WO2020029212A1

WO2020029212A1 - Foldable device

Info

Publication number: WO2020029212A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/099734
Authority: WO
Inventors: 刘文俊; 陈松亚; 凡小飞
Original assignee: 深圳市柔宇科技有限公司
Priority date: 2018-08-09
Filing date: 2018-08-09
Publication date: 2020-02-13
Also published as: CN112640396A

Abstract

The present invention provides a foldable device, comprising a first housing, a second housing, a rotary shaft assembly, and a flexible protector. The flexible protector covers the rotary shaft assembly, so as to prevent the rotary shaft assembly from being exposed to the outside, thereby avoiding rust and damage of the rotary shaft assembly caused by external influences. Furthermore, the flexible protector covers the rotary shaft assembly, so that the user's palm holding the device is prevented from being clamped by the shaft assembly which is exposed to the outside, so as to protect the user.

Description

Foldable device

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of display technology, and in particular, to a foldable device.

Background technique

In the prior art foldable equipment, the structures on both sides of the foldable equipment are generally connected by a shaft assembly to realize the folding of the equipment. The rotating shaft assembly generally has a large difference in appearance with the structure on both sides thereof. The exposed shaft assembly easily grips the palm of the user who holds the device and causes harm to the human body. In addition, the exposed shaft assembly lacks protection and is susceptible to rust and damage due to external influences.

Summary of the invention

The invention provides a foldable device for protecting a rotating shaft assembly and a user. .

The foldable device includes a first casing, a second casing, a rotating shaft assembly, and a flexible protection member, the rotating shaft assembly is connected between the first casing and the second casing, and the flexible protection member A flexible cover is included, and the flexible cover covers the rotating shaft assembly.

In the foldable device provided by the present invention, the rotating shaft component is covered with the flexible protective member, so that the flexible protecting member is used to prevent the rotating shaft component from being exposed to the outside, thereby preventing the rotating shaft component from being affected by external influences. Rust, damage, etc. In addition, by covering the rotating shaft component with the flexible protection member, the exposed rotating shaft component is prevented from clamping the palm of the user holding the device to protect the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly explain the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are merely These are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural explosion diagram of the foldable device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

2 is a schematic front view of the structure after the various structures of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are assembled;

3 is a schematic side view of the structure after the various structures of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are assembled;

4 is a schematic side view of a flexible protective member after bending according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic front view of a support member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a supporting member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

In the following, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

1 to 3, the present invention provides a foldable device 100. The foldable device 100 may be a foldable display device, such as various display devices such as a mobile phone, a tablet, an e-reader, a computer, and an electronic display screen. . It can be understood that the foldable device 100 may also be a foldable non-display device.

The foldable device 100 includes a first casing 10, a second casing 20, a rotating shaft assembly 30, and a flexible protection member 40. The rotation shaft assembly 30 is located between the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 and is connected to the first housing 10 and the second housing 20, so as to be realized by the rotation shaft assembly 30 The relative rotation of the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 further realizes the folding of the foldable device 100.

The rotating shaft assembly 30 includes at least one bending shaft, and the rotating shaft assembly 30 is folded by the bending shaft. It should be understood that the bending axis referred to in the present invention is not limited to an actual physical axis, but may also be a virtual axis, that is, as long as the rotating shaft component 30 is bent around a certain axis, it can be considered as the bending axis . In this embodiment, the rotating shaft assembly 30 includes at least two rotating parts 31, and two adjacent rotating parts 31 are connected by a bending shaft or a rotating shaft, so that the rotating shaft assembly 30 can be connected with two adjacent The bending axis at the connection position of the rotating portion 31 rotates. It can be understood that, in other embodiments of the present invention, the rotating shaft assembly 30 includes at least two rods, and adjacent rods may be rotationally connected through a damping sheet, and the damping sheet is connected to a rod connected thereto. Both are rotationally connected, so that the shaft assembly 30 rotates with the lever as a bending axis. The flexible protection member 40 is made of a flexible material, and can be elastically deformed when the rotating shaft assembly 30 is bent, thereby avoiding the influence of the flexible protection member 40 on the foldable device 100. In this embodiment, the flexible protection member 40 is made of a silicon material. The flexible protection member 40 includes a flexible cover plate 41 and side plates 42 and 43 located on both sides of the flexible cover plate 41 and connected to the flexible cover plate 41. In this embodiment, after the foldable device 100 is flattened, the flexible cover 41 is coplanar with the surfaces of the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, so that the foldable display device 100 has Better appearance. Moreover, in this embodiment, the side plate 42 and the side plate 43 are located at opposite ends of the flexible cover plate 41 and are both vertically connected to the flexible cover plate 41. When the rotating shaft assembly 30 is bent, the two opposite sides of the flexible cover plate 41 are close to each other and are arranged facing each other. The side plate 42 and the side plate 43 cover opposite sides of the shaft assembly 30 and are detachably fixed to both sides of the shaft assembly 30, so as to cover the shaft assembly 30 by the flexible protective member 40. In order to protect the rotating shaft assembly 30 through the flexible protection member 40 and make the appearance of the foldable device 100 more beautiful. In addition, the flexible protection member 40 can cover the shaft assembly 30, and can protect the palm of the user and the shaft assembly 30 itself.

The flexible cover 41 includes a first surface facing away from the shaft assembly 30 and a second surface facing the shaft assembly. At least one buffer groove 411 is provided on the first surface of the flexible cover plate 41, and the buffer groove 441 is a recess formed on the first surface of the flexible cover plate 41 toward the second surface, and is a non-through groove. To avoid affecting the overall strength of the flexible cover 41. In addition, the extending direction of the buffer groove 411 is the same as the extending direction of the bending shaft, so that when the rotating shaft assembly 30 is folded, the buffer groove 411 is easily deformed, and the elastic cover 41 is elastic. A deformation space is provided during deformation, that is, when the flexible cover plate 41 is deformed, the buffer groove 411 serves as a deformation accommodation space to accommodate the part that is extruded during the deformation, or provides more stretching amount as a stretching space. In this embodiment, each buffer groove 411 is spaced apart from an adjacent buffer groove 411, and the interval between the two is the same as the width of each of the buffer grooves 411. By providing the buffer groove 411 on the flexible cover 41 of the flexible protective member 40, when the foldable device 100 is folded, the flexible protective member 40 can be easily folded, thereby avoiding the flexible protection. The influence of the member 40 on the folding of the foldable device 100 can also avoid the occurrence of wrinkles due to the excessive bending stress when the flexible protective member 40 is folded.

In this embodiment, the number of the buffer grooves 411 is plural, and the buffer grooves 411 are arranged along a direction perpendicular to the bending axis. The width of each buffer groove 411 increases from the opposite end toward the middle, so that the opposite ends of each buffer groove 411 form a sharp angle. Each buffer groove 411 extends from a position near the side plate 42 to a position near the side plate 43. The rotating shaft assembly 30 has a bending inner side and a bending outer side opposite to the bending inner side during bending. The bending inner side refers to a side opposite to the opposite ends after bending, and the bending outer side refers to the opposite ends after bending. The other side of the back. The inside of the bend is surrounded by the outside of the bend. In this embodiment, since the flexible cover plate 41 is located at the inner side of the bend, when the rotating shaft assembly 30 is bent, the flexible cover plate 41 is compressed as a whole, and the extrusion part generated by the compression can be accommodated in the buffer groove 411. Inside, thereby avoiding or reducing the phenomenon of arching or wrinkling of the flexible cover 41.

Further, in this embodiment, a convex rib 46 is formed on the second surface of the flexible cover plate 41 at a position corresponding to the buffer groove 41, and the extending direction of the convex rib 46 is consistent with the extending direction of the buffer groove 411. The protruding ribs 46 can further strengthen the overall strength of the flexible cover plate 41 and prevent the overall strength of the flexible cover plate 41 from being significantly affected by the opening of the buffer groove 411.

Further, the side plate 42 and the side plate 43 are also provided with at least one opening 421. The opening 421 may be a groove or an opening. Each of the openings 421 is located in a buffer groove 411 on the side. The extension line of the plate 42 or the side plate 43, that is, the opening 421 on the side plate 42 or the side plate 43 is aligned with the buffer groove on the flexible cover 41. In this embodiment, the side plate 42 and / or the side plate 43 is provided with the opening 421 as an opening. The diameter of the opening 421 is larger than the width of the middle portion of the buffer groove 411. When the rotating shaft assembly is folded, the entirety of the side plate 42 and the side plate 43 is squeezed, so that the opening 421 is deformed and the size is reduced, thereby reducing the arch of the side plate 42 and / or the side plate 43. Wrinkles or wrinkles.

Please further refer to FIG. 4, by providing a buffer groove 411 on the flexible cover 41 and at least one opening 421 on the side plate 42 and the side plate 43, the foldable display device 100 performs When folded, the flexible protective member 40 can be easily folded, thereby avoiding that each part of the flexible protective member 40 (including the flexible cover plate 41, the side plate 42, and the side plate 43) is not easily folded and hinders the foldable The folding of the display device 100 can also avoid the occurrence of wrinkles due to the excessive bending stress when the flexible protective member 40 is folded.

In the above embodiment, the buffer groove 411 is recessed on the first surface of the flexible cover plate 41 toward the second surface. Understandably, the buffer groove 411 may also be formed on the second surface of the flexible cover plate toward the first surface. Directional depression can also play a similar role. In addition, since the buffer groove is located on the second surface of the flexible cover plate 411 facing the rotating shaft assembly 30, the surface of the flexible cover plate 411 facing away from the rotating shaft assembly 30 can maintain a smooth state, making the overall appearance more uniform and better grip.

Further, please refer to FIG. 1, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 together. The foldable device 100 further includes a support member 50, which is sandwiched between the flexible protection member 40 and the rotating shaft assembly 30. . The support member 50 covers the shaft assembly 30 and is fixedly connected to the shaft assembly 30. The strength of the support member 50 is greater than the flexible protection member 40, so that the shaft assembly is protected by the support member 50. 30. In addition, the flexible protection member 40 covers the support member 50 and is fixed to the support member 50. The flexible protection member 40 may be fixed to the support member 50 by means of sticking, or may be directly formed on the support member 50 by means of in-mold molding. The supporting member 50 includes a first portion 51 and a second portion 52 and a third portion 53 which are located on two sides of the first portion 51 and are connected to the first portion 51 at an angle. In this embodiment, the second portion 52 and the third portion 53 are vertically connected to both sides of the first portion 51. The first portion 51 is in abutment with the flexible cover plate 41, the second portion 52 is in abutment with the side plate 42, and the third portion 53 is in abutment with the side plate 43, that is, the flexible cover plate 41 covers In the first part, the side plate covers the second part, and the side plate covers the third part. The second portion 52 and the third portion 53 and the first portion 51 surround a receiving cavity, and the rotating shaft assembly 30 is received in the receiving cavity. In the present invention, the strength of the support member 50 is greater than the strength of the flexible protection member 40 to increase the strength of the flexible protection member 40 through the support member 50 so that the foldable device 100 has a better appearance Effect, and the damage of the flexible protective member 40 is slowed down, and at the same time, a better effect of blocking water and oxygen can be achieved. In this embodiment, the supporting member 50 is formed of a metal foil. The first portion 51 is provided with a plurality of strip-shaped holes 511 corresponding to the buffer grooves 411 on the flexible cover 41. In addition, a plurality of openings 521 are provided on the second portion 52 and the third portion, and the openings 521 communicate with the strip-shaped holes 511 and communicate with the buffer groove 411 on the flexible protection member 40 Correspondingly, when the foldable device 100 is folded, the support member 50 can be easily folded at the position where the strip-shaped hole 511 is provided, thereby avoiding the support member 50 from foldable device 100 The effect of the folding effect.

The support member 50 may be an integrated structure or a combination of multiple sub-support members. The support member 50 may be made of a metal material or other hard materials to provide a sufficient supporting force. The hardness of the support member 50 is greater than that of the flexible protection member 40. In this embodiment, a surface of the shaft assembly 30 facing the flexible protection member 30 is provided with a slot for accommodating a support member 50, and the support member 50 is received in the slot, that is, the support member 50 may Part or all of it is embedded in the surface of the rotating shaft assembly 30 facing the flexible protection member 30 to reduce the overall thickness and stabilize the connection between the supporting member 50 and the rotating shaft assembly 30.

The support member 50 may be integrally formed, or may be obtained by combining a plurality of sub-support members. In this embodiment, the supporting member 50 is a combination of a plurality of sub-supporting members. The sub-supporting members are provided with notches, and the notches on the adjacent sub-supporting members are formed to form the strip-shaped holes. 511 and the opening 521. That is, the sub-supports are not directly connected, but are fixed to the corresponding positions of the shaft assembly 30 by screws, respectively, so as not to affect the bending of the shaft assembly 30.

In this embodiment, the support member 50 and the rotating shaft assembly 30 may be connected by a detachable connection manner such as screw connection or buckle. In this embodiment, the supporting member 50 and the rotating shaft assembly 30 are fixedly connected by screws 54. Specifically, there are a plurality of screws 54 fixing the support member 50 and the rotation shaft assembly 30. The screws 54 pass through the second portion 52 and the third portion 53 of the support member 50 and are fixed to the rotation shaft assembly. On the end surface, the support member 50 and the rotation shaft assembly 30 are fixed without affecting the rotation of the rotation shaft assembly 30. The flexible protective member 40 is fixed to the support member 50 by means of dispensing, and the screw 54 can be covered by the flexible protective member 40, so that the foldable device has a better appearance effect. Further, the flexible protective member 40 of this embodiment is fixed to the first casing 10 and the second casing 20 by means of adhesive fixing. Specifically, the first casing 10 includes an end surface 11 facing the rotating shaft assembly 30, and the second casing 20 includes an end surface 21 facing the rotating shaft assembly 30. The flexible protection member 40 and the support member 50 are located between the end surface 11 of the first casing 10 and the end surface 21 of the second casing 20, and the edges of the flexible protection member 40 are glued. Fixed to the first end surface 11 and the second end surface 21, so that the flexible protective member 40 is hermetically sealed between the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, thereby achieving the flexibility While the protection member 40 is fixed, impurities such as water and oxygen are prevented from entering the inside of the foldable device 100 through a gap between the flexible protection member 40 and the first casing 10 and the second casing 20. In this embodiment, a dispensing operation is performed by using a waterproof glue to achieve a better waterproof effect. It can be understood that the flexible protective member 40 and the supporting member 50 can also be fixed by other methods such as magnetic attraction, buckling, or Velcro.

Please refer to FIG. 1 again. In this embodiment, the foldable device 100 is a foldable display device, and the foldable display device further includes a flexible display 60 for screen display. The flexible display 60 is stacked on the first casing 10, the second casing 20, and the rotating shaft assembly 30, and is fixed to the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, and is located at The side of the shaft assembly 30 facing away from the flexible protection member 40. In other words, the first casing 10, the second casing 20, and the hinge assembly 30 are used to support the flexible display 60, and the hinge assembly 30 is flattened or folded to drive the flexible display 60 Flatten or fold to achieve flattening or folding of the foldable device 100.

Further, the foldable device 100 further includes a support 70 provided between the flexible display screen 60 and the rotating shaft assembly 30. In this embodiment, the supporting member 70 is a metal sheet, fixed to the first casing 10 and the second casing 20, and covers the rotating shaft assembly 30, so that each of the flexible display screens 60 The position can be smoothly supported, and the foldable device 100 can be kept flat at any position where it is folded or flattened.

In the foldable device 100 provided by the present invention, the rotating shaft assembly 30 is covered with the flexible protective member 40, so that the flexible protective member 40 prevents impurities such as water, oxygen, dust and the like from easily entering the rotating shaft assembly. 30, thereby ensuring the quality of the foldable device 100. Further, a buffer groove 411 is provided on the flexible cover 41 of the flexible protective member 40 opposite to the rotating shaft assembly 30, so that when the foldable device 100 is folded through the rotating shaft assembly 30, the flexible protective member 40 It is easy to fold at the position of the buffer groove 411 so as to prevent the flexible protection member 40 from affecting the folding of the foldable device 100.

It can be understood that, in some embodiments, the flexible protection member 40 may be directly fixed to the corresponding position of the shaft assembly 30 without using the support member 50, which can also achieve better protection effect.

What has been disclosed above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and of course, the scope of rights of the present invention cannot be limited by this. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand all or part of the process of implementing the above embodiments and follow the rights of the present invention. Equivalent changes required are still within the scope of the invention.

Claims

A foldable device, comprising a first housing, a second housing, a rotating shaft assembly, and a flexible protection member, the rotating shaft assembly is connected between the first housing and the second housing, The flexible protective member includes a flexible cover, and the flexible cover covers the rotating shaft assembly.
The foldable device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cover plate is elastically deformed when the rotating shaft assembly is bent.
The foldable device according to claim 2, wherein the flexible cover plate is located at a bending inner side of the rotating shaft component, and the flexible cover plate is compressed when the rotating shaft component is bent.
The foldable device according to claim 2, wherein the flexible cover comprises a first surface facing away from the rotation shaft assembly and a second surface facing toward the rotation shaft assembly, and the first surface is formed with a buffer. groove.
The foldable device according to claim 4, wherein the buffer groove is used to provide a deformation space when the flexible cover plate is elastically deformed.
The foldable device according to claim 4, wherein the buffer groove is formed by being recessed from the first surface toward the second surface.
The foldable device according to claim 6, wherein a convex rib is formed on the second surface of the flexible cover plate at a position corresponding to the buffer groove.
The foldable device according to claim 4, wherein the buffer groove extends along a direction of a bending axis when the rotating shaft assembly is bent.
The foldable device according to claim 4, wherein the flexible protective member further includes two side plates respectively extending from opposite ends of the flexible cover plate, and the two side plates respectively cover the rotating shaft assembly Opposite ends.
The foldable device according to claim 9, wherein each of the side plates is provided with at least one opening, and the opening provides a deformation space when the side plate is elastically deformed.
The foldable device according to claim 10, wherein the opening is located on an extension line of the buffer groove on the side plate.
The foldable device according to claim 9, wherein the buffer groove extends from a position close to one of the side plates to a position close to the other of the side plates.
The foldable device according to claim 9, wherein the foldable device further comprises a support member sandwiched between the flexible protection member and the rotating shaft assembly.
The foldable device according to claim 13, wherein the strength of the support member is greater than the strength of the flexible protection member.
The foldable device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the support member is made of a metal material, and the flexible protection member is made of a silicone material.
The foldable device according to claim 13, wherein the support comprises a first part, a second part, and a third part, and the second part and the third part are connected to opposite sides of the first part, respectively The first and second portions and the third portion are respectively fixed on the inner surfaces of the flexible cover and the two side plates of the flexible protective member, and the rotating shaft assembly is received in the receiving space. Cavity.
The foldable device according to claim 16, wherein the support and the shaft assembly are detachably fixed.
The foldable device according to claim 17, wherein the second part and the third part of the support member are fixed to the shaft assembly by screws.
The foldable device according to claim 16, wherein the first portion is provided with a plurality of strip-shaped holes corresponding to the buffer grooves on the flexible cover plate; the second portion and the third portion Each part is provided with a plurality of openings, and the openings communicate with the strip-shaped holes.
The foldable device according to claim 19, wherein the support member comprises a plurality of independent sub-support members, and a plurality of the sub-support members are combined to obtain the support member, and the sub-support members are provided on the support member. There are notches, and the notches on the adjacent sub-supports are pieced together to form the strip-shaped holes and the openings.
The foldable device according to claim 16, wherein the first portion is embedded in a surface of the rotating shaft assembly facing the flexible protective member.
The foldable device according to claim 1, wherein the foldable device comprises a flexible display screen, the flexible display screen being laminated on the first housing, the second housing, and the hinge assembly, And the flexible display is located on a side of the rotating shaft component facing away from the flexible protection member, and the rotating shaft component is flattened or folded to drive the flexible display flattened or folded.