Multi-shaft hinge device, and electronic equipment using the multi-shaft hinge device

Abstract

To lighten a load placed on a flexible display sheet when housings have three states of internal folding, spreading, and external folding.SOLUTION: A multi-shaft hinge device is used for electronic equipment fitted with a flexible display sheet over both surfaces of a pair of housings, and connects the pair of housings in an openable / closable state, and the multi-shaft hing device comprises a hinge mechanism held between the pair of housings, wherein the hinge mechanism consists of a base shaft, an inter-shaft distance change part which changes the inter-shaft distance of the base shaft, and a swing shaft which is connected to the base shaft, and supports at least one of the pair of housing in an oscillatory state, and the inter-shaft distance change part is placed in operation according to the angle that the pair of housings form so as to lighten the load placed on the flexible display sheet when the pair of housings are opened and closed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a multi-axis hinge device that is suitable for use in various electronic devices such as mobile phones, electronic organizers, PDAs, netbooks, and even notebook computers, and that is configured by attaching a flexible display sheet, for example made of organic electroluminescence, across both surfaces of a pair of housings, and also to an electronic device that uses this multi-axis hinge device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, electronic devices such as mobile phones that have a single flexible organic electroluminescence display sheet attached across both surfaces of a pair of housings have been developed and are becoming available. Patent Document 1 below discloses a hinge structure that allows such electronic devices to smoothly transition from a folded state to an unfolded state. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2022-066795 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The hinge structure of the prior art document changes the inter-axial distance of the swing shafts of the housing according to the unfolding angle in the process of transitioning the electronic device from a folded state to an unfolded state. However, with this hinge structure, a large load is generated on the flexible display sheet when the housing is in the three states of inward folding, unfolded, and outward folding. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge structure that can reduce the load applied to a flexible display sheet when the housing is in three states: folded inward, unfolded, and folded outward. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a multi-axis hinge device used in an electronic device having a pair of housings with a flexible display sheet attached across both surfaces of the pair of housings, connecting the pair of housings in an openable and closable manner, the hinge mechanism having a hinge mechanism sandwiched between the pair of housings, the hinge mechanism including a base shaft, an axis-to-axis distance change unit that changes the axis-to-axis distance of the base shaft, and a swing shaft that is connected to the base shaft and supports at least one of the pair of housings in a swingable manner, and the hinge mechanism reduces the load on the flexible display sheet generated when the pair of housings is opened or closed by operating the axis-to-axis distance change unit in accordance with the angle formed by the pair of housings.

[0006] Next, the invention described in claim 2 is a multi-axis hinge device used in an electronic device having a pair of housings with a flexible display sheet attached across both surfaces thereof, and connecting the pair of housings in an openable and closable manner, the multi-axis hinge device having a hinge mechanism sandwiched between the pair of housings, the hinge mechanism being composed of a base shaft, a swing shaft connected to at least one of the pair of housings and revolving and rotating around the base shaft, and an interlocking part interlocking the rotation based on the revolution, the swing shaft swinging at least one of the housings by the revolution and rotation of the swing shaft around the base shaft reduces the load on the flexible display sheet generated by opening and closing the pair of housings.

[0007] Next, the invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the interlocking part is composed of a sun gear provided on the base shaft and a planetary gear provided on the oscillating shaft and meshing with the sun gear, and the oscillating shaft revolves and rotates relative to the base shaft.

[0008] Next, the invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that the oscillating shaft rotates and revolves around the base shaft, and the axis distance changer changes the axis distance of the base shaft in accordance with the revolution angle of the oscillating shaft.

[0009] Next, the invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the axis distance changing portion changes the axis distance of the base shafts within a range in which the pair of housings transition from an inwardly folded state to an unfolded state.

[0010] Next, the invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that the axis distance changing part has a biasing part that biases the base shaft, and the biasing part is composed of a biasing cam provided in a housing hole that supports the base shaft so that the axis distance can be changed, and a transmission arm that transmits the revolution angle of the swing shaft to the biasing cam.

[0011] Next, the invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that the hinge mechanism has a movement restricting portion, and the movement restricting portion restricts movement of the urging cam when the pair of housings are in an expanded state.

[0012] Next, the invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that the multi-axis hinge device described in any one of claims 1 to 7 is used in an electronic device. Effect of the Invention

[0013] When configured as in claim 1, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet when the housing is shifted from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state.

[0014] When configured as in claim 2, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet when the housing is shifted from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state.

[0015] When configured as in claim 3, the load on the flexible display sheet can be reduced with a reduced number of parts.

[0016] When configured as in claim 4, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet when the housing is shifted from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state.

[0017] When configured as in claim 5, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet when the housing is shifted from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state.

[0018] When configured as in claim 6, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet when the housing is shifted from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state while achieving a compact size.

[0019] When configured as in claim 7, the housing in the opened state can be securely held.

[0020] When configured as in claim 8, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet when the electronic device is shifted from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B show an electronic device having a flexible display sheet using a multi-axis hinge device according to the present invention, in which (a) is an oblique view of the housing when the flexible display sheet is in an inwardly folded state, (b) is an oblique view of the housing when the flexible display sheet is in an unfolded state, and (c) is an oblique view of the housing when the flexible display sheet is in an outwardly folded state. [Diagram 2] 1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of a pair of housings and a multi-axis hinge device when the flexible display sheet is in an unfolded state. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mounting plate, the base frame, the cover, and the lower cover. [Figure 4] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating the bending state of a flexible display sheet, in which (a) is a schematic diagram of the change in state of the flexible display sheet when the axial distance of the base shafts does not change, (b) is a schematic diagram of the change in state of the flexible display sheet when the axial distance of the base shafts changes, and (c) is a diagram showing an example of the change in slack that occurs in the flexible display sheet when it transitions from an outwardly folded state to an unfolded state to an inwardly folded state. [Diagram 5]4A is a perspective view of the hinge mechanism, a base frame, a mounting plate, and a side bracket; FIG. 4B is an inverted perspective view of the side bracket; FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. [Figure 7] 1 shows the hinge mechanism in an inwardly folded state, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is a CC cross-sectional view of the plan view of (a), (c) is a side view showing the state of the first and second axis-distance-changing arms, (d) is a side view showing the state of the first and second base shaft arms, and (e) is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the biasing cam and the base shaft. [Figure 8] 1 shows the hinge mechanism in an unfolded state, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is a DD cross-sectional view of the plan view of (a), (c) is a side view showing the state of the first and second axis distance changing arms, (d) is a side view showing the state of the first and second base shaft arms, and (e) is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the biasing cam and the base shaft. [Figure 9] 1 shows the hinge mechanism in an outwardly folded state, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is an E-E cross-sectional view of the plan view of (a), (c) is a side view showing the state of the first and second axis-distance-changing arms, (d) is a side view showing the state of the first and second base shaft arms, and (e) is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the biasing cam and the base shaft. [Figure 10] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating the rotation of the hinge mechanism, where (a) is the unfolded state, (b) is the inward-folded state, and (c) is the outward-folded state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a multi-axis hinge device according to the present invention and an electronic device using the multi-axis hinge device will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. EXAMPLES

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a mobile phone A (smartphone) as an example of an electronic device using the multi-axis hinge device according to the present invention.

[0024] 1(a) is a perspective view of a mobile phone A in which the angle between the pair of housings 1 is approximately 0 degrees and the flexible display sheet 4 is folded inward (hereinafter, referred to as the inward folded state). Here, the exterior of the mobile phone A is divided into a pair of housings 1 and a back cover 2, and the back cover 2 is composed of a pair of lower covers 21, a cover 22, a slide bracket 23, and a base bracket 24. In addition, a switch 3 is provided for starting the display of the flexible display sheet 4. As will be described later, the pair of housings 1 are connected to a mounting plate 5, and the pair of mounting plates 5 are supported to be swingable relative to the base frame 6 by a multi-axis hinge device B (not visible in FIG. 1) provided on the base frame 6. Fig. 1(b) is a perspective view of the mobile phone A when the pair of housings 1 are opened to an angle of approximately 180 degrees and the flexible display sheet 4 is unfolded (hereinafter, "unfolded state"). When the pair of housings 1 are opened to an angle of 360 degrees, the result is Fig. 1(c). In Fig. 1(c), the flexible display sheet 4 is folded outward (hereinafter, "outward folded state"), and the user can receive information displayed on the flexible display sheet 4 while maintaining the compactness of the mobile phone A.

[0025] 2 is a plan view illustrating the multi-axis hinge device B, a pair of housings 1, and a pair of mounting plates 5 when the flexible display sheet 4 is in an unfolded state. Here, the flexible display sheet 4 and the like are omitted in order to illustrate the multi-axis hinge device B. The multi-axis hinge device B is composed of a hinge mechanism 7, a lock mechanism 8, a housing slide mechanism 9, a cover slide mechanism 10, a synchronization mechanism 11, a flexible display sheet guide mechanism 12, and a cover guide mechanism 13. The hinge mechanism 7, lock mechanism 8, housing slide mechanism 9, cover slide mechanism 10, and synchronization mechanism 11 are attached to the base frame 6 shown in FIG.

[0026] The hinge mechanism 7 and the base frame 6 shown in FIG. 3 are screwed and fixed to each other through the mounting hole 6c of the base frame 6. The mounting hole 72aa of the hinge arm 72a extending from the base shaft support portion 71 is screwed into the mounting screw hole 5a provided in the pair of mounting plates 5 shown in FIG. 3. Since the hinge mechanism 7 is provided on the base frame 6, the pair of mounting plates 5 are supported to be swingable in a swing direction 1b around the axis 1a with respect to the base frame 6. Here, the axis 1a is a composite axis combining a base axis and a swing axis, which will be described later. The swing axis 7b of the hinge arm 72a is structured to swing and move within the base shaft support portion 71 in order to realize the three states of the pair of housings 1: an inwardly folded state, an unfolded state, and an outwardly folded state. The details of the hinge mechanism 7 will be described later.

[0027] The lock mechanism 8 and the base frame 6 are screwed together through the mounting hole 6e of the base frame 6. A lock arm 84 extending from a first joint 82 of the lock synchronization part 81 is connected to a pair of mounting plates 5 via a second joint 83, a lock joint 85, and a lock bracket 86. Specifically, the lock bracket 86 is positioned by a shaft (not shown) and a positioning hole 5d of a pair of mounting plates 5 shown in FIG. 3, and is screwed together through a mounting hole 86a and a mounting screw hole 5c. The lock mechanism 8 is provided to maintain the outwardly folded state, the unfolded state, and the inwardly folded state, and each joint is provided with a load generating part that generates a motion load. By connecting the base frame 6 and the mounting plate 5 through a plurality of joints such as the first and second joints 82 and 83, overlapping fitting with the hinge mechanism 7 does not occur.

[0028] The housing slide mechanism 9 and the base frame 6 are screwed together through the mounting holes 6d and 6e of the base frame 6. Here, the mounting hole 6e is fastened together with the lock mechanism 8 described above. The housing slide mechanism 9 is a mechanism that removes slack in the flexible display sheet 4 that occurs as the housings 1 are folded inward by pulling the pair of housings 1 in the direction of the arrow 1c as the housings 1 are shifted from the outwardly folded state to the inwardly folded state. The housing slide mechanism 9 is composed of a slide arm 91a which is an open / close detection unit A91 that detects the swing of the pair of mounting plates 5, a slide conversion unit A92 such as an axially moving plate 92a that converts the moving direction of the mounting plate 5 picked up by the slide arm 91a, and a tension bracket unit A93 that transmits the movement of the slide conversion unit A92 to the pair of housings 1, and the mounting hole 93ab of the tension bracket 93a constituting the tension bracket unit A93 is screwed into a mounting screw hole (not shown) provided in the pair of housings 1. With this structure, the housing slide mechanism 9 moves the pair of housings 1 in the direction away from the base frame 6. Therefore, the flexible display sheet 4 can receive an appropriate tension according to the amount of swinging of the mounting plate 5 .

[0029] The cover slide mechanism 10 is a mechanism for constantly pulling the cover 22 shown in FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrow 1c to remove slack in the cover 22 as it is folded outward, and is configured to urge a cover biasing portion 102 that screws into the ear portion 22a of the cover 22 in FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrow 1c by a tension elastic portion 101 such as a coil spring.

[0030] The synchronization mechanism 11 and the base frame 6 are screwed into the mounting hole 6b of the base frame 6. The synchronization mechanism 11 has a pair of synchronization shaft pins 111 and a pair of synchronization gears 112 that mesh with each other and are centered around the pair of synchronization shaft pins 111. The synchronization mechanism 11 is provided to synchronize the swinging of the pair of mounting plates 5.

[0031] The flexible display sheet guide mechanism 12 guides the flexible display sheet 4 so that it does not move in any direction other than the direction of the arrow 1c and the opposite direction by bonding a flexible display sheet guide pin 122 fitted into a long hole 121 to a protective sheet backed by the flexible display sheet 4.

[0032] The cover guide mechanism 13 has a cover guide pin 132 fitted in an elongated hole 131 which fits into a guide hole 22b of the cover 22, thereby guiding the cover 22 so that it does not move in any direction other than the direction of the arrow 1c and the opposite direction.

[0033] 3, the cover 22 is attached to the base frame 6 by screwing the mounting hole 22c into the mounting screw hole 6a of the base frame 6. Also, the lower cover 21 is attached to the mounting plate 5 by screwing the mounting hole 21a into the mounting screw hole 5b of the mounting plate 5. Furthermore, the hooks 21b and 21c are engaged with the slide bracket 23 shown in FIG.

[0034] The multi-axis hinge device B is composed of these multiple mechanisms, each of which plays a different role. Among these roles, the present invention will explain in detail the hinge mechanism 7, which reduces the load applied to the flexible display sheet 4 when it transitions from an outwardly folded state to an unfolded state to an inwardly folded state.

[0035] Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the folded state of the flexible display sheet 4, where (a) is a schematic diagram of the state change of the flexible display sheet 4 when the axial distance of the base shafts 7a does not change, (b) is a schematic diagram of the state change of the flexible display sheet 4 when the axial distance of the base shafts 7a changes, and (c) is a diagram showing an example of the change in slack that occurs in the flexible display sheet 4 when it transitions from an outwardly folded state to an unfolded state to an inwardly folded state. In Figures 4(a) and 4(b), the flexible display sheet 4 transitions from a flexible display sheet 4a in an outwardly folded state having an arc c4a around the origin 41, to a flexible display sheet 4b in an unfolded state, to a flexible display sheet 4c in an inwardly folded state having an arc c4c.

[0036] In FIG. 4(a), the axis distance xa of the base shafts 7a is fixed, and the flexible display sheet 4 is folded from an outward folded state to an inward folded state. In contrast, in FIG. 4(b), while the flexible display sheet 4 is folded from an outward folded state to an unfolded state to an inward folded state, the axis distance of the base shafts 7a is changed from axis distance xa to axis distance xb in the x direction of the paper, and the axis position is also changed to yb in the y direction to become the base shaft 7a'. Since the full display sheet 4c in the inward folded state is disposed between a pair of base shafts 7a, the axis distance can be increased from xa to xb to make the curvature of the arc c4c' larger than that of c4c. This reduces the load caused by bending the flexible display sheet 4, and a highly reliable flexible display sheet 4 can be realized.

[0037] Increasing the center distance of the base shafts 7a also has the effect of reducing slack in the flexible display sheet 4. FIG. 4(c) is a graph showing the change in slackness of the flexible display sheet 4, with the horizontal axis 43 representing the amount of rotation of the flexible display sheet 4 and the vertical axis 44 representing the amount of slackness occurring in the flexible display sheet 4. Curve 42a is a slackness curve when the center distance of the base shafts 7a is fixed as shown in FIG. 4(a), curve 42b is a slackness curve when the center distance of the base shafts 7a is changed from the outwardly folded state to the unfolded state to form the base shafts 7a' as shown in FIG. 4(b), and curve 42c is a slackness curve when the center distance of the base shafts 7a is similarly changed from the outwardly folded state to the unfolded state to the inwardly folded state to form the base shafts 7a'. As can be seen from FIG. 4(c), the slackness change amount Lb of the curves 42b and 42c is smaller than the slackness change amount La of the curve 42a. The slackness occurring in the flexible display sheet 4 can be absorbed by the tension force of the housing slide mechanism 9 described with reference to FIG. 3, but the smaller the original slackness change, the smaller the tension force applied to the flexible display sheet 4. In this way, by making the inter-axis distance of the base shafts 7a variable, it is possible to reduce the bending load when folding the flexible display sheet 4 inward and to reduce the load required to prevent sagging. In the present invention, the axis distance of the base shafts 7a is changed from the outwardly folded state to the unfolded state so as to obtain the slack curve 42b. This is because by changing the axis distance to an appropriate position in the unfolded state, the slack of the flexible display sheet 4 in the unfolded state can be made less than that of the curve 42c. Furthermore, the unfolded state of the flexible display sheet 4 can be maintained by using a mechanism for changing the axis distance, which will be described in detail later.

[0038] As described above, changing the inter-axis distance when the flexible display sheet 4 transitions from an inward-folded state to an unfolded state is also disclosed in Patent Document 1. However, the hinge mechanism 7 that can be adapted to devices that transition the flexible display sheet 4 from an inward-folded state to an unfolded state and then to an outward-folded state and that is compact is a feature of the present invention, and details thereof will be described below.

[0039] FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of the hinge mechanism 7, (a) being a perspective view of the hinge mechanism 7, the base frame 6, the mounting plate 5, and the side bracket 14, and (b) being a perspective view of the side bracket 14 turned upside down. As described with reference to FIG. 2, the hinge mechanism 7 and the base frame 6 are screwed and fixed to the mounting hole 6c of the base frame 6. Also, the mounting hole 72aa of the hinge arm 72a is screwed into the mounting screw hole 5a provided in the mounting plate 5. This allows the pair of mounting plates 5 to be swingably connected to the base frame 6. As described above, the pair of mounting plates 5 are connected to the pair of housings 1, respectively, so that the pair of housings 1 swing in response to the opening and closing of the hinge mechanism 7 sandwiched between the pair of housings 1. The hinge mechanism 7 has a base shaft 7a and a swing shaft 7b connected to the base shaft 7a, and the swing shaft 7b swingably supports at least one of the pair of housings 1. Although details will be described later, the mounting plate 5 rotates around the base shaft 7a while swinging around the swing shaft 7b, thereby realizing a hinge that places little strain on the flexible display sheet 4.

[0040] The side bracket 14 and the mounting plate 5 are positioned and screwed together by a positioning hole 5h and mounting screw holes 5f, 5g provided in the mounting plate 5 and a positioning shaft 14c and mounting holes 14a, 14b provided in the side bracket 14 shown in Fig. 5(b). At this time, the synchronization arm 77a provided at the end of the hinge mechanism 7 and constituting the synchronization arm part 77 is sandwiched and assembled between the synchronization arm groove 5e of the mounting plate 5 and the synchronization arm cover 14d of the side bracket 14 shown in Fig. 5(b), and is slidable in the mounting plate 5 in the direction of the arrow 5i. The reason for making it slidable in the mounting plate 5 is to avoid overlapping fitting with the connection of the mounting plate 5 by the hinge mechanism 7.

[0041] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge mechanism 7, and the synchronous gear portion 76 and the synchronous arm portion 77 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

[0042] [Explanation of the configuration of the synchronous gear portion 76 and the synchronous arm portion 77] A synchronization gear shaft 76aa provided on a pair of synchronization gears 76a, which are the synchronization gear portion 76, is fitted into a synchronization hole 75ab provided in a synchronization frame 75a constituting the synchronization frame portion 75. Also, a shaft hole (not shown) of a synchronization arm 77a is fitted into the synchronization shaft 75aa provided in the synchronization frame 75a. The synchronization gear shaft 76aa provided on the synchronization gear 76a and on the opposite side to the synchronization frame 75a and a synchronization arm shaft 77ab provided on the synchronization arm 77a are supported by a shaft hole provided in a support plate (not shown). The pair of synchronization gears 76a mesh with each other, and each synchronization gear 76a also meshes with a synchronization arm gear 77aa provided on the synchronization arm 77a.

[0043] [Explanation of the operation of the synchronous arm section 77] In Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the rotation of one synchronous arm 77a is transmitted to the synchronous arm gear 77aa provided on the other synchronous arm 77a via the synchronous arm gear 77aa and the pair of synchronous gears 76a. Therefore, when one synchronous arm 77a is swung, the other synchronous arm 77a also swung at the same angle. A rolling shaft 77b is rotatably supported in a rolling shaft hole 77ac provided at the tip of the synchronous arm 77a. The rolling shaft 77b rotates within the mounting plate 5 and the side bracket 14, thereby smoothing the sliding of the synchronous arm 77a within the mounting plate 5. With this configuration, when one mounting plate 5 is swung relative to the base frame 6, the other mounting plate 5 also swung in synchronization. This makes it possible to improve the quality of operation when opening and closing a pair of housings 1 to which each of the pair of mounting plates 5 is connected. The synchronous arm part 77 is made up of the synchronous arm 77a and the rolling shaft 77b.

[0044] Next, the hinge mechanism 7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. [Explanation of the configuration of hinge mechanism 7] The base shaft 71a passes through the long holes 71ba and 71ca in the first and second housings 71b and 71c. The shaft ends 71ab at both ends of the base shaft 71a pass through the base shaft receivers 73ab and 73bb in the first and second shaft distance changing arms 73a and 73b, which are the transmission arms. Next, the shaft ends 71ab at both ends of the base shaft 71a pass through the irregular holes 71da and 71ea in the first and second base shaft arms 71d and 71e. Finally, the shaft ends 71ab at both ends of the base shaft 71a pass through the base shaft receiver 72bb in the swing shaft arm 72b, and are incorporated into the base shaft guides 74aa provided in the hinge frame 74a, which is the hinge frame portion 74, and the base shaft guides (not shown) provided in the synchronization frame 75a. The base shaft guides 74aa are arc-shaped grooves, and guide the base shaft 71a slidably in the arc direction. The base shaft receivers 73ab, 73bb, and 72bb are rotatably supported on the base shaft 71a, but the rotation of the special holes 71da, 71ea and the base shaft 71a is restricted in order to stabilize the rotation of the hinge arm 72a, which will be described later, by restricting the rotation of the base shaft 71a.

[0045] The base shaft arm shaft 71f on the arm shaft 7c passes through the base shaft arm bearing 74ab of the hinge frame 74a, passes through the first and second base shaft arm bearings 71db, 71eb of the first and second base shaft arms 71d, 71e, and screws into the base shaft arm screw hole 71bb of the first housing 71b. Also, the base shaft arm shaft 71g on the arm shaft 7c passes through the base shaft arm bearing 75ac of the synchronization frame 75a, passes through the first and second base shaft arm bearings 71db, 71eb of the first and second base shaft arms 71d, 71e, and screws into the base shaft arm screw hole 71cb of the second housing 71c. The swing shaft 72ac of the hinge arm 72a passes through the swing shaft receivers 73aa, 73ba of the first and second axis distance changing arms 73a, 73b, and is connected to the swing shaft receiver 72ba of the swing shaft arm 72b by a swing shaft screw 72c via a washer 72ca. The swing shaft receivers 73aa, 73ba, 72ba are supported rotatably relative to the swing shaft 72ac. Here, the base shaft 71a, the first and second housings 71b, 71c, the first and second base shaft arms 71d, 71e, and the base shaft arm shaft 71f constitute the base shaft support section 71. The hinge arm 72a, the swing shaft arm 72b, and the swing shaft screw 72c constitute the hinge arm section 72.

[0046] A sun gear 71aa provided on the base shaft 71a and a planetary gear 72ab provided on the hinge arm 72a mesh to form a planetary mechanism. As described above, the rotation of the base shaft 71a is restricted by the first and second base shaft arms 71d and 71e, so the hinge arm 72a revolves around the base shaft 71a while rotating around the swing shaft 7b. In this way, the present invention utilizes rotation and revolution during the swing operation of the mounting plate, the advantages of which will be described later.

[0047] [Explanation of the operation of hinge mechanism 7] The first and second base shaft arms 71d and 71e can swing around the base shaft arm axes 71f and 71g in the direction of the arrow 78b and the opposite direction, thereby changing the axis distance of the base shaft 71a. The first and second axis distance changing arms 73a and 73b rotate around the base shaft 7a as the swing shaft 7b revolves. Here, the housing hole is formed by the long hole 71ba and the biasing cam housing holes 71bc and 71be, which will be described later, and the biasing cams 73ac and 73bc, which are provided at the tips of the first and second axis distance changing arms 73a and 73b and move within the housing hole, bias the base shaft 71a. Therefore, the axis distance of the pair of base shafts 71a can be controlled according to the revolution angle of the swing shaft 7b around the base shaft 7a.

[0048] FIG. 7 shows the hinge mechanism 7 in an inwardly folded state, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is a CC cross-sectional view of the plan view of (a), (c) is a side view showing the state of the first and second axis-distance changing arms 73a, 73b, (d) is a side view showing the state of the first and second base shaft arms 71d, 71e, and (e) is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the biasing cams 73ac, 73bc and the base shaft 71a. In the hinge mechanism 7 in the inwardly folded state, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the biasing cams 73ac and 73bc of the first and second axis-distance changing arms 73a and 73b are disposed at the bottom of the base shaft 7a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7(e), one base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the biasing cam recess 73bf of the biasing cam 73bc and is located at the upper end of the first housing 71b. The other base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the biasing cam recess 73af of the biasing cam 73ac and is located at the upper end of the first housing 71b. This is the axis-distance of the base shaft 7a in the inwardly folded state, and corresponds to the axis 7a' in FIG. 4. Therefore, the first and second base shaft arms 71d and 71e are in the state shown in FIG. 7(d).

[0049] FIG. 8 shows the hinge mechanism 7 in an unfolded state, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is a DD cross-sectional view of the plan view of (a), (c) is a side view showing the state of the first and second axis-distance changing arms 73a, 73b, (d) is a side view showing the state of the first and second base shaft arms 71d, 71e, and (e) is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the biasing cams 73ac, 73bc and the base shaft 71a. In the hinge mechanism 7 in the unfolded state, the biasing cams 73ac and 73bc of the first and second axis-distance changing arms 73a and 73b are disposed beside the base shaft 7a as shown in FIG. 8(c). As a result, as shown in FIG. 8(e), one base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the biasing cam recess 73bf of the biasing cam 73bc and is located at the upper end of the first housing 71b. The other base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the biasing cam recess 73af of the biasing cam 73ac and is located at the upper end of the first housing 71b. This is the axis-distance of the base shaft 7a in the unfolded state, and corresponds to the axis 7a' in FIG. 4. Therefore, the first and second base shaft arms 71d and 71e are in the state shown in FIG. 8(d), and there is no change from FIG. 7(d). That is, there is no change in the axis-distance of the pair of base shafts 71a between the inward-folded state and the unfolded state.

[0050] Here, the biasing cam top wall 73bd of the biasing cam 73bc abuts against the housing wall 71bf of the biasing cam housing hole 71be to restrict the position. Therefore, the second shaft distance changing arm 73b cannot move any further. Also, the biasing cam side wall 73ad of the biasing cam 73ac slides on the housing wall 71bd of the biasing cam housing hole 71bc between the state of FIG. 7(e) and the state of FIG. 8(e), and the base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the biasing cam recess 73af of the biasing cam 73ac and is positioned at the upper end of the first housing 71b. Due to such shapes of the biasing cams 73ac, 73bc and the biasing cam housing holes 71bc, 71be, the hinge mechanism 7 can be maintained in the deployed state. The biasing cams 73ac, 73bc, and the biasing cam housing holes 71bc, 71be constitute a movement restricting portion that maintains the hinge mechanism 7 in the deployed state. 6, one end of the base shaft 71a is biased by a biasing cam 73ac, and the other end is biased by a biasing cam 73bc, so that both of the pair of base shafts 71a can be held in the deployed state.

[0051] Figure 9 shows the hinge mechanism 7 in an outwardly folded state, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is an E-E cross-sectional view of the plan view of (a), (c) is a side view showing the state of the first and second axis-distance changing arms 73a, 73b, (d) is a side view showing the state of the first and second base shaft arms 71d, 71e, and (e) is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the biasing cams 73ac, 73bc and the base shaft 71a. As described above, in the unfolded state, the hinge device 7 maintains the unfolded state due to the relationship between the urging cam top wall 73bd and the housing wall 71bf. However, when a stronger force is applied to the hinge arm 72a, the urging cam corner 73be of the urging cam 73bc is elastically deformed and released from the holding state. As a result, the urging cam corner 73be moves along the housing wall 71bf, and the second inter-axis distance changing arm 73b starts to rotate and reaches the state shown in FIG. 9(c). Therefore, in the hinge mechanism 7 in the outwardly folded state, the urging cams 73ac and 73bc are disposed on the upper part of the base shaft 7a. Then, as shown in FIG. 9(e), one base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the urging cam recess 73bf of the urging cam 73bc and is located at the lower end of the first housing 71b. The other base shaft 71a is sandwiched between the long hole 71ba and the urging cam recess 73af of the urging cam 73ac and is located at the lower end of the first housing 71b. This is the axis distance of the base shaft 7a in the outwardly folded state, and corresponds to the shaft 7a in Fig. 4. In this manner, the axis distance of the pair of base shafts 71a is changed by the action of the first and second axis distance changing arms 73a, 73b, which are transmission arms. Here, the axis distance changing unit 73 is composed of the first and second axis distance changing arms 73a, 73b, the urging cams 73ac, 73bc, and the first and second housings 71b, 71c.

[0052] In this way, the first and second axis distance changing arms 73a, 73b swing around the base shaft 7a in response to the revolution of the swing shaft 7b around the base shaft 7a. The biasing cams 73ac, 73bc are shaped so as not to change the axis distance between the pair of base shafts 71a when the hinge mechanism 7 is in a state from an inwardly folded state to an unfolded state, and to change the axis distance between the pair of base shafts 71a in response to the revolution when the hinge mechanism 7 is in a state from an unfolded state to an outwardly folded state. In addition, in combination with the shape of the biasing cam housing holes 71bc, 71be, the biasing cams 73ac, 73bc are also provided with the function of maintaining the unfolded state.

[0053] Next, the relationship between the base shaft 7a and the swing shaft 7b in the hinge mechanism 7 will be described. [Explanation of the operation of the planetary mechanism] As described above, the sun gear 71aa provided on the base shaft 71a and the planetary gear 72ab provided on the hinge arm 72a constitute a planetary mechanism. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the rotation of the hinge mechanism 7, where (a) is the unfolded state, (b) is the inwardly folded state, and (c) is the outwardly folded state. In FIG. 10(a), the sun gear 71aa, which is centered on the base shaft 7a, meshes with the planet gear 72ab, which is centered on the swing shaft 7b of the hinge arm 72a. As described above, the base shaft 71a is restricted in rotation by the first and second base shaft arms 71d and 71e, so the sun gear 71aa cannot rotate around the base shaft 7a. In addition, the base shaft 71a and the hinge arm 72a are connected by the swing shaft arm 72b (not shown). Therefore, when the hinge arm 72a is operated to be folded inward or outward, the swing shaft 7b revolves around the base shaft 7a in the direction of the arrow 78a, and since the sun gear 71aa and the planetary gear 72ab are meshed with each other, the hinge arm 72a rotates around the swing shaft 7b in the direction of the arrow 78c. Here, the swing shaft arm 72b, the sun gear 71aa, and the planetary gear 72ab constitute an interlocking part 79.

[0054] In the inward-folded state shown in Fig. 10(b), the revolution angle θ1 of the swing shaft 7b from the unfolded state to the inward-folded state is less than 90 degrees, for example 53 degrees, but the hinge arm 72a rotates 90 degrees, which is vertical, from the unfolded state. This is because the pitch circle radius of the sun gear 71aa and the planetary gear 72ab is adjusted so that the hinge arm 72a becomes vertical when the revolution angle is θ1. For example, if the reduction ratio is set to 0.7 by adjusting the pitch circle radius, the rotation angle at the revolution angle of 53 degrees is 37 degrees, for a total of 90 degrees. 10(b), the hinge arm 72a can be placed in a vertical state with the pivot shaft 7b positioned outside the base shaft 7a, so the distance F between the pair of hinge arms 72a can be increased. This allows the curvature of the bent portion of the flexible display sheet 4 to be increased, and the bending load applied to the flexible display sheet 4 to be reduced.

[0055] In the outwardly folded state shown in FIG. 10(c), the base shaft 7a swings around the arm shaft 7c due to the change in the shaft distance. The swing angle θ3 is set to, for example, 24 degrees. Here, the swing angle θ3 is the angle between the line segment 7d connecting the arm shaft 7c and the base shaft 7a in FIG. 10(b) and the line segment 7e connecting the arm shaft 7c and the base shaft 7a in FIG. 10(c). With the base shaft 7a swinging in this manner, the hinge arm 72a is rotated around the base shaft 7a by θ2 (for example, 39 degrees). At this time, the rotation angle of the swing shaft 7b is 27 degrees due to the reduction ratio of 0.7, so the orientation of the hinge arm 72a is 90 degrees, which is the sum of 24 degrees, 39 degrees, and 27 degrees. By appropriately setting the swing angle θ3 in this manner, the hinge arm 72a can be made vertical even in the outwardly folded state. 10(c), the hinge arm 72a can be placed in a vertical state with the swing shaft 7b positioned outside the base shaft 7a, so the distance G between the pair of hinge arms 72a can be increased. This allows the curvature of the bent portion of the flexible display sheet 4 to be increased, and the bending load applied to the flexible display sheet 4 to be reduced.

[0056] 10, the sun gear 71aa and the planet gear 72ab are meshed to form the interlocking portion 79. However, the interlocking portion 79 is not limited to gear meshing, and may be formed of friction rollers, magnets, cams, link mechanisms, or the like.

[0057] In this way, by changing the axis distance of the hinge mechanism 7 and by adopting a structure in which the oscillating shaft 7b rotates while revolving around the base shaft 7a, the curvature of the bent portion of the flexible display sheet 4 is increased, and the bending load applied to the flexible display sheet 4 can be reduced. Furthermore, by appropriately changing the axis distance, it is possible to suppress slack that occurs when the flexible display sheet 4 is folded outward and inward, and to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet 4. Furthermore, by using a planetary mechanism as the hinge mechanism 7 and providing first and second axis distance changing arms 73a and 73b that change the axis distance of the base shaft 7a according to the revolution angle of the planetary mechanism, a compact hinge mechanism 7 that can be changed from an inward folded state to an outward folded state via an unfolded state can be realized.

[0058] As described above, the multi-axis hinge mechanism 7 of the present invention is used in an electronic device in which a flexible display sheet 4 is attached across both surfaces of a pair of housings 1, and is a multi-axis hinge device B that connects the pair of housings 1 in an openable and closable manner, and has a hinge mechanism 7 sandwiched between the pair of housings 1, and the hinge mechanism 7 is composed of a base shaft 7a, an axis distance change unit 73 that changes the axis distance of the base shaft 7a, and a swing shaft 7b that is connected to the base shaft 7a and supports at least one of the pair of housings 1 in a swingable manner, and by operating the axis distance change unit 73 in accordance with the angle formed by the pair of housings 1, it is possible to reduce the load on the flexible display sheet 4 generated when the pair of housings 1 is opened and closed.

[0059] Further, there is provided a multi-axis hinge device B that is used in an electronic device having a pair of housings 1 with a flexible display sheet 4 attached across both surfaces of the pair of housings 1 and connects the pair of housings 1 in an openable and closable manner, the multi-axis hinge device B having a hinge mechanism 7 sandwiched between the pair of housings 1, the hinge mechanism 7 being composed of a base axis 7a, a swing axis 7b that is connected to at least one of the pair of housings 1 and revolves and rotates around the base axis 7a, and an interlocking portion 79 that interlocks the rotation based on the revolution, and by swinging at least one of the housings 1 by the revolution and rotation of the swing axis 7b about the base axis 7a, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the flexible display sheet 4 generated by opening and closing the pair of housings 1. [Industrial Applicability]

[0060] The present invention is suitable for use in a foldable electronic device having a configuration in which a flexible display sheet is draped across a pair of housings, such as a mobile phone, electronic organizer, PDA, netbook, video display device, portable game machine, notebook computer, etc., as well as a foldable electronic device using this multi-axis hinge device B. The multi-axis hinge device B of the present invention is not limited to use in mobile phones, but can be widely used in foldable electronic devices having a configuration in which a pair of housings, each having a flexible display sheet attached to its surface, are connected to each other so as to be able to be opened and closed, as described above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 1 Case 2 Rear cover 3 Switch 4 Flexible display sheet 5 Mounting plate 6 Base Frame 7 Hinge mechanism 7a Base shaft 7b Swing shaft 7c Arm axis 8 Locking mechanism 9 Housing slide mechanism 10 Cover slide mechanism 11 Synchronization mechanism 12 Flexible display sheet guide mechanism 13 Cover guide mechanism 71 Base shaft support 71a base shaft 71aa sun gear 71b 1st Housing 71c 2nd Housing 71d 1st base shaft arm 71e 2nd base shaft arm 71f Base shaft arm axis 71g Base shaft arm axis 72 Hinge arm part 72a Hinge arm 72ac swing shaft 72b Swinging arm 72c Swing shaft screw 73 Center distance change unit 73a First center distance changing arm 73b Second axle distance changing arm 74 Hinge frame 74a Hinge frame 75 Synchronous Frame Section 75a Synchronous Frame 76 Synchronous gear section 76a Synchronous Gear 77 Synchronous arm section 77a Synchronous Arm 77b Rolling axis 78a Orbital direction 78b Outer folding direction 78c Rotation direction 79 Interlocking part A Mobile phone B Multi-axis hinge device

Claims

1. A multi-axis hinge device for use in electronic equipment comprising a flexible display sheet attached across both surfaces of a pair of housings, which connects the pair of housings so as to be openable and closable, comprising a hinge mechanism sandwiched between the pair of housings, wherein the hinge mechanism comprises a base axis, an axis distance changing unit for changing the axis distance of the base axis, and a pivot axis connected to the base axis and supporting at least one of the pair of housings so as to be pivotable, and wherein the load on the flexible display sheet generated when the pair of housings is opened and closed is reduced by operating the axis distance changing unit according to the angle formed by the pair of housings.

2. A multi-axis hinge device for use in electronic equipment comprising a pair of housings with a flexible display sheet attached across both surfaces, which connects the pair of housings so as to be openable and closable, the multi-axis hinge device having a hinge mechanism sandwiched between the pair of housings, the hinge mechanism comprising a base axis, a pivot axis connected to at least one of the pair of housings and performing orbital and rotational movements around the base axis, and a linkage part that synchronizes the rotational movement with the pivot axis, wherein the orbital and rotational movements of the pivot axis cause at least one of the housings to oscillate, thereby reducing the load on the flexible display sheet generated by opening and closing the pair of housings.

3. The multi-axis hinge device according to claim 2, characterized in that the interlocking part comprises a sun gear provided on the base shaft and a planetary gear provided on the oscillating shaft that meshes with the sun gear, and the oscillating shaft revolves and rotates with respect to the base shaft.

4. The multi-axis hinge device according to claim 1, characterized in that the pivot axis rotates and revolves around the base axis, and the inter-axis distance changing unit changes the inter-axis distance of the base axis according to the revolving angle of the pivot axis.

5. The multi-axis hinge device according to claim 1, characterized in that the inter-axis distance changing unit changes the inter-axis distance of the base axes within a range that transitions the pair of housings from an inward-folded state to an unfolded state.

6. The multi-axis hinge device according to claim 4, characterized in that the inter-axis distance changing section has a biasing section for biasing the base shaft, and the biasing section is composed of a biasing cam provided in a housing hole that pivotally supports the base shaft so as to be able to change the inter-axis distance, and a transmission arm that transmits the orbital angle of the oscillating shaft to the biasing cam.

7. The multi-axis hinge device according to claim 6, wherein the hinge mechanism has a movement restricting section, and the movement restricting section restricts the movement of the biasing cam when the pair of housings are in an unfolded state.

8. An electronic device characterized by using a multi-axis hinge device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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