JP4226496B2 - Opening and closing device for portable products - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an opening / closing device for a portable product.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, opening / closing devices for portable products such as digital cameras and camera-equipped mobile phones are known. This portable product opening / closing device protects the camera lens, liquid crystal display, and other parts with a cover, and in particular, the slide-type opening / closing device has a simple structure and is adopted in various types of portable products. ing.
In such a portable product opening and closing device, for example, a slide type lens cover for protecting a lens of a digital camera is provided by being urged by a spiral spring which is an elastic member so that the lens can be surely protected. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
In recent years, as the multifunctional and thinning of portable products has progressed, it is desired to save space for the switchgear.
JP 2003-309744 A

However, the portable product opening / closing device requires a separate space for installing the spiral spring, which is an elastic member, so that the installation space for the opening / closing device itself increases.
Further, the opening / closing frequency of the opening / closing device of the portable product is expected to increase as the functionality of the portable product increases, and it is difficult to ensure the durability of the flat spiral spring. There is.
Furthermore, even if the opening / closing device is configured using a coil spring or a torsion spring other than the spiral spring as an elastic member, the thickness of the opening / closing device depends on the winding diameter and the number of turns of the coil spring and the torsion spring. Naturally, there is a limit to the space saving of the switchgear.
Further, if an elastic member such as a spiral spring is used to bias the cover of the switchgear to the open position and the closed position, the number of parts of the switchgear increases and the cost increases.
Also, if the elastic member of the opening / closing device is omitted or the direction in which the elastic member urges the cover is set to one side to give priority to space saving, the opening / closing operation becomes uncertain and the operator can Since it is necessary to check the opening and closing sequentially, there is a problem that the burden on the operator increases.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a portable product opening / closing device that can save space and reduce costs while reducing the burden on the operator.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a base (for example, guide rail 10 in the embodiment) and a cover slidably supported by the base (for example, shutter 9 in the embodiment). The elastic member (for example, the heart in the embodiment) in which the loop portion (for example, the large loop portion 25 in the embodiment) is formed by winding at least one turn between the base and the cover. A spring 14) is interposed, and either one of both ends of the elastic member or the loop portion is supported by the cover and the other is supported by the base, and the cover is placed at an intermediate operating position of the cover with respect to the base. It is characterized in that it is urged at the boundary in the opening direction and the closing direction.
By configuring in this way, the cover is always urged in the opening or closing direction with the intermediate operating position of the cover protecting a part of the portable product as a boundary. The cover can be reliably placed in the fully open or fully closed position.
Further, by using an elastic member having a loop portion, it is possible to reduce the thickness and reduce the number of parts as compared with a conventional switchgear in which this elastic member is not provided.

The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that a support portion (for example, the small loop portion 26 in the embodiment) is provided in the loop portion, and the support portion is supported by the cover or the base.
With this configuration, the loop portion and the support portion can be integrally formed, and there is no need to separately provide a support portion that supports the loop portion.

The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the support portion is formed by winding an elastic member at least once.
By comprising in this way, since a support part can be formed only by winding once, it becomes possible to form the said support part easily and cheaply.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the portable product is a mobile phone provided with a camera (for example, the camera-equipped mobile phone 2 in the embodiment), and the opening / closing device protects the lens of the camera with the cover. It is characterized by being.
With this configuration, the lens can be reliably and easily protected by a mobile phone that is carried around in a pocket or bag of clothes and that is likely to be scratched on the outer surface, particularly a mobile phone with a camera.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cover is always urged in the opening or closing direction at the intermediate operation position of the cover, the cover is surely fully opened after the cover is opened and closed. Or it can arrange | position in a fully closed position, Therefore, there exists an effect which can reduce an operator's burden.
In addition, by using an elastic member having a loop portion, it is possible to reduce the thickness and reduce the number of parts as compared to a conventional switchgear that does not have this elastic member. There is an effect that space saving and cost reduction can be achieved.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the loop part and the support part are integrally formed, and it is not necessary to separately provide the support part of the loop part. Thus, it is advantageous in that the thickness dimension of the switchgear can be further reduced.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of claim 2, since the support part can be formed by only one turn, the support part can be easily and inexpensively formed. It becomes possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the elastic member.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effects of claims 1 to 3, it is a mobile phone that is carried around in a pocket or bag of clothes and is likely to be scratched on the outer surface, particularly a mobile phone with a camera. Since the lens can be surely and easily protected, the cover can be quickly opened and closed when taking a picture with the camera, thus reducing the burden on the operator.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example in which an opening / closing device 1 of this embodiment is applied to a camera-equipped mobile phone (mobile phone) 2 as a portable product. The camera-equipped mobile phone 2 is configured such that the operation unit 3 and the display unit 4 can be folded via a hinge unit 5. A lens unit 6 of the digital camera is provided on the upper portion of the display unit 4, and the opening / closing device 1 is attached so as to cover the lens 7 of the lens unit 6. When the knob 8 of the opening / closing device 1 is slid to open the shutter (cover) 9 to expose the lens 7, and the knob 8 is returned, the shutter 9 is closed to cover the lens 7 and protect the lens 7.

2 and 3, the opening / closing device 1 includes a guide rail (base) 10 and a shutter 9 that is slidably attached to the guide rail 10.
The guide rail 10 is formed by press-molding a flat plate and includes an upper step portion 12 in which a circular opening 11 is formed and a lower step portion 13 that is lowered from the upper step portion 12. The lower step portion 13 is lower than the upper step portion 12 because it accommodates a heart spring 14 described later.

On both side edges along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 10, rails 15 and 16 for guiding the shutter 9 except for the boundary portion between the upper step portion 12 and the lower step portion 13 are arranged inside both the upper step portion 12 and the lower step portion 13. It is formed by bending.
The rail 15 of the upper step portion 12 includes an upper wall 17 that is bent so as to slightly enter the inside of the guide rail 10, and a shutter 9 is provided between the upper wall 17 and the surface of the upper step portion 12. The side edges of the are held.
On the other hand, the lower rail 16 has a side wall 18 that is bent substantially vertically, and slightly enters the inside of the guide rail 10 from the upper end of the side wall 18 in parallel with the surface of the guide rail 10. The upper wall 19 is formed by bending. Further, the upper wall 17 of the rail 15 of the upper step portion 12 and the upper wall 19 of the rail 16 of the lower step portion 13 are formed so that their upper surfaces are flush with each other.
Note that brackets 20 are provided so as to protrude outward at substantially center portions of both end edges of the guide rail 10.

  A notch 21 is formed on the upper wall 19 of the rail 16 of the lower step portion 13 so as to face the central portion in the longitudinal direction. An engagement hole 22 for a later-described heart spring (elastic member) 14 is provided directly below the notch 21. This engagement hole 22 is for locking one end (end) 23 and the other end (end) 24 of the heart spring 14. Here, the provision of the notch portion 21 makes it possible to accommodate a wide heart spring 14, that is, a heart spring 14 having a larger stroke, in the lower step portion 13 and one end portion 23 of the heart spring 14. And the other end 24 can be easily locked in the engagement hole 22.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the heart spring 14 is formed by winding a linear member such as a piano wire twice, and includes a large loop portion (loop portion) 25 and the large loop portion. The small loop part (support part) 26 wound by the inner upper part of 25 is comprised. The large loop portion 25 has a substantially heart shape in plan view.
Specifically, the shape of the heart spring 14 is such that a linear member rises from one end 23 in a tangential acute shape, curves so as to return to the one end 23 while forming an arc 27, and the one end 23 is When it turns, it rises so as to return to the direction of the circular arc 27 and forms a small circular arc 28 and intersects at the portion facing the one end 23. Then, it falls so as to be symmetrical with respect to the rise from the above-mentioned one end portion 23 from the intersecting portion, and intersects with the rising portion of the one end portion 23 to reach the other end portion 24.

As shown in FIG. 5, the one end portion 23 and the other end portion 24 of the heart spring 14 are formed by bending in the surface direction of FIG. 4, that is, perpendicular to the surface forming the large loop portion 25 described above. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the one end 23 and the other end 24 of the heart spring 14 are locked in the engagement holes 22 provided in the guide rail 10. On the other hand, the small loop portion 26 is provided to be locked to a locking portion 29 of the shutter 9 described later.
Note that, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the ends of the one end portion 23 and the other end portion 24 may be further bent inward as a retainer. By forming in this way, the one end portion 23 and the other end portion 24 are reliably locked by the engagement hole, which is advantageous.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 9 is a member that is formed in a substantially rectangular shape by a flat plate material and closes the opening 11. The length of the shutter 9 in the longitudinal direction is set slightly longer than the upper step portion 12 of the guide rail 10. A hook-like locking portion 29 for locking the small loop portion 26 of the heart spring 14 is formed on the lower step portion 13 side of the shutter 9 by bending. When the shutter 9 is fully closed, An end portion 30 of the shutter 9 protrudes toward the lower step portion 13 side of the guide rail 10.
In addition, the edge 31 of the upper step portion 12 is provided with claws 32 that determine the fully closed position of the shutter 9 on both sides of the bracket 20 and prevent the shutter 9 from falling off.

  A handle 33 is formed integrally with the shutter 9 on the opposite side of the locking portion 29 by bending in the direction opposite to the locking portion 29. Here, an operation member 34 to be described later is fixed to the handle 33 to improve the operability of the shutter 9.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a rod 35 is fixed to the handle 33 of the shutter 9. A knob 8 is formed at the upper end 36 of the rod 35, and a guide protrusion 37 is integrally formed below the knob 8 along the opening / closing direction of the shutter 9. The guide protrusion 37 is slidably provided in a guide groove 38, which will be described later, to restrict the deflection of the rod 35 in the operation direction.

  6, when the shutter 9 is in the fully closed position 39, the heart spring 14 biases the shutter 9 in the closing direction, and as shown in FIG. In this case, the shutter 9 is urged in the opening direction. Here, the large loop portion 25 is reduced in diameter while moving in the left direction of the paper along with the movement of the shutter 9, and the stroke amount of the heart spring 14 is ensured by the reduced diameter of the large loop portion 25. It becomes.

  At an intermediate operation position 41 (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 7) 41 corresponding to an intermediate position between the fully open position 40 and the fully closed position 39 of the shutter 9, the heart spring 14 opens the shutter 9 in the opening direction or the closing direction. Neither is energized. That is, the direction in which the shutter 9 is urged with the intermediate operation position 41 as a boundary changes in a flip-flop manner from the open direction to the close direction or from the close direction to the open direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, a long hole 44 is formed in the upper wall 43 of the resin casing 42 of the camera-equipped mobile phone 2. In the elongated hole 44, the rod 35 described above penetrates from the inside of the casing 42, and a guide groove 38 is formed inside the casing 42 along the elongated hole 44. The guide projection 37 formed integrally with the rod 35 is engaged with the guide groove 38. Therefore, the shutter 9 can be opened and closed by sliding the knob 8 along the width direction of the camera-equipped mobile phone 2.

As shown in FIG. 9, a substrate 45 on which the lens unit 6 is mounted is disposed inside the casing 42. An opening 46 is formed in the casing 42 in front of the lens 7 of the lens unit 6. The opening 46 is for exposing the lens 7 to the outside of the casing 42.
The opening / closing device 1 is fixed inside the casing 42 between the lens 7 and the opening 46, and the opening / closing device 1 is shared between the opening 46 and the lens 7 so as to share an axis. The opening 11 is arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the rod 35 is provided on the handle 33 of the shutter 9 so as to protrude toward the lens 7. The guide protrusion 37 formed on the rod 35 is slidably provided in the guide groove 38 disposed on the lens 35 side of the rod 35.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
When the shutter 9 shown in FIG. 6 is held at the fully closed position 39, the foot 47, which is a portion extending from the intersection P of the heart spring 14 to the one end 23, and the portion extending from the intersection P to the other end are also used. A certain foot 48 is in the shortest state. And each said leg part 47 and 48 will be in the state inclined so that the intersection P may arrange | position on the right side rather than the said engagement hole 22. FIG. Here, the diameter of the large loop portion 25 described above is maximum, and the heart spring 14 is in a state closest to the natural state while urging the shutter to the fully closed position 39, so that the load on the heart spring 14 is the most. Less.

  Then, when the shutter 9 is gradually displaced from the fully closed position 39 to the fully open position 40, the heart spring 14 is in a deformed state as shown in FIG. Further, the intersection point P is displaced to the left side of the engagement hole 22, and the large loop portion 25 is reduced in diameter, and the leg portions 47 and 48 are lengthened by the reduced diameter. And the inclination of each said leg part 47 and 48 comes to incline to the left side. As the feet 47 and 48 are displaced, the urging force by the heart spring 14 is gradually weakened, and the direction of the urging force is reversed at the intermediate operation position 41 as a boundary.

Further, when the shutter 9 is displaced in the opening direction past the intermediate operation position 41, the large loop portion 25 is further reduced in diameter. When the shutter 9 reaches the fully open position 40, the large loop portion 25 is most contracted, and at the same time, the feet 47 and 48 are in the longest state. The urging force in the opening direction with respect to the shutter 9 is maximized.
The length of each of the legs 47 and 48 expands and contracts in accordance with the operation of the shutter 9, whereby the stroke amount of the heart spring 14 can be increased.

  Therefore, according to the above embodiment, since the shutter 9 is always urged in the opening direction or the closing direction with the intermediate operation position 41 of the shutter 9 as a boundary, the opening / closing operation of the shutter 9 is performed. Thereafter, the shutter 9 can be reliably fully opened or fully closed, and the burden on the operator can be reduced.

  In addition, since the opening / closing device 1 can be thinned by using the heart spring 14 provided with the large loop portion 25, the number of parts of the opening / closing device 1 can be reduced. It is possible to save space and reduce costs.

Further, the small loop portion 26 is provided by further winding around the large loop portion 25, so that a support portion for supporting the large loop portion 25 on the shutter 9 is provided separately from the large loop portion 25. Therefore, the number of parts can be further reduced and the thickness of the switchgear 1 can be further reduced, and the support portion can be formed easily and inexpensively.
Further, by protecting the lens 7 with the shutter 9, the lens 7 can be prevented from being damaged even in a camera-equipped mobile phone 2 that is carried around in a pocket or bag of clothes and is easily scratched on the outer surface. Since it can be protected, it is possible to open and close the shutter 9 quickly and reliably at the time of photographing with a digital camera, and therefore the burden on the operator can be reduced.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be used as a cover for protecting a display unit of a digital camera or a portable navigation system in addition to protecting the lens of the camera-equipped mobile phone 2.
Further, the position of the lens 7 of the camera-equipped mobile phone 2 may be a place other than the upper part of the display unit 4.

It is a fragmentary sectional view of the mobile phone with a camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the switchgear of an embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the switchgear of an embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the heart spring of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the heart spring of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the fully closed state of the shutter of the opening / closing apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the fully open state and intermediate operation position of the shutter of the opening / closing apparatus of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 8 is an enlarged view corresponding to FIG. 7 of the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. 1 of embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG. 1 of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Mobile phone with camera (mobile phone)
7 Lens 9 Shutter (cover)
10 Guide rail (base)
14 Heart spring (elastic member)
23 One end (end)
24 Other end (end)
25 Large loop part (loop part)
26 Small loop part (support part)
41 Intermediate operating position

Claims (4)

  In a portable product opening / closing device having a base and a cover slidably supported by the base, an elastic member having at least one turn wound between the base and the cover to form a loop portion is interposed, and the elastic member Either one of both ends of the loop or the loop portion is supported by the cover and the other is supported by the base, and the cover is biased in the opening direction and the closing direction with the intermediate operation position of the cover with respect to the base as a boundary. A portable product opening and closing device characterized by being provided.   The portable device opening and closing device according to claim 1, wherein a support portion is provided in the loop portion, and the support portion is supported by the cover or the base.   3. The portable product opening and closing device according to claim 2, wherein the support portion further comprises an elastic member wound at least once. The portable product according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the portable product is a cellular phone provided with a camera, and the opening / closing device protects the lens of the camera with the cover. Switchgear.

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