Lockable guide coiling and unwinding device

Abstract

This invention discloses a lockable roll-up and retraction device, mainly addressing the problems of existing flexible screen retraction devices being too large, lacking adaptability, and posing a risk of damage during the retraction process. The device includes a housing (1), a scroll (2), a flexible screen (3), a support structure (4), a drive mechanism (5), and a guide locking structure (6). The support structure consists of multiple longitudinally arranged magnetic strips fixed to the back of the flexible screen and magnetic blocks attracted to its sides, forming a unified support for the flexible screen. This support is integrated with the scroll. The guide locking structure employs a parallelogram hinge linkage mechanism. During the retraction process, the drive structure rotates the scroll, causing the support structure and the flexible screen to retract simultaneously. The guide locking structure, under the influence of the support structure's movement, drives a floating locking linkage to move up and down. Upon completion of the retraction, the relative linkages mutually restrict displacement to achieve locking. This invention is small in size, easy to install, and portable, and can be used for the roll-up and retraction of flexible screens.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of mechanical technology, and specifically relates to a retractable device that can be used as a mobile display. Background Technology

[0002] As electronic products become increasingly homogenized, flexible screens, with their low power consumption and bendability, offer greater possibilities and are expected to inject new momentum into the electronics industry, such as foldable phones and rollable displays. Meanwhile, consumers are placing greater emphasis on product design when purchasing electronic products, especially flexibility and portability. Therefore, while actively developing flexible display panels, major panel manufacturers are also actively exploring compatible rollable display devices to further amplify the advantages of flexible screens.

[0003] Chinese patent document with application number 202210376759.4 discloses a "rollable display device". It consists of a flexible display module, rollers and multiple support block groups. The support blocks are magnetically attracted to form a screen support structure. Because the widths of the support block groups are different and the rollers are polygonal prisms, the support block groups have a certain deformation force during the unfolding and retraction process. This may result in uneven unfolding and retraction of the flexible screen and poor display quality. At the same time, since there is no protective structure on the side of the screen, the flexible display module is at risk of being damaged during unfolding and retraction.

[0004] Chinese patent document application number 202011198848.1 discloses a "flexible screen support mechanism and rollable electronic device". It consists of a roll, a spool, a flexible screen, and a support structure. The roll has a receiving cavity inside, and the spool can rotate to roll the flexible screen into the receiving cavity. The flexible screen covers the support structure, which consists of two parallel support components and a rotating component. When rolled up, it occupies a relatively large volume, which could further simplify its structure. Secondly, this structure achieves the conversion between the rolled-up and unfolded states of the support and rotating components through an inclined surface. However, this support mechanism only exists in two states: flexible and rigid. When the flexible screen is unfolded and subjected to uncertain external forces, the rigid structure lacks adaptability, and the screen may be damaged.

[0005] Chinese patent document with application number 202310214833.7 discloses a "roll-up display device". It includes a shell, a flexible screen, a flexible screen roll, a buffer layer, and a buffer layer roll. The back of the flexible screen is provided with multiple vertically arranged magnetic support structures. Although the device has a separate buffer layer to protect the screen from physical and magnetic damage during the rolling process, the overall size is large and not easy to carry because there are separate flexible screen rolls and buffer layer rolls inside the housing cavity. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to address the shortcomings of the prior art by proposing a lockable guide roll-up and retraction device to improve the stability of the flexible screen during the roll-up and retraction process, achieve controllable display area of ​​the flexible screen, reduce the overall size of the device, and improve portability.

[0007] The technical concept of this invention is as follows: by setting a guide structure at the exit of the unfolding device, deformation that may occur during the unfolding process is avoided, ensuring that the flexible screen can be unfolded and retracted smoothly; by cooperating with the locking structure and the driving device, the display area can be controlled during the unfolding process, improving the stability of the unfolding process; by integrating the support device and the buffer device, it is in a semi-flexible and semi-rigid state during the unfolding process, and can complete the unfolding process along with the flexible screen, so that the flexible screen and the support device can be stored on a single roll, reducing the overall volume and improving portability.

[0008] Based on the above concept, the lockable guide coiling and unfolding device of the present invention includes a housing, a scroll, a flexible screen, a support structure, and a drive structure. The housing has an opening for the flexible screen to unfold and retract. The scroll is disposed in the housing and rotates in cooperation with the drive mechanism. The support structure is fixed on the flexible screen and connected to the scroll. The support structure includes multiple longitudinally arranged magnetic strips fixed to the back of the flexible screen and magnetic blocks attracted to its sides, forming a flexible screen support assembly. The opening of the housing has a guide locking structure for guiding and locking the flexible screen support assembly during unfolding and retracting. It includes a guide frame and M floating locking links, M≥1. The guide frame is made of ferromagnetic material and attracts the flexible screen support assembly, guiding the flexible screen to complete the unfolding and retracting movement. Each floating locking link adopts a parallelogram hinge link mechanism, which is hinged to a positioning shaft disposed at the bottom of the guide frame and on the housing, so as to float parallel to the axis of the scroll as the flexible screen support assembly unfolds and retracts. When unfolding and retracting are completed, the relative links restrict each other's displacement to complete the locking.

[0009] Furthermore, bearings are installed at both ends of the housing, and the spool is assembled in the bearings at both ends to achieve rotation; at least one end of the spool is provided with an internal spline as a transmission interface; the drive structure is located at the end of the spool with the internal spline, and the output shaft of the drive structure is provided with an external spline at the tail end, which is used to cooperate with the internal spline of the spool to achieve power transmission.

[0010] Furthermore, the drive mechanism is driven by a motor or a manual crank.

[0011] Furthermore, adjacent magnetic strips in the support structure have opposite magnetic poles, and the magnetic blocks on the side and the magnetic strips on the back also have opposite magnetic poles.

[0012] Furthermore, the outer surface of the support structure is covered with a buffer layer, which is fixed to the flexible screen by adhesive bonding to protect the external structure of the flexible screen.

[0013] Furthermore, M parallelogram-shaped hinge linkages are equidistantly distributed along the horizontal direction of the opening of the shell, and each parallelogram-shaped hinge linkage is composed of 4 metal single rods hinged together in sequence.

[0014] Furthermore, the motor, which serves as the driving structure, includes a sensor and a control module. The control module receives the flexible screen's unfolding and retracting status information sensed by the sensor, controls the motor to rotate forward to unfold the flexible screen, controls the motor to rotate in reverse to retract the flexible screen, and stops driving the motor after it is fully unfolded and retracted.

[0015] Furthermore, the manual crank, which serves as the driving structure, includes a crank body and a handle. The output shaft of the crank body is inserted into the reel and engages with the spline inside the reel. By manually rotating the handle, the crank body is rotated, thereby controlling the rotation of the reel and realizing the unfolding and retraction of the flexible screen.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0017] 1. The present invention features a guide locking structure at the opening of the housing, with a floating locking link in the form of a parallelogram. During the unfolding and retraction process, the link floats up and down with the support structure. The guide frame and the support structure have an attraction force, keeping them on the same horizontal plane, which makes the unfolding and retraction of the flexible screen more stable and enables controllable display area. After unfolding and retraction, the relative links mutually restrict each other to lock the screen, limiting its continued unfolding and retraction.

[0018] 2. This invention employs a magnetic support structure formed by multiple longitudinally arranged magnetic strips fixed to the back of the flexible screen and magnetic blocks attracted to its sides, and sets a buffer material on the outer surface of the entire structure to form a flexible screen support as a whole. This structure not only maintains horizontal stability after the screen is unfolded, enabling writing and drawing on its surface, but also allows the screen to be rolled up and folded together, effectively improving the unfolding ratio of the device, reducing the overall size of the device, and improving portability.

[0019] 3. The drive structure of the present invention adopts a spline transmission method in which the external spline of the output shaft meshes with the internal spline of the reel, which can realize the power transmission that meets the transmission requirements. Moreover, the internal and external spline transmission reduces the space occupied by the overall transmission system, which facilitates further simplification of the overall device size. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the scroll structure in this invention;

[0022] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the support structure in this invention;

[0023] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the buffer layer wrapping principle in this invention;

[0024] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the support structure fixed to the reel in this invention;

[0025] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the guide locking structure in this invention;

[0026] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the internal and external spline mating in this invention;

[0028] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 3 of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The following three embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, are provided to further describe the structure and motion of the present invention.

[0030] Example 1: A built-in drive-lockable guide coiling and unwinding device.

[0031] Reference Figure 1 This example includes a housing 1, a scroll 2, a flexible screen 3, a support structure 4, a drive structure 5, and a guide locking structure 6. Among them:

[0032] The housing 1 includes bearing support blocks at both ends and an outer shell plate. The bearing support blocks at both ends have bearing mounting holes, and the bearings 11 are installed in the bearing holes. The outer shell plate is encapsulated on the outside, and a flexible screen 3 retraction and expansion opening 12 is provided on one side of the outer shell plate along the bearing axis. Since this retraction and expansion device is for low speed and light load, the interference fit between the mounting holes and the outer ring of the bearing is small, so the bearing can be evenly installed by tapping.

[0033] The spool 2 is a detachable stepped spool, such as... Figure 2 As shown, it includes a scroll body and connecting shafts that can be detachably plugged into at both ends. The scroll body is a hollow cylinder with an opening 12 through it along the axial direction on its side wall, and two opposing grooves along the axial direction on its inner wall. The connecting shafts at both ends are cylindrical, with an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the shaft body. An integrally formed protrusion is provided near the scroll body, corresponding to the groove on the scroll body, to facilitate plugging into the scroll body. The scroll 2 is installed inside the housing 1 and rotates through the connection shaft and bearing. The grooves on the inner wall of the scroll body can be used for plugging into the connecting shaft or for fixing the support structure mentioned below. The plugging method allows the shaft to be installed after the scroll body and support structure are installed, and then it engages with the bearing inside the housing 1, facilitating processing and installation.

[0034] The supporting structure 4, such as Figure 3 As shown, it includes multiple vertically arranged magnetic strips 41 fixed to the back of the flexible screen 3 and magnetic blocks 42 attracted to its sides. Adjacent magnetic strips 41 on the back have opposite magnetic poles, and the magnetic blocks on the sides also have opposite magnetic poles to the magnetic strips on the back. The flexible screen is fixed to the support structure 4 by adhesive bonding, forming a flexible screen support assembly together with the support structure. Through magnetic attraction, the support structure 4 exhibits semi-rigid and semi-flexible characteristics. That is, when the flexible screen is unfolded, the entire back magnetic strip and the side magnetic blocks attract and connect to each other to form a whole, meeting the needs of flat display and touch support of the flexible screen; when it needs to be folded up, the power provided by the drive mechanism 5 overcomes the attraction force between adjacent magnetic strips, causing the adjacent magnetic strips to separate and exhibit a flexible state, and are rolled into the roll 2 of the housing 1 to reduce the size of the device and improve portability. When the support structure 4 and the flexible screen 3 fixed on it are retracted together, the support structure 4 will come into contact with the display surface of the flexible screen 3. Since the magnetic strip on the back of the support structure is made of a hard material, it may cause scratches or damage to the flexible screen 3, affecting the display effect and user experience. Therefore, a buffer layer 43 is wrapped around the outer surface of the support structure 4. Figure 4 As shown, the material of the buffer layer can be a plastic substance, such as silicone or rubber; this embodiment uses, but is not limited to, rubber. Furthermore, the flexible buffer layer allows the magnetic strip and magnetic block to maintain their overall state in both unfolded and retracted states, preserving the structural integrity.

[0035] like Figure 5 As shown, the support structure 4 is fixed to the scroll 2 by an insertion method. One end of the support structure 4 that is inserted into the scroll 2 has a horizontally oriented "T"-shaped cross-section, meaning the top connecting plate is vertical. The height of the top connecting plate is greater than the inner diameter of the scroll body in the scroll 2, allowing it to fit into the groove on the inner wall of the scroll body. After inserting the connecting plate into the groove on the inner wall of the scroll body in the scroll 2 from the side, the connecting shafts at both ends are then inserted. This restricts the sliding of the support structure on the side wall of the scroll and prevents the support structure from detaching from the scroll 2 when fully unfolded.

[0036] The guide locking structure 6 is located at the opening of the housing 1 during its retraction and extension, and is used to guide and lock the entire flexible screen support during the retraction and extension process. Figure 6 As shown, the structure includes a guide frame 61 and M floating locking links 62, where M ≥ 1. The guide frame 61 is located at the flexible screen retraction opening of the housing 1 and is hinged by the floating locking links 62. The floating locking links have a parallelogram structure. Each parallelogram hinge link mechanism consists of 4 metal single rods that are hinged sequentially. During the movement, there are two opposing links that restrict each other's movement, which can achieve locking. The M floating locking links are equidistantly distributed along the horizontal direction of the housing retraction opening.

[0037] The flexible screen support's overall retraction and extension movement is guided by a guide frame 61, which is made of ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, cobalt, nickel, etc. In this embodiment, an iron-nickel alloy is used, but not limited to iron. During the retraction and extension process, it can form an attraction with the magnetic strip on the back and the magnetic blocks on the side of the support structure, effectively coping with the deformation force generated by the support structure during the curling and retraction process, and realizing controllable display area.

[0038] Since the flexible screen support is semi-rigid and semi-flexible, the thickness of the scroll 2 will change during the unfolding process. The guide frame 61 can keep the overall unfolding direction of the flexible screen support tangent to the outer surface of the scroll 2, so that the flexible screen 3 is stable and undamaged throughout the unfolding process. In addition, the floating locking link 62 has two extreme positions of movement when the flexible screen 3 is fully unfolded, so as to achieve locking.

[0039] The drive structure 5 is used to provide power for the rotation of the scroll 2. In this embodiment, it adopts a built-in layout, that is, the drive structure and the bearing support blocks at both ends of the housing are made as one piece and cannot be disassembled in the middle. The drive unit and transmission unit are directly installed in the drive structure to provide the power source.

[0040] In use, the drive structure 5 drives the scroll 2 to rotate, thereby causing the flexible screen to expand and contract as a whole. At this time, the guide frame is driven by the movement of the support structure 4 to move the floating locking link 62 up and down, smoothly completing the expansion and contraction process and realizing power transmission. Since the floating locking link has a limit position, after the flexible screen 3 is expanded and contracted, the floating locking link reaches the limit position, restricting the guide frame 61 from continuing to move.

[0041] Example 2: External, manually lockable guide coiling and unwinding device

[0042] Reference Figure 7 This embodiment uses the same housing 1, scroll 2, flexible screen 3, support structure 4, and guide locking structure 6 as in embodiment 1. The difference from embodiment 1 is that this embodiment uses a separable drive structure. An internal spline 21 is provided at at least one end of the scroll 2 as a transmission interface, and an external spline is provided at the tail of the output shaft of the drive structure to cooperate with the internal spline of the scroll 2 to realize power transmission.

[0043] This embodiment uses a manual crank as the driving structure. The manual crank includes a lever body 53 and a handle head 54. The output shaft end of the lever body 53 has an external spline. The output shaft of the lever body 53 is inserted into the spline in the scroll 2 for engagement. A schematic diagram of the spline engagement structure is attached. Figure 8 Using splines as the transmission structure can make the overall size of the device more compact and easy to install.

[0044] In use, the user manually rotates the handle 54 to drive the output shaft to rotate, thereby controlling the rotation of the scroll 2 to realize the unfolding and retraction of the flexible screen. The structure of the handle is not limited to this; it can also be a rotating disk, as long as it can enable the output shaft to rotate.

[0045] Example 3: External electrically lockable guide coiling and unwinding device

[0046] Reference Figure 9 This example employs a similar inventive concept to Embodiment 2, namely, a detachable electric drive structure. An internal spline 21 is provided at at least one end of the spool 2 as a transmission interface, and an external spline is provided at the tail of the output shaft of the drive structure to cooperate with the internal spline of the spool 2 to transmit power.

[0047] The drive structure in this embodiment provides driving force through a motor and includes a motor, sensor 51, and control module 52. The motor is mounted at both ends of the unfolding device via a loading structure, which is installed on the side of the device via a plug-in method, making installation convenient. The motor's output shaft has an external spline that mates with the internal spline of the reel. To reduce wiring and control complexity, the control module is installed at the end opposite to the motor's output shaft. It can control the motor to rotate forward to unfold the flexible screen or to rotate backward to retract the flexible screen, and stops driving the motor when the flexible screen has finished unfolding. Sensor 51 is installed on the upper and lower sides of the guide frame and can be, but is not limited to, force sensors. When the strain gauge of the force sensor contacts the edge of the unfolding opening 12, the resistance value of the strain gauge changes, generating a contact signal. During operation, when the flexible screen is fully unfolded, the force sensor contacts the lower edge of the unfolding opening 12, generating a signal indicating that the flexible screen has completed unfolding. The control module 52 receives this unfolding signal, stops the drive motor, and maintains the flexible screen in the unfolded state. When the flexible screen is fully retracted, the force sensor contacts the upper edge of the unfolding opening 12, generating a retracting signal indicating that the flexible screen has completed retracting. The control module 52 receives this retracting signal, stops the drive motor, and maintains the flexible screen in the retracted state.

[0048] Compared with the prior art, the support structure and flexible screen of the embodiment of the present invention can be retracted and expanded together, with a smaller overall storage size and good touch support after unfolding. At the same time, a guide locking structure is added to ensure that the flexible screen maintains uniform force during unfolding and has mechanical locking capability at the end of retraction. Furthermore, it has a complete driving scheme, which can provide a solution for rollable flexible screen device terminals.

[0049] The above description is merely a specific structure and three typical examples of the present invention, and does not constitute any limitation on the present invention. Obviously, those skilled in the art, after understanding the content and principles of the present invention, may make various modifications and changes in form and details without departing from the principles and structure of the present invention. However, these modifications and changes based on the inventive concept are still within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A lockable guide coiling and unwinding device, comprising a housing (1), a roller (2), a flexible screen (3), a support structure (4), and a drive structure (5), wherein the housing (1) is provided with an opening (12) for the flexible screen (3), the roller (2) is disposed in the housing (1) and cooperates with the drive mechanism (5) to achieve rotation, and the support structure (4) is fixed on the flexible screen (3) and connected to the roller (2), characterized in that: The support structure (4) includes multiple longitudinally arranged magnetic strips (41) fixed to the back of the flexible screen (3) and magnetic blocks (42) attracted to its sides, forming a flexible screen support whole; The opening of the housing (1) is provided with a guide locking structure (6) for guiding and locking the flexible screen support as a whole during the unfolding and retraction process. It includes a guide frame (61) and M floating locking links (62), M≥1. The guide frame (61) is made of ferromagnetic material, which attracts the flexible screen support as a whole and guides the flexible screen to complete the unfolding and retraction movement. Each floating locking link (62) adopts a parallelogram hinge link mechanism, which is hinged to the positioning shaft set at the bottom of the guide frame (61) and on the housing (1) so as to float parallel to the axis of the scroll (2) as the flexible screen support as a whole unfolds and retracts. When the unfolding and retraction is completed, the relative links restrict each other's displacement to complete the locking. The housing (1) is equipped with bearings (11) at both ends, and the spool (2) is assembled in the bearings (11) at both ends to achieve rotation; At least one end of the spool (2) is provided with an internal spline (21) as a transmission interface; The drive structure (5) is located at the end of the reel (2) with an internal spline. The output shaft of the drive structure is provided with an external spline (55) to cooperate with the internal spline of the reel (2) to realize power transmission. The drive mechanism (5) is driven by a motor or a manual crank. The adjacent magnetic strips (41) in the support structure (4) have opposite magnetic poles, and the magnetic block (42) on the side and the magnetic strip (41) on the back also have opposite magnetic poles; The M parallelogram hinge linkages are equidistantly distributed along the horizontal direction of the opening of the shell. Each parallelogram hinge linkage consists of 4 metal rods hinged together in sequence.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer surface of the support structure (4) is covered with a buffer layer (43), which is fixed to the flexible screen by adhesive bonding to protect the external structure of the flexible screen.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: The motor, which serves as the driving structure (5), includes a sensor (51) and a control module (52). The control module (52) receives the flexible screen's unfolding and retracting status information sensed by the sensor (51), and can control the motor to rotate forward to unfold the flexible screen, control the motor to rotate in reverse to retract the flexible screen, and stop driving the motor after it has fully unfolded and retracted.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: The manual crank, which serves as the driving structure (5), includes a crank body (53) and a handle (54). The output shaft of the crank body (53) is inserted into the spool (2) and engages with the spline inside the spool. By manually rotating the handle, the crank body is rotated, thereby controlling the rotation of the spool and realizing the unfolding and retraction of the flexible screen.

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