JP4429935B2 - Slide mechanism for portable devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a slide mechanism for a mobile device used for various mobile devices having a slide open / close mechanism such as a slide open / close type mobile phone.

  One of the opening / closing mechanisms in a mobile phone is a slide type. A cellular phone having a slide opening / closing mechanism is described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example. One of the typical slide opening and closing mechanisms used in mobile phones includes a fixed guide extending in the sliding direction, an actuator that slides along the fixed guide, and a coil spring that elastically presses or pulls the actuator in one direction. The slide opening mechanism described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is also classified into this type.

JP 2003-179678 A JP-A-11-331332

  In this type of slide opening / closing mechanism, the fixed guide is usually incorporated in the movable unit together with the coil spring, and the actuator is connected and fixed to the fixed unit. When an external force in the closing direction is not applied to the movable side unit, the movable side unit is elastically held in the open position by the pressing force of the coil spring.

  When an external force in the closing direction is applied to the movable unit, the movable unit slides to the closed side against the biasing force of the coil spring, and finally locks in the closed position by the lock mechanism provided on the fixed unit. Is done. When the locked state is released, the movable unit automatically returns to the open position at once by the restoring force of the coil spring.

  One of the problems with such a conventional slide opening / closing mechanism is that a considerable amount of impact occurs when the movable unit automatically returns to the open position due to the restoring force of the coil spring. It is to vibrate. In terms of the feeling of use of the mobile phone, the higher the return speed of the movable unit, the better. However, there is a contradiction that when the return speed increases, the impact at the time of return and the vibration associated therewith increase. There is a risk of lowering the value and adversely affecting the internal mechanism.

  In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to add an impact relaxation mechanism to the return position. However, in the case of this measure, new problems such as an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the thickness and length of the parts occur.

  The present invention was devised in view of such circumstances, and it is intended to provide a slide mechanism for a portable device that can effectively mitigate an impact at the time of automatic return while avoiding an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the size of parts. Objective.

In order to achieve the above object, a slide mechanism for a portable device according to the present invention is a slide mechanism used in a slide open / close type portable device in which a fixed side unit is combined with a slide open / close type movable side unit. A vertically long box-shaped guide extending in the sliding direction of the unit, a bar-shaped guide arranged in the box- shaped guide along the sliding direction, and housed in the box-shaped guide and slidable by the box-shaped guide and the bar-shaped guide And a spring that is accommodated on one end side in the length direction of the box-type guide and biases the actuator toward the other end side in the length direction of the box-type guide. A rectangular bottom plate portion extending in the sliding direction and side wall portions erected at both ends in the width direction of the bottom plate portion, and a plate spring-like shape projecting inwardly on the other end portion of the side wall portion When the actuator is moved to the other end portion of the box-type guide by the biasing force of the spring, the actuator is elastically pressed from the side by the elastic braking portion. Yes.

  In the portable device slide mechanism according to the present invention, since the elastic braking portion has a leaf spring shape that presses the actuator from the side, not only vibration reduction due to braking deceleration at the return side end portion of the actuator but also vibration. It can actively suppress itself, and the vibration control effect is particularly high. Moreover, since it is integrally formed, there is no increase in the number of parts or an increase in the size of the parts.

The elastic braking portion is, for example, a leaf spring convex inwardly formed by cutting and raising a part of the side wall portion of the box-type guide, and is preferably a leaf spring parallel to the sliding direction.

On the other hand, when it is formed on the side of the actuator, for example, it is a leaf spring convex outwardly formed by cutting and raising a part of the side wall portion of the actuator, preferably a leaf spring parallel to the sliding direction. In this case, on the side of the box-type guide, a slit-shaped escape portion is provided in the portion excluding the other end portion of the side wall portion of the box-type guide so that the elastic braking portion is movably inserted in the sliding direction. Yes. When the actuator moves back to the other end portion in the box-type guide by the biasing force of the spring, the elastic braking portion is pressed against the other end portion of the side wall portion of the box-type guide and elastically deforms.

  Regardless of whether it is formed in a box-type guide or an actuator, it is preferable that the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions are provided symmetrically on both sides.

  The slide mechanism for a portable device according to the present invention has a leaf spring-like elastic braking portion integrally formed so as to elastically press the actuator from the side in order to brake the actuator at the return side end portion of the actuator. Therefore, while avoiding an increase in the number of parts and an increase in the size of the parts, the impact at the time of automatic return can be effectively mitigated, and the commercial value of the mobile device to be used can be greatly increased.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a four-side view of a slide open / close type mobile phone showing an embodiment of the present invention, showing an open state, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view, and (d). Is a bottom view. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the mobile phone, (a) is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 1, (b) is a sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. 1, and (c) is a sectional view taken along the line B--B in FIG. B sectional drawing, (d) is AA sectional drawing in FIG. 3A and 3B are explanatory views of the mobile phone in a closed state, in which FIG. 3A is a longitudinal side view corresponding to the DD sectional view in FIG. 1, FIG. 3B is a side view, and FIG. 3C is A in FIG. It is a vertical side view corresponding to -A sectional drawing.

  4A and 4B are explanatory views of the slide mechanism used in the mobile phone, wherein FIG. 4A is a three-side view showing the locked state of the slide mechanism, and FIG. 4B is a three-side view of the actuator. FIG. 5 is a trihedral view showing a return state of the slide mechanism. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lock mechanism used in the mobile phone.

  The slide mechanism for portable devices according to the present embodiment is used for a slide opening / closing mechanism of a slide opening / closing type mobile phone. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the slide opening / closing type mobile phone includes a rectangular and thick fixed-side unit 10 and a movable-side unit 20 slidably attached to the surface side of the fixed-side unit 10. The movable unit 20 is a rectangle that can be superposed on the fixed unit 10 and is designed to be thinner than the fixed unit 10.

  For the sliding operation of the movable side unit 20, a pair of slide mechanisms 30, 30 are provided on both sides between the fixed side unit 10 and the movable side unit 20, and the slide mechanisms 30, 30 on both sides are provided. In order to avoid interference between the two, the slide mechanisms 30 and 30 are mainly located on the movable unit 20 side, and the lock mechanism 40 is mainly located on the fixed side unit 10. It is provided on each side. The movable side unit 20 is locked by being forcibly operated to the closed position here, and automatically returns to the open position by releasing the lock.

  The slide mechanisms 30 on both sides have the same structure. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each slide mechanism 30 includes a box-shaped guide 31 that extends long along the sliding direction of the movable unit 20, a bar-shaped guide 32 that is provided over the entire length of the box-shaped guide 31, and The box-type guide 31 includes an actuator 33 slidably received by using the box-type guide 31 and the rod-shaped guide 32 as guide members, and a spring 34 received in the box-type guide 31 for driving the actuator 33. Yes.

  The box-shaped guide 31 is a processed product of a thin plate, and has a rectangular bottom plate portion that is long in the sliding direction, side wall portions 31a and 31a on both sides rising from both edges of the bottom plate portion, and both ends rising from both ends of the bottom plate portion. The end plate portions 31b and 31b constitute a box. The end portions of the end plate portions 31b and 31b on the opening side are integrally provided with fixing flange portions 31c and 31c with screw holes protruding in a tongue shape from the end portions toward both ends. The box-shaped guide 31 is embedded on the back surface of the movable unit 20 with the flange portions 31c and 31c being left behind, and the flange portions 31c and 31c are screwed to the back surface thereof, thereby opening the opening portion on the back surface side. It is fixed to the movable side unit 20 toward the fixed side unit 10.

  The rod-shaped guide 32 is a round bar having a circular cross section, and is screwed to the end plate portions 31b and 31b so as to be installed between the end plate portions 31b and 31b at both ends.

  The actuator 33 has a square cap shape with four vertical wall portions extending from each side of the substantially square top plate portion 33a, and has screw holes 33b for attachment in the top plate portion 33a, and the front and rear vertical walls The part has a round hole 33c through which the rod-shaped guide 32 passes. The actuator 33 is guided by the side wall portions 31a, 31a on both sides of the box-shaped guide 31 and the rod-shaped guide 32, and freely reciprocates in the box-shaped guide 31 in the longitudinal direction. A portion of the actuator 33 on the top plate side protrudes from the opening of the box-type guide 31 to the outside, and this protrusion is screwed to the surface of the fixed unit 10 so that the actuator 33 is attached to the fixed unit 10. It is fixed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the box-shaped guides 31 and 31 of the slide mechanisms 30 and 30 are attached to the movable unit 20, and the actuators 33 and 33 are attached to the fixed unit 10. For this reason, when the movable unit 20 moves to the open side, the actuators 33 and 33 move to the close side end portions of the box-type guides 31 and 31 on the contrary. When the movable unit 20 moves to the closing side, the actuators 33 and 33 move to the open side end portions of the box-type guides 31 and 31.

  The spring 34 is a coil-shaped compression spring, and is arranged in a state of being fitted around the rod-shaped guide 32 between one end plate portion 31 b of the box-shaped guide 31 and the actuator 33. More specifically, the spring 34 is disposed between the end plate portion 31 b located on the closing side end portion side of the box-shaped guide 31 and the actuator 33 in order to automatically return the movable side unit 20 to the open side. Thus, the actuator 33 is elastically held at the return-side stop position without receiving an external force in the compression direction (FIG. 5).

  The side wall portions 31 a and 31 a on both sides of the box-shaped guide 31 are provided with plate spring-like elastic braking portions 31 d and 31 d integrally provided on the side wall portions 31 a and 31 a in the vicinity of the return side end portion of the actuator 33. Have. Each elastic braking part 31d forms a slit 31e parallel to the edge part on the edge part on the open side of the side wall parts 31a and 31a, and plastically deforms the part on the opening side from the slit 31e inward in a triangular shape. It is formed by. The elastic braking portions 31d and 31d on both sides formed of inwardly convex mountain springs formed in this way elastically move the actuator 33 from both sides immediately before the actuator 33 reaches the stop position of the return side end portion. It is designed to be pressed and elastically held at the stop position.

  The lock mechanism 40 is configured in a slide-direction recess 41 formed on the center surface of the fixed-side unit 10, and specifically, as shown in FIG. And a lock claw 43 attached to the end of the leaf spring 42 on the free end side, and an operation member 44 for operating the lock claw 43.

  The lock claw 43 is urged toward the movable unit 20 by the leaf spring 42 and engages with a protrusion 45 provided on the back surface of the movable unit 20 to hold the movable unit 20 in the closed position. To do. The projection 45 moves in the recess 41 in the sliding direction in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the movable unit 20, and comes into contact with the end surface of the recess 41 in the open position, thereby stopping the movable unit 20 in the open position. That is, the protrusion 45 also serves as a stopper that stops the movable unit 20 at the open position.

  The operation member 44 is a sliding member perpendicular to the sliding direction, and has a through hole in the sliding direction into which the fixed portion 46 on the fixed side unit 10 side is inserted. A coil spring 47 is accommodated in the through hole, and the operating member 44 is urged toward the outer side of the fixed unit 10 by the spring 47, and the rear end portion of the fixed unit 10 is not subjected to external force. Project outward from the side. When the operation member 44 is pushed in against the urging force of the coil spring 47, the operation member 44 pushes down the cam portion 48 of the lock claw 43 at the tip, and the protrusion 45 engaged with the lock claw 43 is released from the lock claw 43. release.

  Reference numeral 49 denotes a pressing plate that prevents the spring 48 from jumping out of the through hole of the operation member 44.

  Next, the operation of the slide mechanism for mobile devices according to the present embodiment and the slide open / close type mobile phone using the same will be described.

  First, the relationship between the opening / closing operation of the movable unit 20 and the moving direction of the actuators 33, 33 provided in the slide mechanisms 30, 30 will be described. The box-type guides 31 and 31 of the slide mechanisms 30 and 30 are attached to the movable side unit 20, and the actuators 33 and 33 are attached to the fixed side unit 10. For this reason, as described above, when the movable side unit 20 moves to the open side, the actuators 33 and 33 move to the close side end portions of the box-type guides 31 and 31 on the contrary. When the movable unit 20 moves to the closing side, the actuators 33 and 33 move to the open side end portions of the box-type guides 31 and 31.

  The closed state shown in FIG. 3 will be described. In this state, the slide mechanisms 30 and 30 on both sides are in the state shown in FIG. That is, when the movable side unit 20 moves to the closing side, the actuator 33 attached to the fixed side unit 10 moves to the opening side end side of the box-shaped guide 31 against the urging force of the spring 34. The spring 34 is compressed. The protrusion 45 of the lock mechanism 40 engages with the lock claw 43 and fixes the movable unit 20 in the closed position. As a result, the movable side unit 20 is biased in the opening direction by the repulsive force accompanying the compression of the springs 34, 34.

  When the operation member 44 of the lock mechanism 40 is pushed against the urging force of the coil spring 47 in this state, the lock claw 43 is detached from the protrusion 45. As a result, the movable side unit 20 automatically returns to the opening direction due to the repulsive force accompanying the compression of the springs 34, 34. This returning operation continues until the protrusion 45 contacts the end surface of the recess 41. As a result, the movable unit 20 is in the open state shown in FIGS.

  At this time, in the slide mechanisms 30 and 30 on both sides, as shown in FIG. 5, the actuators 33 move to the closing side end portion which is the return side end portion of the box guides 31 and 31. It passes between the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 31d and 31d provided at the end portions immediately before stopping. Thereby, the actuator 33 is elastically pressed from both sides by the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 31d and 31d, and the return speed is reduced. As a result of this braking, the impact is reduced when the movable unit 20 automatically returns to the open position. In addition, the vibration at the time of return of the movable side unit 20 is suppressed by the impact relaxation, and the actuator 33 is pressed from both sides by the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 31d and 31d, and the movable side unit 20 is returned. Vibration is suppressed.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the impact and vibration when the movable unit 20 automatically returns to the open position is effectively suppressed. Further, the movable unit 20 is elastically held at the open position. Since the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 31d and 31d that perform these are integrally formed at the return side end portions of the box-shaped guides 31 and 31, it is possible to avoid an increase in the number of components and an increase in the size of the components. it can.

  7A and 7B are explanatory views of a slide mechanism showing another embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 7A is a trihedral view showing the locked state of the slide mechanism, and FIG. 7B is a trihedral view of the actuator. FIG. 8 is a trihedral view showing a return state of the slide mechanism.

  In the slide mechanism 30 according to the present embodiment, a leaf spring-like elastic braking portion that brakes the actuator 33 at the return side end portion of the box guides 31, 31 is provided on the actuator 33 side. That is, the actuator 33 has leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 33d and 33d on the vertical wall portions on both sides. Each elastic braking portion 33d is formed by providing two parallel slits 33e, 33e in the sliding direction on the vertical wall portion of the actuator 33 and plastically deforming the portion therebetween in a triangular shape.

  On the other hand, on the side wall portions 31 a and 31 a on both sides of the box-shaped guide 31, slit-like relief portions 31 f and 31 f into which the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 333 d and 33 d are fitted are returned in the movement range of the actuator 33. It is provided except for the vicinity of the side end. Further, at the return side end portions of the side wall portions 31a, 31a, through-hole type holding portions 31g, 31g are fitted to which the top portions of the elastic braking portions 33d, 33d are fitted at the return position of the actuator 33.

  In such a slide mechanism 30, when the actuator 33 moves in a portion other than the vicinity of the return side end portion of the box-shaped guide 31, the leaf spring-like elastic braking portions 333 d and 33 d provided on both sides of the actuator 33 are The actuator 33 does not receive the braking force by the elastic braking portions 33d and 33d by being fitted to relief portions 31f and 31f provided on the side wall portions 31a and 31a on both sides of the box-shaped guide 31.

  When the actuator 33 reaches the vicinity of the return side end portion of the box-shaped guide 31, the elastic braking portions 33d and 33d of the actuator 33 are pressed from both sides by the side wall portions 31a and 31a on both sides. As a result, the actuator 33 is braked in the vicinity of the return side end portion, and the impact at the time of return is reduced. At the return position, the elastic braking portions 33d and 33d of the actuator 33 are fitted to the holding portions 31g and 31g provided on the side wall portions 31a and 31a on both sides of the box-shaped guide 31, so that the actuator 33 is elastically moved to the return position. Retained.

  As described above, the leaf spring-like elastic braking portion that brakes the actuator 33 at the return side end of the box-shaped guides 31, 31 can be provided on the actuator 33 side.

  In the slide mechanism 30, the box guide 31 is attached to the movable unit 20 and the actuator 33 is attached to the fixed unit 10. On the contrary, the box guide 31 is attached to the fixed unit 10 and the actuator 33 is attached. It is also possible to attach to the movable unit 20.

  The slide mechanism 30 is used in a mobile phone, but is not limited to this, and can be widely used in portable electronic devices other than mobile phones (for example, PDAs, pocket PCs, game devices, etc.). is there.

4A is a plan view, FIG. 4B is a front view, FIG. 4C is a side view, and FIG. It is. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the mobile phone, wherein (a) is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 1, (b) is a sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. 1, and (c) is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. (D) is AA sectional drawing in FIG. 2A and 2B are explanatory views of the mobile phone in a closed state, in which FIG. 1A is a longitudinal side view corresponding to the DD cross-sectional view in FIG. 1, FIG. 1B is a side view, and FIG. It is a vertical side view corresponding to a figure. It is explanatory drawing of the slide mechanism currently used for the mobile phone, (a) is a 3rd view which shows the locked state of the slide mechanism, (b) is a 3rd view of an actuator. It is a 3rd page figure which shows the return state of the slide mechanism. It is a perspective view of the lock mechanism currently used for the mobile phone. It is explanatory drawing of the slide mechanism which shows other embodiment of this invention, (a) is a 3rd view which shows the locked state of the slide mechanism, (b) is a 3rd view of an actuator. It is a 3rd page figure which shows the return state of the slide mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Fixed side unit 20 Movable side unit 30 Slide mechanism 31 Box-type guide 31d Elastic brake part 31e Slit 31f Escape part 32 Bar-shaped guide 33 Actuator 33d Elastic brake part 33e Slit

Claims (7)

A slide mechanism used in a slide opening / closing type portable device in which a movable side unit of a slide opening / closing type is combined with a fixed side unit,
A vertically long box-shaped guide extending in the sliding direction of the movable unit;
A rod-shaped guide arranged along the sliding direction in this box-shaped guide,
An actuator housed in a box-shaped guide and slidably guided by the box-shaped guide and the rod-shaped guide;
A spring that is housed on one end side in the length direction in the box-type guide and biases the actuator to the other end side in the length direction of the box-type guide,
The box-shaped guide has a rectangular bottom plate portion extending in the sliding direction, and side wall portions erected at both ends in the width direction of the bottom plate portion,
On the other end side portion of the side wall part, an inwardly convex leaf spring-like elastic braking part is integrally formed,
A slide mechanism for a portable device in which when the actuator is moved to the other end portion in the box-type guide by the biasing force of the spring, the actuator is elastically pressed from the side by the elastic braking portion.   2. The slide mechanism for a portable device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic braking portion is an inwardly convex leaf spring formed by cutting and raising a part of a side wall portion of the box-type guide.   The slide mechanism for portable equipment according to claim 2, wherein the leaf spring is parallel to the sliding direction. A slide mechanism used in a slide opening / closing type portable device in which a movable side unit of a slide opening / closing type is combined with a fixed side unit,
A vertically long box-shaped guide extending in the sliding direction of the movable unit;
An actuator slidably housed in a box-shaped guide;
A spring that is housed on one end side in the length direction in the box-type guide and biases the actuator to the other end side in the length direction of the box-type guide,
The actuator has an elastic braking part that is a leaf spring formed by cutting and raising a part of the side wall part to the outside.
The box-shaped guide has a rectangular bottom plate portion extending in the sliding direction, and side wall portions erected at both ends in the width direction of the bottom plate portion,
In the portion excluding the other end portion of the side wall portion of the box-shaped guide, a slit-shaped relief portion is provided in which the elastic braking portion is inserted movably in the sliding direction.
When the actuator is moved to the other end portion of the box-type guide by the biasing force of the spring, the sliding portable devices resilient damping portion is adapted to be pressed against the other end portion of the side wall portion of the box-type guide is elastically deformed Mechanism .   The slide mechanism for a portable device according to claim 4, wherein the leaf spring is parallel to the slide direction. It further comprises a rod-shaped guide arranged along the sliding direction in the box-shaped guide,
The slide mechanism for a portable device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the actuator is slidably guided by the box-shaped guide and the rod-shaped guide.   The slide mechanism for portable equipment according to claim 1, wherein the elastic braking portion also serves as a holding portion that elastically holds the actuator at the other end portion of the box-type guide.

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