WO2011050677A1

WO2011050677A1 - Sliding module and mobile terminal comprising the same

Info

Publication number: WO2011050677A1
Application number: PCT/CN2010/077721
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hu ZHOU; Ruiqiang Luo; Xiulan Fan; Xia Qin
Original assignee: Byd Company Limited
Priority date: 2009-10-29
Filing date: 2010-10-13
Publication date: 2011-05-05
Also published as: CN201590837U; EP2494770A1; US8521241B2; US20120214559A1; EP2494770A4

Abstract

A sliding module (100) for a mobile terminal is provided. The sliding module (100) may comprise: a support plate (40) having a rotating mechanism on an end (401) thereof; a rotating plate (30) connected with the support plate (40) via the rotating mechanism; a sliding plate (10) disposed on the rotating plate (30) and configured to slide against the rotating plate (30); and a restricting mechanism disposed on the other end (402) of the support plate (40) to restrict both first side portions (12) of an end of the sliding plate (10) neighboring the other end (402) of the support plate (40). The rotating plate (30) may be rotated by a predetermined angle with respect to the support plate (40) via the rotating mechanism when the first side portions (12) are slid out of the restricting mechanism. A mobile terminal comprising the same may also be provided.

Description

SLIDING MODULE AND MOBILE TERMINAL COMPRISING THE SAME

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to, and benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 200920206199.8 filed with State Intellectual Property Office, P. R. C. on October 29^th, 2009, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a mobile telecommunication, more particularly to an improved sliding module for a mobile terminal and a mobile terminal comprising the same.

BACKGROUND

There are mainly four kinds of mobile terminals at present, comprising bar phones, flip phones, slide phones and twist phones. The bar phone has a relatively large length and consequently the size of the display may be limited, which becomes even worse as multimedia such as images and videos are gradually becoming popular. The flip phone overcomes the foregoing deficiencies to a certain extent, and the angle between the keypad and the display may be well configured to be adapted to human facial configuration when the flip phone is open. However, the flip phone has shortcomings such as complex operations for opening or closing the phone. The slide phone and the twist phone are small in volume and, thus, are convenient for operation, which have the advantages of both the bar and flip phones. However, the display and the keypad are positioned in the same plane when opened, which may not be well configured to the facial configuration of human being accordingly.

In addition, the slide phone may not be well contacted to the human face, and the microphone or the loudspeaker is far away from the user of the mobile terminal. The slide phone can not compromise between the performances of the microphone and the loudspeaker, thereby causing a complex and inconvenient operating process, which may cause tiring of the user. Under the conditions such as a strong sunshine, the user has to turn his back against the sun to avoid the sunshine, which may cause inconvenience accordingly.

SUMMARY

In viewing thereof, the present disclosure is directed to solve at least one of the problems existing in the prior art. Accordingly, a sliding module for a mobile terminal needs to be provided, which may be well configured to the shape of human face during l usage.

In one aspect, a sliding module for a mobile terminal may be provided, which may comprise: a support plate having a rotating mechanism on an end thereof; a rotating plate connected with the support plate via the rotating mechanism; a sliding plate disposed on the rotating plate and configured to slide against the rotating plate; and a restricting mechanism disposed on the other end of the support plate to restrict both of first side portions of an end of the sliding plate neighboring the other end of the support plate. The rotating plate may be rotated by a predetermined angle with respect to the support plate via the rotating mechanism when the first side portions are slid out of the restricting mechanism.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the restricting mechanism may be formed by side walls extending upwardly at the other end of the support plate with each being formed with a groove facing with each other; and the first side portions may be formed by projecting portions from the end of the sliding plate neighboring the other end of the support plate to be mated with the grooves formed in the restricting mechanism.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the rotating plate may be formed with sliding grooves at both side walls extending upwardly, and both sides of the sliding plate may be slidably disposed in the sliding grooves of the rotating plate respectively.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sliding grooves may be provided with guides formed with groove facing with each other.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sliding plate may have a second side portion with a stepped cross section along a plane perpendicular to a slide direction of the sliding plate.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a slide driving structure may be provided between the sliding plate and the rotating plate, and the slide driving structure may be connected with the sliding plate and the rotating plate respectively.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the slide driving structure may be a spring module with a first end being rotatably connected with the sliding plate and a second end being rotatably connected with the rotating plate.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the spring module may run in a free state when the sliding module is closed. And the spring module may be compressed maximally when first side portions may be slid out of the restricting mechanism.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the rotating mechanism may comprise: a first pivot support formed on the support plate; a second pivot support formed on the rotating plate; a pivot shaft configured to connect the first pivot support and the second pivot support; and a torsion spring wrapped on the pivot shaft so that the rotating plate is driven to be rotated by the predetermined angle against the support plate after the sliding plate is released by the restricting mechanism.

In another aspect, a mobile terminal comprising the sliding module may be provided.

With the mobile terminal comprising the sliding module as described herein, when the mobile terminal is opened, there is a predetermined angle between the sliding plate and the support plate, which may be well configured to be adapted to the human face. And the loudspeaker in the mobile phone may be positioned near an ear of the user whereas the microphone in the mobile phone may be positioned near the mouth of the user. And it may be convenient to answer phone call with a high communication quality. Furthermore, the entertaining functions of audio, video or the like may be used without hand holding.

Additional aspects and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be given in part in the following descriptions, become apparent in part from the following descriptions, or be learned from the practice of the embodiments of the present disclosure. BRIEF DISCRETION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a sliding module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a guide and a rotating plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the guide and the rotating plate after assembling in Fig.

2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a sliding plate and a rotating plate after assembling according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 is a side perspective view of the sliding plate and the rotating plate after assembling shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the sliding plate and the rotating plate after assembling shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a side perspective view showing an intermediate state during opening of a sliding module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 8 is a side view of a sliding module after opening according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DISCRETION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein are explanatory, illustrative, and used to generally understand the present disclosure. The embodiments shall not be construed to limit the present disclosure. The same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the descriptions.

A sliding module 100 for a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone, blackberry, PDA, pager etc., according to the present disclosure will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to accompanying figures, in which Fig. 1 shows an exploded perspective view thereof. The sliding module 100 may comprise a support plate 40 having a rotating mechanism on an end 401 thereof; a rotating plate 30 connected with the support plate 40 via the rotating mechanism; a sliding plate 10 disposed on the rotating plate 30 and configured to slide against the rotating plate 30; and a restricting mechanism disposed on the other end 402 of the support plate 40 to restrict both side portions 12 of an end 101 of the sliding plate 10 neighboring the end 402 of the support plate 40. The rotating plate 30 may be rotated by a predetermined angle with respect to the support plate 40 via the rotating mechanism when the side portions 12 may be slid out of the restricting mechanism.

As shown in Fig. 1 , the sliding module 100 may further comprise a driving spring 20 functioning as a slide driving structure for driving the sliding plate 10. However, it should be noted that any structure which is capable of driving the sliding plate 10 may be adopted here. Thus, hereinafter, the driving spring 20 is described for illustration purpose only rather than limitation. The driving spring 20 may have a first end 21 which may be connected with a first hole 11 in the sliding plate 10, and a second end 22 which may be connected with a second hole 32 in the rotating plate 30, so that the driving spring 20 are connected with the sliding plate 10 and the rotating plate 30 respectively. The driving spring 20 may provide a driving force for the sliding plate 10 to slide against the rotating plate 30 semi-automatically. Specifically, the driving spring 20 may run in a free state when the sliding module 100 is closed and the driving spring 20 may be compressed maximally when the sliding plate 10 is not restricted by the support plate 40 via the restricting mechanism, so that when the sliding plate 10 is further pushed by a user, the driving spring 20 will automatically push the sliding plate 10 forwardly by the compressing force contained therein, thus the semi-automation is accomplished accordingly.

As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the rotating plate 30 may be formed with sliding grooves 35 at both side walls extending upwardly, and both sides of the sliding plate 10 may be slidably disposed in the sliding grooves of the rotating plate respectively. The sliding module 100 may further comprise a guide 31 made of plastic material. And the side wall of the rotating plate 30 may be formed with recess 351 to be mated with a protrusion 311 formed on the guide 31 , thus the guides 31 may be placed into the grooves 35 on both sides of the rotating plate 30 respectively.

As shown in Fig. 4, the sliding plate 10 may further comprise: a locating surface or first side portion 12, and a second side portion 13. The second side portion 13 may be mated with the groove 35 formed in the guide 31 to ensure that the sliding plate 10 may slide against the rotating plate 30 relatively.

As shown in Fig. 5, the support plate 40 may comprise: a restricting mechanism 41 . As shown in Figs. 1 , 4 and 5, the rotating mechanism in the sliding module 100 may comprise a first pivot support 42 formed on the support plate 40; a second pivot support 33 formed on the rotating plate 30; a pivot shaft 60 configured to connect the first pivot support 42 and the second pivot support 33; and a torsion spring 50 wrapped on the pivot shaft 60 so that the rotating plate 30 is driven to be rotated by the predetermined angle against the support plate 40 after the sliding plate 10 is released from the restricting mechanism 41 .

As shown in Fig. 1 , an upper end 51 of the rotating spring 50 may be contacted with the rotating plate 30, and a lower end 52 thereof may be contacted with the support plate 40. Furthermore, when the rotating plate 30 and the support plate 40 are connected through the rotating mechanism, the rotating spring 50 may be compressed by the rotating plate 30 and the support plate 40. And the rotating plate 30 may be driven to rotate by a predetermined angle with respect to the support plate 40 after the sliding plate 10 is released from the restricting mechanism 41 .

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving spring 20 may be a spring or a spring module for a conventional sliding module, and the rotating spring 50 may be a torsion spring, which is fixed between the rotating plate 30 and the support plate 40 by the rotating shaft 60. A suitable torsion spring may provide enough twisting force to rotate the rotating plate 30 by the predetermined angle with respect to the support plate 40. Different angles between the sliding plate 10 and the support plate 40 when the sliding module 100 is open, may be adjusted by torsion springs with different elastic modulus. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the restricting mechanism 41 may be formed by side walls extending upwardly at the end 402 of the support plate 40 with each being formed with a groove 411 facing with each other.

When the sliding module 100 is closed, the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 is located in the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40. The first side portion 12 may be configured to be mated or engaged with the restricting mechanism 41 so that the sliding plate 10 moves along the guide 31 before the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 slides out of the restricting mechanism 41 , thereby restraining the sliding direction of the sliding module 100.

When the sliding module 100 is closed, the rotating spring 50 is compressed between the rotating plate 30 and the support plate 40, thus the rotating plate 30 tends to rotate with respect to the support plate 40, which is prevented by the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 being engaged in the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40. As the sliding module 100 is pushed further, the driving spring 20 may be compressed accordingly, while the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 may just move out of the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40. Then, the sliding plate 10 may not be restricted by the support plate 40, and may rotate with the rotating plate 30 with respect to the support plate 40 by the compressed rotating spring 50. At the same time, the sliding plate 10 may move against the rotating plate 30 along the guide 31 , under the driving force of the driving spring 20. In this way, the curve motion of the sliding plate 10 relative to the support plate 40 may be realized, and the predetermined angle between the sliding plate 10 and the support plate 40 may be formed when the sliding module 100 is opened. Operations of the sliding module 100 will be described in detail as follows.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, when the sliding module 100 is closed, the driving spring 20 may be in a free state, and the sliding plate 10 is relatively restricted to the rotating plate 30. At the same time, the rotating spring 50 is compressed between the rotating plate 30 and the support plate 40, thus the rotating plate 30 tends to rotate with respect to the support plate 40, which is prevented by the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 being engaged in the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40. Therefore, the rotation of the rotating plate 30 relative to the support plate 40 may be prevented.

As the sliding plate 10 is moved further, the driving spring 20 may be compressed so as to provide a driving force between the sliding plate 10 and the rotating plate 30. Referring to Fig. 7, when the sliding plate 10 is moved against the rotating plate 30 with the first hole 11 being registered with the second hole 32, the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 moves out of the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40, so that the rotating plate 30 may not be restricted by the support plate 40 any more. At this time, the rotating spring 50 may be compressed maximally. At the same time, the rotating spring 50 in the compressed state may provide a twisting force for the rotating plate 30 to rotate with the sliding plate 10 against the support plate 40. Then, when the sliding plate 10 is pushed a little further, the sliding plate 10 may be moved along the guide 31 under the compressing force of the driving spring 20. At last, the sliding module 100 is open with the predetermined angle between the sliding plate 10 and the support plate 40, as shown in Fig. 8. Therefore, the sliding module 100 may form the desired predetermined angle which is configured to be well adapted to human face during usage.

When the sliding plate 10 is pressed downward, the sliding plate 10 may rotate with the rotating plate 30 toward the support plate 40, and the rotating spring 50 may be compressed accordingly. When the rotating plate 30 is parallel to the support plate 40, the sliding plate 10 is pushed back, and the driving spring 20 may be compressed so as to provide a driving force between the sliding plate 10 and the rotating plate 30. When the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 slides to the middle of the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40, the first side portion 12 on the sliding plate 10 engages in the restricting mechanism 41 on the support plate 40, so that the rotating plate 30 may be confined by the support plate 40 and consequently may be unable to rotate. The sliding plate 10 may continue to move back along the guide 31 under the driving force of the driving spring 20 until the driving spring 20 is in a free state, and then the sliding module 100 is closed accordingly.

Further, a mobile terminal comprising the sliding module 100 may be provided. An upper part of the mobile terminal may be connected with the sliding plate 10 while a lower part of the mobile terminal may be connected with the support plate 40. During the opening of the mobile terminal, the upper part of the mobile terminal may firstly move linearly followed by a rotation, which may also provide a visual impact to the users.

With the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the angle between the sliding plate 10 and the support plate 40 is formed when the mobile terminal is opened, which may be configured to be well adapted to the human face with the loudspeaker being positioned adjacent to the ear and the microphone being positioned near the mouth. And it is convenient to pickup the phone call with a high communication quality. Furthermore, the entertaining functions of audio, video or the like may be used without hand holding.

Although the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to several embodiments, additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit as described and defined in the following claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1 . A sliding module for a mobile terminal, comprising:

a support plate having a rotating mechanism on an end thereof;

a rotating plate connected with the support plate via the rotating mechanism;

a sliding plate disposed on the rotating plate and configured to slide against the rotating plate; and

a restricting mechanism disposed on the other end of the support plate to restrict both of first side portions of an end of the sliding plate neighboring the other end of the support plate; wherein

the rotating plate is rotated by a predetermined angle with respect to the support plate via the rotating mechanism when the first side portions are slid out of the restricting mechanism.

2. The sliding module according to claim 1 , wherein the restricting mechanism is formed by side walls extending upwardly at the other end of the support plate with each being formed with a groove facing with each other; and

the first side portions are formed by projecting portions from the end of the sliding plate neighboring the other end of the support plate to be mated with the grooves formed in the restricting mechanism.

3. The sliding module according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating plate is formed with sliding grooves at both side walls extending upwardly, and both sides of the sliding plate are slidably disposed in the sliding grooves of the rotating plate respectively.

4. The sliding module according to claim 3, wherein the sliding grooves are provided with guides formed with groove facing with each other.

5. The sliding module according to claim 3, wherein the sliding plate has a second side portion with a stepped cross section along a plane perpendicular to a slide direction of the sliding plate.

6. The sliding module according to claim 1 , wherein a slide driving structure is provided between the sliding plate and the rotating plate for driving the sliding plate to slide, and the slide driving structure is connected with the sliding plate and the rotating plate respectively.

7. The sliding module according to claim 6, wherein the slide driving structure is a spring module with a first end being rotatably connected with the sliding plate and a second end being rotatably connected with the rotating plate.

8. The sliding module according to claim 7, wherein

the spring module runs in a free state when the sliding module is closed; and the spring module is compressed maximally when the first side portions are slid out of the restricting mechanism.

9. The sliding module according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating mechanism comprises:

a first pivot support formed on the support plate;

a second pivot support formed on the rotating plate;

a pivot shaft configured to connect the first pivot support and the second pivot support; and

a torsion spring wrapped on the pivot shaft so that the rotating plate is driven to be rotated by the predetermined angle against the support plate after the sliding plate is released by the restricting mechanism.

10. A mobile terminal comprising the sliding module according to claim 1 .