Pivoting Display Cover Slides to Reduce Device Volume
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image recording apparatuses with pivotable display panels become bulky due to integral cover and lead guide designs, requiring additional space and complicating cable management, leading to increased size and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A compact image recording apparatus design featuring a pivoting display panel with a covering member that slides and pivots to accommodate the flexible flat cable, allowing for adjustable panel angles and enhanced protection without the need for additional space, using a covering member that can be stored parallel to the panel and engages slidably with the apparatus body to prevent disengagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the cover and lead guide are formed integrally with the display housing case, then the cable management is simplified, but the main case becomes bulky due to the required space for accommodating the cover and lead guide
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cover and lead guide into separate components rather than forming them integrally with the display housing case. The cover is a separate piece that can be attached to the case, while the lead guide is a distinct component that guides the flexible flat cable through the case. This segmentation eliminates the need to allocate space within the main case for accommodating an integral cover-lead guide structure, thereby reducing the overall case volume while maintaining simplified cable management.
2Strength
If the cover and lead guide are formed integrally with the display housing case, then the structural integrity is enhanced, but extra work is necessary for positioning the flexible flat cable through the cover and lead guide
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the cover and lead guide from the main case structure, the patent allows each component to be manufactured and positioned independently. The lead guide can be pre-positioned and secured to the case, providing clear guidance for cable routing during assembly. This reduces the complexity of positioning the flexible flat cable compared to an integral structure where the cable would need to be routed through a monolithic component requiring precise internal pathways.
3Volume of moving object
If the display panel pivots to a position substantially in parallel with the upper surface of the main case, then the device can be compact, but the cover and lead guide move through the opening deep into the case requiring pre-formed space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic cover design that can pivot and move relative to the main case as the display panel changes position. When the display panel pivots to a compact position parallel to the upper surface, the cover dynamically follows this movement, sliding through the opening without requiring deep pre-formed accommodation space. The lead guide similarly adapts its position, allowing the flexible flat cable to be routed efficiently in the compact configuration without compromising structural integrity or requiring complex internal case modifications.
Data Source
AI summary
An image recording apparatus includes an apparatus body, a recording section for forming an image, a display panel assuming upright and laying posture with respect to the apparatus body by pivoting on a predetermined axis, and a covering member having a first end and a second end. The first end is mounted pivotably on one of the apparatus body and the back surface of the display panel. The second end engages slidably with the other of the apparatus body and the back surface of the display panel. Accordingly, the covering member can be accommodated substantially in parallel with the back surface of the display panel. As a result, when the display panel is laid down, it is low in height, thereby making the image recording apparatus to be compact.