JP4094580B2 - FPC holding member and folding electronic device using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) holding member and a foldable electronic device using the same, and more particularly to the structure of an FPC holder for attaching to a hinge unit or the like that holds and rotates an FPC cable. is there.

  In a mobile phone which is a mobile terminal, an upper unit having a display unit and a lower unit having an operation unit are connected by a hinge unit assembly so that the upper unit can be expanded with respect to the lower unit. Folding mobile phones are widely used. In such a foldable mobile phone, an electric circuit is incorporated in a printed circuit board or the like in each of the lower unit and the upper unit, and it is necessary to electrically connect both printed circuit boards. For this purpose, an FPC cable (hereinafter simply referred to as FPC) is used.

  In a foldable mobile phone, this FPC is connected to the printed circuit board of the upper and lower units via a hinge unit assembly. In this case, it is necessary to fix the FPC in the hinge unit assembly. In order to fix the FPC, a structure is used in which an FPC is attached to the holder using an FPC fixing holder (FPC holding member), and then the holder is fixed to the hinge unit. When the FPC is attached to the holder, a so-called tongue portion protruding from the peripheral edge of the FPC holder attachment portion is provided, and the tongue portion is inserted into a tongue insertion hole provided in the holder.

In addition, referring to Patent Documents 1 and 2, when the FPC is attached to a terminal that is an FPC fixing holder, the FPC mounting surface and a curved beam portion called a barrel provided so as to face the surface, A structure is disclosed in which the FPC is fixed by clamping the FPC and crimping the bent beam portion against the mounting surface.
JP-A-10-275642 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-086985

  In the structure in which the tongue is provided in the FPC and this tongue is inserted into the tongue insertion hole of the holder, the external force concentrates on the tongue. Therefore, the work to increase the strength of the tongue (more than other parts) It is necessary to increase the thickness and the like, and it is necessary to provide a tongue portion on the FPC, resulting in an increase in manufacturing man-hours and costs.

  Further, in the structures in Patent Documents 1 and 2, by providing a plurality of bending beam portions and pinching the FPC with the plurality of bending beam portions, concentrated stress is eliminated, and external force is distributed. A concave portion is also provided on the FPC placement surface facing the curved beam portion so as to increase the clamping force of the FPC. Therefore, in order to attach the FPC to this terminal, it is necessary to caulk the bent beam portion with a tool after the FPC is placed on the placement surface. With this structure, the FPC is extremely large. It is effective for a device that does not cause an increase in cost due to the large force that acts on it, but it is required to be small, lightweight, and low cost, such as a foldable portable terminal as described above. Not suitable for equipment.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an FPC holding member capable of attaching an FPC very easily without applying any special work to the FPC when the FPC is attached to a hinge unit portion of a foldable portable terminal. It is to provide a foldable portable terminal using the.

The FPC holding member according to the present invention is a holding member used in a foldable electronic device including first and second units and a hinge unit that unfoldably connects the second unit to the first unit , The holding member holds a flexible printed circuit board (referred to as FPC), a mounting surface for mounting the FPC, and at least three claws provided in a plane parallel to the mounting surface The FPC is placed on the placement surface, and the FPC is clamped in a gap between the claw portion and the placement surface, and the holding member is disposed outside the hinge unit. It is provided .

  The FPC has a bent portion, and the two claw portions of the claw portion sandwich both sides of the corner portion of the bent portion. The other side of the corner portion of the bent portion is clamped by one claw portion. Furthermore, it includes an elastically deformable claw portion for attachment to an electronic device.

  The electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes first and second units and a hinge unit that unfoldably connects the second unit to the first unit, and the FPC is a printed circuit of the first and second units. The substrates are electrically connected to each other, and the FPC is attached to the hinge unit using the FPC holding member.

  The operation of the present invention will be described. In an electronic device such as a foldable mobile phone, at least three claw portions are provided in a plane parallel to the placement surface for placing the FPC with respect to the holding member for holding the FPC. The FPC is placed on the placement surface, and the FPC is clamped by the gap between the three claw portions and the placement surface. In particular, the FPC is provided with a bent portion, and two sides of the claw portion are clamped by both sides of the corner of the bent portion, and the bent portion of the bent portion is held by one claw portion. By pinching the other sides of the corners, the concentration of external force is dispersed, so that it is not necessary to work on the strength of a part of the FPC more than others.

  According to the present invention, since the FPC holder for attaching the FPC to the hinge unit assembly is provided with the claw portion for clamping the FPC at at least three places, the attachment of the FPC to the holder becomes stronger. Since it is clamped at a plurality of locations, the external force applied to the FPC is dispersed, and the FPC is not damaged. Furthermore, there is an effect that it is not necessary to perform any work on the FPC itself for attaching the FPC to the holder.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an FPC used in an embodiment of the present invention. The FPC 2 basically includes an upper unit connecting portion 24 connected to the printed circuit board of the upper unit, a lower unit connecting portion 25 connected to the printed circuit board of the lower unit, and the upper unit connecting portion 24 as shown in FIG. It consists of a horizontal extension part 21 extended in the horizontal direction, a vertical extension part 22 extended from the lower unit connection part 25 in the vertical direction in the figure, and a bent part 23 for connecting these extension parts. . Each of these parts 21 to 25 has a planar shape.

  FIG. 2 shows the structure of the FPC holder 5 for holding the FPC 2 and fixing it to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). 2A is a front perspective view, FIGS. 2B and C are rear perspective views, and FIG. 2D is a six-view diagram including a front view, a side view, and a rear view. As shown in the figure, the FPC holder 5 has an FPC placement surface and three FPC clamping claws 51 to 53 provided in a plane parallel to the FPC placement surface on the back surface portion. As shown in FIG. 3, the FPC 2 and the FPC holder 5 are attached to each other at the three bent portions 23 of the FPC 2. It is clamped between the surfaces and fixed.

  That is, by inserting the three side edge portions of the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 into the gap between the claw portions 51 to 53 of the FPC holder 5 and the FPC placement surface, the FPC placement surface of the FPC holder 5. On the upper side, the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 is positioned and placed, and fixed by the three FPC clamping claw portions 51 to 53.

  More specifically, the corner portion bent at a right angle of the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 is aligned with a right angle portion on the FPC placement surface of the holder 5, and holder fixing claw portions 51, 53 on both sides of the right angle portion. Further, each peripheral portion of the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 is clamped by a holder fixing claw portion 52 provided on an opposite side opposite to the side of the claw portion 51.

  On the back surface of the FPC holder 5, holder fixing claws 54 and 55 for attaching the holder to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) are further provided. The pair of claw portions 54 and 55 are adapted to be fitted to the central portion 12 of the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 (so-called snap fastening). Since the FPC holder 5 is made of an elastically deformable plastic material or the like, when the FPC holder 5 is attached to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10, the holder fixing claws 54 and 55 are deformed. When the fixed position is reached, the central portion 12 of the rotating shaft 11 is sandwiched between the claw portions 54 and 55 so that the FPC holder 5 can be easily attached to the central portion 12 by a so-called one-touch operation (snap) Stop).

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 includes a first rotating shaft 11 for opening and closing an upper unit (not shown) with respect to a lower unit (not shown), and the upper unit. And a second rotation shaft 14 for rotating the upper unit in a direction orthogonal to the first rotation shaft 11 in a state where the first rotation shaft is expanded by a predetermined angle (generally 90 degrees). Yes. An attachment mechanism portion 12 for the second rotation shaft 14 is provided at the center of the first rotation shaft 11. Further, a restriction mechanism portion 13 for restricting a turning angle (turning position) when the upper unit turns around the first turning shaft 11 is provided on the first turning shaft 11.

  3 again, with the FPC holder 5 attached to the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2 as shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIGS. The FPC holder 5 is attached to the hinge unit assembly 10, but after processing the horizontal extension portion 21 and the vertical extension portion 22 of the FPC 2 as described below, the FPC holder 5 is a central portion of the first rotation shaft 11. It attaches to the two rotation axis attachment mechanism part 12.

  Referring to FIG. 4, (A) is a front view when the FPC 2 is attached to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 via the FPC holder 5, (B) is a rear view thereof, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the attachment relation of the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 to which FPC2 was attached, and the upper unit printed circuit board 3. FIG.

  In the state shown in FIG. 3, that is, with the FPC holder 5 attached to the bent portion 23 of the FPC 2, the horizontal extending portion 21 of the FPC 2 protrudes vertically from the central portion 12 of the hinge unit assembly 10. Wrap around 14 several times with a margin. Thereafter, as described above, the FPC holder 5 is attached to the central portion 12 by snapping with a one-touch operation.

  Then, the vertical extending portion 22 of the FPC 2 is wound around the first rotating shaft 11 of the hinge unit assembly 10 several times with a margin. At this time, the first rotation shaft 11 is wound around a portion (a portion other than the central portion 12 and the rotation restricting mechanism portion 13) where the diameter is small.

  Thereafter, the upper unit connecting portion 24 of the FPC 2 is connected to the printed circuit board 3 of the upper unit in FIG. 5, and the lower unit connecting portion 25 is connected to the printed circuit board of the lower unit (not shown).

  In FIG. 5, a member 18 attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 14 is a hinge bracket for mechanically connecting the hinge unit assembly 10 and the printed circuit board 3, and is a plastic that is an elastic material. The printed circuit board 3 and the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 are connected using an attachment frame 4 made of

  That is, in a state where the printed circuit board 3 and the hinge bracket 18 are aligned and overlapped, the hinge bracket 18 is sandwiched by using the mounting frame 4, and the four claw portions 41a, 41b, 42a, 4b of the mounting frame 4 are By fitting into the corresponding portions 31a, 31b, 32a, 32b of the printed circuit board 3 (so-called snapping), the printed circuit board 3 and the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 can be mechanically connected.

  6 shows an external perspective view of the mobile phone when the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 is used. FIG. 6A shows a normal closed state in which the back surface 202 of the upper unit 200 is the upper surface. (B) is a state in which the upper unit 200 having the display surface 201 is rotated about the first rotation shaft 11 and is unfolded with respect to the lower unit 100 having the operation surface 101 and opened about 90 degrees. Is shown. (C), from the state of (B), the upper unit 200 is rotated around the second rotation shaft 14, and the upper unit 200 is oriented just 180 degrees with respect to the state of (B). (D) shows the changed state, and (D) rotates the upper unit 200 around the first rotation shaft 11 from the state of (C) so that the display surface 201 of the upper unit 200 comes up. It shows the state. The receiver 6 is also attached to the display surface 201 side of the upper unit 200 so that a call can be made even in this state (D).

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the biaxial hinge unit assembly. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be widely applied to a structure for fixing the FPC to a certain part. Further, it is obvious that the present invention can be applied not only to a mobile phone but also to a mobile terminal, and further to an electronic device such as a digital camera or a video camera.

It is a top view of FPC used for embodiment of this invention. The structure of the FPC holder in embodiment of this invention is shown, (A) is a front surface perspective view, (B) and (C) are back surface perspective views, (D) is a front view, both side views, and a back view. FIG. It is a figure which shows the attachment relationship of FPC2 and FPC holder 5. FIG. (A) is a front view when FPC2 is attached to the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 via the FPC holder 5, and (B) is a rear view thereof. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the attachment relation of the biaxial hinge unit assembly 10 to which FPC2 was attached, and the upper unit printed circuit board 3. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a foldable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

1 Hinge unit
2 FPC
3 Upper unit printed circuit board
4 frames
5 FPC holder
6 Receiver 10 Biaxial Hinge Unit Assembly 11 First Rotating Shaft 12 Second Rotating Shaft Mounting Mechanism 13 Deployment Restriction 14 Second Rotating Shaft 18 Hinge Bracket 21 Horizontal Extender 22 Vertical Extender 23 Bend 24 Upper Unit Printed circuit board connection portion 25 Lower unit printed circuit board connection portion 51 to 53 FPC clamping claw portions 54, 55 Holder fixing claw portion 100 Lower unit 101 Operation surface 200 Upper unit 201 Display surface 202 Rear surface

Claims (5)

A holding member for use in a foldable electronic device including first and second units and a hinge unit that unfoldably connects the second unit to the first unit , wherein the holding member is a flexible printed circuit board ( is intended to hold the referred to FPC), includes a mounting surface for mounting the FPC, and at least three claws disposed in a plane parallel to the mounting surface, the placement The FPC is configured to be placed on a surface to sandwich the FPC in a gap between the claw portion and the mounting surface, and the holding member is provided outside the hinge unit. Holding member.   2. The FPC holding member according to claim 1, wherein the FPC has a bent portion, and both sides of the corner portion of the bent portion are clamped by two of the claw portions.   The FPC holding member according to claim 2, wherein the other side of the corner of the bent portion is clamped by one of the claw portions.   The FPC holding member according to claim 1, further comprising an elastically deformable claw portion for attachment to an electronic device. A first unit and a second unit; and a hinge unit that unfoldably couples the second unit to the first unit. The FPC electrically connects the printed circuit boards of the first and second units. A foldable electronic apparatus comprising the FPC attached to the hinge unit using the FPC holding member according to claim 1.

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