JP2013165459A - Slide type portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the durability without performing special processing to a strip shaped flexible cable electrically connecting a first substrate with a second substrate in a portable telephone where a first housing having the first substrate is slidably connected with a second housing having a second substrate by a slide mechanism.SOLUTION: A flexible cable 20 is folded so as to maintain a folding part 20a having a substantially U shape when viewed in a width direction and is bent so that at least a cross section shape of a first attachment part located at one end side and attached to a first housing and a cross section shape of a second attachment part located at the other end side and attached to a second housing move close to each other at widthwise end parts.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sliding portable terminal, and more particularly to improvement of durability of the flexible cable.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sliding mobile terminal in which a first casing having a first substrate and a second casing having a second substrate are connected to be slidable by a sliding mechanism is known. In this type of sliding portable terminal, the strip-shaped flexible cable that electrically connects the first board and the second board is bent so as to maintain a substantially U-shaped bent portion when viewed from the width direction. Yes. By repeatedly performing the sliding operation, the flexible cable is likely to be damaged particularly in the vicinity of the first attachment portion with the first housing and the second attachment portion with the second housing.

  Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 includes a curved region having a curved portion in a bent state and a non-curved region that is two regions positioned across the curved region and does not have a curved portion in the folded state. At least one of the curved regions has a slit. Thereby, the stress which acts on the stress concentration part of a flexible cable is reduced, and durability is improved.

JP 2009-218468 A

  However, the flexible cable that performs special processing as in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that there are limitations in terms of cost, compatibility, size, and the like.

  This invention is made | formed in view of this point, The place made into the objective is to improve the durability, without carrying out special processing to flexible cable itself.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the flexible cable is bent so that the cross section of the flexible cable is curved by a device on the mobile terminal side.

  Specifically, in the first invention, there is provided a sliding portable terminal in which a first casing having a first substrate and a second casing having a second substrate are slidably connected by a sliding mechanism. Assumption.

And in the above sliding mobile terminal,
The strip-shaped flexible cable that electrically connects the first substrate and the second substrate is bent so as to maintain a substantially U-shaped bent portion when viewed from the width direction, and the first flexible cable is at least on one end side. It is attached so that the cross-sectional shape of the first mounting portion, which is a mounting portion with the other housing, and the cross-sectional shape of the second mounting portion, which is the mounting portion with the second housing on the other end, are curved. ing.

  According to said structure, rigidity is improved compared with a cross section with a linear cross section by attaching at least the attachment part periphery of a flexible cable with high flexibility so that a cross section may be curved. For this reason, breakage of the flexible cable in the vicinity of the attachment portion where stress concentration tends to occur is prevented.

In the second invention, in the first invention,
The flexible cable is curved such that at least the cross-sectional shape of the first attachment portion on one end side and the cross-sectional shape of the second attachment portion on the other end side approach each other in the width direction.

  According to said structure, it is hard to generate | occur | produce stress concentration especially in a bending part compared with the case where it curves in a reverse direction by curving so that a cross-section may mutually approach a width direction edge part, and durability is high.

In the third invention, in the second invention,
At least one of the first attachment portion and the second attachment portion of the flexible cable is attached to a concave portion whose bottom section is curved in a substantially U shape in the first housing or the second housing. The curved cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable is maintained.

  According to said structure, the cross section of a flexible cable can be curved only by denting the part to which the 1st attachment part or 2nd attachment part of a flexible cable is attached in cross-sectional substantially U shape, and processing to flexible cable itself Even if it is not added, the rigidity of the flexible cable is improved in a narrow area.

In the fourth invention, in the second invention,
At least one of the first attachment portion and the second attachment portion of the flexible cable is attached so as to be in contact with a pair of regulating ribs erected so as to face the first housing or the second housing. Thus, the curved cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable is maintained.

  According to the above configuration, even when there is not enough space to provide the concave portion on the housing side, the cross section of the flexible cable can be easily curved only by providing the pair of regulating ribs.

In the fifth invention, in the second invention,
At least one of the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion of the flexible cable includes an engaged portion that is recessed in a substantially U-shaped cross section in the first housing or the second housing, and the engaged portion. The curved cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable is maintained by being sandwiched and attached to the engaging portion having a bulging shape corresponding to the portion.

  According to the above configuration, in the first mounting portion or the second mounting portion, the first mounting portion or the second mounting portion can be easily damaged in the vicinity of the first mounting portion or the second mounting portion, which is easily damaged by being sandwiched between the concave and convex engaged portions and the engaging portions. The cross section of the flexible cable is kept in a curved shape.

In a sixth invention, in any one of the second to fifth inventions,
Self-adsorbing silicon rubber is affixed to at least one of the first casing and the second casing so as to be along the center in the width direction of the flexible cable.

  According to the above configuration, the center of the flexible cable in the width direction is affixed to the self-adsorbing silicone rubber, so that when the flexible cable is pulled during the sliding operation, the center remains compared to the end in the width direction. Is curved.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the cross section is curved at least in the vicinity of the attachment portion on the end side in the longitudinal direction of the flexible cable, the flexible cable itself can be processed without special processing. Rigidity can be increased and durability can be improved.

It is a perspective view which expands and shows the flexible cable which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and its periphery typically. The slide type mobile phone in a closed state is shown, (a) is a front view and (b) is a side view. It is a perspective view which shows the mobile telephone of the state opened by sliding the 1st housing | casing with respect to the 2nd housing | casing. It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at the cellular phone of the closed state from the front side. It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at the cellular phone of the closed state from the back side. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the flexible substrate and slider in the open state seen from the front side. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the 1st control rib which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention, and its periphery. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the 2nd control rib which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention, and its periphery. It is a perspective view which expands and shows typically the clamping structure which concerns on other embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
2 to 5 show a mobile phone 1 as a sliding mobile terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The mobile phone 1 has a rectangular plate-shaped first housing 3 having a display unit 2 on the front side. A rectangular plate-like second housing 5 having the operation unit 4 on the front side is connected by a slide mechanism 10 so as to be slidable. The slide mechanism 10 includes a reinforcement frame 11 made of a stainless steel plate or the like attached to the back side of the first housing 3, and the reinforcement frame 11 has a pair of rail portions extending in parallel to the longitudinal direction at both ends in the width direction. 12 is provided. A first substrate (not shown) is built in between the reinforcing frame 11 and the display unit 2. The slide mechanism 10 includes a slider 13 made of a stainless steel plate or the like that is slidably engaged with the pair of rail portions 12 and attached to the second housing 5. The slider 13 is fixed to the upper side of the operation unit 4 on the front side of the second housing 5 with screws or the like. Engaging portions 13 a that engage with the rail portions 12 are formed at both ends in the width direction of the slider 13 by bending. In addition, a second substrate, a battery, and the like (not shown) are built in the second housing 5.

  The first substrate and the second substrate are electrically connected by a strip-shaped flexible cable 20. The flexible cable 20 may be a conventionally used flexible printed circuit (FPC: Flexible Printed Circuits), and a base material such as a polyimide film has appropriate rigidity and flexibility. As shown in FIG. 5, the first attachment portion 20 b that is one end of the flexible cable 20 is connected to the first substrate on the front side through a first slit (not shown) of the reinforcing frame 11. And the 1st control part 21 which has the 1st recessed part 21a in which the cross section of a bottom face curves is affixed in the vicinity of the slit. This 1st control part 21 consists of resin moldings, for example, and is affixed on the reinforcement frame 11 with the double-sided tape. The first recessed portion 21a may be formed by directly recessed the reinforcing frame 11. In the present embodiment, the longitudinal length of the first recessed portion 21a includes at least the entire range where the flexible cable 20 contacts the reinforcing frame 11 side.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the second attachment portion 20 c, which is the other end side of the flexible cable 20, is inserted through a rectangular second slit 5 a formed in a portion where the slider 13 of the second housing 5 is attached. Thus, it is connected to the second substrate. And the rectangular 2nd control part 22 is also attached to the slider 13 so that it may be fitted by this 2nd slit 5a. The second restricting portion 22 may be formed of a resin molded product in the same manner as the first restricting portion 21 and is recessed so that the bottom surface on the front side is curved to form a second recessed portion 22a. Instead of attaching the second restricting portion 22 to the slider 13, the bottom surface on the second slit 5a side may be directly recessed.

  And as shown in FIG. 6, the flexible cable 20 keeps the substantially U-shaped bending part 20a seeing from the width direction in the state which connected each edge part to the 1st board | substrate and the 2nd board | substrate. Is bent.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the flexible cable 20 is restricted by the first restriction portion 21 and the second restriction portion 22, so that the first attachment portion 20 b with the first housing 3 on one end side is restricted. The cross-sectional shape and the cross-sectional shape of the second mounting portion 20c with the second housing 5 on the other end side are curved so that the end portions in the width direction approach each other. Since the first restricting portion 21 and the second restricting portion 22 cover almost the entire moving range of the flexible cable 20, even if the closed state shown in FIG. 4 is switched to the open state shown in FIG. The state is reliably ensured.

  By comprising in this way, the cross section of the flexible cable 20 can be curved reliably, and the rigidity of the flexible cable 20 improves in a narrow area | region, without adding a process to flexible cable 20 itself. For this reason, the flexible cable 20 is prevented from being damaged in the vicinity of the attachment portion where stress concentration tends to occur.

  Therefore, according to the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment, the durability can be improved without special processing of the flexible cable 20 itself.

(Embodiment 2)
7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the first embodiment mainly in that the structures of the first restricting portion 21 and the second restricting portion 22 are different. In the following embodiments, the same portions as those in FIGS. 1 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, a pair of linear first restriction ribs 121 at the corresponding positions on the surface of the reinforcing frame 11 are attached instead of the first restriction portion 21 of the first embodiment. When the reinforcing frame 11 is a magnesium molded product or the like, the first regulating rib 121 may be integrally formed with the molded product. The first restricting rib 121 is continuous in a straight line, but the protrusions may be arranged in a straight line.

  A self-adsorbing silicon rubber 123 is linearly attached to the center between the pair of first regulating ribs 121. The self-adsorbing silicon rubber 123 is not limited to silicon rubber as long as it is a self-adsorbing material. For example, the width of the self-adsorbing silicon rubber 123 may be about 1 mm and the thickness is about 0.2 mm with respect to the width of the flexible cable 20 of 10 mm.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, on the second housing 5 side, second regulating ribs 122 having the same shape as the first regulating ribs 121 are pasted along both ends in the width direction of the second slits 5a. Yes. The second regulating rib 122 may also be formed integrally with the second housing 5 or may be formed by arranging the protrusions in a straight line discretely. Similarly, a self-adsorbing silicone rubber 123 is linearly attached to the center between the pair of second regulating ribs 122.

  The first mounting portion 20b and the second mounting portion 20c of the flexible cable 20 are opposed to the pair of first restriction ribs 121 or the second housing 5 that are erected so as to face the first housing 3, respectively. By being attached so as to be in contact with the pair of second restriction ribs 122 standing upright, the cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable 20 is maintained in a substantially curved state as a whole.

  Thus, even when there is not enough space to provide a recess on the first housing 3 or the second housing 5 side, a pair of first restricting ribs 121 or a pair of second restricting ribs 122 are provided, and the center The self-adsorptive silicon rubber 123 is attached to the center of the flexible cable 20, and the center of the flexible cable 20 in the width direction is adsorbed to the self-adsorptive silicon rubber 123. The center is adsorbed and its cross section is curved.

  Therefore, also in the present embodiment, the flexible cable 20 itself can be improved in durability by improving its rigidity without special processing.

  In the present embodiment, the pair of first restricting ribs 121 or the pair of second restricting ribs 122 may not be provided and only the self-adsorbing silicon rubber 123 may be used. Conversely, only the pair of first restriction ribs 121 or the pair of second restriction ribs 122 may be provided without the self-adsorbing silicon rubber 123. In that case, the cross section of the first restriction rib 121 or the pair of second restriction ribs 122 may be a cross section that is curved along the curved cross section of the flexible cable 20. Furthermore, the above configuration may be provided only on one side of the first casing 3 and the second casing 5.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention may be configured as follows with respect to the above embodiment.

  That is, in the said embodiment, although the cross section of the flexible cable 20 is curving so that the width direction edge part may mutually approach, you may curve in the reverse direction. However, this case is disadvantageous in that stress concentration tends to occur particularly at the bent portion 20a as compared with the above embodiments.

  As described in the above embodiments, the range where the first restricting portion 21, the pair of first restricting ribs 121, and the self-adsorbing silicon rubber 123 are attached only needs to occupy at least the range where the flexible cable 20 contacts. However, both ends in the longitudinal direction may be extended longer than that to improve the appearance.

  9, at least one of the first attachment portion 20b and the second attachment portion 20c of the flexible cable 20 is recessed in the first casing 3 or the second casing 5 in a substantially U-shaped cross section. The engaged portion 221 is provided, and an engagement portion 222 (shown only in FIG. 7) having a bulging shape corresponding to the engaged portion 221 and the engaged portion 221 are connected to the end of the flexible cable 20. You may make it pinch | interpose the part vicinity. In this way, the flexible cable can be easily formed in the vicinity of the first mounting portion 20b or the second mounting portion 20c that is easily damaged by sandwiching the vicinity of the end portion of the flexible cable 20 between the uneven engaged portion 221 and the engaging portion 222. The 20 cross sections can be kept curved. Since the curved portion of the flexible cable 20 can keep the curved portion in a wide range even if only the vicinity of the end portion is curved, only this clamping structure may be provided or may be combined with each of the above embodiments.

  In the above embodiment, the portable mobile terminal 1 is the mobile phone 1, but a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a smartphone, a personal computer, a mobile tool, an electronic dictionary, a calculator, a game machine, etc. It may have a slide mechanism and a flexible cable.

  In addition, the above embodiment is an essentially preferable illustration, Comprising: It does not intend restrict | limiting the range of this invention, its application thing, or a use.

1 Mobile phone (sliding mobile terminal)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Display part 3 1st housing | casing 4 Operation part 5 2nd housing | casing 5a 2nd slit 10 Slide mechanism 11 Reinforcement frame 12 Rail part 13 Slider 13a Engagement part 20 Flexible cable 20a Bending part 21 1st control part 21a First recessed portion 22 Second restricting portion 22a Second recessed portion 121 First restricting rib 122 Second restricting rib 123 Self-adsorbing silicone rubber 221 Engagement portion 222 Engagement portion

Claims (6)

In the slide type portable terminal in which the first casing having the first substrate and the second casing having the second substrate are slidably connected by the slide mechanism,
The strip-shaped flexible cable that electrically connects the first substrate and the second substrate is bent so as to maintain a substantially U-shaped bent portion when viewed from the width direction, and the first flexible cable is at least on one end side. It is attached so that the cross-sectional shape of the first mounting portion, which is a mounting portion with the other housing, and the cross-sectional shape of the second mounting portion, which is the mounting portion with the second housing on the other end, are curved. A sliding portable terminal characterized by The sliding mobile terminal according to claim 1,
The flexible cable is characterized in that a cross-sectional shape of the first attachment portion on at least one end side and a cross-sectional shape of the second attachment portion on the other end side are curved so that the end portions in the width direction approach each other. A sliding mobile terminal. The sliding mobile terminal according to claim 2,
At least one of the first attachment portion and the second attachment portion of the flexible cable is attached to a concave portion whose bottom section is curved in a substantially U shape in the first housing or the second housing. A sliding portable terminal characterized in that the curved cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable is maintained. The sliding mobile terminal according to claim 2,
At least one of the first attachment portion and the second attachment portion of the flexible cable is attached so as to be in contact with a pair of regulating ribs erected so as to face the first housing or the second housing. A sliding portable terminal characterized in that the curved cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable is maintained. The sliding mobile terminal according to claim 2,
At least one of the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion of the flexible cable includes an engaged portion that is recessed in a substantially U-shaped cross section in the first housing or the second housing, and the engaged portion. A sliding portable terminal characterized in that a curved cross-sectional shape of the flexible cable is maintained by being sandwiched and attached by an engaging portion having a bulging shape corresponding to the portion. The sliding mobile terminal according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
A self-adsorbing silicone rubber is attached to at least one of the first casing and the second casing so as to be along the center in the width direction of the flexible cable. .

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