TWI382734B - Electronic device and sliding mechanism thereof - Google Patents

Description

Electronic device and sliding mechanism thereof

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device having a sliding mechanism.

Figures 1A, 1B and 1C show a conventional slide-type mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). As shown in FIG. 1A, a conventional slide type mobile phone or personal digital assistant usually has a display unit 100 and an input unit 200. The display unit 100 is provided with a display screen 110, and the input unit 200 is provided with an input keyboard 210. , wherein the display unit 100 is slidable relative to the input unit 200 (as indicated by the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1A).

As shown in FIG. 1B, a circuit board 101 is disposed inside the display unit 100, and another circuit board 201 is disposed inside the input unit 200. A flexible circuit board F passes through the opening 102 of the display unit 100 from the circuit board 101. The opening 202 of the input unit 200 extends to the circuit board 201 to electrically connect the circuit board 101 and the circuit board 201.

As shown in FIG. 1C, when the display unit 100 is slid to the right side with respect to the input unit 200 to be in an open state, the opening 102 and the opening 202 need to partially overlap to facilitate the penetration of the flexible circuit board F. However, the overlapping area of the opening 102 and the opening 202 also limits the size of the input keyboard 210. In order not to change the size of such a conventional slide-type mobile phone or personal digital assistant, in order to increase the size of the input keyboard 210, it is necessary to reduce The overlap area of the opening 102 and the opening 202. At this time, the flexible circuit board F is often easily exposed by the opening 102. Therefore, the user or other foreign matter may pull the exposed flexible circuit board F, thereby causing damage to the flexible circuit board F.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a sliding mechanism that allows a protective cover portion to shield an opening in the display unit when the display unit is in an open state with respect to the sliding of the input unit, so that the flexible circuit board is not exposed.

The electronic device of the present invention comprises: a display unit, an input unit, a sliding mechanism and a flexible circuit board. The sliding mechanism comprises: a first member, a protective cover, a second member, a driving unit and a connecting member. The first member is attached to the display unit and has an opening. The protective cover is slidably disposed on the first member. The second member is coupled to the input unit and slidable relative to the second member. The driving unit is disposed on the first member and coupled to the protective cover, and drives the protective cover to slide on the first member. The connector connects the second member to the drive unit. When the first member slides in a first direction relative to the second member, the connecting member drives the driving unit, and the driving unit drives the protective cover to slide on the first member to shield a portion of the opening. The flexible circuit board passes through the opening and is electrically connected to the display unit and the input unit.

In the above embodiment, the driving unit includes a first gear and a second gear, the first gear is meshed with the second gear, the protective cover has a rack, the second gear is meshed with the rack, and the connecting member is connected to the A gear is slid in the first direction relative to the second member by the first member, and the connecting member rotates the first gear to drive the second gear to rotate, and drives the protective cover to move.

In the above embodiment, one end of the connecting member is preferably pivotally connected to the second member, and the other end is preferably fixed to the first gear.

In the above embodiment, the connecting member may be a spring.

In the above embodiment, when the first member slides in the first direction with respect to the second member, the connecting member drives the driving unit to move the protective cover in a direction opposite to the first direction.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent and understood.

Although the electronic device of the present invention is described by taking a slide type personal digital assistant, a slide type mobile phone or a slide type super mobile computer (UMPC) as an example, it is not limited thereto, as long as it is needed Slide-type electronic devices that shield or protect the opening with a protective cover are suitable for use in the present invention.

In this embodiment, a mobile phone is taken as an example for illustration. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2A shows a state in which the display unit 10 is overlapped with the input unit 20, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which the input keyboard of the input unit 20 is exposed after the display unit 10 and the input unit 20 are relatively moved.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the mobile phone of this embodiment includes a display unit 10 and an input unit 20. The display unit 10 and the input unit 20 are a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shell-shaped member slidably coupled to each other. A screen 13 is disposed on the outer surface of the display unit 10, and the input unit 20 has an input keyboard 23 and an input keyboard 23. Provided in the shell-shaped input unit 20 Internally, when the display unit 10 overlaps with the input unit 20, the input keyboard 23 of the input unit 20 is covered by the display unit 10. As shown in FIG. 2, when the display unit 10 moves toward a first direction V, the input unit 20 The input keyboard 23 is revealed as shown in Fig. 2B.

In order to enable the signal to be transmitted between the display unit 10 and the input unit 20 and in response to the relatively movable nature of the display unit 10 and the input unit 20, the flexible circuit board F is used to connect the circuit board 11 and the input in the display unit 10. Circuit board 21 in unit 20. The flexible circuit board F passes through the opening 12 of the first member 30 in the display unit 10 and the opening 22 of the input unit 20 to connect the circuit boards 11 and 21.

In the folded state as shown in FIG. 2A, the flexible circuit board F can still extend through the opening 22 to the input unit 20 without being obstructed by the edge of the first member 30, thus being first The length of the member 30 must be limited such that when the display unit 10 and the input unit 20 are unfolded, a portion of the opening 12 is exposed to expose a portion of the flexible circuit board F, and thus the first member 30 A protective cover 50 is disposed thereon. When the display unit 10 is overlapped with the input unit 20, the protective cover 50 overlaps or overlaps with the opening 12 to avoid obstructing the extension of the flexible circuit board F, as shown in FIG. 2A. Shown. When the display unit 10 moves relative to the input unit 20 in the first direction V, the protective cover 50 moves in a direction opposite to the first direction V, as shown in FIG. 2B, whereby most of the openings 12 can be shielded. The flexible circuit board F is not exposed.

The mechanism for moving the protective cover 50 will be described in detail below.

As shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, the sliding mechanism of the embodiment includes A member 30, a second member 40, a protective cover 50, a connector 60, and a drive unit 70. The driving unit 70 is disposed on the first member 30 and includes a first gear 72 and a second gear 74. The first gear 72 is meshed with the second gear 74. The connecting member 60 is connected to the second member 40 of the input unit 20. (Refer to Figures 2A and 2B) and the first gear 72, a rack 52 is provided on the side edge of the protective cover 50, and the rack 52 meshes with the second gear 74. In the present embodiment, the connecting member 60 is a compression spring. One end of the compression spring is pivotally connected to the second member 40, and the other end is fixed to the first gear 72.

3 shows a state in which the display unit 10 is overlapped with the input unit 20, and at this time, the protective cover 50 overlaps or overlaps with the opening 12 in a small portion, and when the display unit 10 moves in the first direction V, the first member 30 Also moving in the first direction V, at this time, due to the relative movement between the first member 30 and the second member 40, the one end 62 of the connecting member 60 and the other end 64 also move relative to each other, and the first gear 72 is rotated. The rotation of the first gear 72 is transmitted to the rack 52 via the second gear 74, thus moving the protective cover 50 while shielding a portion of the opening 12 as shown in FIG.

When the display unit 10 is to be superposed on the input unit 20, the display unit 10 moves in a direction opposite to the first direction V, at which time the first gear 72 is rotated by the relative movement of the first member 10 and the second member 20. The rotation is transmitted to the rack 52 by the second gear 74, so that the protective cover 50 is moved in the first direction V, so that the protective cover 50 and the opening 12 will be slightly overlapped or not overlapped, as in the fifth. Figure 6 shows.

With the sliding mechanism of the present embodiment, the protective cover 50 shields the opening 12 from being exposed to the flexible circuit board F.

While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the present invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application.

10‧‧‧Display unit

20‧‧‧ input unit

13‧‧‧Screen

23‧‧‧Input keyboard

11‧‧‧ boards

21‧‧‧ boards

12, 22‧‧‧ openings

30‧‧‧ first component

40‧‧‧ second component

50‧‧‧ protective cover

52‧‧‧ rack

60‧‧‧Connecting parts

70‧‧‧ drive unit

72‧‧‧First gear

74‧‧‧second gear

100‧‧‧ display unit

101‧‧‧ boards

102, 202‧‧‧ openings

110‧‧‧ Display screen

200‧‧‧ input unit

201‧‧‧ circuit board

210‧‧‧Input keyboard

F‧‧‧Flexible circuit board

V‧‧‧ first direction

1A is a schematic view showing a conventional slide type mobile phone; FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional slide type mobile phone; and FIG. 1C is a view showing a slide type mobile phone of FIG. 1B being turned on; FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a slide type mobile phone provided with a slide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 2B is a view showing a slide type mobile phone provided with a slide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. A cross-sectional view in a state; and FIGS. 3 to 6 are views showing the operation of the slide mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

30‧‧‧ first component

40‧‧‧ second component

50‧‧‧ protective cover

52‧‧‧ rack

60‧‧‧Connecting parts

70‧‧‧ drive unit

72‧‧‧First gear

74‧‧‧second gear

Claims (10)

An electronic device comprising: a display unit; an input unit; a sliding mechanism comprising: a first member disposed on the display unit and having an opening; and a protective cover slidably disposed on the first member a second member is disposed on the input unit and slidable relative to the second member; a driving unit is disposed on the first member and coupled to the protective cover to drive the protective cover to the first Sliding on the member; a connecting member connecting the second member and the driving unit, and when the first member slides in a first direction relative to the second member, the connecting member drives the driving by the relative movement a unit that drives the protective cover to slide over the first member to shield a portion of the opening; and a flexible circuit board that passes through the opening and electrically connects the display unit and the input unit . The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the driving unit comprises a first gear and a second gear, the first gear is meshed with the second gear, the protective cover has a rack, the first a gear train is coupled to the rack, the connecting member is coupled to the first gear, and the first member is slid in the first direction relative to the second member, and the connecting member rotates the first gear to drive The second gear rotates to drive the protective cover to move. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein one end of the connecting member is pivotally connected to the second member, and the other end is fixed to the first gear. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the connecting member is a spring. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the first member slides relative to the second member in the first direction, the connecting member drives the driving unit to bring the protective cover toward the first Move in the opposite direction. A sliding mechanism for connecting a display unit of an electronic device and an input unit, wherein the electronic device has a flexible circuit board, and the flexible circuit board passes through the sliding mechanism and is electrically connected to the display unit And the input unit, comprising: a first member disposed on the display unit and having an opening through which the flexible circuit board passes; a protective cover slidably disposed on the first member a second member is disposed on the input unit and slidable relative to the second member; a driving unit is disposed on the first member and coupled to the protective cover to drive the protective cover to the first Sliding on the member; a connecting member connecting the second member and the driving unit, and when the first member slides in a first direction relative to the second member, the connecting member drives the driving by the relative movement And driving the protection unit to slide on the first member to shield a portion of the opening. The sliding mechanism of claim 6, wherein the driving unit comprises a first gear and a second gear, the first gear is meshed with the second gear, the protective cover has a rack, the first a second gear train is coupled to the rack, the connecting member is coupled to the first gear, and the first member is slid in the first direction relative to the second member, the connecting member rotates the first gear, The first gear is meshed with the second gear and the second gear is engaged with the rack to drive the protective cover to move. The sliding mechanism of claim 7, wherein one end of the connecting member is pivotally connected to the second member, and the other end is fixed to the first gear. The sliding mechanism of claim 6, wherein the connecting member is a spring. The sliding mechanism of claim 6, wherein when the first member slides relative to the second member in the first direction, the connecting member drives the driving unit to bring the protective cover toward the first Move in the opposite direction.