JP4814370B2 - Electronic device and hinge member - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device including a first casing, and a second casing that is hinged to the rear edge of the first casing and opens and closes with respect to the first casing, and the first casing The present invention relates to a hinge member that fastens and opens and closes a second casing.

  Conventionally, various types of electronic devices have been developed and are widely used. Here, a personal computer having an information calculation function (hereinafter, this personal computer is abbreviated as a personal computer) will be described as an example.

  A personal computer has a CPU that performs arithmetic processing, a circuit board on which electronic circuits are mounted, a hard disk that stores information, a built-in device, an image display device having a display screen for displaying images, and key operations. In addition to a stationary type personal computer with a keyboard for each of which is configured as a separate case, an image display unit having a display screen, a circuit board on which a CPU and an electronic circuit for performing arithmetic processing are mounted, and information are stored. A portable notebook computer with a built-in hard disk, etc., and a main unit that has a plurality of operation keys arranged on the top surface and also functions as a keyboard, and is connected via a hinge member that can be freely opened and closed. A personal computer called “N” is also widely used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

This notebook type personal computer can be folded and overlapped with the image display unit and the main unit through a hinge member, which is convenient for carrying and the image display unit with respect to the main unit. By opening, it is possible to input instructions to the notebook computer by key operation, and it also has good operability.
Registered Utility Model No. 3091105

  Here, since the notebook personal computer has an easy-to-carry shape and is an electronic device mainly intended for portable use, it is necessary to efficiently arrange various components in a limited space inside the housing. .

  However, the hinge member in a notebook personal computer is generally fixed to the housing by screws. Therefore, there is a problem that the space for screwing the hinge member restricts the arrangement position of other components arranged in the notebook personal computer, and the degree of freedom in design is limited.

  In view of the circumstances described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device with a wide design freedom and a hinge member that realizes such an electronic device.

The electronic device of the present invention that achieves the above object is
In an electronic apparatus comprising a first housing and a second housing that is hinged to the rear edge of the first housing and opens and closes with respect to the first housing.
An axis disposed at the lower edge end in the open state inside the second casing;
A rotating piece that is disposed at a rear edge end in the first casing close to the lower edge end portion of the second casing and freely rotates with friction with respect to the shaft;
A locking piece having a locking portion extending from the shaft along the inner side surface adjacent to the lower edge end of the second housing and locked to the second housing side surface; A hinge member provided,
The second housing includes a support portion that supports the locking piece by engaging the locking portion on the inner side of the side surface on which the locking piece extends.

  In the electronic device according to the present invention, the second casing that is hinged to the rear edge of the first casing and opens / closes with respect to the first casing is adjacent to the lower edge of the second casing. The locking piece provided on the hinge member extending along the inner side of the side surface is provided with a support portion that supports the locking piece by engaging the locking portion on the inner side surface. Therefore, according to the electronic device of the present invention, since it is not necessary to fix the locking piece of the hinge member by screwing, a space for screwing is unnecessary, the number of parts is reduced, and the first The degree of freedom of design is expanded by increasing the degree of freedom of the arrangement position of other components arranged in the two cases.

  Here, in the electronic device of the present invention, it is preferable that the support portion removably supports the locking portion of the locking piece.

  Here, the hinge member is damaged because a large stress is applied to the portion supporting the locking piece when the second housing is opened and closed with respect to the first housing. There is a fear. However, according to such a preferable embodiment, the hinge member can be exchanged without performing a complicated operation such as loosening or tightening a screw, so that the assembly workability is excellent.

  In the electronic device according to the present invention, it is also preferable that the support portion is a support claw protruding on the inner side of the side surface, and the locking piece is locked by the support claw. .

  According to such a preferable form, since the attachment and removal of the hinge member are easy, the assembly workability is further improved.

  In the electronic device according to the present invention, the locking portion is formed in a concave shape that comes into contact with the lower surface of the protruding support claw and is locked to the support claw, and the top surface of the support claw It is more preferable that both of the locking pieces and the top surface of the portion excluding the locking portion form a top surface having the same height that contacts the inner wall surface of the second casing.

  According to such a preferable embodiment, the load applied to the support claw when the second housing is opened and closed with respect to the first housing is diffused to the inner wall surface of the second housing. Therefore, it is preferable.

  Furthermore, in the electronic device of the present invention, the first casing is provided with a keyboard on which a plurality of operation keys are arranged, and the second casing is a display screen for displaying an image. Is preferably provided.

  As described above, an electronic device such as a laptop computer in which the second casing provided with the display screen can be opened and closed with respect to the first casing provided with the keyboard has a convenient shape for carrying. However, it is an electronic device mainly intended for portable use. Therefore, if the electronic device of the present invention is an electronic device having such a preferable form, it is preferable because a limited space inside the housing can be used effectively.

Moreover, the hinge member of the present invention that achieves the above object is
A hinge member for fastening the first housing and the second housing so as to be freely opened and closed,
A shaft disposed inside one of the first casing and the second casing, and inside the other casing of the first casing and the second casing. A rotating piece that is arranged and freely rotates with friction with respect to its axis, and extends from the axis in a direction perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotating piece, and is inside the one casing And a locking piece to be locked to the head.

  The hinge member of the present invention extends from the shaft in a direction perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotating piece that freely rotates with friction with respect to the shaft, and is located inside the one casing. A locking piece to be locked is provided. Therefore, according to the hinge member of the present invention, the locking piece can be disposed and locked along the inside of the side surface of the one casing, so that the other components deployed in the one casing The degree of freedom of the arrangement position is expanded and the degree of freedom of design is expanded.

  Here, in the hinge member of the present invention, the one casing includes a support portion for supporting the locking piece on the inner side surface, and the locking piece is the support portion of the one casing. It is preferable to have a locking part that extends along the inner side of the side surface provided with and engages with the support part.

  According to such a preferable form, since it is not necessary to fix the said locking piece by screwing, the space for screwing is unnecessary and a number of parts is reduced.

  In the hinge member of the present invention, it is preferable that the locking portion is detachably supported by the support portion.

  According to such a preferable embodiment, the hinge member of the present invention can be replaced without performing a complicated operation such as loosening or tightening a screw, so that the assembly workability is excellent.

  In the hinge member of the present invention, it is also preferable that the support portion is a support claw protruding on the inner side surface, and the locking portion is locked by the support claw. It is.

  According to such a preferable form, since the attachment and removal of the hinge member of the present invention are easy, the assembly workability is further improved.

  Furthermore, in the hinge member of the present invention, the locking portion is formed in a concave shape that contacts the lower surface of the protruding support claw and is locked to the support claw, and the top surface of the support claw It is more preferable that both of the locking pieces and the top surface of the portion excluding the locking portion form a top surface having the same height that is in contact with the inner wall surface of the one casing.

  According to such a preferred embodiment, a load applied to the support claw when opening and closing the first casing and the second casing is diffused to the inner wall surface of the one casing. Is preferred.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the hinge member which implement | achieves an electronic device with a wide freedom degree of design and such an electronic device is provided.

It is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the state which folded the image display unit and main-body unit of the notebook type personal computer which is one Embodiment of the electronic device of this invention, and was piled up from diagonally upward on the front. It is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the state which opened the image display unit of the notebook-type personal computer shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion in which a second casing is hinge-connected to a rear edge of the first casing in the notebook computer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram showing the inside of a second housing of the image display unit in the notebook computer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is an expansion perspective view of the B section shown in FIG. It is an expansion perspective view of the C section shown in FIG. It is a perspective view in the state where a part of hinge member shown in FIG. 6 was removed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  Here, the electronic device of the present invention incorporates an image display unit having a display screen, a CPU for performing arithmetic processing, a circuit board on which electronic circuits are mounted, a hard disk for storing information, and the like on the upper surface. A portable notebook personal computer (hereinafter, this personal computer is referred to as a notebook personal computer) in which operation keys are arranged and a main body unit that also functions as a keyboard is connected via a hinge member that can be freely opened and closed. This will be described with an example.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the notebook computer 100, which is an embodiment of the electronic device according to the present invention, viewed from diagonally above in a state where the image display unit 120 and the main unit 110 are folded in two and overlapped. 2 is an external perspective view of the state in which the image display unit 120 of the notebook computer 100 shown in FIG.

  A notebook computer 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a main unit 110 having a first casing 111 and an arrow A− with respect to the first casing 111 that is hinged to the rear edge of the first casing 111. And an image display unit 120 having a second housing 121 that opens and closes in the A direction. The first casing 111 corresponds to an example of the first casing in the electronic device of the present invention, and corresponds to an example of the other casing in the hinge member of the present invention. The second casing 121 corresponds to an example of a second casing in the electronic apparatus of the present invention, and corresponds to an example of one casing in the hinge member of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a notebook personal computer 100 in which the image display unit 120 is closed with respect to the main unit 110, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the image display unit 120 is open with respect to the main unit 110. A notebook personal computer 100 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main unit 110 of the notebook computer 100 includes a keyboard 112 having a plurality of operation keys arranged on the upper surface of the first casing 111 of the main unit 110, a track pad 113, and a left click. A button 114, a right click button 115, and a locking unit 116 for locking the image display unit 120 when the image display unit 120 is closed are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image display unit 120 of the notebook computer 100 has a display screen 122 for displaying an image on the front surface of the second housing 121 of the image display unit 120. Above the display screen 122, there is provided a fastener unit 123 that is locked to the locking unit 116 of the main unit 110 when the image display unit 120 is closed.

  Here, the feature of the notebook personal computer 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as an embodiment of the present invention is that the hinge member that fastens the first casing 111 and the second casing 121 so as to be freely opened and closed. The hinge member will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion in which the second casing 121 is hinge-connected to the rear edge of the first casing 111 in the notebook computer 100 shown in FIGS. FIG. 4 is an internal configuration diagram showing the inside of the second housing 121 of the image display unit 120 in the notebook computer 100 shown in FIGS. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion B shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion C shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a part of the hinge member 200 shown in FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, the first casing 111 and the second casing 121 are formed by a hinge member 200 that fastens the first casing 111 and the second casing 121 so as to be freely opened and closed. The hinge is connected. The hinge member 200 includes a shaft 201, a rotating piece 202, and a locking piece 203. The hinge member 200 corresponds to an example of the hinge member of the present invention.

  The shaft 201 of the hinge member 200 is fastened to the lower edge end portion in the open state inside the second housing 121. The shaft 201 corresponds to an example of the shaft according to the present invention.

  The rotating piece 202 of the hinge member 200 is fastened to the rear edge end close to the lower edge end portion of the second casing 121 inside the first casing 111. Further, the rotating piece 202 freely rotates with friction with respect to the shaft 201. The rotating piece 202 corresponds to an example of the rotating piece referred to in the present invention.

  The locking piece 203 of the hinge member 200 extends in a direction perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the rotation piece 202, so that the lower edge end of the second casing 121 is integrated with the shaft 201. It extends along the inner side surface adjacent to the part. Further, the locking piece 203 has two locking portions 203 a locked on the inner side surface of the second housing 121. The locking piece 203 corresponds to an example of the locking piece referred to in the present invention.

  Further, the second casing 121 is provided with two support claws 121a that protrude from the inner side of the side where the locking piece 203 extends and support the locking piece 203 by engaging with the locking portion 203a. ing. The support claw 121a corresponds to an example of the support claw referred to in the present invention, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, detachably supports the locking portion 203a of the locking piece 203. .

  In addition, the engaging portion 203a is formed in a concave shape that contacts the lower surface of the protruding support claw 121a and is engaged with the support claw 121a, and the top surface of the support claw 121a and the engagement piece 203 Both the top surface of the portion excluding the locking portion 203 a form a top surface of the same height that is in contact with the inner wall surface of the second housing 121. Therefore, the load applied to the support claw 121 a when the second housing 121 is opened and closed with respect to the first housing 111 is diffused to the inner wall surface of the second housing 121.

  Here, the second hinge 121 has been described by taking the right hinge member 200 in the open state with respect to the first casing 111 as an example, but the hinge member 200 described above is also provided on the left in the open state. The same hinge member is provided.

  As described above, according to the notebook computer 100 of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to fix the locking piece 203 of the hinge member 200 incorporated in the notebook computer 100 by screwing. Space is not required, the number of parts is reduced, and the degree of freedom of design is increased by increasing the degree of freedom of arrangement of other parts arranged in the second housing 121. Further, since the hinge member 200 can be easily attached and detached without performing a complicated operation such as loosening or tightening a screw, the assembly workability is excellent. In general, a notebook personal computer has a shape that is convenient to carry and is an electronic device that is primarily intended for portable use, so the space inside the housing is limited. According to 100, the limited space can be used effectively.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the electronic apparatus of the present invention is a notebook personal computer has been described. However, the electronic apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this, and the first casing and the first What is necessary is just to be provided with the 2nd housing | casing which is hingedly connected to the rear edge of this housing | casing, and opens and closes with respect to a 1st housing | casing.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the support portion according to the present invention is a support claw has been described. However, the support portion according to the present invention is not limited to this, and supports the locking piece according to the present invention. Anything to do.

  Moreover, although the hinge member of this invention demonstrated the example of a hinge member incorporated in the notebook type personal computer in embodiment mentioned above, the hinge member of this invention is not restricted to this, 1st housing | casing What is necessary is just to fasten and open the 2nd housing | casing so that opening and closing is possible.

Claims (5)

In an electronic apparatus comprising a first housing and a second housing that is hinged to the rear edge of the first housing and opens and closes with respect to the first housing.
An axis disposed at the lower edge end in the open state inside the second housing;
A rotating piece that is disposed at a rear edge in the first casing close to the lower edge of the second casing and that freely rotates with friction with respect to the shaft;
A locking piece extending from the shaft along the inner side of the second casing adjacent to the lower edge end and having a locking portion locked to the inner side of the second casing; A hinge member provided,
The second housing includes a support portion that protrudes on the inner side of the side where the locking piece extends and supports the locking piece by engaging with the locking portion ,
The locking portion is formed in a concave shape that comes into contact with the lower surface of the projecting support portion and is locked to the support portion, and the top surface of the support portion and the locking piece An electronic apparatus, wherein both the top surface of the portion excluding the stop portion form a top surface having the same height that is in contact with the inner wall surface of the second casing .   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the support portion removably supports the locking portion of the locking piece. The first casing is provided with a keyboard on which a plurality of operation keys are arranged,
Said second housing, according to claim 1 or 2, the electronic device according to, characterized in that the display screen for displaying the image has been deployed. A hinge member for fastening the first housing and the second housing so as to be freely opened and closed,
A shaft disposed inside one of the first housing and the second housing, and inside the other housing of the first housing and the second housing. A rotating piece that is arranged and freely rotates with friction with respect to the shaft, and extends from the shaft in a direction perpendicular to the rotation central axis of the rotating piece, and is inside the one casing and a locking piece which is locked to,
The one housing is provided with a support portion that is protruded on the inner side surface and supports the locking piece,
The locking piece has a locking portion that extends along the inside of the side surface of the one housing where the supporting portion is provided and engages the supporting portion,
The locking portion is formed in a concave shape that comes into contact with the lower surface of the projecting support portion and is locked to the support portion, and the top surface of the support portion and the locking piece A hinge member characterized in that a top surface of the same height is formed so that both the top surface of the portion excluding the stop portion are in contact with the inner wall surface of the one casing . The hinge member according to claim 4 , wherein the locking portion is detachably supported by the support portion.

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