may be circular or other polygonal shapes depending on the shape of the storage object 1a.

  In the above-described embodiment, the device main body 2 has the locking claws 4a and the cover member 10 has the locking projections 15. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The cover member 10 and the device main body 2 may be fixed by a structure other than the hooking structure of the locking protrusion 15 and the locking claw 4a. For example, the cover member 10 may be screwed to the device main body 2.

  In the above-described embodiment, the inner surface of the groove 7 has a slope from the opening to the bottom so that the width W1 on the opening side of the groove 7 is larger than the width W3 on the bottom side. It is not limited to such a form. For example, an inclined surface in which the width W1 on the opening side of the groove 7 is larger than the width W3 on the bottom surface side may be provided only in the vicinity of the opening. Moreover, the inner surface of the groove part 7 may have inclined surfaces having different angles on the opening side and the bottom surface side. In such a case, in order to smoothly insert the rib 12, the angle of the slope on the opening side is preferably smaller than the angle of the slope on the bottom side. Further, a wall portion is provided on the outer peripheral side and / or inner peripheral side of the elastic member 6, and when the rib 12 is inserted into the groove portion 7, the elastic member 6 is prevented from expanding in the width direction, and is elastic from the rib 12. The pressing force on the member 6 may not be dispersed.

(Modification 1)
FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a region similar to C shown in FIG. 5 for the mobile phone 20 according to the first modification of the present invention. Note that the same components as those of the mobile phone 1 will be described using the same numbers.

  In the above-described embodiment, the rib 12 is a rib having substantially the same width W2 on the distal end side and the width W4 on the root side, but the form of the rib is not limited to such a form. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the width W2 on the front end side of the rib 22 may be smaller than the width W4 on the root side. In such a case, the inner surface of the groove portion 7 may be an inclined surface as in the above-described embodiment, or the width W1 on the opening side and the width W3 on the bottom surface side of the groove portion 7 as shown in FIG. And may be substantially the same. Further, when the width W1 on the opening side of the groove portion 7 and the width W3 on the bottom surface side are the same, the width W4 of the root portion of the rib 22 is made larger than the width W1 on the opening side of the groove portion 7, thereby 22 can be easily inserted into the groove 7. Moreover, since the corner | angular part of the opening part of the groove part 7 press-contacts with the side surface of the rib 22, it can prevent that water permeates into the accommodating part 3 from the outer side.

(Modification 2)
FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a region similar to B shown in FIG. 4 for the mobile phone 30 according to the second modification of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the same region as C shown in FIG. 5 for the mobile phone 30 of FIG. Note that the same components as those of the mobile phone 1 will be described using the same numbers.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the rib 33 may have a concave portion 32 on its side surface, and the groove portion 7 may have a convex portion 31 on its side surface. The groove portion 7 has an inclined inner surface on the bottom surface side from the convex portion 31. In such a case, the ribs 33 are inserted into the groove portions 7, so that the convex portions 31 are fitted into the concave portions 32, and the tips of the ribs 33 are in pressure contact with the inner surface on the bottom surface side of the convex portions 31 of the groove portions 7. The seal can be held by the fitting structure portion of the convex portion 31 and the concave portion 32. Further, waterproofing can be achieved between the tip of the rib 33 and the inner surface of the groove portion 7. In addition, since the width of the groove 7 on the opening side is larger than the width of the tip of the rib 33, the rib 33 can be easily inserted into the groove 7. 9 and 10, the rib 33 has the concave portion 32 and the groove portion 7 has the convex portion 31. However, the rib 33 has the convex portion and the groove portion 7 has the convex portion 31. You may have a recessed part.

(Modification 3)
FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a region similar to FIG. 5 for the mobile phone 40 according to the third modification of the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment and Modifications 1 and 2, the elastic member 6 is formed in a closed loop shape, but is not limited to such a form. The elastic member 46 may have a sheet shape that covers not only the outer periphery of the storage unit 3 but also the inner surface of the storage unit 3. Moreover, when the elastic member 46 is a sheet shape, it is more preferable that the part in which the groove part 7 is provided is thicker than the other part. In the case where the elastic member 46 has a shape that covers the outer periphery from the inner surface of the storage portion 3, the waterproof structure can be maintained even when the elastic member 46 is partially peeled from the device main body 2.

(Modification 4)
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a region similar to FIG. 5 for a mobile phone 50 according to Modification 4 of the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment and Modifications 1 and 2, the apparatus main body 2 has the elastic members 6 and 46 and the cover member 10 has the ribs 12, 22, and 33. However, the present invention is not limited to such a form. . As shown in FIG. 12, the cover member 10 may have an elastic member 56 and a rib 53 may be provided on the device main body 2 side. Specifically, the mobile phone 50 includes an apparatus main body 2 provided with an opening of the storage unit 3 for storing the storage object 1a, and a cover member 10 provided detachably so as to cover the opening of the storage unit 3. The device body 2 includes ribs 53 at least on the outer periphery of the opening. The cover member 10 includes an elastic member 56 having a closed-loop groove 7 that is recessed toward the cover member 10 from a surface facing the device body 2 at a position facing the rib 53 when attached to the device body 2. . The rib 53 protrudes toward the groove 7 when it is attached to the device main body 2 and can be inserted into the groove 7. Further, the width W <b> 1 on the opening side of the groove 7 is larger than the width W <b> 2 at the tip of the rib 53.

  In the above-described embodiment and modification, one or more features may be combined. For example, the rib 22 whose width on the tip side is narrower than the width on the root side may have the concave portion 32, and the groove portion 7 may have the convex portion 31. Further, without the locking projection 15 and the locking claw 4 a, the rib 33 having the concave portion 32 and the groove portion 7 having the convex portion 31 are provided, and only by the engagement between the concave portion 32 and the convex portion 31, the device The cover member 10 may be prevented from falling off from the main body 2.

  The present invention can be used for an electronic device that stores an item to be stored.

1, 20, 30, 40, 50 Mobile phone (an example of an electronic device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a To-be-contained object 2 Apparatus main body 3 Storage part 6, 46, 56 Elastic member 7 Groove part 10 Cover member 12, 22, 33, 53 Rib 31 Protrusion part 32 Recess part W1 Groove opening side width W2 Rib tip side width W3 Width on the bottom side of the groove W4 Width on the base side of the rib

Claims (8)

A device body provided with an opening for storing a storage object;
A cover member detachably provided so as to cover the opening of the storage portion;
Have
The device body includes an elastic member having a closed-loop groove that is recessed toward the device body from a surface facing the cover member, at least on the outer periphery of the opening.
The cover member includes a rib that protrudes toward the groove and can be inserted into the groove at a position facing the groove when attached to the device main body,
The width of the groove on the opening side is larger than the width of the tip of the rib. The electronic device according to claim 1,
The said groove part has an inclined surface which makes the width | variety of an opening side larger than the width | variety of a bottom face side, The electronic device characterized by the above-mentioned. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2,
The width on the bottom surface side of the groove is smaller than the width on the tip side of the rib. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a width of the rib on a tip side is smaller than a width on a base side thereof. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A convex part or a concave part is provided on a side surface of the groove part,
The said convex part or the said recessed part can each be fitted with the other recessed part or other convex part provided in the said rib, The electronic device characterized by the above-mentioned. A cover member that is detachably provided so as to cover the opening of the storage unit with respect to the device main body of the electronic device provided with an opening for storing the storage object.
Having a rib that can be inserted into a closed-loop groove formed in an elastic member provided at least on the outer periphery of the opening and recessed toward the device main body;
The cover member according to claim 1, wherein a width of a tip of the rib is smaller than a width on an opening side of the groove. The cover member according to claim 6,
The width of the rib on the tip side is larger than the width on the bottom side of the groove provided in the electronic device. The cover member according to claim 6 or 7,
The side surface of the rib has another concave portion or another convex portion that can be fitted to the convex portion or the concave portion provided on the side surface of the groove portion, respectively.

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