JP4766255B2 - Folding type portable information terminal rotating connection structure and folding type portable information terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a rotary connection structure of a foldable portable information terminal and a foldable portable information terminal, and more particularly, to a rotary connection structure and a foldable type of a foldable portable information terminal having a connecting member having a notch for assembly on one side. The present invention relates to a portable information terminal.

  In the conventional rotary connection structure (hinge structure) of a foldable portable information terminal, during assembly, the hinges provided on both sides of one casing are bent in the opening direction by applying force, and the other casing The hinge portions of the two are fitted and connected via a connecting member. In that work, it is necessary to bend the hinge part of one housing, and at the same time, the one housing itself is also deformed. There was an adverse effect of damaging the periphery.

In Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-121175), in a mobile phone in which a key operation side case and a display side case are connected by a pair of hinge units, the hinge unit is inserted inside the display side case. Folding type that has a start position, a storage unit for the hinge unit is provided inside the key operation side housing and the inside of the display side housing, and the hinge unit is inserted into both storage units from the insertion start position A hinge device for a portable information terminal is disclosed.
JP 2005-121175 A

  In the hinge device of the foldable portable information terminal described in Patent Document 1, it is not necessary to bend the hinge portion of the housing, but it is necessary to provide two hinge units composed of a plurality of parts, resulting in high costs. .

  Moreover, the structure as shown in FIG. 7 is also adopted as a hinge apparatus with a simple structure. 7A and 7B are schematic external views showing an example of a hinge structure of a conventional folding portable information terminal, in which FIG. 7A is a top view and FIG. 7B is a side view. Here, the same reference numerals as those of the embodiment of the present invention are attached to portions corresponding to the embodiments of the present invention described later. The first cylindrical hinge 41 and the second cylindrical hinge 42 are provided at both ends of the hinge portion of the lower case, and the cylindrical first connecting component 60 engaged with the inside of the first cylindrical hinge 41. The semi-cylindrical hinge 20 provided at the hinge portion of the upper front case 10 that is inclined and approached to the lower front case 40 is inserted into the front end portion 60a of the lower case, and the second cylindrical hinge 42 for the lower case is inserted. The upper front case 10 is rotated and coupled so that the opening of the second connecting part insertion cylindrical portion 22 provided in the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 is aligned with the opening of The upper front case 10 and the lower front case are joined by penetrating the two connecting parts.

  Although the structure is simple and the assembly is easy, when the tip of the semi-cylindrical hinge 20 of the upper front case 10 is inserted into the first connecting part 60 and the semi-cylindrical hinge 20 is rotated, There was a problem that the front end portion 60a of one connecting component 60 was deformed.

  As for the position of the center of rotation, when the upper front case 10 and the lower front case are installed at the middle position in the thickness direction, the cylindrical hinges 41 on both sides of the lower front case described above. , 42 is difficult to bend in the middle, so that the position of the rotating part is restricted, and the design is impaired.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary connection structure for a foldable portable information terminal in which the upper housing and the lower housing are easily and easily coupled with a simple configuration and there is no restriction on the position of the rotation center. It is in.

The rotary connection structure of the folding portable information terminal of the present invention is
A cylindrical hinge provided on both sides of one end of the lower housing, a semi-cylindrical hinge provided in the center of one end of the upper housing, with a cylindrical portion formed on one side and a semi-cylindrical portion on the opposite side; The semi-cylindrical part is inserted into one cylindrical hinge of the lower casing and engaged with the semi-cylindrical part of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper casing. A first side cutout is formed which passes through the tip in a direction perpendicular to the axis and is movable between a position engaged with the tip and a position disengaged from the tip. And a second connecting part inserted into the other cylindrical hinge of the lower housing and the cylindrical part of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper housing.

  The upper casing is composed of an upper front case and an upper rear cover, and the lower casing has a lower front case. The first cylindrical hinge and the second casing are provided on both sides of one end of the lower front case. A cylindrical hinge is provided at the center of one end of the upper front case, and is arranged so that end faces on both sides are aligned with inner end faces of the first cylindrical hinge and the second cylindrical hinge, and the second cylinder A semi-cylindrical hinge having a cylindrical portion in contact with the mold hinge, a first connecting part for rotatably holding one end of the semi-cylindrical hinge and the first cylindrical hinge, and other than the semi-cylindrical hinge The first cylindrical hinge includes: a second coupling component that rotatably holds the end and the second cylindrical hinge; and a first coupling component locking portion provided on the upper rear cover of the upper housing. Cut out on the lower front case side The first connecting part is fitted to the inner surface of the first cylindrical hinge, and is cut out to engage with the tip portion protruding toward the semi-cylindrical hinge and the cutout portion of the first cylindrical hinge. You may have a notch.

In a state where the second connecting part is not mounted, the hinge portions are brought close to each other with the upper front case and the lower front case opened, and the top end of the semicylindrical hinge of the upper front case is set to the first end. push through narrowed portion by the notch portion of the connecting piece, the inner surface of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case to engage the outer surface of the distal end of the first connecting piece, the second connecting part of the upper It is inserted into the hole of the second cylindrical hinge via the cylindrical part of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the front case, the upper rear cover is attached to the upper front case, and the first connecting part locking part is connected to the first connecting part. by matching the part of the tip portion, the rotary coupling structure engages rotatably the upper part casing and the lower section housing may be completed.

The foldable portable information terminal of the present invention is
The above-described foldable portable information terminal has a rotary connection structure. The foldable portable information terminal may be a foldable mobile phone.

The rotary coupling structure of the folding type portable information terminal of the present invention, the first external surface of the connecting portion article which is fixed to the inner surface of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case to the first cylindrical hinge of the lower front case when engaged so that the same axis, so-outs cut in the first coupling part article is provided, the narrowed portion by the notch portion of the end portion of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case Can be inserted via. Whereby it is possible to connect the upper front case and the lower front case without adding end and first excessive force on the tip portion of the connecting portion articles of semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case, the center of rotation of The position is not constrained.

The rotary coupling structure of the folding type portable information terminal of the present invention, the first external surface of the connecting portion article which is fixed to the inner surface of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case to the first cylindrical hinge of the lower front case when engaged so that the same axis, an upper front case and the lower front case without applying excessive force to the tip end and the first coupling part products of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case There is an effect that can be combined. Since this is a notch first coupling portion article is provided, it can be inserted through the narrowed portion in the cutout portion of the end portion of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case, This is because it is possible to easily engaged a semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case the first coupling part article fixed to the first cylindrical hinge of the lower front casing without adding special powers.

  In addition, by adopting such a configuration, there is no need to deform the insertion portion to widen the interval, so that the position of the rotation center is not restricted, and the design is not impaired. is there.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a foldable portable information terminal having a rotary connection structure (hereinafter abbreviated as a hinge structure) according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the hinge structure according to the embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a top view, (b) is a left side view, (c) is a bottom view, (d) is a right side view, (e) is a front view, f) is a rear view. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the upper front case and the lower front case of the foldable portable information terminal are combined in a hinge structure, and FIG. 4 is a state in which the hinge portion of the upper front case and the lower front case is started to be combined. FIG. 5 is a schematic side cross-sectional view showing a state in which the hinge portions of the upper front case and the lower front case are combined, and FIG. 6 is an upper front view of the lower front case. FIG. 6 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a state where the case is overlapped and the upper rear cover is attached. Here, the foldable portable information terminal will be described by taking a foldable mobile phone as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to a foldable mobile phone, and can be widely applied to information terminals whose case can be folded.

  The structure before assembling and the structure after assembling of the hinge structure of the foldable portable information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described by adding an assembling process.

  The foldable portable information terminal 1 has an upper casing composed of an upper front case 10 and an upper rear cover 30, and a lower casing composed of a lower front case 40 and a lower rear cover 50. The casing is rotatably coupled by a hinge structure provided at one end of both casings, and the upper casing and the lower casing can be folded and opened. The upper housing and the lower housing are made of a material such as plastic or metal. As will be described later, the lower rear cover 50 may not be provided, and the lower housing may be formed only by the lower front case.

  The hinge structure includes an upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 provided at one end of the upper front case 10, an upper hinge cover 31 provided on the upper rear cover 30, a first connecting part locking portion 32, and a lower front case 40. The lower case first cylindrical hinge 41 and the lower case second cylindrical hinge 42, the lower case first cylindrical hinge 41 and the lower case second The lower case hinge concave surface 43 provided on the lower front case 40 between the cylindrical hinge 42 and the first connecting component 60 and the second connecting component 70 are configured.

  The upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 is connected to the upper front case 10 main body at a portion of the second connecting part insertion cylindrical portion 22 provided on the side contacting the second cylindrical hinge 42 for the lower case. The semi-cylindrical part extends from the second connecting part inserting cylindrical part 22 with the same diameter.

  The first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case and the second cylindrical hinge 42 for the lower case are provided on both sides of one end of the lower front case 40 with the lower case hinge concave surface 43 in between. Meanwhile, the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 is aligned. The first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case has a C-shaped cylindrical structure having an opening on the lower front case 40 side, and the second cylindrical hinge 42 for the lower case has an internal structure. In addition, the tip of the second connecting component 70 can be inserted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first connecting component 60 has a cylindrical shape having a notch 60 b on the side surface, and is fitted into the first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case, and has a distal end 60 a. Is exposed, and the outer surface of the tip 60a is aligned with the inner surface of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20.

  When the upper front case 10 and the lower front case 40 are engaged, the second connection component 70 penetrates the second connection component insertion cylindrical portion 22 at one end of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20. The lower case second cylindrical hinge 42 is inserted into the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 and the lower case second cylindrical hinge 42 coaxially and rotatably.

  Next, assembly of the hinge structure of the foldable portable information terminal according to the embodiment will be described. In assembling the hinge structure of the foldable portable information terminal 1, first, the upper front case 10, the lower front case 40, the first connection component 60, and the second connection component 70 shown in FIG. 1 are prepared. The upper front case 10 is integrally provided with a semi-cylindrical hinge 20 for the upper case, and the both ends of the semi-cylindrical hinge 20 for the upper case are engaged with the front end 60a of the first connecting component 60, respectively. The first connecting component contact portion 21 and the second connecting component inserting cylindrical portion 22 into which the second connecting component 70 is inserted are provided.

  At the center of the hinge structure side end surface of the lower front case 40, there is provided a lower case hinge concave surface 43 that comes into contact with the convex outer surface of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 of the upper front case 10. On both sides thereof, a first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case and a second cylindrical hinge 42 for the lower case are provided.

  The first connecting component 60 is fitted into the inner diameter portion of the first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case so that the cutout portion 60b coincides with the cutout portion of the first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case. Then, the front end portion 60a is exposed on the concave side of the lower case hinge.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the upper front case 10 is held in an open state with respect to the lower front case 40, and the outer surface of the upper case semicylindrical hinge 20 is aligned with the lower case hinge concave surface 43. The hinge part of the upper front case 10 is pushed up as described above. Since the first connecting component 60 is provided with the notch 60 b, the tip of the upper case semicylindrical hinge 20 is narrowed by the notch 60 b of the tip 60 a of the first connecting component 60. It moves forward through the part (D> d in FIG. 4). Finally, as shown in FIG. 5, the first connecting part contact portion 21 of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 comes into contact with the front end portion 60 a of the first connecting part 60 and the upper front case 10 and the lower side. A hinge part with the front case 40 is combined.

  Next, the second connecting component 70 is inserted into the second connecting component inserting cylindrical portion 22 from the open side at the center in the axial direction of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20, and further the second cylindrical shape for the lower case. It penetrates to the opening of the hinge 42 and is fixed. Thereby, the semi-cylindrical hinge 20 for the upper case is rotatably connected to the lower front case 40 with the first connecting part 60 and the second connecting part 70 as axes, and the upper front case 10 is placed on the lower side. The front case 40 can be opened and closed.

  From this state, the upper rear cover 30 and the lower rear cover 50 are combined with the upper front case 10 and the lower front case 40, respectively, using a claw fitting structure or the like. Thereby, the foldable portable information terminal 1 having the upper casing and the lower casing is completed. As shown in FIG. 6, the first connecting component contact portion 32 of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 provided in the upper front case 10 is provided in the first connecting component locking portion 32 provided in the upper rear cover 30. A recess having the same diameter as 21 is provided. By combining the upper rear cover 30 with the upper front case 10, the inner surface of the hinge portion of the upper housing comes into contact with the outer surface of the distal end portion 60 a of the first connecting component 60 in a wide range. Thereby, the upper housing and the lower housing smoothly rotate and slide.

  Next, a method of combining the upper front case 10, the lower front case 40, and the first connecting component 60, which is a basic configuration of the hinge structure of the foldable portable information terminal of the present invention, will be described in more detail. First, the first connecting component 60 is fitted into the inner diameter portion of the first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case of the lower front case 40 so that the tip end portion 60a protrudes from the inner diameter portion. At this time, the inserted portion of the first connecting part 60 and the inner shape of the first cylindrical hinge 41 for the lower case of the lower front case 40 are not circular as shown in FIG. This is a C-shaped shape having a notch so as not to be performed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the hinge portions are brought close to each other with the upper front case 10 and the lower front case 40 opened. The upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20 is moved close to the lower case hinge concave surface 43 in a state where the rotation axes of the cylindrical portions of the upper front case 10 and the lower front case 40 are kept parallel. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the upper case half is formed in the space formed between the notch 60 b provided at the tip 60 a of the first connecting component 60 and the lower case hinge concave surface 43. The first connecting part contact portion 21 of the cylindrical hinge 20 is inserted. Finally, as shown in FIG. 5, both axes are aligned and fitted.

  In this state, the second connecting component 70 is inserted into the second connecting component inserting cylindrical portion 22 from the open side at the center in the axial direction of the upper case semi-cylindrical hinge 20, and further the second cylinder for the lower case. The mold hinge 42 is inserted and fixed to the opening. The upper front case 10 and the lower front case 40 are closed with the rotation axis as the center to obtain the state shown in FIG. 6, and the upper rear cover 30 is combined with the upper front case 10. Thus, the first hinge cover 31 is provided inside the upper hinge cover 31 so as to cover the cut-out portion of the upper case semicylindrical hinge 20 in which the distal end portion 60a of the first connecting component 60 is accommodated. The connecting part locking part 32 of the engagement. When the upper front case 10 is rotated relative to the lower front case 40 in this state, the cylindrical inner wall surface formed by the semicircular hinge 20 for the upper case and the first connecting part locking portion 32 of the upper rear cover 30. The outer surface of the front end portion 60a of the first connecting component 60 slides along

  Finally, by combining the lower front case 40 with the lower rear cover 50, the foldable portable information terminal 1 is formed. In the embodiment of the present invention, the lower rear cover 50 is also attached to the lower front case 40. However, the upper case rotates around the rotation axis of the lower front case 40 and opens at a certain angle. If there is a locking shape for maintaining the closed state, it is not necessary to provide the lower rear cover 50 as long as there is no functional requirement as the folding portable information terminal 1.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a foldable portable information terminal having a rotary connection structure (hereinafter abbreviated as a hinge structure) according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an external view of the 1st connection component which comprises the hinge structure of embodiment of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is a left view, (c) is a bottom view, (d) is a right side (E) is a front view and (f) is a rear view. It is a perspective view of the state which combined the upper side front case and lower side front case of a folding type personal digital assistant with a hinge structure. It is typical side surface sectional drawing which shows the state which started the combination of the hinge part of an upper side front case and a lower side front case. It is a typical side sectional view showing the state where the hinge parts of the upper front case and the lower front case are combined. FIG. 6 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a state in which the upper front case is overlapped with the lower front case and the upper rear cover is attached. It is a typical external view which shows an example of the hinge structure of the folding type portable information terminal of a prior art example, (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Folding type portable information terminal 10 Upper front case 20 Semi-cylindrical hinge for upper case 21 First connecting part contact part 22 Second connecting part insertion cylindrical part 30 Upper rear cover 31 Upper hinge cover 32 First connecting part member Stop portion 40 Lower front case 41 First cylindrical hinge for lower case 42 Second cylindrical hinge for lower case 43 Hinge surface for lower case 50 Lower rear cover 60 First connecting component 60a Tip 60b Notch 70 Second connecting component

Claims (5)

Cylindrical hinges provided on both sides of one end of the lower housing;
A semi-cylindrical hinge provided at the center of one end of the upper housing, with a cylindrical part formed on one side and a semi-cylindrical part on the opposite side;
The lower casing is fitted into one of the cylindrical hinges, and is engaged with the semi-cylindrical portion of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper casing. A semi-cylindrical portion passes through the tip in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and a side notch is formed that is movable between a position engaged with the tip and a position removed from the tip. A first connecting component being
And a second connecting part inserted into the other cylindrical hinge of the lower casing and the cylindrical portion of the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper casing. Construction. In the rotary connection structure of the foldable portable information terminal according to claim 1,
The upper housing is composed of an upper front case and an upper rear cover, and the lower housing has a lower front case,
A first cylindrical hinge and a second cylindrical hinge provided on both sides of one end of the lower front case;
The second cylindrical hinge is provided at the center of one end of the upper front case, and is arranged so that the end faces on both sides are aligned with the inner end faces of the first cylindrical hinge and the second cylindrical hinge. A semi-cylindrical hinge having a cylindrical portion in a portion in contact with
A first connecting part for rotatably holding one end of the semi-cylindrical hinge and the first cylindrical hinge;
A second connecting part for rotatably holding the other end of the semi-cylindrical hinge and the second cylindrical hinge;
A first connecting part locking portion provided on the upper rear cover of the upper housing,
The first cylindrical hinge has a notch on the lower front case side,
The first connecting component is fitted to the inner surface of the first cylindrical hinge, and is engaged with the tip portion protruding toward the semi-cylindrical hinge and the notch portion of the first cylindrical hinge. A rotary connection structure for a foldable portable information terminal, having a notch. 3. The rotary connection structure for a foldable portable information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the upper front case and the lower front case are opened in a state where the second connection component is not attached. the hinge portion is brought close, it is pushed through the narrowed portion by the notch of the semi-cylindrical hinge joint part sectional front end of the first of the upper front case, the semi-cylindrical hinge of the upper front case wherein by engaging the outer surface of the distal end portion, said second said upper front case the connecting piece of the said via cylindrical portion and the second semi-cylindrical hinge the inner surface of the first connecting piece was inserted into the hole of the cylindrical hinge aligned with said distal end of said upper rear cover attached to the upper front case the first connecting piece locking portion first connecting piece The rotary coupling structure rotatably engaged to complete the the lower portion casing and the upper part housing, the folding type portable information rotational coupling structure of the terminal. Folding portable information terminal having a rotating type connection structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   5. The foldable portable information terminal according to claim 4, wherein the foldable portable information terminal is a foldable mobile phone.

Images