TWI763004B - Foldable electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A hinge module including a first bracket, a second bracket, a rotating shaft, a ratchet mechanism movably disposed at the rotating shaft, and a switching mechanism linking to the ratchet mechanism is provided. The rotating shaft is connected to the first and the second brackets, such that the first and the second brackets are pivoted to each other via the rotating shaft. The switching mechanism drives the rotating shaft via the ratchet mechanism to be switched between a single-way mode and a two-way mode. A foldable electronic device is also provided.

Description

foldable electronic device

The present invention relates to a rotating shaft module and a foldable electronic device.

With the advancement of technology, the widespread use of computer devices, and the increasing popularity of peripheral equipment, multi-functional equipment has become an important development. Under the above-mentioned multi-functional requirements, the computer device is therefore provided with an additional screen beside the main screen of the host computer in addition to the original screen, so as to facilitate the user's operation or viewing.

However, for the user, the additional screen next to the main screen will have different operating viewing angles due to the purpose of use, but the additional screen may not necessarily be able to pivot relative to the main screen, or even if it can be pivoted , and its rotation angle range is not large, and no matter the above, it cannot meet the needs of users. However, if a separate screen is used, it is necessary to further consider the action method and whether it has sufficient strength of the supporting mechanism, and the separate components are also likely to cause the portability to remain unchanged. It is difficult for the device to meet the above requirements.

In addition, existing computer devices often have to meet the needs of multiple users, so that multiple users can use different screens (or even touch screens) of the same computer device to achieve interactive effect. In this way, the aforementioned additional screen switch applied to the side of the host also needs to have sufficient pivoting torque to facilitate the user to perform touch operations.

The invention provides a rotating shaft module and a foldable electronic device, which can switch the rotation mode of the rotating shaft between a one-way mode and a two-way mode through a ratchet mechanism and a switching mechanism arranged at the rotating shaft.

The rotating shaft module of the present invention includes a first support, a second support, a rotating shaft, a ratchet mechanism and a switching mechanism. The rotating shaft connects the first support and the second support, so that the first support and the second support can rotate relative to each other through the rotating shaft. The ratchet mechanism is movably arranged on the rotating shaft. The switching mechanism is connected to the ratchet mechanism. The switching mechanism drives the ratchet mechanism to switch the rotation mode of the shaft between the one-way mode and the two-way mode.

The foldable electronic device of the present invention includes a first body, a second body and a rotating shaft module. The rotating shaft module is connected between the first body and the second body, and the first body and the second body are relatively rotated and opened and closed by the rotating shaft module. The rotating shaft module includes at least one first support, at least one second support, at least one rotating shaft, at least one ratchet mechanism and switching mechanism. The rotating shaft connects the first support and the second support, so that the first support and the second support can rotate relative to each other through the rotating shaft. The ratchet mechanism is movably arranged on the rotating shaft. The switching mechanism is connected to the ratchet mechanism. The switching mechanism drives the ratchet mechanism to switch the rotation mode of the shaft between the one-way mode and the two-way mode.

Based on the above, the ratchet mechanism of the rotating shaft module is movably arranged at the rotating shaft, and is connected with a switching mechanism to drive the ratchet mechanism, so that the rotating module of the rotating shaft can Toggles between unidirectional and bidirectional modes. Accordingly, the user can change the rotation mode of the rotating shaft by controlling the switching mechanism, so that the rotating mode of the rotating shaft module and the foldable electronic device can meet the usage requirements.

10: Foldable electronic device

100: The first body

111: convex column

200: Second body

300: Spindle Module

310: First bracket

311, 312: Components

320: Second bracket

321: Components

322: Cover

330: Spindle

331: Shaft

332: Torque parts

333: Lock Attachment

340: Ratchet mechanism

341: Gear

342: Claw

342a: Wedge face

342b: Stop surface

343: Spring

350: Switching Mechanism

351: Button

351a: Reaming

351b: convex column

351c: Spring

351d: Lock Attachment

352: Driver

352a: Beam

352b: Rod body

353: Pulley

A, B: part

D1: first direction

D2: Second direction

F: force

S1, S3: Display surface

S2: Back

w1, w2, w3: Tether

X-Y-Z: Cartesian coordinates

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 1A in another state.

FIG. 2A is a partial schematic view of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 1B from another viewing angle.

FIG. 2B is an exploded view of some components of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A .

FIG. 2C is a side view of the components of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A at the rotating shaft.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are schematic diagrams of partial components of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A , respectively.

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A at part B. FIG.

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a foldable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 1A in another state. Cartesian coordinates X-Y-Z are also provided here to facilitate component description. Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B at the same time. In this embodiment, the foldable electronic device 10 , such as an all-in-one computer, includes a first body 100 , a second body 200 and a computer connected to the first body 100 . The hinge module 300 between the body 100 and the second body 200, so that the first body 100 and the second body The body 200 is relatively rotated to open and close by the hinge module 300 , thereby achieving an unfolded state as shown in FIG. 1A or a folded state as shown in FIG. 1B . Here, the first body 100 and the second body 200 respectively have display surfaces S1 and S3. In the unfolded state, the display surface S1 and the display surface S3 both face the positive Y-axis direction, while in the folded state, the first body 100 is turned over It is folded and stored in the back S2 of the second body 200. At this time, the display surfaces S1 and S3 are facing away from each other (the display surface S1 still faces the positive Y-axis direction, and the display surface S3 is changed to the negative Y-axis direction).

Accordingly, the foldable electronic device 10 can provide viewing angles for multiple people according to the different states of the body, especially when the display surfaces S1 and S3 are touch screens respectively, they can be folded by the different rotations. state to provide specific usage requirements.

FIG. 2A is a partial schematic view of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 1B from another viewing angle. FIG. 2B is an exploded view of a part of the components of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A , and the components of part A of the foldable electronic device 10 of FIG. 2A are shown here. Please refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B at the same time. In this embodiment, the rotating shaft module 300 includes a first bracket 310 , a second bracket 320 , a rotating shaft 330 , a ratchet mechanism 340 and a switching mechanism 350 . The rotation shaft 330 connects the first bracket 310 and the second bracket 320 , so that the first bracket 310 and the second bracket 320 are relatively rotated by the rotation shaft 330 . The ratchet mechanism 340 is movably provided on the rotating shaft 330 . The switching mechanism 350 is connected to the ratchet mechanism 340 . The switching mechanism 350 drives the ratchet mechanism 340 to switch the rotation mode of the rotating shaft 330 between the one-way mode and the two-way mode.

Further, referring to FIG. 2B again, the first body 100 includes casings 110 and 120 , and the first bracket 310 is assembled to the casing 110 and located in the space formed by the casings 110 and 120 . The second bracket 320 includes a part 321 and a cover 322, and the part 321 Locked on the back S2 of the second body 200 , the cover 322 covers the component 321 . The rotating shaft 330 includes a shaft body 331 , a torsion member 332 and a lock attachment 333 , wherein the shaft body 331 is passed through the parts 311 and 312 of the first bracket 310 , the parts 321 and the cover body 322 of the second bracket 320 along the X axis, and then passes through It is arranged on the torsion member 332 , and then the shaft body 331 and the relevant members through which it passes are locked together by the locking attachment 333 , thereby forming a pivotal relationship between the first bracket 310 and the second bracket 320 , so that the first bracket 310 and the first bracket 310 are connected to the second bracket 320 The two brackets 320 can rotate relative to the X-axis through the rotating shaft 330 , and the torsion force of the rotating shaft 330 is used by the friction force generated by the torsion element 332 when these components rotate relative to each other.

FIG. 2C is a side view of the components of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A at the rotating shaft. Please refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C at the same time. In this embodiment, the ratchet mechanism 340 includes a gear 341 and a pawl 342 , wherein the gear 341 and the rotating shaft 330 are coaxially arranged, that is, the shaft 331 also passes through the gear 341 , and the pawl The portion 342 is movably engaged with the gear 341 along the first direction D1, and is locked with the gear 341 along the second direction D2 so as not to move. Here, the first direction D1 and the second direction D2 are rotatable directions of the rotating shaft 330 and are opposite to each other. Furthermore, with the corresponding relationship between the aforementioned related components (the first bracket 310 , the second bracket 320 and the rotating shaft 330 ), it can be clearly known that when the matching relationship between the claw portion 342 and the gear 341 is not defined, the first body 100 The first bracket 310 and the claw portion 342 can rotate relative to the second bracket 320 and the second body 200 along the first direction D1 or the second direction D2 synchronously.

However, it should be mentioned that the claw portion 342 of this embodiment has a wedge-shaped surface 342a and a stop surface 342b facing away from each other, the wedge-shaped surface 342a faces the first direction D1, and the stop surface 342b faces the second direction D2, so it can be clearly seen It is known that when the claw portion 342 is along the first direction When D1 rotates, since there is a forward relationship between the wedge surface 342a and the tooth profile of the gear 341, the rotation along the first direction D1 can be performed smoothly. At the same time, the ratchet mechanism 340 of the rotating shaft module 300 further includes a spring 343, which is disposed on the first bracket 310 and abuts between the first bracket 310 and the claw portion 342. The spring 343 constantly drives the claw portion 342 to engage with the gear 341. During the rotation process of the claw portion 342 along the first direction D1, when the claw portion 342 passes through each tooth structure of the gear 341 one by one, although the tooth profile of the gear 341 pushes up the claw portion 342 (from the tooth bottom of the tooth structure to the tooth structure) However, by the elastic force of the spring 343, the claw portion 342 can still be driven to move from the tooth top of the gear 341 back to the other tooth bottom to achieve the purpose of maintaining the meshing state. Conversely, when the claw portion 342 rotates in the second direction D2, since the stop surface 342b and the tooth profile of the gear 341 interfere with each other, the claw portion 342 will be locked on the gear 341 and cannot move. The state of the ratchet mechanism 340 is the one-way mode, which means that the first body 100 can gradually change from the folded state along the first direction D1 (for example, as shown in FIG. 1B , or as shown in FIG. 312 is shown in a state below the part 321 with a dotted line) and gradually rotates to a deployed state (as shown in FIG. 1A , or as shown in FIG. 2C, the parts 311 and 312 of the first bracket 310 shown in dotted lines on the right side of the part 321 are only one of the folded state and the unfolded state), but cannot be reversed back to the state shown in FIG. 1B .

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are schematic diagrams of partial components of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A , respectively. FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the foldable electronic device of FIG. 2A at part B. FIG. Please refer to FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C at the same time, in this embodiment, the switching mechanism 350 includes a sliding Wheel 353 , tethers w1 to w3 and button 351 . It should be noted that the first bracket 310 and the switching mechanism 350 are substantially assembled in the same structure, and in this embodiment, the first bracket 310 and the switching mechanism 350 are assembled to the first body 100 , wherein the pulley 353 pivots Set between the two protruding columns 111 of the first body 100, the tethers w1 to w3 are set on the pulley 353 to form a fixed pulley mechanism, that is, the tether w1 and the tethers w2 and w3 are regarded as the opposite two of the fixed pulley mechanism. At the moving end, when the tether w1 moves, the tethers w2 and w3 can be moved synchronously by the pulley 353. Here, the tethers w2 and w3 have the same length.

Furthermore, the button 351 of the switching mechanism 350 is movably disposed on the first body 100 and connected to the tether w1, and as shown in FIG. to) the tethers w2 and w3, so when the button 351 is pressed by the force F or released by releasing the force F, the button 351 drives the claw 342 to engage with the gear 341 or from the pulley 353 through the tethers w1 to w3 and the pulley 353 Gear 341 is released. To put it simply, the user can control the switching mechanism 350 to make the pawl 342 engage with the gear 341 or disengage from the gear 341 in different states. In the meshing state, the rotating shaft 330 is in a one-way mode due to the ratchet mechanism 340 . , that is, the state in which the claw portion 342 is movably meshed with the gear 341 is maintained by the spring 343 . When the switching mechanism 350 drives the pawl 342 to release from the gear 341 and deforms the spring 343, it forms a two-way mode, that is, the user presses the button 351 by continuously applying the force F, and the first direction D1 or the second The direction D2 drives the first body 100 to rotate relative to the second body 200 , until the user releases the force F, the pawl portion 342 is re-engaged with the gear 341 to return to the one-way mode.

Referring to FIGS. 2A , 2B and 3C again, in this embodiment, the rotating shaft module 300 includes a pair of first brackets 310 , a pair of second brackets 320 , a pair of rotating shafts 330 and a pair of ratchet mechanisms 340 , and these The components constitute two components respectively disposed on opposite sides of the driving member 352 along the X-axis and corresponding to each other (as shown in FIG. 2A ). ~w3, the pulley 353 and the driving member 352 drive the two components synchronously. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B , the driving member 352 includes a cross beam 352a and a pair of rod bodies 352b which are locked with each other. The portion 342 is located at the end of the rod body 352b, and the pair of rod bodies 352b are located at opposite ends of the beam 352a along the X-axis, so that the user can press the button 351 of a single member to simultaneously drive a pair of ratchet mechanisms 340 to achieve the purpose of releasing the claw portion 342 from the gear 341 .

3A and FIG. 3C, in this embodiment, the button 351 of the switching mechanism 350 is locked to the housing 120 by the locking accessory 351d passing through the reaming hole 351a, so that the button 351 can move along the Z axis. . Furthermore, the button 351 also has a protruding post 351b and a spring 351c, wherein the protruding post 351b movably passes through the protruding rib 121 of the housing 120, and the spring 351c is sleeved on the protruding post 351b and abuts against the button 351 and the protruding rib. 121, it is used to allow the button 351 to be reset smoothly after being pressed by the force F.

To sum up, in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, the ratchet mechanism of the rotating shaft module is movably arranged at the rotating shaft, and is connected with a switching mechanism to drive the ratchet mechanism, so that the rotating module of the rotating shaft can operate in one direction in one direction. Switch between mode and bidirectional mode. Accordingly, the user can change the rotation mode of the shaft by controlling the switching mechanism to allow the rotation The rotation mode of the shaft module and the foldable electronic device can meet the needs of use.

Further, the ratchet mechanism of the rotating shaft module includes a claw portion coaxially arranged on the gear and movably disposed in the first body, and the switching mechanism is connected to the claw portion so that the user can drive the claw portion through the switching mechanism Move away from or engage with the gear to achieve the desired one-way mode (the pawls are movably engaged with the gear) or two-way mode (the pawls move away from the gear and do not interact with each other).

In addition, the switching mechanism is connected between the button and the driving member by a fixed pulley mechanism, and the aforementioned claw is arranged at the end of the rod, so the operation of the button can be smoothly converted into a claw through the pulley, the tether and the driving member Department's actions. Simply put, when the user presses the button, it is the two-way mode of the hinge module, and the user can adjust the first body to the desired angle as required, and when the user releases the button, the ratchet mechanism is limited to one-way mode, and can only gradually transition from a collapsed state to an expanded state but cannot be reversed.

10: Foldable electronic device

100: The first body

200: Second body

S1, S3: Display surface

S2: Back

X-Y-Z: Cartesian coordinates

Claims (5)

A foldable electronic device, comprising: a first body; a second body; a hinge module, connected between the first body and the second body, the first body and the second body by the hinge The rotating shaft module includes: a pair of first brackets, respectively arranged on opposite sides of the first body; a pair of second brackets, respectively arranged on opposite sides of the second body and Corresponding to the pair of first brackets; a pair of rotating shafts, respectively connecting the pair of first brackets and the pair of second brackets corresponding to each other, so that the pair of first brackets and the pair of second brackets rotate relative to each other through the pair of rotating shafts; A pair of ratchet mechanisms are respectively arranged on the pair of rotating shafts, each ratchet mechanism includes a gear, a claw and a spring, the gear is coaxially arranged with the rotating shaft, and the claw is movably engaged with the gear along a first direction , and is stuck on the gear and cannot move along a second direction, the first direction and the second direction are the rotatable directions of the shaft and are opposite to each other, the claw has a wedge-shaped surface facing away from each other and a stop A blocking surface, the wedge-shaped surface is facing the first direction, the blocking surface is facing the second direction, the spring is arranged on the first bracket and abuts between the first bracket and the claw, the spring constantly drives the the pawl engages the gear; and A switching mechanism is installed on the first body and connected to the ratchet mechanism. The switching mechanism includes a pulley, a tether and a button, the pulley is pivoted on the first body, the tether is set on the pulley, and the button can be It is movably arranged on the first body and is connected to one end of the tether, and the pair of pawls of the pair of ratchet mechanisms are respectively connected to the other end of the tether, so that when the button is pressed or released, the button is moved by The tether and the pulley synchronously drive the pair of pawls to move closer to and engage with the pair of gears or move away from the pair of gears to be released from the pair of gears, the switching mechanism drives the ratchet mechanism to make the rotation mode of the shaft in one Switching between a one-way mode and a two-way mode, in the one-way mode, the spring of each ratchet mechanism keeps the pawl movably engaged with the gear, and the first body, the pair of first brackets, the The pair of switching mechanisms and the pair of claws rotate along the first direction relative to the pair of second brackets and the second body synchronously, and in the bidirectional mode, the switching mechanism synchronously drives the pair of claws to release and release from the pair of gears respectively. The pair of springs are deformed, and the first body, the pair of first brackets, the switching mechanism and the pair of claws rotate relative to the pair of second brackets and the second body along the first direction or the second direction synchronously. The foldable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switching mechanism further comprises a driving member connected between the other end of the tether and the claw portion, and the driving member movably passes through the first a bracket. The foldable electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pair of first brackets, the pair of second brackets, the pair of rotating shafts and the pair of ratchet mechanisms form two components respectively disposed on opposite sides of the driving member and corresponding to each other , the button is pressed or released When the button is driven, the two components are driven synchronously by the tether, the pulley and the driving member. The foldable electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first body and the second body respectively have a display surface. The foldable electronic device according to claim 1, which is an all-in-one computer.

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