WO2009008665A2

WO2009008665A2 - Hinge module of cellular phone

Info

Publication number: WO2009008665A2
Application number: PCT/KR2008/004037
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sung-Gun Pakr
Original assignee: Diabell Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-07-09
Filing date: 2008-07-09
Publication date: 2009-01-15
Also published as: KR20090005477A; WO2009008665A3; KR100893336B1

Abstract

A hinge module of a cellular phone according to the present invention, includes: a first rotation member, connected to a first body, having the substantially same rotaional displacement as the first body; a second rotation member, connected to a second body, having the substantially same rotaional displacement as the second body; and a first elastic body connected to the first and second rotation members to provide elastic force in a direction opposite to the any one of the rotaional displacement of the first and second rotation members, wherein the first rotation member comprises a cylindrical housing having an opening at one end thereof and a cover to open/close the opening of the housing, wherein the second rotation member comprises a fixing cam inserted into the housing and a pin shaft being installed to be substantially coaxial to a rotation axis of the first and second rotation members to pass through the fixing cam to restrict the fixing cam and having a fixing projection restricting the fixing cam and a projected part connected to the second body, wherein one end of the first elastic body is connected to the cover and the other end is connected to the fixing cam.

Description

Description HINGE MODULE OF CELLULAR PHONE

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a hinge module, and more particularly, to a hinge module that can prevent a coupling portion of a window unit and a keypad unit from being damaged by minimizing impact generated when the window unit is opened/ closed. Background Art

[2] As shown in FIG. 1, generally in a folder type cellular phone, a key pad unit 11 provided with buttons to input numerals or characters is hinged to a window unit 12 provided with a liquid crystal display 12b to output images. Accordingly, the kep pad unit 11 and window unit 12 are opened as shown in the drawing while the cellular phone is used. While the cellular phone is not used, the kep pad unit 11 and window unit 12 are closed by rotating them to hinge shafts 11a and 12a.

[3] As shown in FIG. 2, the hinge shafts 1 Ia and 12a include a hinge member 10 having a driving cam 10a, a driven cam 10b and a spring 1Od to enable the hinge movement. The driving cam 10a is combined to the key pad unit 11 and a case 1Oe containing the driven cam 10b and spring 1Od is combined to the window unit 12. Accordingly, when the window unit 12 is rotated to use the cellular phone, the driven cam 10b is rotated and moves back and forth along the surface of the driving cam 10a. In this time, the spring is contracted and then restored, thereby allowing the window unit to be elastically opened or closed. In this time, the shaft 10c may be formed integrally with the driving cam 10a, or may be formed as a separate member. A reference numeral 1Of indicates a coupling ring to prevent the shaft 10c from being separated from the case 10c.

[4] However, in a general folder type cellular phone, the window unit is opened when the window unit is rotated through the hinge member by a predetermined angle from the key pad unit. In this time, impact is applied to the key pad unit and window unit by rotating force generated when the window unit is rotated. Thus, there has been a problem that the hinge member is damaged or the coupling portion of the window unit and key pad unit is damaged to disable the cellular phone. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[5] An object of the present invention is to provide a hinge module of a cellular phone that can minimize impact generated when the window unit is opened/closed. [6] Additional advantages, objects and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. Technical Solution

[7] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hinge module of a cellular phone, which includes: a first rotation member, connected to a first body, having the substantially same rotaional displacement as the first body; a second rotation member, connected to a second body, having the substantially same rotaional displacement as the second body; and a first elastic body connected to the first and second rotation members to provide elastic force in a direction opposite to the any one of the rotaional displacement of the first and second rotation members, wherein the first rotation member comprises a cylindrical housing having an opening at one end thereof and a cover to open/close the opening of the housing, wherein the second rotation member comprises a fixing cam inserted into the housing and a pin shaft being installed to be substantially coaxial to a rotation axis of the first and second rotation members to pass through the fixing cam to restrict the fixing cam and having a fixing projection restricting the fixing cam and a projected part connected to the second body, wherein one end of the first elastic body is connected to the cover and the other end is connected to the fixing cam.

[8] The first elastic body may be a torsion spring.

[9] The first rotation member may further include a driven cam that is inserted into the housing so as to be located adjoining a fixed cam projection formed on the fixing cam and has the substantially same rotaional displacement as the housing.

[10] The hinge module may include a second elastic body inserted into the housing so as to be disposed between the driven cam and housing.

[11] A driven cam projection formed on the driven cam so as to face the fixed cam projection may slide along the fixed cam projection by rotation of the housing and the driven cam may move in substantially parallel to the rotation axis by sliding movement of the driven cam projection.

[12] The second elastic body may provide elastic force to the driven cam in a direction toward the fixed cam.

[13] Each of the fixed cam projection and driven cam projection may have a curved point.

When the curved points of the fixed cam projection and driven cam projection are contacted to each other by rotation of the housing, the driven cam may move from the fixed cam. When the curved points of the fixed cam projection and driven cam projection cross each other, the driven cam may move toward the fixed cam by rotation of the housing. [14] The housing may include a guide hole that is formed in a radial direction thereof along a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis and the driven cam may include a fixing projection that is inserted into the guide hole and moves along the guide hole.

Advantageous Effects

[15] According to the present invention, it is possible to minimize impact generated when the window unit is opened/closed, and to prevent the coupling portion of the window unit and key pad unit from being damaged. In addition, it is possible to support any one of opening/closing of the window unit by elastic force, and to control opening/ closing speed of the window unit. Brief Description of the Drawings

[16] FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view illustrating a general cellular phone;

[17] FIG. 2 is a magnified partial sectional view illustrating a hinge module included in the cellular phone of FIG. 1 ;

[18] FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a hinge module of a cellular phone according to the present invention;

[19] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the hinge module according to the present invention;

[20] FIGS. 5 to 7 are sectional views illustrating operating states of the the hinge module according to the present invention; and

[21] FIG. 8 is a sectional view illustrating a hinge module according to another embodiment of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[22] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a hinge module 100 includes a housing 110, a cover 120, a driven cam 130, a fixed cam 140, a first elastic body 150, a second elastic body and a pin shaft 170. The housing 110 has a cylindrical shape. One end of the housing is blocked and the other end is opened. A through-hole 112 passing through the center portion of the housing is formed at one side of the housing. The housing 110 includes a guide rail 113 that is projected from an outer circumference of the cylinder and formed along a length direction of the cylinder. A guide hole 114 is formed in the guide rail 113.

[23] The cover 120 opens/closes the opened end of the housing 110. The cover 120 includes the through-hole 122 passing through the center portion of the housing and a coupling hole 124 provided at one side of the through-hole 122. In addition, fixing grooves 126 are formed to face each other on an outer circumference of the cover 120.

[24] The driven cam 130 includes a cam projection 132 contacted to a cam projection 142 to be described later at one side thereof and a fixing projection 136 projected from the outer circumference surface thereof. An opening is formed at the center of the driven cam 130.

[25] The fixed cam 140 includes the cam projection 142 having a shape corresponding to the cam projection 132 of the driven cam 130. An opening is formed at the center of the fixed cam 140. In addition, a coupling hole 146 is formed at a position spaced from the center of the fixed cam 140. In this time, the coupling hole 146 may be located in parallel to the cam projection 142 as shown in FIG. 5, or may be located to cross the cam projection 142 as shown in FIG. 8.

[26] First and second elastic bodies 150 and 160 are coil springs. Both ends of the first elastic body is flat and both ends of the second elastic body are provided with projected bars 162 and 164 that are parallel to each other or cross each other.

[27] A rectangular projected part 172 is formed at one end of the pin shaft 170 and a groove (not shown) is formed at the other end along the outer circumference thereof, where a fixing ring 176 is combined to the groove.

[28] Coupling relationship of the present invention will be explained below. Firstly, the first elastic body 150 is inserted into the housing 110 and then the fixing projection 136 formed on the outer circumference of the driven cam 130 is inserted into the guide hole 114, thereby allowing the first elastic body 150 to support the first elastic body 150 elastically. In this time, the cam projection 132 of the driven cam 130 faces the open end of the housing.

[29] Next, the pin shaft 170 is inserted into the through-hole 122 of the cover 120 to press the cover 120 to the projected part 172. Then, the fixed cam 140 is inserted along the pin shaft 170 and then the projected bar 164 of the projected bars 162 and 164 provided at both ends of the projected bar 162 is inserted into a coupling hole 124 formed at the cover 120.

[30] Next, the fixed cam 140 is inserted to the pin shaft 170 and then fixed to the pin shaft by the fixing projection 174 formed at the fixed cam 140. Then, the projected bar 162 of the second elastic body 160 is inserted into the coupling hole 146 formed at the fixed cam 140.

[31] Next, the pin shaft 170 is inserted into the housing 110 so as to be projected toward the through-hole 112 of the housing 110 and then prevented from being separated from the housing by using the fixing ring 176. In this time, the cam projections 132 and 142 of the driven cam 130 and fixed cam 140 cross each other and thus curved points 134 and 134 of the cam projections 132 and 142 are respectively located at inflection points (not shown). In addition, the cam projection 142 and projected bars 162 and 164 are combined to be parallel to each other.

[32] Then, the cover 120 is inserted into the housing 110 and fixed. In this time, the guide rail 113 of the cover 120 is inserted into the fixing groove 126 formed at the cover 120, thereby preventing the cover from being moved from the housing.

[33] Operation of the present invention will be explained below with reference to accompanying drawings.

[34] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the projected part 172 is fixed to a particular position

(for example, the projected part 172 may be fixed to the key pad unit of the cellular phone and the housing 110 may be fixed to the window unit of the cellular phone). In this state, when the housing 110 (or the window unit of the cellular phone) is rotated, the cam projection 132 of the driven cam 130 combined to the housing 110 slides along the surface of the cam projection 142 in a state that the cam projection 132 is contacted to the cam projection 142 of the fixed cam 140. Then, the fixing projection 136 of the driven cam 130 is retracted along the guide hole 114 according to a curve surface of the cam projection 142 and the retracted driven cam 130 compresses the first elastic body 130. In this time, the cover 120 combined to the housing 110 is rotated with rotation of the housing 110. The cover 120 combined with the projected bar 164 is rotated in a state that the fixed cam 140 combined with the projected bar 162 is fixed. Thus, the second elastic body 160 is twisted.

[35] As shown in FIG. 6, when the housing 110 is continuously rotated, the curved point

134 of the cam projection 132 is contacted to the curved point 144 of the cam projection 142. In this time, the first elastic body 150 is maximally compressed. On the other hand, the cover 120 is rotated with rotation of the housing 110 in a state that the projected bars 162 and 164 of the second elastic body 160 are respectively connected to the cover 120 and fixed cam 140 and the second elastic body 160 is twisted by rotaional displacement (A) of the housing 110. Accordingly, restoring force (or elastic force) is generated in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the housing 110. In FIG. 6, a real line at the right of the projected bar 164 indicates a moving direction of the projected bar 164 and a dotted line indicates a direction of the restoring force to the projected bar 164.

[36] Next, as shown in FIG. 7, when the housing 110 is continuously rotated, the compressed first elastic body 150 is restored to push the driven cam 130. Accordingly, the fixing projection 136 slides along the guide hole 114. In addition, there is a phase difference of about 90 degrees between the curved points 134 and 144 of the driven cam 130 and fixed cam 140. In this time, the second elastic body 160 is much more twisted by rotation of the housing 110 and the restoring force is applied in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the housing 110, thereby allowing the housing 110 to be slowly rotated.

[37] For example, in the case where the housing 110 is combined to the window unit (not shown) of the cellular phone and the projected part is fixed to the key pad unit, impact is applied to the window unit and key pad unit by rotating force generated when the window unit is rotated to open the cellular phone. In this time, the impact caused by opening of the window unit can be minimized by reducing the rotating force of the window unit by the second elastic body 160. Mode for the Invention

[38] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to apply the restoring force to any one of opening and closing directions of the window unit in the state that the coupling hole 146 formed at the fixed cam 140 is arranged to cross the cam projection 142 and the second elastic body 160 is twisted in the rotating direction of the housing 110 or in the opposite direction thereof.

[39] On the other hand, it is desirable that elastic force of the first elastic body 150 is stronger than the elastic force of the second elastic body 160. That is the reason that the window unit may not be opened or closed when the elastic force of the second elastic body 160 is stronger than the elastic force of the first elastic body 150. Industrial Applicability

[40] The present invention can be applied in various products using a hinge module.

Claims

[1] A hinge module of a cellular phone, comprising: a first rotation member, connected to a first body, having the substantially same rotaional displacement as the first body; a second rotation member, connected to a second body, having the substantially same rotaional displacement as the second body; and a first elastic body connected to the first and second rotation members to provide elastic force in a direction opposite to the any one of the rotaional displacement of the first and second rotation members, wherein the first rotation member comprises a cylindrical housing having an opening at one end thereof and a cover to open/close the opening of the housing, wherein the second rotation member comprises a fixing cam inserted into the housing and a pin shaft being installed to be substantially coaxial to a rotation axis of the first and second rotation members to pass through the fixing cam to restrict the fixing cam and having a fixing projection restricting the fixing cam and a projected part connected to the second body, wherein one end of the first elastic body is connected to the cover and the other end is connected to the fixing cam.

[2] The hinge module of claim 1, wherein the first elastic body is a torsion spring.

[3] The hinge module of claim 1, wherein the first rotation member comprises a driven cam that is inserted into the housing so as to be located adjoining a fixed cam projection formed on the fixing cam and has the substantially same rotaional displacement as the housing, the hinge module comprises a second elastic body inserted into the housing so as to be disposed between the driven cam and housing, a driven cam projection formed on the driven cam so as to face the fixed cam projection slides along the fixed cam projection by rotation of the housing and the driven cam moves in substantially parallel to the rotation axis by sliding movement of the driven cam projection, and the second elastic body provides elastic force to the driven cam in a direction toward the fixed cam.

[4] The hinge module of claim 3, wherein each of the fixed cam projection and driven cam projection has a curved point, the driven cam moves from the fixed cam when the curved points of the fixed cam projection and driven cam projection are contacted to each other by rotation of the housing, and the driven cam moves toward the fixed cam when the curved points of the fixed cam projection and driven cam projection cross each other by rotation of the housing. [5] The hinge module of claim 3, wherein the housing comprises a guide hole formed in a radial direction thereof along a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis and the driven cam comprises a fixing projection that is inserted into the guide hole and moves along the guide hole.