WO2010035381A1

WO2010035381A1 - Portable electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2010035381A1
Application number: PCT/JP2009/003509
Authority: WO
Inventors: 吉田守; 早川温雄
Original assignee: パナソニック株式会社
Priority date: 2008-09-25
Filing date: 2009-07-24
Publication date: 2010-04-01
Also published as: JP2010081209A

Abstract

Provided is a portable electronic device, which permits a first case and a second case to be longitudinally and laterally opened and has excellent operability in the laterally opened state. At the time of bringing the portable electronic device into the longitudinally opened state from a closed state where a first case (20) provided with an operating section (21) and a second case (30) provided with a display section (31) are relatively stacked, by relatively turning the first case (20) and the second case (30) with a second connecting shaft (42) at the center, a connecting case (40) does not shift since the connecting case follows the first case (20). At the time of bringing the portable electronic device into the laterally opened state from the closed state by relatively turning the first case (20) and the second case (30) with a first connecting shaft (41) at the center, the connecting case (40) shifts in accordance with the second case (30). Namely, in the laterally opened state, since the connecting case (40) rises in accordance with the second case (30), the connecting case (40) does not protrude from an operation surface (20a) of the first case (20). Therefore, in the laterally opened state, there is no possibility of having the fingers of a user interfere with the connecting case (40), and operability of the user in the laterally opened state is improved compared with conventional cases.

Description

Portable electronic devices

The present invention relates to a folding portable electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a folding portable electronic device that can open and close a first casing mainly having an operation unit and a second casing mainly having a liquid crystal screen via a hinge mechanism is known (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

In recent years, using such a liquid crystal screen and an operation unit of a portable electronic device, sending and receiving mails, playing games, and receiving TV broadcasts have been performed. With such diversification of use of portable electronic devices, for example, when sending / receiving emails or playing games, the lower housing (first housing) and the upper housing can be operated with one hand while looking at the liquid crystal screen. It is convenient to open the casing (second casing) in the longitudinal direction via the connecting casing (hinge mechanism) so that the liquid crystal screen and the operation unit are in a vertically long state. On the other hand, in the case of a game or TV reception, it is convenient to open the first casing and the second casing in the width direction so as to use the liquid crystal screen in a landscape orientation.

For this reason, in the portable terminal which is the portable electronic device described in Patent Document 1, the vertical opening that opens the first casing and the second casing in the vertical direction and the horizontal opening that opens in the horizontal direction are performed via the hinge mechanism. It is possible.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-22899

However, in the portable terminal described in Patent Document 1, the first connecting shaft that connects the lower housing and the connecting housing is fixed at a position protruding from the surface of the lower housing, In the laterally open state in which the upper housing is rotated with respect to the lower housing around the second connecting shaft that connects the connecting housing, the connecting housing projects from the surface (operation surface) of the lower housing. .
For this reason, in the portable terminal described in Patent Document 1, when the user supports the lower housing with both hands and operates the operation unit with both hands in the laterally open state, the finger of the left hand interferes with the connection housing. There is a problem that the operability is bad.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described disadvantages, and an object of the present invention is to achieve good operability in a laterally opened state of a portable electronic device capable of vertically and laterally opening the first housing and the second housing. Is to provide a portable electronic device that can obtain

A portable electronic device according to the present invention includes a first housing provided with an operation unit, a second housing provided with a display unit, and a connection housing that connects the first housing and the second housing. A first connection shaft arranged to connect the first housing and the connection housing; and a second connection shaft arranged to connect the second housing and the connection housing; The first housing and the second housing are relatively rotated around the second connecting shaft from a closed state in which the first housing and the second housing are relatively stacked. In the vertically opened state, the connection housing follows the first housing, and the first housing and the second housing rotate relatively around the first connection shaft from the closed state. In the laterally open state, the connection housing follows the second housing.

In the present invention, when shifting from the closed state to the vertically open state, the first housing and the connection housing are integrated.
On the other hand, in the present invention, when shifting from the closed state to the laterally open state, the connection housing follows the second housing.
In other words, in the present invention, the connecting casing is lifted following the second casing in the side-opened state, so that the connecting casing does not protrude with respect to the operation surface of the first casing. The user's operability in the laterally open state is improved as compared with the conventional case.

In addition, the present invention provides a first housing provided with an operation unit, a second housing provided with a display unit, a connection housing that connects the first housing and the second housing, A first connection shaft disposed to connect the first housing and the connection housing; and a second connection shaft disposed to connect the second housing and the connection housing. The first connection shaft is disposed along the arrangement direction of the first housing and the connection housing, and the second connection shaft is disposed in the arrangement direction of the second housing and the connection housing. It is the structure arrange | positioned orthogonally with respect to the said 1st connecting shaft at right angles to.

In the present invention, the first connecting shaft is disposed along the arrangement direction of the first housing and the connecting housing, and the second connecting shaft is disposed orthogonal to the first connecting shaft. In the laterally open state, the connecting casing rotates following the second casing, and the connecting casing does not protrude from the operation surface of the first casing.
For this reason, in this invention, there is no possibility that a user's finger | toe interferes with a connection housing | casing in a side open state, and the operativity of the user in a side open state improves compared with the past.

Further, according to the present invention, the first casing and the second casing are relatively positioned around the first connecting shaft from the closed state in which the first casing and the second casing are relatively stacked. In order not to rotate, it has a restricting member spanned between the first casing and the connecting casing, and an operation button for accommodating the restricting member in the first casing. It has the structure provided in 1 housing | casing.

In the present invention, the closed state is maintained by the regulating member, and the user can easily shift to the laterally open state by operating the operation button.

Furthermore, the present invention has a one-push opener mechanism that shifts from the closed state to a laterally open state in which the first housing and the second housing rotate relatively around the first connecting shaft, The one push opener mechanism is configured to be operated by the operation button.

In the present invention, the user can easily shift to the laterally open state by operating the operation button provided in the first housing.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a portable electronic device in which the user's finger is less likely to interfere with the connection housing in the horizontally opened state, and the operability of the user in the horizontally opened state is improved as compared with the conventional case.

1 is a perspective view showing a side-open state of a portable electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A perspective view showing a vertically open state of a portable electronic device The perspective view which shows the closed state of a portable electronic device An exploded perspective view showing the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion The disassembled perspective view of the portable electronic device which is 2nd Embodiment concerning this invention. Side view showing a modification of the present invention Side view showing a modification of the present invention

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, portable electronic devices according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a horizontally opened state of a portable electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a vertically opened state of the portable electronic device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. A mobile terminal 10 as a mobile electronic device according to the first embodiment includes a rectangular box-shaped first casing 20, a rectangular box-shaped second casing 30, and the first casing 20 and the second casing 30 connected to each other. And a connecting housing 40.
In the mobile terminal 10, the first housing 20 and the connection housing 40 are connected via a second connection shaft 41, and the second housing 30 and the connection housing 40 are connected via a first connection shaft 42. It is connected.

Then, the mobile terminal 10 includes the first housing 20 and the second housing 30 in a closed state (the state shown in FIG. 3) and a first housing centered on the second connecting shaft 42 from the closed state. A vertically opened state (the state shown in FIG. 2) in which the second housing 30 is rotated with respect to the body 20 and a second housing 30 with respect to the first housing 20 around the first connecting shaft 41 from the closed state. In addition, a horizontally open state (the state shown in FIG. 1) in which the connecting housing 40 rotates integrally is possible.

The first casing 20 is a portion that is held by one or both hands when the user uses the mobile terminal 10, and performs an input key group 21 a for inputting numbers and characters, and switches various settings and functions. An operation unit 21 including a function key group 21b is provided on the operation surface 20a.

The first casing 20 is provided with a step portion 23 that is one step lower (thin) at the front end portion (end portion on the function key group 21b side) along the longitudinal direction, and the other end along the longitudinal direction. A microphone 22 is provided on the operation surface 20a.
The microphone 22 is for collecting a user's voice when the portable terminal 10 is in a vertically opened state for use as a telephone.

The step portion 23 secures a space for housing the connection housing 40, and a first connection bearing 24 that supports the first connection shaft 41 is provided at one end in the width direction. The first connection bearing 24 has a cylindrical shape, and is provided so as to protrude from the operation surface 20 a so that the first connection shaft 41 that supports the shaft is displaced upward from the operation surface 20 a of the first housing 20.

In addition, a regulating member 25 that locks the portable terminal 10 in a closed state is provided at the end of the first housing 20 on the side of the step portion 23. The restricting member 25 is provided so as to be able to protrude from the step-side end surface 20 b of the first housing 20 into the stepped portion 23, and normally protrudes from the stepped portion 23 by a spring member (not shown). The restriction member 25 is, for example, a rod-shaped member having a circular cross section, and a member having an inclined surface 25a in which a tip portion protruding to the step portion 23 descends toward the tip can be used.

Further, an operation button 26 is slidably provided at the end of the side surface 20c of the first housing 20 on the side of the step portion 23. The operation button 26 is connected to the restriction member 25 inside the first housing 20, and the restriction member 25 can be accommodated by moving the operation button 26 in the direction A in FIG. 1. Note that the operation button 26 is also always located in the B direction (origin), like the regulating member 26, and returns to the origin when the finger is released after the operation.

The second housing 30 is provided with a main display portion 31 such as an LCD on the display surface 30a facing the operation surface 20a of the first housing 20 in the closed state (state of FIG. 3). Is provided with a sub-display portion 32 on the opposite outer surface 30b.
The main display unit 31 is used as a display screen for games and TV broadcasts in the vertically open state and the horizontally open state.

A cutout 34 is provided at one end of the second housing 30 on the connection housing 40 side, and the second housing 30 is connected in a state where the second housing 30 is closed and a state where the second housing 30 is opened sideways. The housing 40 is not interfered with.
In addition, a second connection bearing 35 through which the second connection shaft 42 is rotatably inserted is provided at one end portion of the second case 30 on the connection case 40 side. The second connection bearing 35 is a cylindrical member, and is provided so as to protrude in a convex shape at the end of the second housing 30.

The other end along the longitudinal direction of the display surface 30a of the second housing 30 emits a sound or the like transmitted by being brought into contact with the user's ear when used as a telephone in a vertically opened state. A sound generation unit 33 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the connection housing 40 has a rectangular block-shaped main body 43, and the upper surface 43a of the main body 43 (the upper surface in the vertically opened state shown in FIG. In a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the first housing shaft 41 extending along the longitudinal direction of the first housing 20, which is the arrangement direction of the connection housing 40, and the second housing 30 and the connection housing 40. A second connecting shaft 42 extending in the width direction of a certain second housing 30 is provided. That is, the first connecting shaft 41 and the second connecting shaft 42 extend in a direction perpendicular to each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, a first member 44 protrudes upward from the upper surface 43 a at the end in the width direction of the second housing 30 on the upper surface 43 a of the main body 43 and near the second housing 30. It has been. One end of the first connecting shaft 41 is fixed to the first member 44, and extends in a cantilever direction away from the second connecting shaft 42. The first connection shaft 41 extends in parallel with the upper surface 43a above the upper surface 43a of the main body 43, and supports the first connection bearing 24 of the first housing 20 so as to be rotatable without falling off. .

That is, the connection housing 40 can rotate in the vertical direction with respect to the first housing 20 around the first connection shaft 41. Therefore, in the state where the first housing 20 and the second housing 30 are closed (the state shown in FIG. 3) and the state where the second housing 30 is opened vertically (the state shown in FIG. 2), the main body 43 is It is accommodated in the step part 23 of one housing 20. In this state, the upper surface 43a of the main body 43 and the operation surface 20a of the first housing 20 are flush with each other.

The main body 43 of the connection case 40 is cut so that the main body 43 does not interfere with the first connection bearing 24 of the first case 20 when the connection case 40 is rotated around the first connection shaft 41. A notch 43b is provided. In addition, the end face 43c of the main body 43 opposite to the second connecting shaft 42 has a circular cross-section locking hole 43d into which the restriction member 25 can be inserted and removed at a position corresponding to the restriction member 25 of the first housing 20. Is provided.

The first member 44 supports one end of a second connecting member 42 extending in a direction orthogonal to the first connecting shaft 41 at the same height as the first connecting shaft 41. On the other end in the width direction of the second housing 30 on the upper surface 43a of the main body 43, a second member 45 is provided to face the first member 44, and the other end of the second connecting shaft 42 is supported. Yes.

That is, both ends of the second connecting shaft 42 are supported by the first member 44 and the second member 45 that are separated from each other by a predetermined interval, and the second housing is interposed between the first member 44 and the second member 45. A second connection bearing 35 of the body 30 is rotatably attached to the second connection shaft 42. The first member 44 and the second member 45 are sized so as not to protrude from the surface of the second housing 30 in the closed state.

Next, the opening / closing operation of the mobile terminal 10 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, in the closed state in which the second casing 30 is stacked on the first casing 20, the regulating member 25 provided on the first casing 20 protrudes from the first casing 20 and the tip portion Is inserted into the locking hole 43 d of the connection housing 40. For this reason, the connection housing 40 is prevented from rotating around the first connection shaft 41 to be in a laterally open state.

By rotating the second housing 30 around the second connecting shaft 42 from the closed state, it can be in a vertically open state as shown in FIG. In this case, the connection housing 40 is integrated with the first housing 20. Thereby, a telephone call, e-mail, etc. can be performed.

The operation button 26 provided on the side surface 20c of the first housing 20 is used to rotate the second housing 30 around the first connecting shaft 41 and to open the side as shown in FIG. Is slid in the direction opposite to the second connecting shaft 42. Thereby, the description member 25 is detached from the locking hole 43d of the connection housing 40, and the connection housing 40 can be rotated around the first connection shaft 41. Therefore, the second housing 30 is opened sideways. be able to.

When the second housing 30 is closed from the side-opened state, the main body 43 of the connection housing 40 comes into contact with the inclined surface 25a at the tip of the restricting member 25 of the first housing 20 and descends along the inclined surface 25a. Since the restriction member 25 is retracted, the main body 43 is accommodated in the step portion 23 of the first housing 20. Since the restricting member 25 is urged in the protruding direction by the spring member, the restricting member 25 is inserted into the locking hole 43 d of the main body 43 to lock the connection housing 40.

As shown in FIG. 4, it is desirable to provide a support mechanism 60 that rotatably supports the second housing 30 together with the first connecting shaft 41 when the second housing 30 is opened sideways. The support mechanism 60 includes a first engagement portion 27 provided in the first housing 20 and a second engagement portion 36 provided in the second housing 30.

The first engaging portion 27 includes an engaging claw 61, a holding portion 62 that holds the engaging claw 61, a stopper 63 that prevents the engaging claw 61 from falling off the holding portion 62, and a first housing. And a magnet 64.
The engaging claw 61 has a first projecting portion 65 projecting from the first housing 20 to the second housing 30, and a second projecting portion 66 connected to the first projecting portion 65 and extending in the intersecting direction. ing.

The second engagement portion 36 has an opening 71, is provided rotatably inside the opening 71, accommodates the first protrusion 65, and has a first accommodation portion 72 in which a magnet is insert-molded. The second housing portion 73 having an opening 73 a that rotates integrally with the second housing 30 and houses the second projecting portion 66, and the second housing portion 73 is rotated to open the opening of the first housing portion 72. A return spring 74 that matches the direction and the direction of the second housing portion 73 is provided.

Therefore, when the mobile terminal 10 is in the closed state, the engaging claw 61 protrudes in the direction of the second engaging portion 36 by the magnetic force of the magnet insert-molded in the first housing portion 72. In this state, the first engaging portion 27 and the second engaging portion 36 are not engaged.
From this state, when the second housing 30 is pivoted sideways around the second connecting shaft 42, the second housing portion 73 rotates integrally with the second housing 30 and the engaging claw 61 is opened by the opening 73a. The second protrusion 66 is locked. That is, the first engaging portion 27 and the second engaging portion 36 are engaged.

Thereby, in the closed state, the first engaging portion 27 of the first housing 20 and the second engaging portion 36 of the second housing 30 do not engage with each other. It does not become an obstacle when opening in the vertical direction around the center.
In addition, when the second housing 30 starts to rotate around the second connection shaft 42 when the second housing 30 is opened laterally about the first connection shaft 41 from the closed state, the first engagement portion 27 and the second connection Since the engaging part 36 is engaged, sufficient strength can be obtained and the lateral opening can be performed stably.

In addition, when the connection housing 40 is provided with a one-push opener mechanism and the restricting member 25 is released by the operation button 26, the second housing 30 automatically rotates around the first connection shaft 41 and is in a laterally open state. It can also be. As the one-push opener mechanism, a spring member that urges the connection housing 40 in the direction of opening around the first connection shaft 41 can be provided. Thereby, the 2nd housing | casing 30 can be made into a side open state easily.

As described above, according to the mobile terminal 10 of the first embodiment described above, the second casing 30 is moved horizontally from the state where the second casing 30 is closed with respect to the first casing 20 around the first connecting shaft 41. When opening, the connecting casing 40 rotates following the second casing 30, and the connecting casing 40 does not protrude from the operation surface of the first casing 20.
For this reason, there is no possibility that the user's finger interferes with the connection housing 40 in the side-open state, and the operability of the user who operates the operation unit 21 in the side-open state such as video viewing / games is improved. improves.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the portable terminal 10B which is a portable electronic device of 2nd Embodiment concerning this invention is demonstrated.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the mobile terminal according to the second embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the site | part which is common in the portable terminal 10 concerning 1st Embodiment mentioned above, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the mobile terminal 10B according to the second embodiment, the step portion 43e is provided in the main body 43B of the connection housing 40B without providing the step portion 23 in the first housing 20B.
Thereby, the effect | action and effect similar to the portable terminal 10 concerning 1st Embodiment mentioned above can be acquired. Furthermore, since the operation surface 20a of the first housing 20 can be provided on substantially the entire surface, a large effective area of the operation unit 21 with respect to the flat area can be ensured. This increases the degree of freedom in design.
The first connecting shaft 41 can be provided at a position lower than the second connecting shaft 42.

The portable electronic device of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made.
For example, in the modification (10C) shown in FIG. 6, the connecting housing 40C is rotatably attached to the end surface 20d of the first housing 20C by the first connecting shaft 41. For this reason, when the second housing 30 is rotated about the first connecting shaft 41 to be in the laterally open state, the entire connecting housing 40C is rotated and the end surface 20d of the first housing 20C is completely exposed. It will be.
Further, in the modified example (10D) shown in FIG. 7, the first connecting shaft 41 and the second connecting shaft 42 are provided at the same height in the modified example (10C) shown in FIG. It is provided at the position.

This application is based on a Japanese patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-246089) filed on Sep. 25, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

10 Mobile devices (mobile electronic devices)
20 1st housing | casing 21 Operation part 25 Control member 26 Operation button 30 2nd housing | casing 31 Main display part (display part)
40 Connection housing 41 First connection shaft 42 Second connection shaft

Claims

A first housing provided with an operation unit;
A second housing provided with a display;
A connection housing that connects the first housing and the second housing;
A first connecting shaft arranged to connect the first housing and the connecting housing;
A second connecting shaft arranged to connect the second casing and the connecting casing;
A vertically opened state in which the first housing and the second housing rotate relatively around the second connecting shaft from a closed state in which the first housing and the second housing are relatively stacked. In, the connection housing follows the first housing,
In the laterally open state in which the first housing and the second housing rotate relatively around the first connection shaft from the closed state, the portable electronic device in which the connection housing follows the second housing machine.
A first housing provided with an operation unit;
A second housing provided with a display;
A connection housing that connects the first housing and the second housing;
A first connecting shaft arranged to connect the first housing and the connecting housing;
A second connecting shaft arranged to connect the second casing and the connecting casing;
The first connecting shaft is disposed along an arrangement direction of the first casing and the connecting casing;
A portable electronic device in which the second connection shaft is disposed orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the second housing and the connection housing and is orthogonal to the first connection shaft.
The first casing and the second casing do not rotate relative to each other about the first connecting shaft from the closed state in which the first casing and the second casing are relatively stacked.
A regulation member spanned between the first casing and the connection casing; and an operation button for accommodating the regulation member in the first casing.
The portable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the operation button is provided on the first housing.
A one-push opener mechanism for shifting from the closed state to a laterally open state in which the first housing and the second housing rotate relatively around the first connecting shaft;
The portable electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the one-push opener mechanism is operated by the operation button.