Wireless device charging case

Abstract

To provide a wireless device charging case that can accurately detect the open / closed state of a lid while keeping the cost down.SOLUTION: A wireless device charging case 91 includes a box-shaped base 1 having a device accommodating portion for accommodating a wireless device 81 for charging, a circuit board 31 housed inside the base, a Hall element 311 mounted on the circuit board, a lid body 2 that is rotatably supported by a base body around a predetermined rotation axis CL1 and has a shaft portion 221 that extends along the rotation axis, an extending portion 23 extending radially outward from the shaft portion, and a magnet 5 attached to the extending portion. The lid transitions between a closed state in which it covers the device accommodating portion of the base body and an open state in which it opens by rotating around the rotation axis, and in a cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis in the closed state, the rotation axis, the magnet, and the Hall element are located on a straight line LN1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a charging case for a wireless device. [Background technology]

[0002] A charger for wireless earphones is described in Patent Document 1. The charger described in Patent Document 1 includes a main body having an accommodation section at the top for accommodating the wireless earphones, and a lid that opens and closes to cover the accommodation section by rotating around a hinge attached to the main body.

[0003] Patent document 2 describes a toilet device that has a toilet lid that rotates around a hinge, a magnet piece that detects the opening and closing of the toilet lid, and a Hall element that uses the magnet piece and Hall element to detect the opening of the toilet lid and activate a deodorizing device. The toilet lid has a hinge pin that controls its rotation and a boss portion through which the hinge pin is inserted and fixed, a magnetic piece is attached to this boss portion, and a Hall element is attached to the opposing wall portion on the fixed side of the toilet device so as to face the magnetic piece of the boss portion when the toilet lid is in the open position. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-186870 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-123498 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] A wireless earphone charger such as that described in Patent Document 1 functions as a charging case for the wireless earphone when the lid is closed, as the wireless earphone housed in the housing is not exposed to the outside. Some charging cases for such wireless devices change their charging-related operations and displays depending on whether the lid is open or closed, and these charging cases require a function to detect whether the lid is open or closed.

[0006] Therefore, the application of a detection structure using a magnet piece and a Hall element as described in Patent Document 2 is being considered as a function for detecting the open / closed state of the lid of a charging case for a wireless device. However, in the detection structure described in Patent Document 2, the magnet piece and Hall element are positioned near the pivot axis of the hinge, so in the case of a charging case for a wireless device such as a wireless earphone, which is significantly smaller than the toilet device, the difference in magnetic flux density detected by the Hall element between the open and closed states of the lid is small, making it difficult to achieve high detection accuracy, and some ingenuity was required.

[0007] Therefore, a structure is being considered in which a magnet piece is attached to the tip of the lid body far from the rotation axis, and the Hall element is placed in a position close to the magnet piece when the lid body is closed. However, in this case, the Hall element is located far away from the circuit board that controls charging, and additional components are required to electrically connect the Hall element to the circuit board, which increases the number of assembly steps, resulting in a significant increase in costs, so further ingenuity was required.

[0008] Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a charging case for a wireless device that can accurately detect the open / closed state of the lid while suppressing an increase in cost. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration 1). 1) a box-shaped base body having a device receiving portion for receiving and charging a wireless device; a circuit board housed inside the base; a Hall element mounted on the circuit board; a cover supported by the base body so as to be rotatable about a predetermined rotation axis and having a shaft portion extending along the rotation axis; an extension portion extending radially outward from the shaft portion; a magnet attached to the extension; Equipped with the lid body transitions between a closed state in which the lid body covers the device housing portion of the base body and an open state in which the lid body opens the device housing portion by rotating about the rotation axis; In a cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis in the closed state, the rotation axis, the magnet, and the Hall element are positioned on a straight line. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that the open / closed state of the lid body can be detected with high accuracy while suppressing an increase in cost. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a charging case 91, which is an example of a charging case for a wireless device according to an embodiment of the present invention, with a lid 2 in a closed state. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the charging case 91 with the lid 2 in a partially open state. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line S3-S3 in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line S4-S4 in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the charging case 91 with the lid 2 fully open. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] A charging case for a wireless device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described using an example charging case 91. Examples of wireless devices include a wireless microphone, a wireless earphone microphone, wireless headphones, and a smartwatch.

[0013] The external appearance of the charging case 91 will be described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the charging case 91 when viewed from diagonally above and behind the right side with the lid 2 in a closed state (hereinafter referred to as the closed state). Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the charging case 91 when viewed from diagonally above and behind the right side with the lid 2 in a state where it is open at a predetermined angle (hereinafter referred to as the intermediate open state). For ease of explanation, the up, down, left, right, front and rear directions indicated by arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2 are directions when viewed from the side where the lid 2 of the charging case 91 opens (the front side for the user).

[0014] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the charging case 91 comprises a box-shaped base body 1 that is long in the left-right direction, and a lid body 2 that opens and closes by rotating relative to the base body 1 as shown by arrow DR1 in Figure 2, with a hinge portion 22 as a rotation fulcrum. A rectangular cutout 12 is formed downward in the center of the upper portion of the rear wall 11 of the base body 1 in the left-right direction. A terminal hole 11a is formed below the cutout 12. A USB connector 71 disposed inside the terminal hole 11a is visible from the outside. A plug of a USB cable is connected to this USB connector 71 to establish an electrical connection with an external device.

[0015] Next, the internal structure of charging case 91 will be described with reference to Fig. 3 to Fig. 5. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line S3-S3 in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line S4-S4 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of charging case 91 with lid 2 fully open (hereinafter referred to as fully open state).

[0016] As shown in FIG. 3, the charging case 91 includes, inside the base body 1, a secondary battery 33, a cushion 32, and a circuit board 31, in this order from the bottom. The circuit board 31 is held in a horizontal position by ribs and fasteners (not shown) formed on the base 1. The circuit board 31 includes a control unit 35 including a communication unit 35a, a charging control unit 35b, a lid body open / close determination unit 35c, an input / output unit 35d, and an operation control unit 35e, and also has a hall element 311 and a light emitting element 312 mounted on an upper surface 31a and a USB connector 71 mounted on a lower surface 31b.

[0017] The operation mode of the charging case 91 is selectively switched between a closed mode and an open mode according to whether the lid body 2 is open or closed, under the control of the operation control unit 35e.

[0018] The light emitting element 312 is, for example, an LED, and is mounted on the front part of the upper surface 31a of the circuit board 31. A light guiding member 313 is arranged above the light emitting element 312 so as to cover it. The light guiding member 313 guides the light output from the light emitting element 312 to a light emitting display column 313a formed to protrude forward, causing the tip surface of the column to emit light. The light emitted by the light-emitting indicator column 313a is visible to the user through the front wall 13 of the base 1, which has been thinned to correspond to the position of the light-emitting indicator column 313a. The light-emitting patterns of the light-emitting indicator column 313a correspond to the closed mode and the open mode of the charging case 91, respectively, and the user can visually grasp the operating state of the charging case 91.

[0019] The USB connector 71 is mounted on the lower surface 31b of the circuit board 31 at a position corresponding to the terminal hole 11a formed in the rear wall 11 of the base 1, and is connected to the input / output unit 35d. The hall element 311 is mounted on the rear edge of the upper surface 31a of the circuit board 31, and is connected to the lid open / close determining unit 35c.

[0020] 1 and 3, the lid 2 has a hinge portion 22 formed by extending downward from the center portion in the left-right direction of the lid rear wall 21. The hinge portion 22 extends into the notch portion 12 of the base body 1. 3, the hinge portion 22 has a shaft portion 221 that extends cylindrically with its axis in the left-right direction. The shaft portion 221 is supported rotatably relative to the base body 1 by bosses (not shown) that protrude from the left and right edges of the notched portion 12 and engage with the rotation axis CL1 of the shaft portion 221. This allows the cover body 2 to rotate relative to the base body 1 about the rotation axis CL1 that extends in the left-right direction (see arrow DR1 in FIG. 2).

[0021] The hinge portion 22 has an extension portion 23 that further extends radially outward from the shaft portion 221. The extension portion 23 is provided in the center of the hinge portion 22 in the left-right direction. A housing portion 231 that forms a rectangular parallelepiped space is formed on the front side of the extension portion 23, and the housing portion 231 houses and fixes the magnet 5.

[0022] When the cover 2 is in the closed state shown in Figure 3 as a cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis CL1, the Hall element 311 and the magnet 5 are arranged so as to be located on an imaginary straight line LN1 (hereinafter referred to as the imaginary straight line LN1) extending in the vertical direction. In other words, when the cover 2 is in the closed state, the extension 23 extends radially from the shaft 221 toward the Hall element 311 around the rotation axis CL1, and the magnet 5 is attached to a portion near the tip of the extension 23. In this closed state, the distance between the Hall element 311 and the magnet 5 is indicated by a distance Ha.

[0023] The top of the base body 1 is closed by an upper wall portion 6 . 2, the base 1 is provided with a pair of earphone housings 61, 62 spaced apart in the left-right direction as device housings for housing wireless earphones 81, which are wireless devices. The earphone housings 61, 62 have spaces carved out downward to correspond to the shape of the wireless earphones 81 to be charged, and the upper wall 6 has insertion openings 61a, 62a corresponding to the earphone housings 61, 62, respectively.

[0024] Cover 2 can be manually opened from a closed state in which it covers earphone housing portions 61 and 62 to an open state in which it opens them, as shown in FIG. 4 shows charging case 91 in a state where lid 2 has been rotated from the closed state as indicated by arrow DR2 to a rotation angle θ of first angle θa (intermediately open state). This rotation of lid 2 causes magnet 5 to rise along an arcuate trajectory from the closed state. In the state shown in FIG. 4, distance Hb from hall element 311 is greater (farther) than distance Ha in the closed state. That is, in the intermediate open state, the magnetic flux density of the magnet 5 passing through the Hall element 311 is reduced compared to the closed state, and the voltage Vh (or current Ah) obtained from the Hall element 311 is reduced in accordance with the amount of reduction in magnetic flux density.

[0025] The lid opening / closing determination unit 35c of the circuit board 31 constantly monitors the voltage Vh (or the current Ah) obtained from the Hall element 311, and determines that the lid 2 is open when the voltage Vh (or the current Ah) falls below a predetermined value. Here, it is assumed that the lid open / close determiner determines that the lid 2 is open when the lid 2 is in the intermediate open state shown in FIG. 4, where the lid 2 is opened by a first angle θa.

[0026] Charging case 91 does not have a structure that mechanically restricts rotation of lid body 2 in the intermediately open state. Cover body 2 can be rotated further from the intermediately open state, and has a structure that mechanically restricts further rotation when rotation angle θ reaches second angle θb that is larger than first angle θa. FIG. 5 shows a fully open state in which the rotation angle θ of the cover 2 is set to the second angle θb and rotation is restricted.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 5, in the charging case 91, when the rotation angle θ of the lid 2 reaches the second angle θb, the extension 23 abuts against the lower surface 6a of the upper wall 6 to restrict further rotation. In this fully open state, the distance Hc between the magnet 5 and the Hall element 311 is greater than the distance Hb.

[0028] The distance between the magnet 5 and the Hall element 311 increases continuously during the opening operation of the cover 2 from the closed state (θ=0°) through the intermediate open state (θ=θa) to the fully open state (θ=θb). For example, when determining whether the lid 2 is open or closed based on the voltage Vh of the Hall element 311, the voltage Vha of the Hall element 311 when the rotation angle of the lid 2 is θ=θa is set in advance as a threshold voltage. The lid open / close determiner 35c constantly monitors the voltage Vh, and when the voltage Vh decreases to or below the voltage Vha, determines that the lid 2 has transitioned from the closed state to the intermediate open state. The operation control unit 35e receives this determination result and changes the operation mode from the closed state mode to the open state mode.

[0029] Conversely, when voltage Vh increases and exceeds voltage Vha, lid open / close determiner 35c determines that lid 2 has transitioned from the intermediate open state to the closed state. Upon receiving this determination result, the operation control unit 35e changes the operation mode from the open state mode to the closed state mode. The threshold voltage may be set to a different value when transitioning from the closed state to the intermediate open state and when transitioning from the intermediate open state to the closed state. For example, the threshold voltage for transition from the closed state to the intermediate open state may be set to voltage Vha1, and the threshold voltage for transition from the intermediate open state to the closed state may be set to voltage Vha2, which is greater than voltage Vha1. In this case, the rotation angle θa2 for transition from the intermediate open state to the closed state is smaller than the rotation angle θa1 for transition from the closed state to the intermediate open state. The optimum threshold voltage may be set depending on the operating characteristics of the Hall element 311 so that the mode transition can be performed more stably.

[0030] As described above, the charging case 91 detects the transition between the open state and the closed state due to the rotation of the lid 2 using the magnet 5, the Hall element 311, and the lid open / close determination unit 35c. The Hall element 311 is mounted on the circuit board 31 at a position away from the shaft 221 about which the lid 2 rotates. The magnet 5 is attached to the tip side of the extension 23 that extends radially from the shaft 221 of the lid 2 so as to approach the Hall element 311 when the lid 2 is closed (closed state).

[0031] As a result, the charging case 91 can obtain a large change in the voltage Vh (or current Ah) of the Hall element 311 according to the rotation angle θ of the lid body 2, so that the state transition between the open state and the closed state of the lid body 2 can be determined with high accuracy. Furthermore, since the Hall element 311 can be mounted on the circuit board 31 away from the shaft portion 221, there is no need to add components for electrical connection between the Hall element 311 and the circuit board 31 or increase the number of assembly steps, which reduces costs. Furthermore, by providing the extension 23 to which the magnet 5 is attached, the rotation of the lid body 2 in the fully open state can be restricted reliably and with a small torque by using the extension 23.

[0032] The embodiment described above in detail is not limited to the configuration, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0033] The imaginary straight line LN1 may be set as a line extending vertically. In this case, when the door is rotated from the closed state to the open state, gravity acting on the magnet 5 generates a moment in a direction that prevents the door from rotating to the open state. That is, gravity acts to return lid 2 to the closed state and maintain it in the closed state. This makes it difficult for charging case 91 to be left with the lid open, and effectively protects the housed wireless earphones from dust and other particles. As long as the rotation axis CL1, the magnet 5, and the Hall element 311 are arranged on the same imaginary straight line LN1, the board on which the Hall element 311 is arranged does not have to be the circuit board 31. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which another circuit board equipped with the Hall element 311 is arranged above the circuit board 31 on the imaginary straight line LN1, and both circuit boards are connected by a board-to-board connector.

[0034] On the other hand, the imaginary line LN1 is not limited to a vertical line extending vertically in the up-down direction. It may be a line inclined relative to the vertical direction. That is, in a cross section of the cover 2 in the closed state, the rotation axis CL1, the magnet 5, and the Hall element 311 need only be arranged on the same imaginary line. This arrangement is such that the distance between the magnet 5 and the Hall element 311 in the closed state is the shortest in the path of movement of the magnet 5 as the cover 2 rotates. That is, this arrangement is such that the change in magnetic flux density detected by the Hall element 311 is the largest as the cover 2 rotates. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1 Base 11 Back wall 11a Terminal hole 12 Notch 13 Front wall 2 Lid 21 Lid rear wall 22 Hinge part 221 Shaft 23 Extension 231 Storage Unit 31 Circuit Board 31a Top surface 31b Bottom surface 311 Hall element 312 Light-emitting element (LED) 313 Light guide member 313a Illuminated display column 32 cushions 33 secondary battery 35 Control Unit 35a Communications Department 35b Charging control unit 35c Lid opening / closing determination section 35d input / output section 35e Motion control unit 5. Magnet 6 Upper wall 6a Bottom side 61, 62 Earphone storage section (device storage section) 61a, 62a insertion slot 71 USB connector 81 Wireless earphones (wireless devices) 91 Charging case Ah current CL1 rotation axis Ha,Hb,Hc distance LN1 Imaginary line Vh, Vha voltage θ Rotation angle θa 1st angle θb 2nd angle

Claims

1. a box-shaped base having a device receiving portion for receiving and charging a wireless device; a circuit board housed inside the base; a Hall element mounted on the circuit board; a cover supported by the base body so as to be rotatable about a predetermined rotation axis and having a shaft portion extending along the rotation axis; an extension portion extending radially outward from the shaft portion; a magnet attached to the extension; Equipped with the lid body transitions between a closed state in which the lid body covers the device housing portion of the base body and an open state in which the lid body opens the device housing portion by rotating about the rotation axis; A charging case for a wireless device in which, in a cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis in the closed state, the rotation axis, the magnet, and the Hall element are located on a straight line.

2. The charging case for a wireless device according to claim 1 , wherein the straight line is a vertical line.

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