WO2006001569A1

WO2006001569A1 - Hinge device

Info

Publication number: WO2006001569A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/000693
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyo Bin Im
Original assignee: Hyo Bin Im
Priority date: 2004-03-12
Filing date: 2005-03-11
Publication date: 2006-01-05
Also published as: KR200352046Y1

Abstract

A hinge device is provided to rotatably connect a first member and a second member. In the hinge device, a pin hole with a first polygonal cross-section is defined in one of the first and the second members, and a hinge pin has a second polygonal cross-section, one end portion, and the other end portion. The second polygonal cross-section is different from the first polygonal cross- section, the one end portion is fixed to the other of the first and the second members, and the other end portion is inserted in the pin hole. Therefore, when one of the first and the second members is rotated, the other end portion of the hinge pin is elastically deformed by the inner wall of the pin hole to allow a relative rotation between the pin hole and the hinge pin at regular angle intervals.

Description

HINGE DEVICE Technical Field [1] The present invention relates to a hinge device, and more particularly, to a hinge device designed to have a simple structure to reduce parts and assembling process time to provide an increased productivity and reduced cost. Further, the hinge device provides a phased opening and closing mechanism. Background Art [2] With the development of electronics technology, usage of various types of compact electronic devices is becoming common. For example, electronic notes and mobile phones with an LCD and a keypad are widely used in recent years. Most of such electronic devices are folder type devices having a folder and a main body that are rotatably coupled. [3] Various types of hinges are used to connect the fold and the main body. [4] Conventional hinges, however, have complicated structure requiring a lot of parts, thereby increasing the assembling time and manufacturing cost and decreasing the pro¬ ductivity. [5] Further, though the conventional hinges provide a smooth opening and closing mechanism, they do not provide a phased opening and closing mechanism. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [6] An object of the present invention is to provide a hinge device which has a simple structure and assembling process to increase the manufacturing productivity and decrease the manufacturing cost. [7] Another object of the invention is to provide a hinge device of which opening and closing operations are phased at regular angle intervals. [8] The objects and characteristics will be understood more clearly through embodiment to be described below. Technical Solution [9] To accomplish the above objects and advantages, there is provided a hinge device for rotatably connecting a first member and a second member, the hinge device including: one of the first and the second members having a pin hole with a first polygonal cross-section; a hinge pin having a second polygonal cross-section different from the first polygonal cross-section, one end portion fixed to the other of the first and the second members, and the other end portion inserted in the pin hole, wherein when one of the first and the second members is rotated the other end portion of the hinge pin is elastically deformed by the inner wall of the pin hole to allow a relative rotation between the pin hole and the hinge pin at regular angle intervals. [10] The hinge pin may be a hollow pin, and the hinge pin may define a longitudinally extending opening with a predetermined width. [11] The first polygonal cross-section may be a regular triangle and the second polygonal cross-section may be a regular hexagon. [12] The first polygonal cross-section may be a regular triangle and the second polygonal cross-section may be a regular triangle of which vertices are rounded. [13] The first polygonal cross-section may be a square and the second polygonal cross- section may be a regular octagon. [14] The first polygonal cross-section may be a first ellipse and the second polygonal cross-section may be a second ellipse, and the major length of the second ellipse may be smaller than that of the first ellipse. [15] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a hinge device for rotatably connecting a first member and a second member, the hinge device including: one of the first and the second members having a pin hole with a first polygonal cross- section, the pin hole being defined in one of the first and the second members; a hinge pin having a second polygonal cross-section different from the first polygonal cross- section, one end portion fixed to the other of the first and the second members, and the other end portion inserted in the pin hole to make contact with the inner surface of the pin hole in a fashion in which contact surface and non-contact surface are repeated in turn, wherein when one of the first and the second members is rotated the other end portion of the hinge pin is elastically deformed by the inner wall of the pin hole Advantageous Effects [16] According to the present invention, a first part of an apparatus can be simply hinged to a second part of the apparatus by inserting a hinge pin through pin holes re¬ spectively defined in knuckle portions of the first and second parts, providing a simple structure and assembling process, an increased productivity, and a reduced manu¬ facturing cost. [17] Further, opening and closing operations can be carried out in a phased fashion at regular angle intervals, and the angle interval can be set to a desired value by changing the sectional shapes of the hinge pin and pin holes. [ 18] Furthermore, the hinge device of the present invention is constructed only with the hinge pin and pin holes without requiring other complicated parts, such that the thickness of the hinge device can have significantly reduced to make an electronic device more compact. Brief Description of the Drawings [19] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [20] FIGs. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing an operation of a hinge device according to the present invention. [21] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a hinge device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [22] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of a hinge pin according to the present invention. [23] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a further another embodiment of a hinge pin according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention [24] N)W, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [25] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [26] A hinge device of the present invention includes a hinge pin that can be fixedly installed or rotatably installed. In this embodiment, a rotatably installed hinge pin is exemplary employed to describe the hinge device. [27] Referring to Fig. 1, a hinge device of the present invention is exemplary applied to a folder type mobile phone. The mobile phone includes a folder 10 provided with an LCD and a main body 20 that are rotatably connected by the hinge device. [28] The folder 10 includes a circular side knuckle portion 12 as one piece, and the main body 20 includes a circular center knuckle portion 22 as one piece. The knuckle portions 12 and 22 are co-axially aligned with each other. [29] The side knuckle portion 12 defines a pin hole 14 substantially having a regular triangle cross-section. Also, the center knuckle portion 22 may define a pin hole 24 having the same sectional shape as a hinge pin 30 to prevent rotation of the hinge pin 30 when the hinge pin 30 is inserted. The pin hole 24 may be sized slightly smaller than that of the hinge pin 30 for tight fitting of the hinge pin 30. [30] The hinge pin 30 may be hollow such that the hinge pin 30 can be elastically deformed in radial directions. Also, the hinge pin 30 may not be hollow when the hinge pin 30 is made of elastic material having elasticity enough for the radial de¬ formation. [31] Further, the hinge pin 30 may be hollow and define a longitudinally extended opening (refer to 32 in FIG. 5) to facilitate the radial deformation. [32] The hinge pin 30 may be made of resin. [33] The pin holes 14 and 24 are co-axially aligned with each other to receive the hinge pin 30. In assembling the hinge pin 30 is smoothly inserted into the pin hole 14 and then forcibly inserted into the pin hole 24. [34] The sectional shapes of the hinge pin 30 and the pin holes 14 and 24 are not limited to the illustrated shapes. Other sectional shapes may be applicable if they allow the tight fitting between the hinge pin 30 and the pin hole 24 and regularly spaced contact surfaces between the hinge pin 30 and the pin hole 14. [35] Though some portion of the hinge pin 30 is non-movably inserted in the pin hole 24 defined in the center knuckle portion 22 of the main body 20, some portion of the hinge pin 30 can be non-movably fixed to the side knuckle portion 12 of the folder 10 and the other end portion of the hinge pin 30 can be rotatably inserted into the pin hole 24 defined in the center knuckle portion 22 of the main body 20. [36] FIGs. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing an operation of a hinge device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, exemplarily, the hinge pin 30 has a regular hexagonal cross-section and the pin hole 14 has a regular triangular cross-section as described above. [37] Referring to FIG. 2, the hinge pin 30 is in a position where it is minimally deformed. That is, when the hinge pin 30 is initially inserted in the pin hole 14 with a first outer wall portion 30a of the hinge pin 30 being aligned with an inner wall 14a of the pin hole 14, the hinge pin 30 is not substantially deformed. [38] Though the first outer wall portion 30a of the hinge pin 30 is abutted on the inner wall 14a of the pin hole 14, a second outer wall portion of the hinge pin 30 is not abutted on the inner wall 14a. That is marginal gaps 14b are regularly spaced between the hinge pin 30 and the pin hole 14. [39] Referring to FIG. 3, the hinge pin 30 is in a position where it is maximally deformed. When the folder 10 is rotated, the inner wall 14a of the pin hole 14 leaves the first outer wall portion 30a and presses vertices 30c of the hinge pin 30 to elastically deform the hinge pin 30 toward its center. Also, the first and the second outer wall portions 30a and 30b are deformed in the marginal gaps 14b. [40] The hinge pin 30 is uniformly deformed by the three sides of the inner wall 14a. That is, the three sides of the inner wall 14a apply strong forces to the three vertices of the hinge pin 30. [41] From the position shown in FIG. 2, the folder 10 is further rotated to make the inner wall 14a of the pin hole 14 go over the vertices of the hinge pin 30 toward the position showing in FIG. 2. [42] That is, when applied with rotational torque the folder 10 is repeatedly rotated at regular angle intervals (here, at 60-degree intervals), and when the rotational torque is not applied the fodder 10 stays in a stable position where the outer wall of the hinge pin 30 and the inner wall 14a of the pin hole 14 are brought into face-contact with each other at regularly-spaced three places. [43] Therefore, the hinge device can provide phased opening and closing operations. [44] Herein, the vertices 30c of the hinge pin 30 may be rounded with a specific curvature (R) as shown in FIG. 6 to smooth the rotation of the folder 10. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the hinge pin 30 can be modified in association with the cross- sectional shape of the pin hole 14 to change the angle interval of the rotation. [45] Though the hinge pin 30 makes a relative rotation with the side knuckle portion 12, the hinge pin 30 can make a relative rotation with the center knuckle portion 22. That is, one end portion of the hinge pin 30 may be non-movably inserted in the pin hole 14 of the side knuckle portion 12, and the other end portion of the hinge pin 30 may be rotatably inserted in the pin hole 24 of the center knuckle portion 22. [46] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a hinge device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [47] In this embodiment, the pin hole 14 of the side knuckle portion 12 has an expanded regular triangular cross-section, and the hinge pin 30 is hollow and has an expanded regular triangular cross-section with its vertices being rounded. [48] Three sides of the outer wall of the hinge pin 30 are respectively in contact with three sides of the inner wall of the pin hole 14, and three rounded vertices of the outer wall of the hinge pin 30 are respectively faced with three vertices of the inner wall of the pin hole 14. [49] When the side knuckle portion 12 is rotated, the inner wall of the pin hole 14 as it go over the hinge pin 30 presses the rounded vertices of the hinge pin 30 to elastically deform the hinge pin 30. [50] In this embodiment, the rotation can be more smoothly repeated at 120-degree intervals owing to the smoothly rounded features of the three sides of the hinge pin 30, the vertices of the hinge pin 30, and the three sides of the pin hole 14. [51] Even when the pin hole 14 and the hinge pin 30 do not have the expanded sectional shapes (smoothly rounded features), the rotation may be smoothly repeated owing to the smoothly rounded vertices of the hinge pin 30. [52] Alternatively, the pin hole 14 may have a square cross-section and the hinge pin 30 may have a regular octagonal cross-section to carry out the rotation at 45-degree intervals. [53] Further, both the pin hole 14 and the hinge pin 30 may have elliptic cross-sections of which major lengths are different to carry out the rotation at 180-degree intervals. [54] While the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Claims [1] A hinge device for rotatably connecting a first member and a second member, comprising: one of the first and the second members having a pin hole with a first polygonal cross-section; a hinge pin having a second polygonal cross-section different from the first polygonal cross-section, one end portion fixed to the other of the first and the second members, and the other end portion inserted in the pin hole, wherein when one of the first and the second members is rotated, the other end portion of the hinge pin is elastically deformed by the inner wall of the pin hole to allow a relative rotation between the pin hole and the hinge pin at regular angle intervals. [2] The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the hinge pin is a hollow pin. [3] The hinge device of claim 2, wherein the hinge pin defines a longitudinally extending opening with a predetermined width. [4] The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the first polygonal cross-section is a regular triangle and the second polygonal cross-section is a regular hexagon. [5] The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the first polygonal cross-section is a regular triangle and the second polygonal cross-section is a regular triangle of which vertices are rounded. [6] The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the first polygonal cross-section is a square and the second polygonal cross-section is a regular octagon. [7] The hinge device of claim 1 , wherein the first polygonal cross-section is a first ellipse and the second polygonal cross-section is a second ellipse, and the major length of the second ellipse is smaller than that of the first ellipse. [8] A hinge device for rotatably connecting a first member and a second member, comprising: one of the first and the second members having a pin hole with a first polygonal cross-section; a hinge pin having a second polygonal cross-section different from the first polygonal cross-section, one end portion fixed to the other of the first and the second members, and the other end portion inserted in the pin hole to make contact with the inner surface of the pin hole in a fashion in which contact surface and non-contact surface are repeated in turn, wherein when one of the first and the second members is rotated the other end portion of the hinge pin is elastically deformed by the inner wall of the pin hole.