Hinge holding device and electronic apparatus using the hinge holding device

Abstract

To reduce the mechanism loss of an opening / closing mechanism so as to make it sure to hold an electronic device open / closed.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to a hinge holding device that holds a pair of casing open or closed, and the hinge holding device consists of a base frame which is sandwiched between the pair of casings and support the pair of casing each in an openable / closable state, and a suction mechanism which has a load generation part arranged in at least one of the pair of casings, wherein the suction mechanism generates a nonlinear load between the base frame and the one casing to hold the one casing open and closed to the base frame.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinge holding device suitable for use in various electronic devices such as mobile phones, electronic notebooks, PDAs, netbooks, and even notebook computers, and to an electronic device using this hinge holding device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, electronic devices such as mobile phones that have a single organic electroluminescence flexible display sheet attached across both surfaces of a pair of foldable housings have been developed and are becoming available. Electronic devices having a retention mechanism that maintains the open and closed states of such electronic devices are known from the following Patent Documents 1 and 2. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-125841 A [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2022-072199 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the electronic devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a holding mechanism is provided in a base frame that supports and opens / closes a housing, etc. In such a structure, there is a problem that a sufficient holding force cannot be applied to the housing due to mechanical loss of multiple members interposed between the holding mechanism and the housing. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENTS Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a holding mechanism that firmly holds a housing in both the open and closed states. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a hinge holding device that holds a pair of housings in an open or closed state, and is composed of a base frame that is sandwiched between the pair of housings and supports each of the pair of housings so that they can be opened and closed, and a suction mechanism in which a load generating unit is arranged in at least one of the pair of housings, and the suction mechanism generates a nonlinear load between the base frame and the one of the housings to hold the one of the housings in an open or closed state relative to the base frame.

[0006] Next, the invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that the suction mechanism has an arm that is swingably supported on the base frame and slidably connected to one of the housings, and the load generating unit controls the sliding movement between the arm and one of the housings.

[0007] Next, the invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the load generating part is composed of a slider cam connected to the arm and sliding against the one of the housings, a spring bracket provided on the one of the housings and moving in a first direction different from the sliding direction, and a spring that moves the spring bracket in the first direction to abut against the slider cam.

[0008] Next, the invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that the load generating portion is in contact with a cam apex of a cam provided on the slider cam and a cam apex of a cam provided on the spring bracket in an intermediate state between the open state and the closed state relative to the base frame of the one housing.

[0009] Next, the invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the load generating portion reduces the load that the spring bracket applies to the slider cam as the state approaches the open position or the closed position of the one housing from the intermediate state.

[0010] Next, the invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that the slider cam is supported rotatably with respect to the arm about an axis substantially parallel to an opening / closing axis of the one housing.

[0011] Next, the invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that the hinge holding device described in any one of claims 1 to 6 is used in an electronic device. Effect of the Invention

[0012] When configured as in claim 1, the housing can be reliably held in both the open and closed states.

[0013] When configured as in claim 2, the suction mechanism can be configured with a small number of parts.

[0014] When configured as in claim 3, the load generating section can be configured with a small number of parts.

[0015] When configured as in claim 4, the housing can be reliably held in both the open and closed states.

[0016] When configured as in claim 5, the housing can be reliably held in both the open and closed states.

[0017] When configured as in claim 6, the opening and closing load of the suction mechanism can be stabilized.

[0018] When configured as in claim 7, the electronic device can be reliably maintained in the open / closed state. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B show an electronic device having a flexible display sheet using a hinge holding device according to the present invention, in which (a) is an oblique view of a closed state in which a pair of housings are closed at 0 degrees, and (b) is a side view of the closed state in which the pair of housings are closed at 0 degrees. [Diagram 2] 1 is a perspective view of an electronic device having a flexible display sheet using a hinge holding device according to the present invention, in a state where a pair of housings are opened 180 degrees. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hinge unit in a closed state. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a guide device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hinge holding device in an intermediate state. [Figure 6] 4A is an exploded perspective view of a load generating portion in an open state, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a spring bracket as viewed from the back. [Figure 7] 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating the configuration of a load generating section, in which (a) is a plan view of the hinge holding device in an open state, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of (a). [Figure 8] 1A and 1B are diagrams explaining the operation of the load generating unit, where (a) is a plan view of the hinge holding device in an open state, (b) is a plan view of the hinge holding device in an intermediate state, and (c) is a plan view of the hinge holding device in a closed state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a hinge holding device according to the present invention and an electronic device using the hinge holding device will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. EXAMPLES

[0021] 1 and 2 show a schematic diagram of a mobile phone A (smartphone) as an example of an electronic device using a hinge holding device according to the present invention.

[0022] Fig. 1(a) is a perspective view of a pair of housings 10 in a closed state where the angle between them is 0 degrees. The exterior of the mobile phone A is composed of a pair of housings 10, a side cover 20, and a flexible display sheet 30, and the pair of housings 10 are connected by a hinge unit B (not visible in Fig. 1). As shown in the side view of Fig. 1(b), the pair of housings 10 rotate from the side cover 20 side indicated by arrow 10d, and the free end side indicated by arrow 10e is the tip for opening and closing. An attachment hole 10a indicated by a dotted line on the back of the flexible display sheet 30 is provided for screwing the housings 10 to an attachment plate 41 described later.

[0023] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a pair of housings 10 in an open state where the angle between them is 180 degrees. As shown in Fig. 1(b) and Fig. 2, the pair of housings 10 rotate in the direction of arrow 10c around a rotation axis 10b. This rotation causes the housings 10 to transition from the open state in Fig. 2 to the closed state in Fig. 1(a).

[0024] Most of the parts constituting the hinge unit B including the hinge holding device of the present invention are axially symmetrical about the longitudinal axis of the base frame 40. Therefore, in the following description, only one of the parts having the axially symmetrical shape will be described.

[0025] The hinge unit B is composed of a guide device and a hinge holding device, and the guide device will be described first.

[0026] [Configuration of the guide device U50] 3 is a perspective view of the hinge unit B in a closed state. The flexible display sheet 30 is disposed along the surface 40b of the base frame 40. (In FIG. 3, the flexible display sheet 30 is shown floating above the surface 40b of the hinge unit B to distinguish it from the hinge unit B.) More specifically, a support sheet 30b supporting the flexible display sheet 30 on the surface 40b of the base frame 40 and a support bar 42 described below is fixed by double-sided adhesive tape and a support bar holder 43, and a bent portion 30a of the flexible display sheet 30 is fixed onto the support sheet 30b by double-sided adhesive tape. (The support sheet 30b is also shown floating above the surface 40b of the hinge unit B.) Both ends 30c of the flexible display sheet 30 are also fixed to a pair of housings 10 not shown in FIG. 3. The base frame 40 of the hinge unit B has a plurality of arcuate arms 50, 51, 52, an end bracket 54, and an arcuate arm bracket 53, which together form a guide device U50. As described above, the support bar 42 is provided to support the support sheet 30b, and the support sheet 30b and the support bar 42 are attached to the base frame 40 by the mounting screws 43a of the support bar holder 43. The side cover 20 shown in FIG. 1 is adhesively fixed to the end bracket 54. The base frame 40, the mounting plate 41, the support bar 42, and the support bar holder 43 constitute the frame U40.

[0027] The guide device is provided to guide the pair of housings 10 to be opened and closed relative to the base frame 40, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the guide device U50 in an open state. The combination of the multiple arc arms 50, 51, 52 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. An arc shaft 52a provided on the arc arm 52 is fitted into an arc groove 40a provided on the base frame 40. An arc shaft 51a provided on the arc arm 51 is fitted into an arc groove 52b provided on the arc arm 52. One of a pair of arc shafts 50a provided on the arc arm 50 is fitted into the arc groove 51b provided on the arc arm 51. The arc arms 51 and 52 are also combined on the opposite side of the arc arm 50, and the arc shaft 52a provided on the arc arm 52 is fitted into an arc groove 54a provided on the end bracket 54. An attachment hole 50b provided at the tip of the arc arm 50 is screwed into an attachment screw hole (not shown) of the arc arm bracket 53 in FIG.

[0028] [Operation of guide device U50] As can be seen from FIG. 4, the arc arm 50 is sandwiched between the base frame 40 and the end bracket 54 via the arc arms 51 and 52 at both ends. The arc arms 50, 51, and 52 slide along the arc shafts and arc grooves. The center of rotation, which is a combination of the arc trajectories of the arc shafts and arc grooves of the arc arms 50, 51, and 52, becomes the rotation shaft 10b in FIG. 1(b). In this way, when the hinge mechanism is configured with arc sliding, not only does it not require a rotation shaft, but the rotation shaft 10b can be positioned freely. Therefore, the space for supporting the pair of housings 10 when opening and closing can be made compact. Furthermore, since the combination of the arc groove and the arc shaft has a long fitting length, filling the gaps with appropriate grease creates good viscous resistance, and high-quality opening and closing operations can be achieved.

[0029] The hinge holding device is provided to hold the pair of housings 10 at a predetermined angle, such as in an open or closed state, relative to the base frame 40, and the suction mechanism provided in the hinge holding device sucks in the open or closed direction when the pair of housings 10 are at an angle between the open and closed states, thereby maintaining the open or closed state. The hinge holding device of the present invention is characterized in that it is divided into a connecting portion U60 provided on the base frame 40 and a load generating portion U70 provided on the housing 10, and first the connecting portion U60 will be described.

[0030] [Configuration of connection part U60] Returning to Figure 3, the connection part U60 of the hinge holding device is made up of a synchronous gear 62 that is axially supported on the base frame 40, an arm shaft 61 that is coaxial with the synchronous gear 62 and whose rotation is restricted by an irregular shaft, and an arm 60 whose rotation is restricted by an irregular hole in the arm shaft 61.

[0031] [Operation of the connecting part U60] The synchronous gear 62 meshes with a synchronous gear 62 (not shown) on the opposite side in FIG. 3, and is connected to an arm shaft 61 and an arm 60 (both not shown) on the opposite side. Therefore, by swinging one of the pair of arms 60, the other arm 60 also swings in sync. Here, the arm 60 is connected to the mounting plate 41 via an arm pin 77 and a slide block 73, which will be described later. Also, the mounting screw holes 41a in the pair of mounting plates 41 are screwed into the above-mentioned mounting holes 10a (FIG. 1(a)) in the pair of housings 10 with screws (not shown). Therefore, the pair of housings 10 open and close in sync by the action of the arm 60.

[0032] Next, the load generating unit U70 will be described.

[0033] [Load generation section U70 configuration] Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a state in which mounting plate 41 is opened from the closed state of hinge unit B in Fig. 3 and is in an intermediate state between the open state and the closed state. Fig. 6(a) is a perspective view of mounting plate 41 in the open state. Here, the slider cam 70, spring bracket 71, spring 72, slide block 73, slide guides 74, 75, upper plate 76, and arm pin 77 constitute a load generating section U70 of the hinge holding device, which is shown in an exploded perspective view in Fig. 6(a) together with the arm 60. Note that in Fig. 6(a), the support bar 42 of one mounting plate 41 is omitted in order to explain the load generating section U70.

[0034] In Fig. 6(a), the arm shaft 61 is fitted into the arm shaft hole 60a of the arm 60, and since both have different shapes, their rotation is restricted relative to each other. Also, an arm pin 77 is rotatably fitted into the arm pin hole 60b. One end of the arm pin 77 is fitted into the arm pin hole 70a of the slider cam 70, and the other end is fitted into the arm pin hole 73a (not visible in Fig. 6(a)) of the slide block 73. The slider cam 70 and the slide block 73 are disposed on the sliding surface 41c, which is the shaded portion on the mounting plate 41. As described above, the arm pin 77 is rotatably fitted into the arm pin hole 60b, and this allows the slider cam 70 and the slide block 73 to stably slide on the sliding surface 41c in the direction of the arrow 73c and in the opposite direction, regardless of the swinging of the arm 60. That is, the slider cam 70 is rotatably supported by the arm pin 77 around an axis approximately parallel to the opening / closing axis 10b of the housing 10 relative to the arm 60, thereby enabling the slider cam 70 to stably slide on the sliding surface 41c on the mounting plate 41. The spring bracket 71 is disposed on the mounting plate 41 so as to be movable in a first direction of arrows 71d and 71e, which is a direction different from the sliding direction of the slider cam 70 (arrow 73c and the opposite direction thereto).

[0035] The slider cam 70 and the spring bracket 71 each have a cam portion, and are disposed so that the cam apex 71c of the spring bracket 71 faces the cam apex 70c of the slider cam 70. A pair of springs 72 are stored in the spring storage portion 71a shown in FIG. 6(b), and the pair of springs 72 are sandwiched between the spring stopper 41d of the mounting plate 41 and the spring stopper 71b of the spring bracket 71. Due to the above configuration, the spring bracket 71 faces the slider cam 70, and is biased by the pair of springs 72 so that the cam portions of the springs 72 abut against each other in the first direction (the direction of the arrows 71d and 71e). The upper plate 76 is provided to prevent the spring bracket 71 from floating up due to the charging force generated by the pair of springs 72, and is screwed into the mounting hole 76a and the mounting screw hole 41b of the mounting plate 41 with a screw (not shown).

[0036] FIG. 7(a) is a plan view of a load generating portion U70 in the hinge holding device, and FIG. 7(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 7(a) on the axis of arm pin 77 (FIG. 6(a)). 7(a) and (b), the slide block 73 that fits with the arm pin 77 is disposed on the sliding surface 41c of the mounting plate 41, and the guide step 73b rubs against the slide guide 74. This allows the slide block 73 to be guided so as to be slidable only in the direction of the arrow 73c, which is the sliding direction, and in the opposite direction. The arm pin 77 that penetrates the arm 60 fits with the slider cam 70, and the slider cam 70 is disposed on the sliding surface 41c of the mounting plate 41. The guide step 70b of the slider cam 70 rubs against the slide guide 75 (not shown in FIG. 7(a)). This allows the slider cam 70 to be guided so as to be slidable only in the direction of the arrow 73c and in the opposite direction.

[0037] [Load generation unit U70 operation] Figure 8 is a diagram explaining the operation of the load generating unit U70, where (a) is a plan view of the load generating unit U70 in an open state, (b) is a plan view of the load generating unit U70 in an intermediate state, and (c) is a plan view of the load generating unit U70 in a closed state. When the operation of closing the pair of housings 10 from the open state of FIG. 8(a) is started and the pair of housings 10 is in an intermediate state, the slider cam 70 and the slide block 73 are pushed by the arm 60 and the arm pin 77 (not shown in FIG. 8) as shown in FIG. 8(b) and slide on the mounting plate 41 in the direction of the arrow 73c. ​​At this time, the spring bracket 71 moves in the direction of the arrow 71e against the biasing force of the spring 72 due to the action of the cam inclination 70e of the slider cam 70 and the cam inclination 71h of the spring bracket 71. Here, until the cam apex 70c of the slider cam 70 and the cam apex 71c of the spring bracket 71 come into contact with each other, the biasing force of the spring 72 acts to return the slider cam 70 in the direction opposite to the arrow 73c. ​​Therefore, when the operation of closing the pair of housings 10 is stopped, a suction force in the opening direction is generated, and the pair of housings 10 returns to the open state of FIG. 8(a). Here, the suction mechanism is constituted by the load generating unit U70 and the arm 60 and arm shaft 61 at the connecting unit U60, and the load generating unit U70 serves as the main part of the suction mechanism that generates a suction force in the opening direction on the pair of housings 10.

[0038] In the intermediate state of FIG. 8(b), when the contact point between the cam apex 70c of the slider cam 70 and the cam apex 71c of the spring bracket 71 is exceeded, a force acts to slide the slider cam 70 in the direction of the arrow 73c due to the action of the biasing force of the spring 72 and the cam inclination 70d of the slider cam 70 and the cam inclination 71i of the spring bracket 71. Therefore, a suction force in the closing direction is generated, and the hinge holding device B is in the closed state shown in FIG. 8(c) with a weak operating force. In this way, the load generating unit U70 plays a role as a main part of the suction mechanism that generates a suction force in the closing direction on the pair of housings 10. As can be seen in FIG. 8, the cam apex 71c of the spring bracket 71 contacts the cam apex 70c of the slider cam 70 in the intermediate state, and the inclination of the cam is made different on either side of the contact point. In this way, the load generating unit U70 constituting the suction mechanism generates a nonlinear load between the base frame 40 and the mounting plate 41. Due to the nonlinear load of the suction mechanism, the housing 10 is subjected to a suction action in both the opening direction and the closing direction, thereby achieving high-quality opening and closing operations.

[0039] In the open state of Fig. 8(a) and the closed state of Fig. 8(c), the cam apex 70c of the slider cam 70 is located at the cam valleys 71f, 71g at both ends of the cam of the spring bracket 71. Therefore, a force that holds the slider cam 70 in that position acts due to the biasing force of the spring 72. This allows the hinge holding device to reliably hold the hinge unit B in the open state or the closed state. Here, the cam inclination of the spring bracket 71 is different on the open side and the closed side with the cam apex 71c in between, and the cam inclination 71h until the hinge holding device transitions from the open state to the intermediate state is steeper than the cam inclination 71i until the hinge holding device transitions from the intermediate state to the closed state. This increases the holding force when the flexible display sheet 30 is unfolded, allowing stable viewing of the screen. Also, since the cam inclination 71i of the spring bracket 71 is gentle, no great force is required to open the flexible display sheet 30, allowing for easy operation.

[0040] As described above, the connecting portion U60 of the present invention is provided with the synchronous gear 62. Therefore, by providing the load generating portion U70 only on one mounting plate 41, the other mounting plate 41 can also perform the suction and holding operations. Of course, it is also possible to provide the load generating portion U70 on both of the pair of mounting plates 41 to further reduce mechanical loss.

[0041] In the present invention, the guide device U50 and the hinge holding devices U60 and U70 described in FIG. 4 are combined to form the hinge unit B, but the configuration of the hinge unit B is not limited to the guide device U50 described in FIG. 4, and other guide devices may be used, or the guide device may be omitted and the hinge unit B may consist of only the hinge holding device.

[0042] As described above, this is a hinge holding device that holds a pair of housings 10 in an open or closed state, and is composed of a base frame 40 that is sandwiched between the pair of housings 10 and supports each of the pair of housings 10 so that they can be opened and closed, and a suction mechanism in which a load generating unit (load generating unit U70) is arranged in at least one of the pair of housings 10, and the suction mechanism generates a nonlinear load between the base frame 40 and one of the housings 10 to hold the one of the housings in an open or closed state relative to the base frame 40. In the embodiment of the present invention, the mechanism of the hinge holding device has been described using an electronic device equipped with a flexible display sheet as an example. However, the hinge holding device of the present invention is not limited to the use of a flexible display sheet, and can be applied to various hinge parts of electronic devices such as notebook computers that have a display sheet on one housing and a keyboard on the other housing, as well as other building fixtures. [Industrial Applicability]

[0043] Since the hinge holding device of the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to reliably hold the open and closed states of the pair of housings 10 without any loss of mechanism.

[0044] The present invention is suitable for use as a hinge holding device suitable for use in, for example, mobile phones, electronic organizers, PDAs, netbooks, video display devices, portable game consoles, notebook computers, etc., and as a foldable electronic device using this hinge holding device. The hinge holding device according to the present invention is not limited to use in mobile phones, but can be widely used in various hinge parts as described above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 10. Chassis 20 Side cover 30 Flexible display sheet 40 Base Frame 41 Mounting plate 42 Support bar 43 Support bar presser 50 Arc Arm 51 Arc Arm 52 Arc Arm 53 Arc arm bracket 54 End bracket 60 Arm 61 Arm shaft 62 Synchronous Gear 70 Slider Cam 71 Spring bracket 72 Spring 73 Slide Block 74 Slide Guide 75 Slide Guide 76 Upper Plate 77 Armpin A Mobile phone B Hinge unit U40 Frame U50 Guide device U60 Hinge retention device (connection part) U70 Hinge holding device (load generating part)

Claims

1. A hinge holding device that holds a pair of housings in an open or closed state, comprising: a base frame that is sandwiched between the pair of housings and supports each of the pair of housings so that they can be opened and closed; and a suction mechanism in which a load generating unit is disposed within at least one of the pair of housings, the suction mechanism generating a nonlinear load between the base frame and one of the housings to hold the one of the housings in an open or closed state relative to the base frame.

2. The hinge holding device according to claim 1, characterized in that the suction mechanism has an arm that is swingably supported on the base frame and slidably connected to one of the housings, and the load generating unit controls the sliding movement between the arm and the one of the housings.

3. 3. The hinge holding device of claim 2, characterized in that the load generating portion is composed of a slider cam connected to the arm and sliding against the one of the housings, a spring bracket provided on the one of the housings and moving in a first direction different from the sliding direction, and a spring that moves the spring bracket in the first direction to abut against the slider cam.

4. The hinge holding device according to claim 3, characterized in that the load generating portion is in contact with a cam apex of a cam provided on the slider cam and a cam apex of a cam provided on the spring bracket in an intermediate state between an open state and a closed state relative to the base frame of the one housing.

5. 5. The hinge holding device according to claim 4, wherein the load generating portion reduces the load applied by the spring bracket to the slider cam as the state approaches the open position or the closed position of the one of the housings from the intermediate state.

6. 4. The hinge holding device according to claim 3, wherein the slider cam is supported by the arm so as to be rotatable about an axis substantially parallel to an opening / closing axis of the one housing.

7. 7. An electronic device comprising the hinge holding device according to claim 1.

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