Hinge device and electronic equipment using the same

Abstract

A hinge device capable of handling slack or tension applied to a flexible display panel when the electronic device is in a folded or unfolded state, and an electronic device using the hinge device. The hinge device is used for an electronic device consisting of a flexible display panel mounted across the two surfaces of a pair of housings, and can open and close the pair of housings. The hinge device has a base frame, which has a rotary sliding mechanism, a rotary control mechanism, and a synchronous rotation mechanism, mounted on a pair of hinge shafts on the base frame. The rotary sliding mechanism consists of fixed cam members and rotary cam members. The fixed cam members are respectively provided at specific intervals on the front and rear sides of the two ends of the base frame, and have curved guide protrusions on their inner sides. The rotary cam members have curved guide recesses that engage with each fixed cam member.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a hinge device and an electronic machine using the hinge device, which is suitable for various electronic machines such as foldable notebook computers, electronic laptops, PDAs, mini-laptops, and even smartphones, which are formed by mounting flexible display panels, such as those made of organic EL, across the two surfaces of a pair of housings. Prior Technology

[0002] In recent years, foldable notebook computers and other electronic devices have been developed and sold on the market, consisting of a flexible display panel made of organic EL mounted on both surfaces of a pair of housings. Patent Document 1 below describes a hinge device that smoothly transfers the housings of such electronic devices from a folded state to an unfolded state.

[0003] Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-035904.

[0004] The hinge device in Patent Document 1 uses multiple hinge axes to move the housings of the electronic device from a folded state to an unfolded state. However, in this conventionally known hinge device, when the housings of the electronic device are in a folded or unfolded state, there is a problem that it cannot adequately handle the looseness or tightness caused by the material thickness of the flexible display panel.

[0005] Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a hinge device that can cope with the looseness or tightness applied to a flexible display panel when the electronic device is in a folded or unfolded state, and an electronic device using the hinge device. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To address the aforementioned issues, the hinge device of the present invention is used for mounting a flexible display panel across the two surfaces of a pair of housings to an electronic device, and for connecting the pair of housings in an openable and closable manner. The hinge device includes a base frame extending to both ends of the pair of housings in the width direction. The base frame has a rotary sliding mechanism, a rotary control mechanism, and a synchronous rotation mechanism, mounted on a pair of hinge shafts on the base frame. The rotary sliding mechanism consists of fixed cam members and rotary cam members. The fixed cam members are respectively provided at specific intervals on the front and rear sides of both ends of the base frame, and have curved guide protrusions on their inner sides. The rotary cam members have curved guide recesses that engage with each of the fixed cam members, and are mounted on each housing or on a side frame mounted on each housing.

[0007] Furthermore, in this invention, the rotation control mechanism comprises a synchronous sliding cam component, a fixed component, a pair of rotating supports, a friction plate, and an elastic component. The synchronous sliding cam component is slidably mounted on each of the hinge axes and is opposite to the synchronous first rotating cam component on one side; the fixed component is mounted on the base frame at specific intervals relative to the synchronous sliding cam component and holds the ends of each hinge axis; the pair of rotating supports contacts the fixed component, is rotatably mounted on each hinge axis, and is slidably mounted on the side frame through the guide component; the friction plate contacts the pair of rotating supports respectively and allows each hinge axis to pass through; the elastic component is composed of a pair of elastically arranged compression springs, which allow each hinge axis to pass through between the friction plate and the synchronous sliding cam component.

[0008] Then, in this invention, the synchronous rotation mechanism is composed of four synchronous first rotating cam components and four synchronous second rotating cam components, as well as a synchronous sliding cam component. One end of each of the four synchronous first rotating cam components and synchronous second rotating cam components is rotatably connected to a pair of hinge shafts mounted at specific intervals on the base frame, and the other end is slidably disposed on a double guide member mounted on each cover component; the synchronous sliding cam component is slidably mounted on the pair of hinge shafts between each of the synchronous first rotating cam components and each of the synchronous second rotating cam components.

[0009] In this invention, the electronic device uses the hinge device as described above.

[0010] As with the construction of the present invention, when a pair of housings transitions from a closed state to an unfolded state to an open state, it can reduce the loosening or tightening of the flexible display panel.

[0011] Furthermore, as constructed in this invention, each housing can remain stably stopped at any opening or closing angle during operation, and can also remain stably stopped in both fully closed and fully open states.

[0012] Then, with the construction of the present invention, even with a simplified design, stable synchronous rotation of each housing can be achieved.

[0013] Furthermore, as constructed in this invention, electronic devices using hinge devices with the aforementioned features can significantly improve practicality. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0014] Figures 1(a) to 1(b) show electronic machines using the hinge device of the present invention. Figure 1(a) is a perspective view of the first housing and the second housing in a folded state; Figure 1(b) is a perspective view of the first housing and the second housing in an unfolded state. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the unfolded state after the flexible display panel has been removed from the states shown in Figures 1(a) to 1(b). Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the hinge device of the present invention. Figure 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of the hinge device shown in Figure 3. Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the main components of the hinge device shown in Figure 3. Figure 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of a portion of the rotary sliding mechanism of the hinge device shown in Figure 5. Figures 7(a) to 7(b) are enlarged perspective views of a part of the rotation control mechanism of the hinge device shown in Figure 5. Figure 7(a) is an exploded perspective view of a part of it; Figure 7(b) is an exploded perspective view of the whole device. Figures 8(a) to 8(b) show a part of the synchronous rotation mechanism of the hinge device shown in Figure 5. Figure 8(a) is an exploded perspective view of a part of it; Figure 8(b) is an exploded perspective view of the whole device. Figure 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the base frame of the hinge device shown in Figure 5. Figure 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the rotating cam component of the hinge device shown in Figure 5. Figures 11(a) to 11(b) show the synchronous rotating cam component on one side of the component shown in Figure 5. Figure 11(a) is a perspective view from one side, and Figure 11(b) is a perspective view from the other side. Figures 12(a) to 12(b) show the synchronous rotating cam component on the other side of Figure 5. Figure 12(a) is a perspective view from one side; Figure 12(b) is a perspective view from the other side. Figure 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the synchronous sliding cam component shown in Figure 5. Figure 14 is an enlarged perspective view of the sliding cam component shown in Figure 5. Figure 15 is an enlarged perspective view of the center stop shown in Figure 5. Figure 16 is an enlarged perspective view of the center plate spring cover shown in Figure 5. Figures 17(a) to 17(b) show the central plate mounting components shown in Figure 5. Figure 17(a) is a perspective view from one side, and Figure 17(b) is a perspective view from the other side. Implementation

[0015] The following detailed description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, describes one embodiment of the hinge device of the present invention and the electronic machine using the hinge device.

[0016] Example

[0017] Figure 1 schematically illustrates a notebook computer B as an example of an electronic device using the hinge device A of the present invention. Figure 1(a) is a perspective view of the pair of housings 10, 10 constituting the notebook computer B when the angle between them is 0 degrees (hereinafter also referred to as the closed state), and Figure 1(b) is a perspective view of the pair of housings 10, 10 unfolded to 180 degrees (hereinafter also referred to as the open state). The hinge device A of the present invention is provided on the connecting side of the pair of housings 10, 10, allowing the housings 10, 10 to open and close between 0 degrees and 180 degrees. A flexible display panel C, for example made of organic EL, is mounted across both surfaces of each housing 10, 10. When the housings 10, 10 are opened and closed, the flexible display panel C may become loose or tight due to the thickness of the material. Therefore, the hinge device A needs to have a mechanism to alleviate this looseness or tightness.

[0018] Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the flexible display panel C divided into two sides with each housing 10, 10 in an open state. It can be seen that the hinge device A of the present invention is installed on the connecting end side of each housing 10, 10. The structure of the hinge device A of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures.

[0019] According to the figures, particularly as shown in Figures 2 to 5, the hinge device A of the present invention has a base frame 1 extending to both ends of each housing 10, 10 in the width direction. Side frames 2, 3 for gripping each housing 10, 10 are arranged on the front and rear sides of the base frame 1. The base frame 1 is also provided with a rotation sliding mechanism D, D, a rotation control mechanism E, a synchronous rotation mechanism F, and a lifting mechanism G for the center plate 6 for rotating each of the side frames 2, 3.

[0020] In addition, the side frames 2 and 3 have the same shape, especially as shown in Figure 5, the cross-section is roughly zigzag, and they are provided with mounting holes (omitted in the figure) for mounting bracket guide 9, synchronous first rotating cam component 13 and synchronous second rotating cam component 14 and other components.

[0021] The following will describe the aforementioned rotary sliding mechanism D, D, rotary control mechanism E, synchronous rotary mechanism F, and lifting mechanism G in sequence according to the diagram.

[0022] First, although the rotary sliding mechanisms D and D are located on both ends of the base frame 1, since they are the same mechanism, only one of them will be described, and the description of the other will be omitted. Specifically, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the rotary sliding mechanism D is arranged on both sides of the base frame 1 and is composed of fixed cam members 7, 7, rotary cam members 8, 8... and support guide members 9, 9. The fixed cam members 7, 7 are arranged at specific intervals and have curved guide protrusions 7a, 7a, ... on each inner side of the base frame 1. The rotary cam members 8, 8... have first curved guide recesses 8a, 8a on the outer side of one end side that fit with the curved guide protrusions 7a, 7a, and second curved guide recesses 8b, 8b on both sides of the other end side. The support guide members 9, 9 have curved guide protrusions 9a, 9a at specific intervals, and the curved guide protrusions 9a, 9a fit with the second curved guide recesses 8b, 8b of the rotary cam members 8, 8... Each bracket guide 9, 9 is mounted on each side frame 2, 3 and then on each housing 10, 10. In addition, depending on the implementation, the side frames 2, 3 may be omitted, in which case the bracket guide 9, 9 will be directly mounted on the housing 10, 10.

[0023] Therefore, when the opening and closing operations of each housing 10 are performed, the operating force is transmitted through each side frame 2, 3 to each bracket guide 9, 9, and the rotating cam components 8, 8... rotate due to the action of the bracket guide 9, 9, thus performing the opening and closing operations of each housing 10, 10.

[0024] At this time, the rotating cam components 8, 8... by means of the curved guide protrusions 7a, 7a of the fixed cam components 7, 7 and their own first curved guide recesses 8a, 8a, make each housing 10, 10 fully open, and then each housing 10, 10 will slide slightly outward to prevent the flexible display panel C from wrinkling.

[0025] Furthermore, although the synchronous rotation mechanism F also has a gear-type structure design, the present invention adopts a cam-type structure. The synchronous rotation mechanism F of the present invention, particularly referring to Figures 4 and 5, and further as shown in Figures 8(a) to 8(b), is composed of four synchronous first rotating cam members 13, 13 and synchronous second rotating cam members 14, 14, and a synchronous sliding cam member 15. One end of the first rotating cam members 13, 13 and the synchronous second rotating cam members 14, 14 are rotatably connected to a pair of hinge shafts 11, 12 mounted at specific intervals on the base frame 1, and the other end is slidably disposed on the double guide members 26, 26 mounted on each cover member 4, 5; the synchronous sliding cam member 15 is slidably disposed between each of the synchronous first rotating cam members 13, 13 and the synchronous second rotating cam members 14, 14 on a pair of hinge shafts 11, 12.

[0026] Furthermore, when the synchronous first rotary cam members 13, 13 and the synchronous second rotary cam members 14, 14 are slidably disposed on the dual guide members 26, 26, each dual guide member 26, 26 has a pair of receiving recesses 26c, 26c, 26c, 26c separated by guide plate portions 26b, 26b disposed in the central part, and the guide protrusions 26a, 26a, 26a, 26a... disposed in the receiving recesses 26c, 26c, 26c are engaged with the guide recesses 13a, 13a, 14a, 14a disposed on each synchronous first rotary cam member 13, 13 and synchronous second rotary cam member 14, 14. In addition, by engaging the locking pins 13c and 13c provided on the synchronous first rotating cam members 13 and 13 with the engaging holes 14c and 14c provided on the synchronous second rotating cam members 14 and 14, the synchronous first rotating cam members 13 and 13 and the synchronous second rotating cam members 14 and 14 can slide synchronously.

[0027] As shown in Figures 5 and 8(a) to 8(b), symbol 20 represents a locking piece that locks one end of each hinge shaft 11, 12. Furthermore, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, symbol 19 represents a locking member on which locking pieces 20 are mounted, used to lock one end of each hinge shaft 11, 12. Additionally, symbols 29 in Figures 4 and 5 represent abutment members, but these can be omitted.

[0028] Next, at both ends of the synchronous sliding cam member 15, sliding screw cam portions 15a, 15a, 15a, 15a are provided corresponding to each hinge shaft 11, 12. Each synchronous first rotating cam member 13, 13 and synchronous second rotating cam member 14, 14 are provided with rotating screw cam portions 13b, 13b, 14b, 14b on the side opposite to each sliding screw cam portion 15a, 15a, 15a, 15a.

[0029] Therefore, if a hand is placed on one of the housings 10 and the other housing 10 is opened or closed, the synchronous first rotating cam member 13 and the synchronous second rotating cam member 14 will rotate through the side frames 2 and 3. When the synchronous sliding cam member 15 slides along the hinge axis 11 and 12, the other housing 10 will receive a rotational force through the interaction of the synchronous sliding cam member 15 and the synchronous first rotating cam member 13, thus synchronously opening and closing.

[0030] Next, the rotary control mechanism E is described, particularly as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 7(a) to 7(b). The rotary control mechanism E includes a synchronous sliding cam component 30, a fixed component 28, a pair of rotating supports 21, 21, a friction plate 22 and elastic components 16, 16. Synchronous sliding cam member 30 is slidably mounted on each hinge shaft 11, 12 and opposite to the synchronous first rotating cam member 13, 13 on one side; fixed member 28 is mounted on base frame 1 at a specific interval relative to the synchronous sliding cam member 30 and holds the ends of each hinge shaft 11, 12; a pair of rotating brackets 21, 21 are in contact with the fixed member 28, rotatably mounted on each hinge shaft 11, 12, and slidably mounted on side frames 2, 3 through guide members 17, 17; friction plate 22 is in contact with each pair of rotating brackets 21, 21 and allows each hinge shaft 11, 12 to pass through; elastic member 16, 16 is composed of a pair of compression springs, which are elastically arranged between the friction plate 22 and the synchronous sliding cam member 30 to allow each hinge shaft 11, 12 to pass through. In addition, as shown in Figure 5, each guide member 17 is formed by overlapping the upper member 17a and the lower member 17b, and the rotating brackets 21 are slidably installed therebetween and can rotate together with them.

[0031] It goes without saying that lubricant is applied between the components that are pressed together. In addition, as shown in Figure 7(b), each rotating bracket 21, 21 is provided with guide grooves 21a, 21a, in which center stops 18, 18 are inserted, which can lock the center stops 18, 18 within a specific rotation angle range.

[0032] Then, the center plate 6 is movably mounted on the base frame 1 via the center plate mounting components 33, 33. The lifting mechanism G of the center plate 6 consists of torsion springs 25, 25 and rotary cam components 8, 8... The torsion springs 25, 25 are located on both sides of the base frame 1, so that the center plate 6 is always pulled downward. When the housings 10, 10 are opened, the rotary cam components 8, 8... counteract the pulling force of the torsion springs 25, 25, causing the center plate 6 to move upward. When the housings 10, 10 are closed, the center plate 6 is located below the hinge device A, but when the housings 10, 10 are opened, it will move upward through the action of the rotary cam components 8, 8... When the housings 10, 10 are fully opened to 180 degrees, it will be flush with the surface of the housings 10, 10, and will not create a recess on the surface of the flexible display panel C.

[0033] Furthermore, after the center stoppers 18 and 18 are installed, they can rotate together with the rotating brackets 21 and 21 within a specific angle range through which the hinge shafts 11 and 12 are inserted in the guide grooves of the rotating brackets 21 and 21. If the housings 10 and 10 are to be opened, the center plate 6 is moved upward by the rotating cam components 8, 8, ... If the housings 10 and 10 are to be closed, the center plate 6 is pulled downward by the traction force of the torsion springs 25 and 25, pushing it back to its original position.

[0034] As shown in Figure 15, the center stop 18 has an insertion hole 18a for the hinge shafts 11 and 12 to pass through, a stop part 18b, and an upper push plate 18c, and the rotation angle is limited by the stop part 18b.

[0035] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 16, the symbol 24 represents the center plate spring cover, which is provided with a torsion spring mounting pin 24a, and as shown in Figures 17(a) to 17(b), a screw mounting hole 33a is provided in the center of the center plate mounting member 33.

[0036] When the housings 10, 10 are in the closed state, the protrusions 31a, 31a, 31a, 31a of the first cam portion 31 of the synchronous sliding cam member 30 in the rotation control mechanism E will engage with the recesses 32b, 32b, 32b, 32b of the second cam portions 32, 32 of the synchronous first rotating cam member 13, 13, thus stably maintaining the closed state. When the housings 10, 10 are at the intermediate opening and closing angle, regardless of whether an opening or closing action is to be performed next, since the protrusions 31a, 31a and 32a, 32a of the first cam portion 31 and the second cam portion 32 are in a pressing state with each other, the housings 10, 10 can be freely stopped when opening and closing. Furthermore, when each housing 10 is in the fully open state, the protrusions 31a, 31a, 31a, 31a of the first cam portion 31 of the synchronous sliding cam member 30 will fall into the recesses 32b, 32b, 32b, 32b of the second cam portion 32 of the synchronous first rotating cam member 13, thus ensuring that the open state is stably maintained.

[0037] As detailed above, the present invention relates to a hinge device and a folding electronic device using the hinge device, which is particularly suitable for folding electronic devices that have a flexible display panel structure spanning a pair of housings, such as laptops, electronic notebooks, PDAs, small notebooks, image display devices, portable game consoles, and notebook computers.

[0038] 1: Base frame 10: Shell 11, 12: Hinge pins 13: Synchronous first rotating cam component 13a, 14a: Guide recess 13b, 14b: Rotary screw cam section 13c: Locking pin 14: Synchronous Second Rotary Cam Component 14c: Snap-fit ​​hole 15: Synchronous sliding cam component 15a: Sliding screw cam portion 16: Elastic Components 17: Guide components 17a: Upper component 17b: Lower component 18: Center stop 18a: Through hole 18b: Stopper section 18c: Push-up film 19: Locking component 2, 3: Side frames 20: Locking Piece 21: Rotating bracket 21a: Guide groove 22: Friction Plate 24: Center plate spring cover 24a: Torsion spring mounting pin 25: Torsion Spring 26: Dual-guide component 26a: Guide protrusions 26b: Guide plate section 26c: Receiving recess 28: Fixed components 29: Abutment component 30: Synchronous sliding cam component 31: First cam section 31a, 32a: convex part 32: Second cam section 32b: concave part 33: Center plate mounting components 33a: Screw mounting hole 4, 5: Cover components 6: Center plate 7: Fixed cam component 7a, 9a: Curved guide protrusions 8: Rotary cam component 8a: First curved guide recess 8b: Second curved guide recess 9: Bracket Guide Components A: Hinge mechanism B: Notebook computer C: Flexible Display Panel D: Rotary sliding mechanism E: Rotation control mechanism F: Synchronous Rotation Mechanism G: Lifting mechanism

Claims

1. A hinge device for mounting an electronic device consisting of a flexible display panel across two surfaces of a pair of housings, and for opening and closing the pair of housings, the hinge device comprising a base frame extending to both ends of the pair of housings in the width direction, the base frame having a rotary sliding mechanism, a rotary control mechanism, and a synchronous rotation mechanism, wherein a pair of hinge axes are disposed on the base frame, wherein... The rotary sliding mechanism comprises a fixed cam member and a rotary cam member. The fixed cam member is disposed at specific intervals on the front and rear sides of both ends of the base frame, and has a curved guide protrusion on its inner side. The rotary cam member has a curved guide recess that fits into each of the fixed cam members and is mounted on each of the housings or on a side frame mounted on each of the housings. The rotary control mechanism includes: a synchronous sliding cam member slidably mounted on each of the hinge shafts and opposite to a synchronous first rotary cam member on one side; a fixed member mounted on the base frame at specific intervals relative to the synchronous sliding cam member and holding the ends of each of the hinge shafts; a pair of rotating brackets in contact with the fixed member, rotatably mounted on each of the hinge shafts, and slidably mounted on the side frame through a guide member; a friction plate in contact with the pair of rotating brackets and through which each of the hinge shafts passes; and an elastic member consisting of a pair of elastically arranged compression springs, through which each of the hinge shafts passes between the friction plate and the synchronous sliding cam member.

2. The hinge device as claimed in claim 1, the synchronous rotation mechanism comprising: four synchronous first rotating cam members and synchronous second rotating cam members, one end of which is rotatably pivotally connected to a pair of hinge shafts mounted at specific intervals on the base frame, and the other end of which is slidably disposed on a double guide member mounted on each cover member; and a synchronous sliding cam member slidably mounted on the pair of hinge shafts between each of the synchronous first rotating cam members and each of the synchronous second rotating cam members.

3. An electronic machine that uses a hinge device as described in any one of claims 1 to 2.

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