Hinged Electronic Device with Elastic Switching Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tablet computers lack a convenient method for fast text input, as they typically rely on touch screens or virtual keyboards, which are slower than traditional keyboards, and incorporating a physical keyboard base makes them cumbersome to carry.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device with a hinged design allowing easy switching between a closed tablet mode and an open notebook mode, featuring elastic components and a lock-release mechanism for automatic or assisted opening, ensuring the lower rim of the first body abuts the second body's upper surface during state changes, facilitating keyboard input without the need for a separate keyboard base.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a physical keyboard base is incorporated into the PAD, then input speed is improved, but portability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into two separable parts: a tablet body and a keyboard base. The tablet can be used independently for portability, while the keyboard base provides fast input when needed. This segmentation allows users to carry only the lightweight tablet and add the keyboard base only when input functionality is required.
Solution Approach 2:
The keyboard base is extracted as a separate component from the tablet, connected through a hinge structure. This allows the keyboard functionality to be removed or detached when not needed, maintaining the tablet's portability while providing keyboard input capability when required.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a hinge mechanism is added to enable mode switching, then versatility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it connects the tablet body to the keyboard base, enables rotation for mode switching, and provides structural support. By merging these functions into a single mechanism, the design achieves versatility without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge structure is designed to perform multiple operations: connecting parts, enabling rotation between modes, and maintaining structural integrity. This multi-functional design allows a single component to address several requirements, reducing overall system complexity while improving versatility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables seamless switching between tablet and notebook modes, improving input speed and convenience by maintaining the lower rim's contact with the upper surface, thus simplifying and enhancing the user experience while avoiding unnecessary interference during state transitions.
Implementation Method 1
The first elastic component in the closed state has an elastic deformation generating a force for switching the first body into the open state
Implementation Method 2
The first elastic component is a first torsion spring arranged to be coaxial with the first hinge shaft
Implementation Method 3
The second elastic component in the closed state has an elastic deformation generating a force for driving the connecting member to be switched into the open state
Implementation Method 4
The second elastic component is arranged between a second hinge end of the connecting member hinged with the second body and the second body
Implementation Method 5
Matched magnetic components are provided on the upper surface of the second body and the lower rim of the first body, respectively, so that the lower rim of the first body keeps abutting against the upper surface of the second body
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an electronic device including a first body, a second body connected with the first body, and a connecting member. The connecting member is hinged with the first body via a first hinge shaft and is hinged with the second body via a second hinge shaft, such as to enable the first body and the second body to be switched between an open state and a closed state. The electronic device is configured in such a manner that, in the closed state, a second housing of the first body snuggles against a first housing of the second body, and in the open state, a lower rim of the first body is located at a front portion of the second body; and the lower rim of the first body keeps abutting against the upper surface of the second body while the state of relative position is switched.