JP4708321B2 - Sliding mobile device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sliding portable device in which a first housing and a second housing are slidably connected, such as a mobile phone and a mobile communication device.

  Conventionally, a portable device needs to be light and small in order to ensure portability, while there is a demand for a large display unit in order to ensure ease of use.

  The straight type portable device has a limited area appearing on the surface, and a display unit and an operation unit must be provided on the limited surface, so that the size of the display unit cannot be secured sufficiently. The foldable portable device has a display unit on the surface of the first housing and an operation unit on the surface of the second housing, and the first housing and the second housing are hinge portions. Are combined. For this reason, the hinge portion takes up the place of the display portion, which is an obstacle to securing the place occupied by the display portion. Thus, in a straight type portable device or a foldable portable device, the display unit may not be maximized.

Therefore, in recent years, a slide-type portable device that can enlarge the display unit has been proposed. For example, as in Patent Document 1, a first casing having an operation unit, a second casing having a display unit, and the first casing and the second casing are slidable in a uniaxial direction. 2. Description of the Related Art A slide type mobile phone having a slide engaging means to be combined is known. In this slide type mobile phone, a slide resin member is provided on the slide engagement means, and a protrusion is provided on the opposite surface of the housing facing the slide resin member. When both housings are slid in the extending direction, In the vicinity of the extension end where the overlap of the casing is minimized, the slide resin member and the protrusion are in contact with each other in a compressed state to reduce the impact noise of the stopper at the opening / closing end when the slide is opened / closed.
JP 2006-165854 A

  However, in the sliding portable device such as Patent Document 1, unless the signal line (including the flexible substrate) is electrically connected to electrically connect the first casing and the second casing, It becomes a hindrance during slide operation. For this reason, there has been a problem that the sliding operation cannot be performed smoothly, or the amount of sliding is reduced to prevent the signal line from becoming tangled, and the operation unit is reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to devise a wiring of a signal line that electrically connects the first housing and the second housing. The purpose of this is to facilitate the wiring of the signal line so that the signal line does not interfere with the sliding operation.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a flexible board is used as a signal line for electrically connecting the first housing and the second housing, and a pair of elastic members for assisting the sliding operation. A predetermined distance is provided from the pair of elastic members.

Specifically, in the first invention, a first housing having a display portion on the surface;
A second housing having an operation portion on the surface;
A flexible substrate for electrically connecting the first casing and the second casing;
The present invention is directed to a sliding portable device that includes a slide mechanism that slidably connects the first housing and the second housing.

And the slide mechanism is
A pair of rail portions extending in the sliding direction of the first casing on the surface of the second casing;
Provided between the pair of rail portions, said first housing with helps to slide as the operation unit appears, the pair of the same shape to assist in sliding the original position after the slide A torsion coil spring ,
Each of the torsion coil springs includes one coil portion and a pair of straight portions extending from the coil portion. The end of the one straight portion is the first housing and the other straight portion is the second end. Each of the two housings is rotatably positioned,
In the overlapped state in which the first casing and the second casing overlap each other, each of the pair of torsion coil springs has a substantially L shape in plan view, and is disposed so as to face each other so as to form a rectangle. And
In the middle of the sliding movement of the first casing relative to the second casing, the pair of torsion coil springs has a substantially planar quadrilateral shape in plan view, and particularly has a substantially rhombus shape in plan view at an intermediate point of sliding movement.
In the deployed state in which the first housing is slid relative to the second housing, the pair of torsion coil springs are again rectangular in plan view,
The flexible substrate is arranged between the pair of elastic members so as not to contact the pair of elastic members in any of the polymerization state, the unfolded state, and the middle of the slide .

According to the above configuration, when the first casing is moved along the rail portion provided in the second casing, the operation section of the second casing appears and the operation section can be operated. At this time, since the pair of elastic members assists the sliding movement of the first housing, the sliding operation is performed smoothly. The flexible substrate that electrically connects the first housing and the second housing is disposed between the pair of elastic members at a predetermined distance from the pair of elastic members. Even when the casing is slid, the flexible substrate can be prevented from contacting the pair of elastic members, and the flexible substrate is prevented from interfering with the sliding operation. Further , when the first casing is slid, the torsion coil spring rotates between the pair of rail portions in a state where the position of the second casing side end is fixed, and the first casing side end Move. For this reason, since a space is always ensured between the pair of torsion coil springs, disposing the flexible substrate in the space prevents the flexible substrate from interfering with the sliding operation. Furthermore , by disposing the flexible substrate in a rectangular space formed between the pair of torsion coil springs, the flexible substrate does not contact the pair of torsion coil springs during the sliding operation of the first housing. Is prevented from interfering with the sliding operation. Note that the rectangle here includes not only a rectangle but also a square .

  As described above, according to the present invention, a pair of rail portions are provided on the surface of the second housing, and the pair of elastic members assist the first housing to slide on the rail portions. In addition, a flexible substrate that electrically connects the first housing and the second housing is disposed between the pair of elastic members at a predetermined distance from the pair of elastic members. For this reason, when the first housing slides, the flexible substrate does not contact the pair of elastic members, and the flexible substrate is prevented from interfering with the sliding operation. A sliding portable device having a large size and a large operation section and good operability can be obtained.

The elastic body is composed of a pair of torsion coil springs that are rotatably positioned at one end on the first casing and the other end on the second casing. A space is always secured between the torsion coil springs. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the flexible substrate from interfering with the sliding operation, so that the wiring of the flexible substrate can be easily performed, and the amount of sliding can be increased to keep the operating portion large.

Further , the pair of torsion coil springs are provided facing each other so as to form a rectangle in plan view, and a flexible substrate is disposed in the rectangular space. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the flexible substrate from coming into contact with the pair of torsion coil springs during the sliding operation of the first casing .

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

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a state in which a first housing of a slide type mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention is slid to the upper end. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 in which a pair of torsion coil springs can be seen. 5 to 10 are views corresponding to FIG. 4 or FIG. 2 when the first housing is slid. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sliding mobile phone 1 includes a first casing 2 and a second casing 3 that are long in the vertical direction. As indicated by the white arrows, the first housing 2 and the second housing 3 are connected to each other by a slide mechanism 4 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction.

  The first casing 2 has a vertically long display unit 5 on the surface thereof that is long in the vertical direction, and a receiver unit 6 is provided on the upper side of the display unit 5. The display unit 5 may be a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.

  The second housing 3 has an operation unit 7 in the lower part from the center of the surface thereof. For example, a function button 8 and a number button 9 are provided in the operation unit 7. A receiver 10 is provided below the operation unit 7. In FIG. 4 and the like, the first casing 2 is drawn with a two-dot chain line for easy viewing, and the operation unit 7 and the like on the surface of the second casing 3 are omitted.

  As shown in a cross section in FIG. 2, the first housing 2 and the second housing 3 are electrically connected by a flexible substrate 11 (shown by a two-dot chain line) described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of rail portions 12 are provided on the left and right ends of the surface of the second casing 3 so as to extend in the vertical direction. The pair of rail portions 12 are formed in a groove shape provided so as to be recessed outward from the left and right center of the second housing 3. On the other hand, the back cabinet 2a on the back side of the first housing 2 is formed with a locking portion 13 that is inserted into the pair of rail portions 12 and that is long in the vertical direction and protrudes in the left-right direction. By inserting the locking portion 13 into the rail portion 12, the first housing 2 is slidably moved on the second housing 3.

  A pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 as elastic members are provided between the pair of rail portions 12. The pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 assists the first housing 2 to slide toward the upper end side of the second housing 3 and assists in sliding to the original position (downward) after the sliding. It has become a thing. The slide mechanism 4 includes a pair of rail portions 12 and a pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15.

  The torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are made of spring stainless steel wires (for example, SUS304WPA or SUS304WPB). For this reason, it is excellent in corrosion resistance and has improved durability. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, in the state where the first casing 2 and the second casing 3 overlap each other, each of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 has a substantially L shape in plan view and is square with each other. They may be arranged to face each other so as to form a rectangle. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 have the same shape, and the coil portions 14c and 15c are provided between the first end portions 14a and 15a and the second end portions 14b and 15b. I have. In the present embodiment, the pair of linear portions from the end portions to the coil portions 14c and 15c have the same length, but may have different lengths.

Two first spring fixing pins 16 are provided at a slight distance in the vertical direction below the center in the vertical direction on the back side of the back cabinet 2a of the first housing 2 when viewed from the front. Similarly, two second spring fixing pins 17 are provided at a certain distance in the vertical direction above the center in the vertical direction on the surface side of the second housing 3 when viewed from the surface. The pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are disposed in positions facing each other in the space between the back surface of the back cabinet 2a and the surface of the second housing 3, and the first end portion 14a of the upper torsion coil spring 14 is the upper first. The second end 14 b is fixed to the first spring fixing pin 16 so as to be rotatable on the upper second spring fixing pin 17. Similarly, the first end 15a of the lower torsion coil spring 15 is fixed to the lower first spring fixing pin 16, and the second end 15b is fixed to the lower second spring fixing pin 17 so as to be rotatable. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible substrate 11 is disposed between the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 with a predetermined distance from the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15. Specifically, a display unit side substrate 18 is provided on the back side of the display unit 5 inside the first casing 2, and an operation unit side substrate 19 is provided inside the second casing 3. It has been. The flexible substrate 11 has a vertically long rectangular shape, and is arranged so that the longitudinal direction is directed in the vertical direction. One end 11 a is connected to the display unit side substrate 18, and the other end 11 b is connected to the operation unit side substrate 19. . The flexible substrate 11 has moderate flexibility, and when bent, the bent portion 11c is bent and has a U-shape in a side view. Thus, the flexible substrate 11 is coupled from the first housing 2 to the second housing 3 so that the bent portion 11c forms a U-shape when viewed from the side. In FIG. 4, a portion of the flexible substrate 11 sandwiched between the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

-Action-
Next, the sliding operation of the sliding mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, in the standby state, the first housing 2 is superposed with the second housing 3. The shapes of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are substantially square in plan view. A flexible substrate 11 is disposed inside the square while maintaining a distance from the torsion coil springs 14 and 15. The bent portion 11c of the flexible substrate 11 maintains a U shape when viewed from the side.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the first housing 2 is slightly slid upward. At this time, the first housing 2 moves upward along the rail portion 12 provided in the second housing 3. The second ends 14b and 15b are in a fixed position, and rotate about the second spring fixing pin 17, and the first ends 14a and 15a move upward while rotating about the first spring fixing pin 16. . The shapes of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are parallelograms, and the flexible substrate 11 also slides within the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 while maintaining the U-shaped bent portion 11c. Since the shape of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 is smaller than the free shape of 90 degrees, the first housing 2 is slid against the urging force.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the first casing 2 is further moved upward, the operation unit 7 gradually appears and reaches the intermediate point of the sliding movement of the first casing 2. The shape of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 is such that the first end portions 14a and 15a move further upward, and the first end portions 14a and 15a and the second end portions 14b and 15b are arranged in substantially the same vertical line. It changes to a diamond. The flexible substrate 11 also slides at a distance from the inside of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 while the bent portion 11c maintains the U shape. At this time, the torsion angle of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 becomes the smallest, and the elastic energy is stored most.

  Next, when the first casing 2 is further moved upward, the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are urged to return to a free shape (square) from the compressed state to assist the sliding movement of the first casing 2. To do. Then, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the first housing 2 moves to the upper end side of the second housing 3, the operation unit 7 appears completely, and the operation unit 7 can be operated. In addition, a call can be made. The shape of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 changes to a square, and the flexible substrate 11 is also held at a distance from the inside of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 while the bent portion 11c remains U-shaped.

  Conversely, when the first casing 2 is overlapped with the second casing 3, the operation is the reverse of the above.

As described above, when the first casing 2 is slightly slid by hand and released by the urging force of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15, it tries to return to the state before the slide, but it slides a lot by hand and passes the intermediate point. When the hand is released, the first housing 2 slides. That is, since the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 assist the sliding movement of the first housing 2, the sliding operation is smoothly performed with one touch. Further, since the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are disposed at positions facing each other , the urging force applied to the first housing 2 is balanced, and the sliding operation is performed smoothly.

  As the first casing 2 slides, the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 change in order to a square, a parallelogram, a rhombus, and a square, and the flexible substrate 11 having flexibility also has a bent portion 11c. While maintaining the U-shape, the inside of the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 is always kept at a distance and smoothly deformed. Therefore, the flexible substrate 11 does not contact the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 and does not hinder the sliding operation.

-Effect of the embodiment-
Therefore, according to the slide type mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment, the pair of rail portions 12 are provided on the surface of the second housing 3, and the first housing 2 is connected to the rail portions 12 by the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15. The flexible substrate 11 that assists sliding movement above and electrically connects the first housing 2 and the second housing 3 is interposed between the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15. The torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are arranged at a predetermined distance. For this reason, when the first housing 2 is slid, the flexible substrate 11 is not in contact with the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15, and the flexible substrate 11 is prevented from interfering with the sliding operation. Thus, the slide type mobile phone 1 having a large display unit 5 and an operation unit 7 and high portability and operability and high merchantability can be obtained.

  The pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are provided facing each other so as to form a rectangle in plan view, and a space is always secured between the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 when the first casing 2 is slid. The flexible substrate 11 is arranged in this space. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the flexible substrate 11 from contacting the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 during the sliding operation of the first housing 2.

The pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are arranged at positions facing each other so as to balance the biasing force that the pair of torsion coil springs 14 and 15 act on the first housing 2. Therefore, the first casing 2 can be smoothly slid, and the operation unit 7 can be enlarged by increasing the slide amount.

  The torsion coil springs 14 and 15 are made of spring stainless steel wires to improve the corrosion resistance. For this reason, even if the sliding operation of the first housing 2 is repeated, it is possible to prevent the torsion coil springs 14 and 15 from aging.

  The flexible substrate 11 is arranged from the first housing 2 to the second housing 3 so that the bent portion 11c forms a U-shape when viewed from the side, and smoothly according to the sliding movement of the first housing 2. I am trying to transform. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the flexible substrate 11 from interfering with the slide operation, and to increase the slide amount and keep the operation unit 7 large.

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

  That is, although not shown, a second operation unit may be provided below the surface of the first housing 2. Thus, the second operation unit can be operated in a state in which the first casing 2 and the second casing 3 are overlapped, and the display unit 5 is set in the horizontally long state to operate the second operation unit. Is also possible. However, in the present invention, since the slide amount of the first housing 2 can be increased and the operation unit 7 can be enlarged, it is not always necessary to provide the second operation unit.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sliding mobile phone 1 includes the first casing 2 and the second casing 3 that are long in the vertical direction. However, the first casing 2 and the second casing that are long in the left-right direction are used. The housing 3 may be provided. In this case, the display unit is horizontally long.

  In the above embodiment, the sliding portable device is the sliding portable phone 1, but may be a PHS, PDA, PC, mobile tool, electronic dictionary, calculator, copying machine, or the like.

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

  As described above, the present invention provides a slide in which a first casing and a second casing are electrically connected by a flexible substrate and slidably coupled, such as a mobile phone and a mobile communication device. This is useful for portable mobile devices.

It is a front view which shows a mode that the 1st housing | casing of the slide type mobile telephone concerning embodiment of this invention was slid to the upper end. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the III-III sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 in which a pair of torsion coil springs can be seen. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 illustrating a state in which the first housing is in the middle of the slide intermediate position. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a state where the first housing is in the middle of the slide intermediate position. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 illustrating a state in which the first casing is being slid. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 illustrating a state in which the first casing is being slid. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 illustrating a state in which the first housing and the second housing are superposed. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a state in which the first housing and the second housing are superposed.

1 Sliding mobile phone (sliding portable device)
2 First housing 3 Second housing 4 Slide mechanism 5 Display unit 7 Operation unit 11 Flexible substrate 12 Rail unit 14, 15 Torsion coil spring (elastic member)
14a, 15a First end (one end)
14b, 15b Second end (other end)

Claims (1)

A first housing having a display portion on the surface;
A second housing having an operation portion on the surface;
A flexible substrate for electrically connecting the first casing and the second casing;
A sliding portable device comprising a slide mechanism for slidably connecting the first housing and the second housing,
The slide mechanism is
A pair of rail portions extending in the sliding direction of the first casing on the surface of the second casing;
Provided between the pair of rail portions, said first housing with helps to slide as the operation unit appears, the pair of the same shape to assist in sliding the original position after the slide A torsion coil spring ,
Each of the torsion coil springs includes one coil portion and a pair of straight portions extending from the coil portion. The end of the one straight portion is the first housing and the other straight portion is the second end. Each of the two housings is rotatably positioned,
In the overlapped state in which the first casing and the second casing overlap each other, each of the pair of torsion coil springs has a substantially L shape in plan view, and is disposed so as to face each other so as to form a rectangle. And
In the middle of the sliding movement of the first casing relative to the second casing, the pair of torsion coil springs has a substantially planar quadrilateral shape in plan view, and particularly has a substantially rhombus shape in plan view at an intermediate point of sliding movement.
In the deployed state in which the first housing is slid relative to the second housing, the pair of torsion coil springs are again rectangular in plan view,
The flexible substrate is disposed between the pair of elastic members so as not to contact the pair of elastic members in any of the polymerization state, the unfolded state, and the middle of the slide. Sliding mobile device.

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