Compact Hinge Sliding Guidance Without Elongated Inclined Rails
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hinges for flexible electronic devices are bulky due to the need for elongated inclined slide rails to ensure steady sliding, which increases the width and thickness, making it difficult to achieve a slim structure.
Innovation Solution
A hinge design with a mounting seat, rotary units, and interposed sliding members that allow for steady and firm sliding without elongating the inclined rails, using interposed sliding members to guide and limit the sliding movement, ensuring a compact and slim structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the inclined slide rail is elongated to ensure steady sliding contact, then the sliding stability is improved, but the width and thickness of the hinge increase making it bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding mechanism is divided into multiple components: the rail slider with outward inclined sliding portion, the rotating bracket with inward inclined guiding portion, and the interposed sliding member. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, enabling steady sliding through the interposed sliding member without requiring elongated inclined rails that would increase hinge thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The interposed sliding member acts as an intermediary between the rail slider and the rotating bracket. It mediates the sliding motion by providing a guided path through its inward inclined sliding portion and outward inclined guiding portion, ensuring stable contact and movement while maintaining a compact structure without needing elongated rails.
2Reliability
If the inclined slide rail dimension is increased to maintain contact during sliding, then the sliding firmness is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge employs dynamic sliding paths through the interposed sliding member that adapts to the motion requirements. The inward inclined sliding portion and outward inclined guiding portion create a dynamic engagement that maintains firm sliding contact throughout the motion range, replacing the need for statically elongated rails that would increase structural complexity.
3Reliability
If the rail slider and rotating bracket dimensions are increased to ensure contact, then the sliding stability is improved, but the hinge becomes bulky and difficult to thin
Solution Approach 1:
The interposed sliding member is nested between the rail slider and the rotating bracket, fitting into the space between these two components. This nesting arrangement allows the sliding mechanism to maintain stability through the interposed member without requiring increased dimensions of the rail slider or rotating bracket, thereby preventing the hinge from becoming bulky.
Data Source
AI summary
A hinge connectable with two housing parts to allow opening and closing thereof includes a mounting seat, two rotary units and two lateral support plates. The mounting seat has two first arcuate slots at two sides of a central line. The rotary units are connected with the mounting seat at the two sides of the central line for mounting the housing parts, and shiftable between an unfolded state and a folded state. Each rotary unit includes a linking member, a rail sliding block, a rotating bracket and an interposed sliding member interposed between the rail sliding block and the rotating bracket. The sliding of the rail sliding block relative to the rotating bracket can be steady and firm without the need to elongate the inclined rails of the rail sliding block and the rotating bracket, which renders the hinge more compact and slim.