JPH08228082A - Folding structure for electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable mounting of parts on the connection part for connecting a flip to an electronic apparatus housing and to improve the stability upon opening and closing of the flip by providing a connecting member, to be connected with the flip, on the outside of the electronic apparatus housing and by engaging a recess of the connecting member with a projection of the electronic apparatus housing. CONSTITUTION: A folding type portable telephone set is provided with an electronic apparatus housing 1, a flip, and an antenna 14, and the electronic apparatus housing 1 is provided with a keypad part 13 to be operated by a user. Further, the flip 2 is constructed such that it can be opened and closed, and it covers the keypad part 13 to protect the same when it is closed relative to the electronic apparatus housing 1. A connecting part 10 of the electronic apparatus housing 1 is connected with the flip 2 and has a through-hole 1b through which a flip pin 6 passes and has an insert hole 1c into which a first foot part 5a of a screw-coiled-spring 5 is inserted, and is provided with a projected part 1a which engages a recess 3a when the flip 2 is opened relative to the electronic apparatus housing 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to a folding structure for an electronic device in which a plurality of housings are foldable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a folding structure for folding two housings has been used for portable electronic devices in order to improve portability of the electronic devices.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a folding structure of a conventional electronic device.

In FIG. 1, an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, has an electronic device housing 7 which is a first housing and a keypad portion 13 which is a second housing and which is provided on the electronic device housing 7.
Etc. and a flip 8 covering the same.

The electronic device housing 7 is provided with a shaft fixing portion 7c which constitutes a connecting portion with the flip 8. Then, the shaft fixing portion 7c includes the first and second shafts 8b and 8c of the flip 8.
The bearing portion 7a that engages with the first of the torsion coil spring 9
A wall 7b that comes into contact with the foot portion 9a, and a screw insertion hole 16 into which the screw 11 is inserted.

On the other hand, the flip 8 has shafts 8b and 8c which engage with the bearing portion 7a of the housing of the electronic device and a second shaft 8b.
And a notch 8a that engages with the second foot portion 9b of the torsion coil spring 9.

The shaft cover 10 engages with the fixing portion 7c of the electronic device housing 7 and is used to fix the shafts 8b and 8c of the flip 8, and has an engaging hole 15 into which the screw 11 is engaged. There is.

The first foot portion 9a of the torsion coil spring 9 is
One end portion of the torsion coil spring 9 is extended in a direction opposite to the twisting direction. Also, the second foot portion 9b
Is the other end of the torsion coil spring 9 and extends in the direction of the twist.

Next, a method of assembling the folding structure of the electronic device shown in FIG. 7 will be described.

First, the foot portion 9b of the torsion coil spring 9 is engaged with the notch 8a formed in the shaft 8b of the flip 8.
Next, the shafts 8a and 8b of the flip 8 are engaged with the bearing portion 7a while the foot portion 9b is engaged with the notch 8a. At this time, the foot portion 9a of the torsion coil spring 9 comes into contact with the wall 7b of the bearing portion 7a. Therefore, the torsion coil spring 9 is crimped to the shaft fixing portion 7c by the engagement between the foot portion 9b of the torsion coil spring 9 and the notch 8a of the flip 8 and the contact between the foot portion 9a and the wall 7b of the bearing portion 7a.

Further, by covering the shaft cover 10 from above the connecting portion between the electronic device housing 7 and the flip 8, inserting the screw 11 through the screw insertion hole 16, and engaging the screw 11 and the engaging hole 15 with each other. The connection part between the electronic device housing 7 and the flip 8 is fixed.

Next, the opening and closing of the flip 8 with respect to the electronic device housing 7 will be described.

First, when the flip 8 is closed with respect to the electronic device housing 7, that is, when the keypad 7 is to be covered by the flip 8, the foot 9a of the torsion coil spring 9 is used.
Is fixed, the foot 9b is bent in the direction of arrow B in the figure, that is, in the same direction as the direction in which the spring is wound. Therefore, when closing the flip 8, the direction opposite to the arrow B,
That is, the repulsive force of the spring is applied in the direction in which the flip 8 opens. However, the flip 8 is held in the electronic device housing 7 in a closed state by a coupling portion (not shown).

On the other hand, when the flip 8 is opened with respect to the electronic device housing 7, that is, when the positional relationship between the flip 8 and the electronic device housing 7 is changed from the closed state to the positional relationship shown in FIG. The portion 9b is restored from the state of being bent in the direction of the arrow B to the position of FIG. 7 by the restoring force of the spring. As a result, the flip 8 is opened. The tip of the foot portion 9b of the torsion coil spring 9 faces substantially vertically upward in the drawing, as shown in FIG.

However, even if the leg 9b is bent in the direction opposite to the arrow B beyond the restored position, that is, the flip 8 is opened beyond the position shown in FIG. Since one end of 8 hits the end of the electronic device housing 7, the flip 8 is fixed to the position shown in FIG. 7 without being opened more than necessary.

[0016]

However, in this conventional folding structure for electronic equipment, a shaft fixing portion is provided at the connecting portion between the electronic equipment housing and the flip, and the torsion coil spring, the first Also, since the second shaft is housed, it is not possible to mount components inside the shaft fixing portion. Furthermore, it is not possible to mount components on the surface of the shaft cover that is covered over the connection portion between the electronic device housing and the flip. Therefore, for example, in a folding type mobile phone, since the transmitter cannot be provided on the surface of the shaft cover or on the shaft fixing portion, the user's ear and mouth are not located in the receiver and the transmitter. Cause problems.

Further, since the flip is held in the opened state only by the spring force of the torsion coil spring, if a weak external force is applied to the connecting portion between the flip and the electronic device housing in the opened state of the flip, There is a problem that the flip moves and the connection becomes unstable.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems,
To provide a folding structure for electronic devices that can be mounted on the connection part between the flip and the housing of the electronic device, improves the stability with opening and closing of the flip, and has an excellent appearance in terms of design. is there.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a folding structure of an electronic device according to the present invention comprises a first housing having a first engaging portion on one surface of a connecting portion, A spring, and a first engaging portion that engages with the first engaging portion on one surface, and the other surface is pressed by the spring.
Member and a second housing having a first housing portion for housing the spring.

When the second casing is closed with respect to the first casing, the first member is connected to the first casing by the spring stress of the spring, and the second casing becomes the first casing. The first member is connected to the first housing by the engagement of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion when they are opened to each other.

[0021]

According to the present invention, by adopting the above-mentioned structure, the connection member for the flip is provided outside the housing of the electronic device.
Parts can be mounted on the connection part between the electronic device housing and the flip, and in particular, in the folding type mobile phone, the problem that the user's ear and mouth are not located in the receiving part and the transmitting part is solved. can do.

Further, since the concave portion provided on the connecting member and the convex portion provided on the electronic device housing are engaged with each other with the flip opened, an external force is applied to the connecting portion between the flip and the electronic device housing. Even if the flip is not moved, a stable flip and a connection portion of the electronic device housing can be configured.

[0023]

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electronic device showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a foldable mobile phone will be described below as an example of an electronic device.

In the figure, the foldable mobile phone is provided with an electronic device housing 1, a flip 2 and an antenna 14. The electronic device housing 1 is provided with a keypad portion 13 operated by a user, such as an off-hook button or a ten-key button. The flip 2 is configured to be openable / closable with respect to the electronic device housing 1 in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, and covers and protects the keypad portion 13 when closed with respect to the electronic device housing 1.

2 and 3 are exploded perspective views showing a folding structure of a mobile phone showing an embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
2 and 3 are exploded perspective views of the folding structure of the mobile phone as viewed from different directions from each other.

In both figures, as shown in FIG. 2, the connecting portion 100 of the electronic device housing 1 with the flip 8 is inserted with the through hole 1b through which the flip pin 6 penetrates and the first foot portion 5a of the torsion coil spring 5. Insertion hole 1c. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the connecting portion 100 of the electronic device housing 1 includes a convex portion 1 a that engages with the concave portion 3 a when the flip 2 is opened with respect to the electronic device housing 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flip 2 has a spring accommodating portion 2b into which the spring 4 is inserted. The spring accommodating portion 2b positions the spring and has a first boss 2a which engages with the flip click 3. Have Further, the flip 2 is a torsion coil spring 5 as shown in FIG.
Has a torsion coil spring accommodating portion 2d into which the torsion coil spring accommodating portion 2d positions the torsion coil spring 5 and engages the flip pin 6 with the second boss 2c.
And a foot housing 2e in which the second foot 5b of the torsion coil spring 5 is housed.

The torsion coil spring 5 is responsible for opening and closing the flip 2 with respect to the electronic equipment housing 1, and the first and second foot portions 5a.
And 5b. The direction in which the torsion coil spring 5 is wound is the direction of arrow A shown in the drawing.

The flip click 3, which is a connecting portion, has a protrusion 3b for positioning a spring, and a concave portion 3a for engaging with the convex portion 1a of the connecting portion 100 when the flip 2 is opened with respect to the electronic device housing 1. have. Further, the flip click 3 has a protrusion 3c so as not to rotate in the spring accommodating portion 2b.

The spring 4 is positioned by the boss 2a of the spring accommodating portion 2d and the projection 3b of the flip click 3, and the spring stress of the spring 4 engages the concave portion 3a of the flip click 3 with the convex portion 1a of the connecting portion 100.

Next, a method of assembling the folding structure of the mobile phone shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described. The assembly is performed in a state where the flip 2 is opened with respect to the electronic device housing 1.

First, the spring 4 is attached to the spring accommodating portion 2.
According to the positioning by the boss 2a of FIG.
Store in b. Next, with the spring 4 housed in the spring housing 2b, the protrusion 3b of the flip click 3 is held.
And the boss 2a in the spring storage portion 2b are engaged with each other.

Then, the foot portion 5b of the torsion coil spring 5 is replaced with the foot storage portion 2e provided in the torsion coil spring storage portion 2d.
The torsion coil spring 5 is accommodated in the torsion coil spring accommodating portion 2d.

Further, the foot portion 5a of the coil spring 5 is inserted into the insertion hole 1c of the connecting portion 100 while being pushed in until the flip click 3 is completely accommodated in the spring accommodating portion 2b,
The convex portion 1a of the electronic device housing 1 and the concave portion 3a of the flip click 3 are engaged with each other. Finally, the flip pin 6 is inserted from the inside of the electronic device housing 1 through the insertion hole 1b and engaged with and fixed to the boss 2c of the flip 2 to connect the flip 2 and the electronic device housing 1.

In the above-mentioned assembly, the torsion coil spring 5 is loaded so that the flip 2 is closed with respect to the electronic device housing 1, that is, the second coil spring.
The leg 5b is engaged with the flip 2 and the electronic device housing 1 so as to be bent in the direction of arrow A.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the folding structure of the mobile phone in the state where the flip 2 is closed with respect to the electronic device housing 1.

In the figure, a flip 2 is an electronic device housing 1
In the closed state, the projection 2a provided on the connecting portion 100 of the electronic device housing 1 and the flip click 3 at one end of the connecting portion of the flip 2 and the electronic device housing 1 are closed.
The connection portion 100 of the electronic device housing 1 and the flip click 3 are not engaged with the concave portion 3 a of the electronic device 1 and are pressed by the spring pressing force of the spring 4. The flip 2 and the flip click 3 are connected by the protrusion 3b engaging with the first boss 2a.

On the other hand, at the other end of the connecting portion between the flip 2 and the electronic device housing 1, the tip of the flip pin 6 is the flip 2
The flip 2 and the electronic device housing 1 are connected by engaging with the boss 2c provided in the torsion coil spring housing 2d. Also, the foot portion 5a of the torsion coil spring 5
Is inserted into the insertion hole 1c of the connecting portion 100 of the electronic device housing 1 and hooked on the electronic device housing 1.

A flip pin insertion groove 12 is provided on the bottom surface of the electronic device housing 1. Therefore, in the method for assembling the folding structure described above, the flip pin 6 is
The electronic device housing 1 is inserted from the flip pin insertion groove 12
The flip pin stationary unit 14 is rotated in the direction in which the flip pin is stationary to connect the flip 2 and the electronic device housing 1.

Next, the opening / closing of the flip 2 with respect to the electronic device housing 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, the flip 2
Is closed with respect to the electronic device housing 1, the concave portion 3a of the flip click 3 is not engaged with the convex portion 1a of the electronic device housing 1 as described above, and the flip click with the electronic device housing 1 is performed. 3 is pressed by the spring pressing force of the spring 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, a load is applied to the torsion coil spring 5. At this time, the flip 2 is fixed to the electronic device housing 1 by a coupling part (not shown).

When this connecting portion is removed, the flip 2 opens due to the restoring force of the torsion coil spring 5,
At the position shown in (b), the concave portion 3 of the flip click 3 and the convex portion 1a of the connecting portion 100 are engaged with each other, and the open state is maintained. A user of the mobile phone can know that the flip 2 has been opened by the engagement sound generated during the engagement.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the torsion coil spring 5 is not loaded. When the flip 2 is closed from the open state with respect to the electronic device housing 1, the user rotates the flip 2 in the closing direction with respect to the electronic device housing 1 so that the concave portion 3a and the convex portion 1a are separated from each other. The engagement can be disengaged and the flip 2 can be closed.

Even if the flip 2 is opened beyond the position with respect to the electronic device housing 1, the concave portion 3a of the flip click 3 is opened.
And the convex portion 1a of the connecting portion 100 provided in the electronic device housing 1
Since and are engaged, the flip 2 is fixed without being opened more than necessary.

In the above embodiment, the convex portion and the concave portion may be a concave portion and a convex portion, respectively.

The direction of the foot of the torsion coil spring is also
Any orientation may be used as long as it has the functions described above.

[0049]

As described above, in the folding structure of the electronic device according to the present invention, since the flip is engaged with the side surface of the connecting portion of the electronic device housing, the cover is not necessary and the electronic device housing is not required. Components can be mounted at the connection with the flip. In particular, in the folding type mobile phone, the earpiece and the transmitter can be located in the user's ear and mouth.

Further, when the flip is opened, the concave portion provided at the flip click and the convex portion provided at the connecting portion of the electronic device housing engage with each other, so that an external force connects the flip and the electronic device housing. Even if the flip is added to the portion, the flip does not move, and a stable flip and a connection portion of the electronic device housing can be configured.

Furthermore, when the flip is opened from the state in which the flip is closed with respect to the housing of the electronic device, the concave portion provided on the flip click and the convex portion provided on the flip engage with each other, and the engaging noise is generated. As it occurs, the user of the mobile phone can know that the flip has been opened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electronic device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a left side surface of the folding structure of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the right side surface of the folding structure of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view when the flip in the folding structure of the mobile phone shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is closed with respect to the electronic device housing.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating opening and closing of a flip with respect to an electronic device housing in the folding structure of the mobile phone shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating opening / closing of a flip with respect to the electronic device housing in the folding structure of the mobile phone shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a folding structure of a conventional electronic device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Electronic device housing 1a ... Convex part 1b ... Through hole 1c ... Insertion hole 2 ... Flip 2a ... 1st boss 2b ... Spring storage part 2c ... Boss 2 of 2d ... Torsional coil spring housing 2e ... Second foot housing of torsion coil spring 3 ... Flip click 3a ... Recess 3b ... Projection 3c ... Projection 4 ... Spring 5 ... Torsional coil spring 5a ... 1st leg part of torsion coil spring 5b ... 2nd leg part of torsion coil spring 6 ... Flip pin 7 ... Electronic device housing 7a ... Bearing part 7b ・ ・ ・ Wall 7c ・ ・ ・ Shaft fixing part 8 ・ ・ ・ Flip 8a ・ ・ ・ Notch 8b ・ ・ ・ First shaft 8c ・ ・ ・ Second shaft 9 ・ ・ ・ Torsional coil spring 9a ・ ・ ・ Torsional coil Ne first foot 9b ... second foot of torsion coil spring 10 ... shaft cover 11 ... screw 12 ... flip pin insertion groove 13 ... keypad part 14 ... flip Pin stationary part 15 ・ ・ ・ Engagement hole 16 ・ ・ ・ Screw insertion hole 100 ・ ・ ・ Connection part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A first housing having a first engaging portion on one surface of a connecting portion, a spring, and a second engaging portion engaging with the first engaging portion on one surface. And a second housing having a first housing portion having a first housing whose other surface is pressed by the spring, and a second housing portion housing the spring, wherein the second housing is the first housing. When closed with respect to the housing, the first member is connected to the first housing due to the spring stress of the spring, and the second housing is opened with respect to the first housing. In this case, the first member is connected to the first housing by the engagement of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion, and the folding structure for an electronic device. . 2. One end of a coil-shaped spring engages with the other surface of the connecting portion, and the other end engages with a second accommodating portion of the second housing. The folding structure for an electronic device according to claim 1. 3. The first portion, which is a connecting portion of the second housing
The folding structure for an electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the second housing portion is configured to face inward with respect to the surface of the second housing. 4. A second member, which is inserted through an insertion hole provided in the second housing and engages the coil-shaped spring with the first housing and the second housing. The folding structure for an electronic device according to claim 2, wherein: 5. In a folding structure of an electronic device including a flip for protecting an operation key, an electronic device housing having a flip rotation preventing convex portion, a through hole, and an insertion hole, and the flip is predetermined. A flip click having a concave portion that engages with the flip rotation preventing convex portion to prevent rotation from a position in a direction opposite to the electronic device housing, and is inserted between the flip click and the flip,
A spring for pressing the flip click against the housing of the electronic device, a first foot pressed against the insertion hole, a torsion coil spring having a second foot contacting the flip, and a torsion coil spring A folding structure for an electronic device, comprising: a flip pin that engages the electronic device housing with the flip.