JP4916388B2 - Portable electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, and more particularly to a portable electronic device that has a high waterproof function and realizes a thin casing.

  Many portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, notebook personal computers, and electronic dictionaries are formed of a pair of casings that are foldably connected to each other via a hinge portion. Each of the first and second housings stores electronic components, and the space between them is electrically connected by a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or the like.

  Such a portable electronic device often breaks down when water is infiltrated into the housing when it is submerged inadvertently by the user. For this reason, it is necessary to protect the electric circuit and the like inside the electronic component even when submerged. Accordingly, various types of portable electronic devices having a waterproof structure have been considered (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

  In the portable electronic device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, a first housing and a second housing formed in a flat box shape are connected to each other via a hinge mechanism so as to be foldable. The first housing and the second housing house electronic components in an airtight state. The electronic components are electrically connected by a flexible wiring board. The case portion of the first housing and the hinge portion of the hinge mechanism, and the case portion of the second housing and the hinge portion of the hinge mechanism are partitioned by partition walls, respectively. A hole is formed, and a seal member press-fitted into the hole is formed of an elastic material. It is also disclosed that the flexible wiring board is integrally formed on the seal member by insert molding.

According to Patent Document 1 below, the airtight state in the first housing and the second housing is maintained by the sealing member that is press-fitted and inserted into the hole, and the electrical components in the first housing and the second housing are flexible. They are connected by a wiring board.
JP 2005-348341 A (paragraph [0016] to paragraph [0026], FIG. 4)

  According to the portable electronic device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to substantially eliminate moisture from entering the housing from the hinge portion. However, when a structure in which a hole is provided in the partition wall as a waterproof structure and a seal member is provided in this hole as in this portable electronic device, the hole has a hole diameter larger than the thickness of the flexible wiring board. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the entire casing, which makes it difficult to reduce the thickness of the portable electronic device.

  By the way, although not clearly shown in the portable electronic device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a conventional portable electronic device having a waterproof function has a packing attached to the outer periphery excluding the hinge portion of the housing. In addition, a structure that prevents water from entering from the side of the housing is adopted.

  In view of the above problems, the present inventors have studied various configurations capable of reducing the thickness of the entire portable electronic device while maintaining a high waterproof function. As a result, a portable electronic device having a waterproof function is usually provided. Focusing on the above-mentioned packing, it is found that the thickness of the casing can be reduced by integrating the waterproof structure by this packing and the waterproof structure in the FPC insertion portion provided in the casing, The present invention has been achieved.

  That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device that has a high waterproof function and realizes a thin casing.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, the first front case and the first rear case are integrated by inserting a packing around the outer periphery, and the first electronic component is accommodated therein. A first housing formed on the outer periphery, a second front case and a second rear case are integrated by inserting a packing around the outer periphery, and a second housing formed so as to house a second electronic component therein, A hinge mechanism that foldably connects the first housing and the second housing, and a flat shape that is arranged via the hinge mechanism and electrically connects the first electronic component and the second electronic component. A wiring body, a first seal member that is disposed in an insertion portion of the flat wiring body provided in the first housing and supports the flat wiring body in a liquid-tight manner, and provided in the second housing The flat wiring body is disposed in the insertion portion of the flat wiring body, and the flat wiring body is liquid-tightly supported. And at least one of the first seal member and the second seal member is formed from a part of the packing of at least one of the corresponding first housing and second housing. In addition, a part of the packing is formed integrally with the flat wiring body by insert molding , and the front case corresponding to the seal member formed by a part of the packing is provided near the seal member. A locking portion for locking the flat wiring body is provided, and a protruding piece is formed on the flat wiring body adjacent to the seal member formed by a part of the packing, and the front case is formed. Is characterized in that an engaging portion for engaging the protruding piece is formed .

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the portable electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the locking portion includes a locking plate for locking the flat wiring body to the front case, and the engagement plate. It is comprised from the screw which fixes a stop plate to the said front case, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  By providing the above configuration, the present invention has the following excellent effects. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since at least one of the first seal member and the second seal member is formed by the packing of the corresponding housing, it is not necessary to provide a separate seal member. A space for providing is not necessary, and the thickness of the housing can be reduced. Further, since the seal member and the packing are attached to the case at the same time, the assembly work of the housing can be performed quickly and easily.

According to the first aspect of the invention, when attaching at least one of the first seal member and the second seal member to the front case, the seal member is locked to the front case by the locking portion. At the same time, the packing near the seal member is also locked to the front case. Therefore, the work of assembling the seal member and packing into the housing can be easily and quickly performed. In addition, since the flat wiring body is locked by the locking portion, the connection state of the flat wiring body to the electronic device is stabilized by this locking portion, and it becomes possible to suppress poor connection and the like. .

In addition, according to the invention of claim 2 , it is possible to provide a portable electronic device having the above-described effects with a simple configuration.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flat wiring body is positioned at a predetermined position of the front case by engaging the protruding piece with the engaging portion, so that the positioning work of the seal member and the packing is easy. And surely.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below illustrate a foldable mobile phone as an example of a portable electronic device for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention is applied to this mobile phone. It is not intended to be specific, and other embodiments within the scope of the claims are equally applicable.

  1 is a front view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention in an open state, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a main part inside the first housing of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the configuration shown in FIG. 4 with the flat wiring body and the first packing removed. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the flat wiring body and the first packing in the configuration shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment includes a first housing 10, a second housing 20, and a hinge that connects the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 in a foldable manner. And a mechanism 30. A display unit 40 composed of a liquid crystal display panel or the like on which various displays are made is arranged on the development surface of the first housing 10, and various functions provided in the mobile phone 1 are operated on the development surface of the second housing 20. An operation key 50 is arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first housing 10 has a first front case 11 having an opening for exposing the display unit 40 to the outside and covering the development surface side of the first housing 10, and the first housing The outer periphery is covered with a first rear case 12 that covers the back side of 10. A first printed circuit board 13 as a first electronic component is disposed inside the cases 11 and 12. In addition, a first packing 14 made of an elastic member is disposed around the outer joint surface of the first front case 11 and the first rear case 12 so that the first housing 10 is in a liquid-tight state. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first packing 14 is disposed in a first housing groove 15 provided on the outer periphery of the first front case 11, and is formed in the first housing groove 15 in the first rear case 12. A first convex portion 16 to be inserted into the first accommodation groove 15 is also provided along the outer periphery at the opposing position. Then, by assembling the first front case 11 and the first rear case 12 in a state in which the first packing 14 is housed in the first housing groove 15 provided in the first front case 11, the first packing 14 becomes the first packing 14. It will be pressed by the 1st convex part 16 of the rear case 12, and it will be fixed in the state elastically deformed between the 1st accommodating groove 15 and the 1st convex part 16. FIG. Therefore, the first packing 14 can prevent water from entering from the joint surfaces of the cases 11 and 12. The first housing groove 15 in which the first packing 14 is housed is close to the first hinge portion 31 at the end of the first housing 10 where a first hinge portion 31 described later is provided. (See FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the second housing 20 has an opening for exposing various operation keys 50 to the outside, and has a second front case 21 that covers the development surface side of the second housing 20. And the outer periphery is covered with the 2nd rear case 22 which covers the back side of the 2nd case. A second printed circuit board 23, which is a second electronic component, is disposed inside the cases 21 and 22. In addition, a second packing (not shown) made of an elastic member is placed in a liquid-tight state on the outer periphery of the joint surface where the second front case 21 and the second rear case 22 are joined to each other. It is arranged. In addition, since the arrangement | positioning state of a 2nd packing is the same as that of the 1st packing 14 of the 1st housing | casing 10, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Further, a battery 24 is accommodated on the back surface of the second front case 21, and the battery 24 is covered and accommodated by a lid 26 having a third packing 25. In addition, a second hinge portion 32 constituting a part of the hinge mechanism 30 is provided at an end portion of the second housing 20.

  The cellular phone 1 further includes an FPC 70 as a flat wiring body for electrically connecting the first and second printed boards 13 and 23 provided in the first and second casings 10 and 20 respectively. It has. The FPC 70 is provided inside the hinge mechanism 30. One end 71 of the FPC 70 is connected to the first printed circuit board 13 by the first connector 18 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), and the other end 72 is connected to the second printed circuit board 23. Are connected to each other by the second connector 28 (see FIG. 2), and the central portion is arranged in a loop shape so as to be wound around the shaft center 33 of the hinge mechanism 30. Further, it is preferable that the entire outer surface of the FPC 70 is covered with a waterproof resin material in order to protect a plurality of wirings provided on the surface thereof from a short circuit caused by contact of water drops or the like.

  Next, a state where the FPC 70 is attached to the first and second housings 10 and 20 will be described.

  First, the state in which the FPC 70 is attached to the second housing 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, a part of the end surface of the second housing 20 provided with the second hinge portion 32 is inserted into the FPC 70 for insertion. A second insertion portion 27 made of a hole is provided. The size of the second insertion portion 27 is sufficiently larger than the thickness of the FPC 70, and a second seal member 80 made of a resin material having a predetermined size is disposed in the second insertion portion 27. The second seal member 80 is provided with a through hole 81 that can hold the FPC 70 in a liquid-tight state at the center thereof. When the FPC 70 is attached to the second housing 20, the second seal member 80 penetrates the second seal member 80. The FPC 70 is inserted into the hole 81, and the position close to the other end 72 on the second housing 20 side of the FPC 70 is liquid-tightly held by the through hole 81. Then, the second seal member 80 holding the FPC 70 is disposed in the second insertion portion 27 and fixed in the same liquid-tight manner. At the same time, the other end 72 of the FPC 70 is provided on the second printed circuit board 23. It is electrically connected to the connector 28.

  Since the FPC 70 is attached to the second housing 20 with the above-described configuration, the vicinity of the second insertion portion 27 is maintained liquid-tight, and the second housing 20 maintains a sufficient waterproof function. become able to.

  Next, a state in which the FPC 70 is attached to the first housing 10 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. In addition, before explaining this attachment state, the structure of the 1st housing | casing 10 and FPC70 is demonstrated still in detail.

  A first insertion portion 17 into which the FPC 70 is inserted is provided on a part of the end surface of the first housing 10 near the first hinge portion 31 of the first front case 11. The first insertion portion 17 communicates with the first accommodation groove 15 and is provided so as to substantially widen the first accommodation groove 15 as is apparent from FIG. Accordingly, the size, particularly the height, of the first insertion portion 17 is slightly higher than the thickness of the FPC 70, and is formed flat when viewed from the insertion direction of the FPC 70.

  In addition, an engagement portion 19 is provided at a position away from the first insertion portion 17 by a predetermined distance in the direction opposite to the insertion direction of the FPC 70 to which a protruding piece 73 of the FPC 70 described later is locked. The engaging portion 19 is formed from a notch provided in the width direction of the FPC 70 and positions the FPC 70 in a state where the FPC 70 is attached to the first housing 10.

  Furthermore, a locking portion 90 for locking the FPC 70 to the first front case 11 is provided at a position away from the first insertion portion 17 in the insertion direction of the FPC 70 by a predetermined distance. The locking portion 90 includes a locking plate 91 that locks the vicinity of one end 71 of the FPC 70 toward the first front case 11, a screw 92 that fixes one end of the locking plate 91, The first front case 11 is provided as a separate member.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the FPC 70 is fixed to the first packing 14 before being attached to the first front case 11. More specifically, a portion of the FPC 70 located on the first insertion portion 17 is integrally fixed to the portion of the first packing 14 located on the first insertion portion 17 by insert molding. Thereby, the part located on the 1st insertion part 17 of the 1st packing 14 functions as the 1st seal member 60 holding FPC70 in a fluid-tight state.

  Further, at a position away from the position where the first packing 14 of the FPC 70 is fixed by a predetermined distance, a protruding piece 73 that is locked to the engaging portion 19 is extended in the width direction of the FPC 70 by a predetermined length. Is formed.

  The first casing 10 having the above-described configuration and the FPC 70 are attached by first storing the first packing 14 in the first receiving groove 15 of the first front case 11 and the first seal member 60 of the first packing 14. The FPC 70 is attached to the first front case 11 so that the portion to be positioned on the first insertion portion 17, and the FPC 70 is fixed by engaging the protruding piece 73 of the FPC 70 with the engagement portion 19 at this time. Then, one end 71 of the FPC 70 is electrically connected to the first connector 18 provided on the first printed circuit board 13, and then the locking portion 90 is fixed to the first front case 11, thereby fixing the FPC 70 to the first front case. 11 and the locking plate 91 (see FIG. 4), and the first rear case 12 is joined to the first front case 11 to the first casing 10 of the FPC 70. Installation of is completed.

  Since the first insertion portion 17 is formed in a flat shape by such attachment, the thickness of the first housing 10 is hardly restricted by the first insertion portion 17. Thus, the first casing 10 can be reduced in thickness.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the first seal member 60 is provided only on the first housing 10 side, but the second seal member 80 of the second housing 20 may be provided in the same configuration.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention in an open state. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part showing the portion III in FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a main part inside the first housing in the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which the flat wiring body and the first packing are removed from the configuration shown in FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the flat wiring body and the first packing in the configuration shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 10 1st housing | casing 11 1st front case 12 1st rear case 13 1st printed circuit board 14 1st packing 15 1st accommodating groove 16 1st convex part 17 1st insertion part 19 Engagement part 20 2nd case Body 21 Second front case 22 Second rear case 23 Second printed circuit board 27 Second insertion part 30 Hinge mechanism 31 First hinge part 32 Second hinge part 40 Display part 50 Operation key 60 First seal member 70 FPC (flat shape) Wiring body)
73 Projection piece 80 Second seal member 81 Through hole 90 Locking portion 91 Locking plate 92 Screw

Claims (2)

A first housing formed by integrating a first front case and a first rear case by inserting packing around the outer periphery, and housing a first electronic component therein;
A second housing formed by integrating a second front case and a second rear case by inserting a packing around the outer periphery, and housing a second electronic component therein;
A hinge mechanism that foldably connects the first housing and the second housing;
A flat wiring body which is arranged via the hinge mechanism and electrically connects the first electronic component and the second electronic component;
A first seal member disposed in an insertion portion of the flat wiring body provided in the first casing and supporting the flat wiring body in a liquid-tight manner;
A second seal member disposed in an insertion portion of the flat wiring body provided in the second housing and supporting the flat wiring body in a liquid-tight manner,
At least one of the first seal member and the second seal member is formed from a part of the packing of at least one of the corresponding first casing and second casing, and a part of the packing is insert-molded. The flat wiring body is formed integrally with the flat wiring body, and the front case corresponding to the sealing member formed by a part of the packing is engaged with the flat wiring body in the vicinity of the sealing member. A stopper is provided, and a protruding piece is formed on the flat wiring body adjacent to the seal member formed by a part of the packing, and the front case is engaged with the protruding piece. A portable electronic device characterized by forming a part . The locking portion includes a locking plate for locking the flat wiring body to the front case, and a screw for fixing the locking plate to the front case. Item 2. A portable electronic device according to Item 1 .

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