Foldable Hinge Gear Structure for Zero-Delay Direction Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gear tolerances during manufacturing lead to small gaps between gear teeth, resulting in incomplete meshing and idle rotation, causing delays in hinge operations, especially when switching directions, which affects the performance of foldable electronic devices.
Innovation Solution
A hinge structure with a rotating shaft, idle gears, and interconnecting structures that include pressing members to align and engage gears, ensuring rotational forces are applied in opposite directions, minimizing gaps and delays by using cam structures to facilitate smooth rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gears are manufactured with tight tolerances to eliminate gaps between teeth, then complete meshing and immediate power transfer are achieved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediary structure (the pressing member with cam surface) is introduced between the gears to force complete meshing. This mediator compensates for manufacturing gaps by mechanically pushing the gears into full engagement, eliminating the need for extremely tight manufacturing tolerances while ensuring reliable power transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressing member performs preliminary action by pre-loading the gears into complete meshing position before rotation begins. The cam surface is designed to push the gears together in advance, ensuring that when rotation starts, the gears are already fully engaged and ready for immediate power transfer without idle rotation.
2Duration of action of moving object
If multiple interworking gears are used to sustain continuous rotation, then rotational continuity is improved, but accumulated idle rotation and delay increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing member acts as a mediator that synchronizes multiple gears by forcing them into complete meshing simultaneously. This eliminates the cumulative idle rotation that occurs in multi-gear systems by ensuring each gear engages fully before the next one begins rotation, maintaining continuous motion without delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The cam surface design ensures continuous useful action by maintaining constant pressure on the gears to keep them fully engaged throughout the rotation cycle. This prevents any interruption or idle period in the power transmission chain, ensuring that all gears rotate continuously without delay.
3Adaptability or versatility
If gear direction switching is implemented, then bidirectional rotation is achieved, but idle rotation and delay are amplified
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing member applies preliminary anti-action by counteracting the tendency of gears to separate when direction changes occur. The cam surface maintains constant pressing force that prevents gear teeth from disengaging during direction switching, eliminating idle rotation and delay that would normally occur when gears need to re-engage in the opposite direction.
Data Source
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AI summary
An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a first housing, a second housing, a hinge structure configured to connect the first housing and the second housing, and a foldable display module. The hinge structure includes a rotating shaft, a first idle gear, a second idle gear , a first gear , a second gear , a first pressing member configured to move the first gear toward the second gear, and a first interconnecting structure formed between the first gear and the second gear to enable the first gear to engage with the second gear, the first interconnecting structure being formed between the first gear and the second gear such that, as first pressing member moves the first gear toward the second gear, the first gear and the second gear receive with rotational forces in opposite directions.