JP2910721B2 - Foldable mobile phone - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable telephone,
In particular, the present invention relates to a foldable mobile phone in which an upper housing and a lower housing are connected.

[0001]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a portable telephone is provided with an antenna, a receiving section, a transmitting section, a key operation section including various key buttons, a display section for displaying time and various information, and the like. In this type of mobile phone, the receiving unit and the transmitting unit need to be positioned corresponding to the user's ear and mouth in the use state, so that the overall size becomes considerably large, and portability is increased. Extremely bad. For this purpose, a foldable mobile phone as shown in FIG. 9 has been provided.

This foldable portable telephone comprises an upper housing 1 provided with an antenna 3, a display unit 4, a receiver 5, and the like;
The lower housing 2 provided with various key portions 6 and the transmitter 7 is connected by a hinge mechanism 8, and the lower housing 2 can be folded with respect to the upper housing 1 using the hinge mechanism 8. . In this foldable mobile phone, the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 are opened during use, so that the distance between the receiver 5 and the transmitter 7 is increased, and the foldable mobile phone is placed in the ear and mouth of the user. The receiving section 5 and the transmitting section 7 can be brought close to each other, and when not in use, the lower housing 2 can be folded down to achieve downsizing and improve portability.

[0003] However, in this type of foldable mobile phone, it is necessary to open the upper housing 1 which is folded with respect to the lower housing 2 at the time of use.
The user holds one housing, for example, the lower housing 2 with one hand, grasps the other housing, for example, the upper housing 1 with the other hand, and rotates and opens with the hinge mechanism 8 as a fulcrum. Operation is required. On the other hand, when folding after use, while holding one housing, for example, the lower housing 2 with one hand, pressing the other housing, for example, the upper housing 1 against a part of the body or another object Since it can be folded by applying force, it can be operated with one hand. Therefore, there is a problem that both hands are required to open the upper housing 1 during use, and it is inconvenient to use when one hand cannot be used.

[0004] In order to solve such a problem, a foldable portable telephone which allows the upper housing and the lower housing to be opened with one hand during use is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-338837 by the same applicant as the present applicant. No., JP-A-7-13
No. 1850, JP-A-7-202787 and JP-A-8-9004.

In the foldable mobile phone disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-338837, a fixed magnet is provided in a lower housing,
A movable magnet that is integrated with the lever in the upper housing and moves by manual operation of the lever is provided, and when used, the lever is operated with one hand to slide the movable magnet, so that a repulsive force is generated between the fixed magnet and the movable magnet. Occurs, and the upper casing and the lower casing are opened by this repulsive force.

On the other hand, in a foldable mobile phone disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-131850, as shown in FIG.
A fixed magnet 51 is provided on the upper housing 1, and a movable magnet 52 is provided on the lower housing 2, which is connected to a lever 54 by a connecting tool 53 and is moved by operating the lever 54. By sliding the magnet 52, the attractive force between the fixed magnet 51 and the movable magnet 52 is weakened, and the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 are in an open state.
In FIG. 10, the same components as those shown in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Further, in the foldable portable telephone disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-202787, during operation, a lever holding a magnet provided on the lower housing slides by operating a lever, and the lower housing is slid. The attraction force of the magnet provided in the upper case and the magnet provided in the upper case becomes smaller than the opening force of the magnet in the hinge, and the upper case and the lower case are opened.

Further, in the foldable portable telephone disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-9004, a fixed magnet is provided in an upper housing, and the lower housing is connected to a lever by a connecting tool, and is movable by operating the lever. A magnet is provided, and when used, the lever is operated with one hand to slide the movable magnet, thereby weakening the attractive force between the fixed magnet and the movable magnet, opening the upper housing and the lower housing, and simultaneously opening the antenna. Is extended to the off-hook state.

As described above, in the conventional foldable portable telephone, the fixed magnet is provided in the upper housing, the movable magnet which is moved by operating the lever is provided in the lower housing, and the lever is operated with one hand to use the movable magnet in use. The upper housing and the lower housing are deployed by sliding the to reduce the attractive force between the fixed magnet and the movable magnet, so that the user can easily change from the folded state to the deployed state with one hand. Time-consuming operation can be saved.

In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6-338837 and Hei 7-131850, ring-shaped magnets are respectively provided for a movable magnet provided on one housing and a fixed magnet provided on the other housing. A method has been proposed in which the movable magnet is used to be slid by rotating the movable magnet by operating a lever to reduce the attractive force between the movable magnet and the fixed magnet.

[0011]

However, in the conventional foldable portable telephone, a movable magnet provided in one housing and a fixed magnet provided in the other housing are used to change the state from the folded state to the expanded state. Is weakened, and at that time, the movable magnet provided on one of the housings is slid by rotating or rotating, so that there is a problem that there is not enough room for mounting parts. . In addition, there is a problem that miniaturization of the foldable mobile phone itself cannot be realized.

An object of the present invention is to realize that the movable magnet provided on one of the housings is rotated and moved by operating a lever to reduce the attractive force between the movable magnet and the fixed magnet provided on the other housing. An object of the present invention is to provide a foldable mobile phone.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a foldable portable telephone according to the present invention comprises an upper casing and a lower casing which are rotatably connected by a hinge portion. A first magnet and a second magnet each having a ring shape provided on the housing and the lower housing,
The second magnet is rotated by a button provided on the lower housing, and the upper housing is rotated by the repulsive force of the first magnet and the second magnet. After the rotation, the upper housing is provided in the ring of the second magnet. The second magnet is configured to return to the original position by the provided spring.

Before the rotation of the second magnet, the upper housing and the lower housing are held in a folded state by the attraction force of the first magnet and the second magnet.

The second magnet is housed in a magnet case, one end of a spring is fixed to a fixed portion provided in the magnet case, and the other end of the spring is fixed to a rotating shaft fixed to a lower housing. .

Further, a protrusion is provided on the magnet case, and the button and the protrusion are connected by a connecting tool having a hole.

The spring is preferably a spring or a wound spring, and the connecting member may be constituted by a line.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of the foldable portable radio of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the foldable mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, an upper housing 11 is provided with an antenna 13, a display unit 14 and a receiving unit 15, and a lower housing 12 is provided with various key units 16 and a transmitting unit 17; Is connected to one end of the lower housing 12 by a hinge mechanism 18, so that the lower housing 12 can be rotated and folded with respect to the upper housing 11.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of hinge mechanism 18 of the foldable portable telephone according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 2, the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 1
The cylindrical portions 19 and 20 are coaxially arranged at one end of the pin 2 and a pin shaft 21 is inserted through the cylindrical portions 19 and 20. Each of the cylindrical portions 19 and 20 is rotatable about the pin shaft 21. It is composed of The coil spring 22 is fitted on the pin shaft 21, and one end and the other end of the coil spring 22 are respectively engaged with a part of each of the housings 11 and 12. ,
The rotation powers are applied in the opposite directions to each other to urge the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 in the opening direction.

Returning to FIG. 1, a ring-shaped fixed magnet 23 is disposed at a position near the inner surface of the upper housing 11, and a fixed magnet 23 provided on the upper housing 11 is provided inside the lower housing 12. The ring-shaped movable magnet 24 is rotatably arranged at a position corresponding to. The movable magnet 24 is connected to a connecting member 26.
The slide button 25 is connected to the movable magnet 2 by the user operating the slide button 25.
4 rotates.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic diagrams showing the relationship between the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 when the foldable portable telephone according to the present embodiment is folded and unfolded.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the upper casing 11 and the lower casing 12 are closed, that is, when folded, the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 have opposite polarities.
That is, the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 are arranged so as to face the S pole and the N pole, and are fixed by suction so that the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 do not rotate with each other due to the magnetic force. To prevent

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the slide button 25 provided on the lower housing 12 is slid in the direction (FIG. 1), the projection 31 provided on the movable magnet 24 is The movable magnet 24 moves along the formed hole 32 and rotates. The hole 32 formed in the connecting member 26 has a size such that the polarity of the movable magnet 24 is completely the same as the polarity of the fixed magnet 23 by rotation, that is, the S pole and the S pole or the N pole and the N pole. Determined. For this reason, the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 repel each other to generate a repulsive force therebetween, and the repulsive force causes the upper casing 11 to expand with respect to the lower casing 12, that is, as shown in FIG. State.

In this embodiment, a spring is provided in the hole of the ring of the movable magnet 24, for example, substantially at the center of the ring, and when the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 are unfolded, the direction opposite to the winding direction of the spring is used. The movable magnet 2
4 automatically returns to the original position, that is, the slide button 25 automatically returns to the original position. At this time, in order to fix the mainspring provided substantially at the center of the ring of the movable magnet 24, it is desirable that the movable magnet 24 be housed in a magnet case having a mainspring fixing portion.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a movable magnet 24 provided with a mainspring at substantially the center of the ring of the foldable portable telephone according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the movable magnet 24 provided with the mainspring 42 substantially at the center of the ring shown in FIG.

5 and 6, one end of a mainspring 42 is fixed by a mainspring fixing portion 43 provided on a magnet case 41, and the other end is wound around a rotary shaft 44 and fixed. Further, the rotating shaft 44 is fixed to the lower housing 12. The protrusion 31 provided on the magnet case 41 containing the movable magnet 24 moves along the hole 32 formed in the connecting member 26, and the magnet case 41 and the movable magnet 24 rotate and move with respect to the rotation shaft 44. Movable magnet 2
The mainspring 42 is wound around the rotating shaft 44 with the rotation movement of the spring 4, but after the rotation movement, a force is applied to the mainspring 42 in a direction opposite to the winding direction, and the force causes the magnet case 41 and the movable magnet 24 to rotate. It returns to the previous state, that is, the slide button 25 automatically returns to the original position.

FIG. 7 is a partially broken side view for explaining the operation of the foldable portable telephone according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 7, when not in use, the upper housing 1
1 and the lower housing 12 are closed by a hinge mechanism 18. At this time, the fixed magnet 23 fixed to the upper housing 11
And the movable magnet 24 provided on the lower housing 12 are arranged so that the polarities thereof are opposite to each other, that is, the S pole and the N pole face each other, and the attractive force between the S pole and the N pole of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 is provided. Thereby, the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 are kept closed. In this state, an elastic force is applied to the coil spring 22 to urge the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 in the opening direction, so that the attractive force of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 is set to be stronger than the elastic force of the coil spring 22. There is a need to.

On the other hand, when the foldable portable telephone is used, when the slide button 25 provided on the lower housing 12 is slid, the movable magnet 24 also rotates in conjunction with the slide button 25. By this rotational movement, the polarity of the movable magnet 24 becomes the same as the polarity of the fixed magnet 23, that is, the S pole and the S pole or the N pole and the N pole face each other. For this reason, the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 repel each other, and a repulsive force is generated therebetween. The repulsive force causes the upper housing 11 to be rotated by the hinge mechanism 18 as shown by an arrow, and as shown by a chain line. The upper housing 11 is opened with respect to the lower housing 12. It is needless to say that the repulsive force of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 needs to be set stronger than the elastic force of the coil spring 22.

After the rotation of the upper housing 11, the slide button 2
5 is a mainspring 4 provided substantially at the center of the ring of the movable magnet 24.
2 automatically returns to the original position, so that the opposite poles of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 are diametrically opposite, that is, S pole and N pole. After using the foldable mobile phone, the user can fold the upper housing 11 to hold the upper housing 11 in the lower housing 12 in a closed state by the attractive force of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24. It becomes possible.

According to the foldable portable telephone of the present embodiment having such a configuration, the user holds the lower housing 12 of the foldable portable telephone in the folded state with one hand while holding the finger of the hand. The sliding button 25 is slid to rotate the movable magnet 24, and the opposite poles of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 are made the same, that is, the S pole and the S pole, or the N pole and the N pole, so that the fixed magnet 23
The upper housing 11 can be opened by the repulsive force of the movable magnet 24, and the foldable mobile phone can be set in a usable state.

After the rotation of the upper housing 11, the movable magnet 2
Since the slide button 25 is automatically returned to the original position by the mainspring 42 provided substantially at the center of the ring of No. 4, the opposing poles of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 are opposite to each other, that is, the S pole and the N pole. When the user again folds the upper housing 11 by the attraction force generated by the two magnets, the foldable mobile phone can be held in the folded state.

Therefore, the foldable portable telephone according to the present embodiment can be operated with one hand by the user, so that the handling is simplified and the operability can be improved.

The foldable portable telephone of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the slide button 25 is provided on the lower housing 12 and the upper housing 11 is opened by rotating the upper housing 11. On the contrary, it is also possible to arrange a slide button 25 on the upper housing 11 and open the lower housing 12 by rotating the lower housing 12. That is, in the above-described embodiment, the movable magnet 24 is provided in the lower housing 12 and the fixed magnet 23 is provided in the upper housing 11. On the contrary, the movable magnet 24 is provided in the upper housing 11. Alternatively, a configuration in which the fixed magnet 23 is provided in the lower housing 12 is also possible.

In the above-described embodiment,
Although the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 are each divided into eight parts by the S pole and the N pole, this is not particularly limited to eight divisions, and may be divided into any number. However, if the S-pole and the N-pole are divided into two parts, there is a problem that the amount by which the user slides the slide button 25 increases. On the other hand, when the S pole and the N pole are divided into multiple parts,
Although the amount by which the user slides the slide button 25 is extremely small, there is a possibility that the user may accidentally slide the slide button 25 in the folded state and unfold the foldable mobile phone body, and There is a problem that the attractive force between the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 is reduced, and it becomes impossible to completely maintain the folded state. Therefore, the division of the S pole and the N pole in the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 is preferably divided into four or eight.

There is no problem if the slide button 25 is replaced with a push button. In this case, it is preferable that the push button is configured so that a force is exerted in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the movable magnet by a user's depression using the principle of leverage.

In the above-described embodiment,
The mainspring 42 is provided substantially at the center of the ring of the movable magnet 24 in order to automatically return the movable magnet 24 to the original position, but this may be a wound spring as shown in FIG. In this case, one end of the magnet case 4
1, and the other end is preferably fixed to the central axis.
When the mainspring 42 is wound, it returns to its original state at a substantially constant speed. On the other hand, when the winding spring is wound, it is fastest immediately after that, and the speed gradually decreases to return to the original state. However, there is no remarkable difference, and the movable magnet 24 may return to the original state within a certain period of time regardless of which of them is used. In short, when force acts in a certain direction,
Anything that works in the opposite direction, that is, a force that returns to the original state, may be used.

Further, the movable magnet 24 can be automatically returned to the original position only by the attraction force of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 without using the mainspring 42 or the winding spring. In this case, the user presses the slide button 25
When the foldable mobile phone main body is in the unfolded state by sliding, the opposite poles of the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 are the same, that is, the S pole and the S pole or the N pole and the N pole. , After use, the user
Is folded, as the two magnets approach, the movable magnet 24 rotates by the attractive force with the fixed magnet 23 and automatically returns to the original position, that is, the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24
Are opposite to each other, ie, the S pole and the N pole, the foldable portable telephone body is held in a folded state. At this time, it is needless to say that the attractive force generated when the fixed magnet 23 and the movable magnet 24 are brought closer needs to be set stronger than the elastic force of the coil spring 22.

Further, the connecting member 26 may be constituted by a line, for example, a thread or a belt. In this case, one end of the line is wound around the magnet case 41, and the slide button 25 is slid in the opposite direction to that of the above-described embodiment, that is, as shown in FIG. Is preferred. However, if the line is used as a substitute for the connecting member 26, it is necessary to add a configuration in which one end of the line is wound around the magnet case 41, which is contrary to the miniaturization of the foldable portable telephone body.

[0042]

As described above, according to the foldable portable telephone of the present invention, the foldable portable telephone is attracted by the magnetic force of the fixed magnet provided in the upper housing and the movable magnet provided in the lower housing. Hold the body folded,
When the movable magnet is rotated by the sliding movement of the slide button, a repulsive force is generated by the fixed magnet and the movable magnet to expand the upper housing, so that the user slides with the hand holding the lower housing. By simply sliding the button, the foldable mobile phone can be used, and the operability of the foldable mobile phone can be improved.

A mainspring is provided substantially at the center of the ring of the movable magnet, and after the slide button is slid, the movable magnet is automatically returned to its original position. Can prevent the upper housing from being expanded again by the attractive force of the fixed magnet and the movable magnet without operating the slide button.

Further, since the movable magnet is not rotated but moved by the operation of the slide button by the user, a space for mounting parts in the lower housing can be provided, or the movable magnet can be folded. The size of the mobile phone can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a foldable mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a hinge mechanism 18 of the foldable mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a fixed magnet 23 and a movable magnet 24 when the foldable mobile phone according to the present invention is folded.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a fixed magnet 23 and a movable magnet 24 when the foldable mobile phone according to the present invention is deployed.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a movable magnet 24 provided with a mainspring 42 of the foldable mobile phone according to the present invention.

6 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a movable magnet 24 provided with a mainspring 42 substantially at the center of the ring shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a partially broken side view for explaining the operation of the foldable mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a winding spring of a foldable mobile phone according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional foldable mobile phone.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway front view of another example of the conventional foldable mobile phone.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper housing 2 Lower housing 3 Antenna 4 Display unit 5 Receiver 6 Key unit 7 Transmitter 8 Hinge mechanism 11 Upper housing 12 Lower housing 13 Antenna 14 Display unit 15 Receiver unit 16 Key group 17 Transmitter unit 18 Hinge mechanism 19 Cylindrical part 20 Cylindrical part 21 Pin shaft 22 Coil spring 23 Fixed magnet 24 Moving magnet 25 Slide button 26 Connecting tool 31 Projection 32 Hole 41 Magnet case 42 Mainspring 43 Mainspring fixing part 44 Rotating shaft 51 Fixed magnet 52 Movable magnet 53 Connecting tool 54 lever

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A foldable mobile phone in which an upper housing and a lower housing are rotatably connected by a hinge portion, wherein a ring-shaped first magnet and a second magnet are connected to the upper housing and the lower housing. The second magnet is rotated by an operation unit provided in the lower housing, and the upper housing is rotated by a repulsive force of the first magnet and the second magnet. A foldable mobile phone, wherein the second magnet returns to its original position by a spring provided in a hole of a ring of the second magnet. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of the first magnet is performed before the rotation of the second magnet.
The foldable mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the upper housing and the lower housing are held in a folded state by the attraction force of the magnet and the second magnet. 3. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein said second magnet is housed in a magnet case. 4. The spring according to claim 1, wherein one end of the spring is fixed to a fixing portion provided on the magnet case, and the other end of the spring is fixed to a rotating shaft fixed to the lower housing. 3. The foldable mobile phone according to 3. 5. A foldable mobile phone in which an upper housing and a lower housing are rotatably connected by a hinge portion, wherein a ring-shaped first magnet and a second magnet are connected to the upper housing and the lower housing. The first magnet is rotated by an operation unit provided on the upper housing, and the lower housing is rotated by a repulsive force of the first magnet and the second magnet. A foldable mobile phone, wherein the first magnet returns to an original position by a spring provided in a hole of a ring of the first magnet. 6. The rotation of the first magnet prior to rotation of the first magnet.
The foldable mobile phone according to claim 5, wherein the upper housing and the lower housing are held in a folded state by the attraction force of the magnet and the second magnet. 7. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 6, wherein the first magnet is housed in a magnet case. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one end of the spring is fixed to a fixing portion provided on the magnet case, and the other end of the spring is fixed to a rotating shaft fixed to the upper housing. 7. The foldable mobile phone according to 7. 9. The foldable mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein a projection is provided on the magnet case, and the operation unit and the projection are connected by a connector having a hole. 10. The foldable portable telephone according to claim 1, wherein the spring is a mainspring or a wound spring. 11. The foldable portable telephone according to claim 9, wherein said connecting member is formed of a thread or a belt.