JPH0673127B2 - Small electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a foldable small electronic device.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

A small electronic device, for example, a small electronic calculator, includes two thin panel units provided with electronic components,
The two panel units are foldably connected so that both panel units can be folded.

Conventionally, as this foldable small-sized electronic device, two panel units are housed inside one bag-shaped object made of artificial leather or the like, and both unit panels can be folded using this bag-shaped object. There is a connected configuration, and this configuration is generally called a notebook. However, in this notebook type, since the bag-like material serves as an exterior material that covers the outer surface of each panel unit (the surface that is the outer surface when both panel units are closed), a metal panel is used as the outer material. As in the case, the appearance of both panel units cannot be made high-class.

Further, as a small foldable electronic device, there is a structure in which a metal panel is attached as an exterior material to a housing made of a synthetic resin in a panel unit so that the panel unit has a high-class appearance. However, in this type, two panel units are connected in a hinged structure so as to be foldable, a tubular portion is integrally formed in each of the housings of both panel units, and the tubular portions of both housings are combined to form a pin. Both panel units are connected by inserting. For this reason, the cylindrical portion must be specially formed in the housing of each panel unit, which complicates the structure of the mold for molding the housing made of synthetic resin and increases the manufacturing cost of the housing. is there.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a foldable small-sized electronic device in which the panel unit has a high-class appearance and the panel unit is foldably connected with an inexpensive structure. It is a thing.

[Outline of Invention]

In the small-sized electronic device of the present invention, a first panel unit and a second panel unit including electronic components and a metal panel for exterior are arranged such that one side edge portions of the first panel unit and the second panel unit face each other in parallel, and each of the panel units is arranged. The side edges facing each other are connected by a flexible connecting member to electrically connect the electronic components respectively provided in the first and second panel units by the connecting member, and the first panel The unit and the second panel unit are foldable with the metal panel outside. Therefore, according to the present invention, since a metal panel is provided as an exterior material on the outer surface of the panel unit which is the outer side when both panel units are folded,
The appearance of the panel unit can be given a high-grade feeling by the metal panel, and the connecting portion of the panel unit can be manufactured at low cost by connecting both panel units with a flexible connecting member. Is.

Example of Invention

 The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a small foldable electronic computer will be described with reference to FIGS.

1 and 3 to 5 show the structure of the entire computer, in which 1 is a first panel unit, 2 is a second panel unit, and these panel units 1 and 2 are respectively The side edges are arranged parallel to each other. In the figure, 3 is a flexible connecting member. This connecting member 3 connects the opposite side edges of each panel unit 1, 2 and electrically connects the electronic components provided in each panel unit 1, 2 respectively. Connect to.

The first panel unit 1 will be described. In the figure, 4 is a plate-shaped housing made of hard synthetic resin, in which recesses 4a, 4b, 4c for arranging components are formed,
A sheet-shaped double-sided adhesive tape 5 is provided in the recesses 4a and 4b, and
A double-sided adhesive tape 6 is attached to each. In the concave portion 4a of the housing 4, a circuit board 7 on which a predetermined circuit is formed by printing is arranged and adhered and fixed by the double-sided adhesive tape 5. An LSI chip 8 or the like is attached to the circuit board 7, and a hole 4d for allowing the LSI chip 8 to escape is formed in the recess 4a. The liquid crystal display panel 9 is provided in the recess 4b of the housing 4.
Are arranged and bonded and fixed by the double-sided adhesive tape 5, and the solar cell 10 is arranged in the recess 4c and bonded and fixed by the double-sided adhesive tape 6. These liquid crystal display panels 9
Also, the solar cell 10 and the circuit board 7 are connector sheets (heat sheets) 11,1 formed by printing wiring on a resin film.
Electrically connected by 2. A surface panel 13 made of a polyester film or the like is superposed on the inner side surface of the housing 4 (the surface positioned inside when the panel units 1 and 2 are closed) and is bonded to the housing 4 and the circuit board 16. It is fixed by adhesive. The lower surface of the front panel 13 is the liquid crystal display panel 9 and the solar cell.
Printing is performed on the whole, leaving the windows 13a and 13b opposite to 10. An outer metal panel 14 made of stainless steel or the like is superposed as an outer material on the outer surface of the housing 4 (the surface located outside when the panel units 1 and 2 are closed) and is bonded to the housing 4. The exterior metal panel 14 has a metallic luster and a hard feel as an exterior material.

The second panel unit 2 will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 15 denotes a frame-shaped housing made of hard synthetic resin, and a keyboard 16 is arranged in a portion surrounded by the housing 15. This keyboard 16 is provided with a plurality of input keys 17 arranged side by side, and a first contact sheet 18 made of a resin film formed by arranging a plurality of movable contacts 17a and a plurality of fixed contacts on the upper surface.
A second contact sheet 19 made of a resin film on which a wiring (not shown) connecting 17b and this fixed contact 17b is formed by printing.
And an insulating spacer 20 arranged between these contact sheets 18 and 19 are polymerized and bonded by an adhesive. And the keyboard 16 is the second contact sheet
19 is a reinforcing plate made of synthetic resin arranged on the lower side of the drawing.
It is fixed by being adhered to 21 via a double-sided adhesive tape 22. The thickness of the side edge portion of the housing 15 facing the first panel unit 1 is reduced, and this side edge portion is bonded to the reinforcing plate 21 via the double-sided adhesive tape 22.
On the inner surface side of the housing 15, a surface panel 23 made of a polyester film or the like is superposed and arranged, and
And the first contact sheet 17 of the keyboard 16 is fixed by adhesive. Display members corresponding to the respective keys 17 of the keyboard 16 are printed on the front panel 23. An exterior metal panel 24, which is an exterior material made of stainless steel or the like, is superposed on the outer surface of the housing 15 and is adhesively fixed to the outer surfaces of the housing 15 and the reinforcing plate 21 with an adhesive.

In the figure, 25 is the front panel 13 of the first panel unit 1.
And an adhesive agent applied to the bonding surfaces of the exterior metal panel 14, the surface panel 23 of the second panel unit 2 and the exterior metal panel 24. Further, an adhesive 25 is applied to the surface of the reinforcing plate 21 of the second panel unit 2 that is bonded to the exterior metal panel 24 for adjusting the thickness.

Next, the connecting member 3 will be described. FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the connecting portions of the first and second panel units 1 and 2. The connecting member 3 is composed of two connecting sheets 26, 27 and a connector sheet 28 sandwiched between the connecting sheets 26, 27. The connection sheets 26 and 27 have flexibility and strength to withstand a tensile load applied to the connection portions of the first and second panel units 1 and 2,
It is formed of a polyester film or the like. These connection sheets 26 and 27 are the first and second panel units.
Adhesives 29 are respectively arranged between the opposite side edges of the connection sheets 1 and 2 (hereinafter referred to as connection edge portions) along the longitudinal direction thereof, and on the inner surfaces of the connection sheets 26 and 27 that face each other. Is applied. One side edge portion of one connection sheet 26 is inserted along the inner edge side of the front panel 13 at the connection edge portion of the first panel unit 1 and along the recess 4e formed in the housing 4, and the front panel 13 and the housing 4 are connected. Are bonded and fixed by the adhesives 25 and 29 between them, and the other edge of the connection sheet 26 is
At the connection edge of the panel unit 2 is inserted into the inner surface side of the front panel 23 and is fixedly adhered between the front panel 23 and the keyboard 16 by adhesives 25 and 29. One side edge portion of the other connection sheet 27 is inserted along the inner edge side of the metal panel 14 at the connection edge portion of the first panel unit 1 and is along the recess 4f formed in the housing 4, and the housing 4 and the exterior metal panel 14 are provided. It is adhesively fixed between 25 and 29 with
The other side edge portion is inserted into the inner surface side of the exterior metal panel 21 at the connection edge portion of the second panel unit 2 and is bonded between the exterior metal panel 24 and the reinforcing plate 21 with the adhesive 25, 29. It is fixed. The reinforcing plate 21 contributes to surely connect the connecting sheet 26. In this manner, the connection sheets 26 and 27 reliably connect the side edges of the first panel unit 1 and the second panel unit 2 that face each other. And since the connection sheets 26 and 27 have flexibility,
The first and second panel units 1 and 2 are foldably connected. The connector sheet 28 is formed by extending a part of the contact sheet 19 on the fixed contact side of the keyboard 16 provided in the second panel unit 2, and the contact sheet 19 is formed on a flexible resin film. The wiring formed in the above is printed and formed. The connector sheet 28 is provided on the housing 15 at the connection edge of the second panel unit 2.
Along the recess 15a formed on the housing 15, the housing 15 and the connection sheet 26 are bonded and fixed with an adhesive 29, and then the connector sheet 28 is drawn out into the gap between the connection edges of the first and second panel units 1 and 2. Then, it is sandwiched between the connection sheets 26 and 27 and is fixedly adhered by the adhesive 29.
28 is guided to the lower surface of the circuit board 7 inside the first unit panel 1 along the concave portion 4g formed in the housing 4 at the connection edge portion of the first panel unit 1.
Here, the double-sided adhesive tape 5 is attached to the concave portion 4g of the housing 4, and the connector sheet 28 is polymerized and adhered to the double-sided adhesive tape 5 to come into contact with the lower surface of the circuit board 7. The connection sheet 26 is the connector sheet 28.
And is glued with adhesive 29. Then, the wiring of the connector sheet 28 contacts the wiring of the circuit board 7. For this reason,
The circuit board 7 of the first panel unit 1 and the keyboard 16 of the second panel unit 2 are electrically connected by the connector sheet 28, and the signal input by the keyboard 16 is sent to the circuit board 7 via the connector sheet 28. be able to. In the connecting member 3 having such a configuration, the two connecting sheets 26, 2
Since 7 covers the connector sheet 28 from both sides, the wiring formed on the connector sheet 28 can be hidden.

The adhesives 25 and 29 described above may be either a room temperature curing type or a thermosetting type, but it is effective to use a thermosetting type.

In the small-sized electronic computer configured as described above, the first panel unit 1 and the second panel unit 2 are foldably connected to each other by the connecting member 3, so that when not in use,
As shown in FIG. 4, the first panel unit 1 and the second panel unit 2 are closed so that the exterior metal panels 14 and 24 provided on the panel units 1 and 2 are on the outside. In this case, the outer surfaces of the closed first and second panel units 1 and 2 are entirely covered with the exterior metal panels 14 and 24, so that the appearance of both panel units 1 and 2 should be luxurious. You can

When using the calculator, the first and second panel units are opened as shown in FIG.

Therefore, in the above-described embodiment, by taking an antistatic measure for the connecting member 3, it is possible to prevent static electricity from invading from the outside to the first and second panel units 1 and 2 from the connecting member 3, and to prevent each panel from being discharged. It is possible to prevent the electronic parts provided in the units 1 and 2 from being destroyed by static electricity. Figure 6 shows
Connection sheet for connection member 3 with anti-static measures 27
Is shown. That is, the conductive material 30 made of metal, carbon, or the like is applied to the inner surface side of the connection sheet 27, and the adhesive material 29 is further applied on the conductive material 30. By doing so, static electricity that has entered the connection sheet 27 from the outside can be discharged to the outside through the conductive material and further through the exterior metal panels 14 and 24 of the first and second panel units 1 and 2. Static electricity does not enter inside the panel units 1 and 2.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the combination of the two connection sheets 26 and 27 and the one connector sheet 28 is used as the connection member, but the connection member is not limited to this configuration. For example, by combining one connection sheet and a connector sheet, or by forming wiring for connecting electronic components provided in each panel unit on the connection sheet, the connection sheet and the connector sheet are combined into one sheet. Is also good.

Further, the connector sheet may be used not only as a substrate of a keyboard provided in the second panel unit but also as a substrate of electronic parts provided in the first panel unit,
Alternatively, it may be integrally formed with a board of an electronic component provided on both panel units, and the connector sheet may be formed separately from the board of the electronic component.

The present invention is not limited to small electronic calculators, and can be widely applied to other folding small electronic devices.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the metal panel is provided as the exterior material on the outer surfaces of the first and second panel units, it is possible to give the panel unit a high-class appearance. It is not necessary to integrally form a hinge component in the housing of each panel unit in order to connect the second panel unit in a foldable manner, and a flexible connecting member is used to connect the first and second panel units. By connecting the opposite side edges, both panel units can be foldably connected with an inexpensive structure.
Therefore, it is possible to obtain an economical foldable small-sized electronic device full of luxury.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a foldable small-sized electronic computer, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view enlarging a connecting portion of first and second panel units, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. Is a perspective view showing a state in which the panel unit is closed, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the panel unit is opened, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a connection sheet in a connection member provided with an antistatic measure. 1 ... First panel unit, 2 ... Second panel unit, 3 ... Connection member, 4 ... Housing, 13 ... Front panel, 14 ... Exterior metal panel, 15 ... Housing, 23
…… Surface panel, 24 …… Exterior metal panel, 26,27 …… Connection sheet, 28 …… Connector sheet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first housing made of synthetic resin for housing electronic parts, and a first housing mounted on the upper surface of the first housing.
A first panel unit including a front surface panel and a first exterior metal panel mounted on the lower surface of the housing, and a synthetic resin first panel unit arranged in parallel with the first panel unit for housing electronic components. A second housing and a second front panel mounted on the upper surface of the second housing;
A second panel unit having a second exterior metal panel mounted on the lower surface of the housing, electronic components housed in the first synthetic resin housing, and the second synthetic resin housing. A connector sheet for electrically connecting the housed electronic components, one end of the connector sheet provided on an upper surface of the connector sheet is disposed between the first housing and the first front panel, and the other end thereof is the second sheet. A first connection sheet disposed between the housing and the second front panel; one end provided on the lower surface of the connector sheet between the first housing and the first exterior metal panel; A second connection sheet disposed at the other end between the second housing and the second exterior metal panel; and the first panel unit and the second panel unit. A small electronic device characterized by being foldable.