JP5451308B2 - Electronics - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hinge structure of an electronic device.

  In recent years, as a hinge function of an electronic device such as a mobile phone device, a folding type single-axis hinge mechanism and a single-axis hinge that can be arbitrarily shifted between an open state and a closed state by a rotation axis parallel to the short side direction of the device 2. Description of the Related Art A biaxial hinge mechanism in which a rotation hinge mechanism having a rotation axis in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the opening / closing hinge mechanism is added to the mechanism is widely used.

  In the single-axis hinge mechanism, when the main display is viewed in the open state, the display has a vertically long layout. If the device is turned sideways, the display will have a landscape layout, but the device will be unnaturally held. In the closed state, which is more compact than the open state, the main display is hidden and the display cannot be visually recognized.

  On the other hand, in the biaxial hinge mechanism, the main display display surface is inverted by the rotating hinge mechanism, so that the main display display surface is located on the front side and the display surface is not concealed in the closed state. The main display can be seen in the state.

  However, since the rotary hinge mechanism is provided as compared with the uniaxial hinge mechanism, the entire apparatus is limited in size and thickness. Further, since a strong load is applied to the coupling portion between the rotating hinge mechanism and the housing when an external force is applied to the apparatus, the coupling portion between the rotating hinge mechanism and the housing needs to be strong such as screw fastening.

  For this reason, the coupling structure between the rotating hinge mechanism and the housing is required to achieve a requirement that contradicts the requirement for a strong structure and the requirement for miniaturization. As a structure having two sets of hinge mechanisms for connecting and rotating between the cases, there are the following patent documents.

  Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 describe a mobile phone in which the rotation axis direction is parallel to the apparatus long side direction. It is described that the rotating hinge mechanism and the housing are fixed by fastening screws, and the fastening direction is the apparatus thickness direction orthogonal to the rotation axis. Patent Document 3 describes a mobile phone in which the rotation axis direction of the rotary hinge mechanism is parallel to the apparatus thickness direction. It is described that the fastening screw direction between the rotary hinge mechanism and the housing is the apparatus thickness direction parallel to the rotation axis.

  A mobile phone described in Patent Document 4 is shown in FIG. Patent Document 4 discloses a mobile phone in which the rotation axis of the rotary hinge mechanism is parallel to the long side direction of the device, and the fastening screw direction between the rotary hinge mechanism and the housing is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the device. Have been described. With this configuration, screws are fastened in the apparatus long side direction perpendicular to the apparatus thickness direction, thereby enabling reduction in thickness and size in the apparatus thickness direction.

JP 2004-218688 A JP 2006-10025 A JP 2003-174495 A JP 2009-108919 A

  However, in the hinge mechanisms disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the rotary hinge mechanism is screwed in the apparatus thickness direction, the apparatus thickness is increased, which hinders thinning of the electronic device.

  The hinge structure of Patent Document 4 will be described in more detail. FIG. 9 describes the screw fastening of the hinge structure and the housing structure. The hinge structure includes a connection arm portion 901 of a biaxial hinge mechanism and a support arm portion 903 having a screw fastening portion of the connection arm portion 901. A support frame 902 that is a front case has a female screw function 904. The connecting arm portion 901 is disposed inside the support frame 902 and is screwed from the outside of the support frame 902 by a support arm portion 903 and a female screw function 904.

  In this case, when the other rear case (not shown) is screwed to the hinged support frame 902 and the hinge structure, the side surface of the housing cannot be used as a part having the female screw function 904, and the housing It was necessary to form a female thread on the side other than the side.

  Therefore, the support arm portion 901 is a metal flat plate and has a thickness of about 1.2 mm. If a female screw is formed within this thickness, the number of pitches effective for screw fastening is insufficient. Therefore, increasing the thickness of the flat plate to ensure the effective number of pitches for screw fastening results in an unnecessary thickness due to the rigidity and strength of the entire device, increasing the weight and the length of the display casing in the long side direction that is the screw fastening direction. increase. Therefore, it has been an obstacle to thinning.

  The fastening screw 905 is screwed into the screw hole of the support arm 901. However, forming the female screw on the holder that fixes the display to the support frame 902 increases the size of the holder shape. For this reason, the thicknesses of the portions of the support arm 901 and the support frame 902 that form the male threads are increased, which hinders the reduction of the entire apparatus.

  Further, the housing that is screwed to the rotary hinge mechanism is only the support frame 902 that is one of a plurality of housings that constitute the display housing, and the other rear case is not included. For this reason, a screw for fastening the front case and the rear case must be provided separately from the fastening screw for the hinge mechanism, which restricts downsizing of the display housing.

  In addition, resin, magnesium, etc. are usually used as the material of the housing, but the physical property value of rigidity is lower than the steel material of the screw fastening plate material of the hinge mechanism, and in order to obtain the same rigidity, it is made thicker than the screw fastening plate. There was a need.

[Object of invention]
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and provide a miniaturized electronic device.

  A substantially flat first housing and second housing having screw holes on the side surfaces, a display housing including the first housing and the second housing, and an operation unit housing And a rotary hinge mechanism having a second rotary shaft perpendicular to the first rotary shaft, and the hinge mechanism includes the second rotary shaft. A fastening plate that rotates about the rotation axis of the first casing, and has a screw hole in the fastening plate in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the first housing. The screw hole of the second casing is located on the opposite side of the first casing across the fastening plate, the first casing, the fastening plate, and the The second housing is fixed through a screw hole.

  According to the present invention, electronic devices such as mobile phones can be made smaller and thinner.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the electronic device of 1st embodiment by this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the portable apparatus of 2nd embodiment by this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the portable apparatus of 2nd embodiment by this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the display part side housing | casing of the portable apparatus of 2nd embodiment by this invention. It is the perspective view which expanded the fixing | fixed part of the rotation hinge mechanism of 2nd embodiment by this invention, a front display housing | casing, and a rear display housing | casing, and showed the front display housing | casing on the upper surface. It is the perspective view which expanded the rotation hinge mechanism of 2nd embodiment by this invention, the front display housing | casing, and the fixing | fixed part of a rear display housing | casing, and showed the rear display housing | casing on the upper surface. It is sectional drawing to which the fixing | fixed part of the rotation hinge mechanism of 2nd embodiment by this invention, a front display housing | casing, and a rear display housing | casing was expanded. It is sectional drawing to which the rotation hinge mechanism of 2nd embodiment by this invention, the front display housing | casing, and the fixing | fixed part of a rear display housing | casing were expanded. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a display device described in Patent Document 4.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a first embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the electronic device 1 includes a first housing 10, a second housing 20, a hinge mechanism 30, and a screw hole 40. The first housing 10, the second housing 20, the hinge mechanism 30, and the screw hole 40 are accommodated in 20 when assembled, but in FIG. 1, they are taken out and illustrated. The first housing 10 and the second housing 20 are provided with screw holes 40 on the side surfaces of the housing. In addition, the hinge mechanism 30 includes a flat plate-like fastening plate 31 having a rotation axis in a direction orthogonal to the connecting portion between the first housing 10 and the second housing 20. The fastening plate 31 is located outside the side surface of the first housing 10, and the second housing 20 is located outside the fastening plate 31. The first housing 10, the second housing 20, and the fastening plate 31 are fixed by being screwed through the screw holes 40. With this hinge structure 30, the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 can be arbitrarily rotated with the direction orthogonal to the fastening plate 31 as the rotation axis.

  As an example of the material of the housing and the hinge mechanism, plastic and magnesium are suitable. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any material can be used as long as the strength required for an electronic device can be obtained.

  The screw hole 40 is preferably a female screw hole, and is preferably manufactured by thermally inserting a metal female screw nut. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and screw holes that can fix the first housing 10 and the second housing 20 with screws may be used.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the fastening plate 31 having the hinge mechanism 30 is located outside the side surface of the first housing 10, and the second housing 20 is located outside the fastening plate 31. To position. The first casing 10, the second casing 20, and the fastening plate 31 are fixed by being screwed through the screw holes 40. For this reason, by providing a female screw nut on the side surface of the thick casing, the efficiency of component dimension distribution in the long side direction of the casing is improved, and the size of the long side of the display casing can be reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to provide inter-case screw fastening different from the screw fastening of the rotary hinge mechanism, the display housing can be reduced in size and weight.

  Next, a second embodiment of the electronic device according to the present invention will be described.

  2 and 3 are perspective views showing an electronic apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the portable electronic device 201 includes a display unit side body 202 and an operation unit side body 203, and the display unit side body 202 and the operation unit side body 203 rotate around the apparatus short side direction 204. Are connected by an open / close hinge mechanism 205.
The display unit side body 202 further includes a display case 206 and a hinge case 207, and the display case 206 and the hinge case 207 are connected by a rotating hinge mechanism 209 having the apparatus long side direction 208 as a rotation axis. Has been. Further, the boundary of the connecting portion between the display housing 206 and the hinge housing 207 is a curved surface.

  The operation unit side body 203 is configured by a general input device such as a keyboard, a touch panel, or a numeric keypad, and outputs an operation input signal corresponding to a user operation.

  In FIG. 2, the portable electronic device 201 is in an open state in which the display unit side body 202 and the operation unit side body 203 are not overlapped by the rotation of the opening / closing hinge mechanism 205, and the display is performed by the rotation of the rotary hinge mechanism 209. The main display 210 of the housing 206 is in a front state facing the same side as the operation key group 211 of the operation unit side housing 202.

  FIG. 3 shows a form in which the main display 310 and the operation key group are in a reverse state in which the rotary hinge mechanism 309 is in the open state and in the closed state. The open / close hinge mechanism 305 having the device short side direction as the rotational axis and the rotation hinge mechanism 309 having the device long side direction as the rotation axis can be opened and closed.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the display unit side housing of the portable electronic device of the second embodiment. The display unit side body includes a front display body 411 and a rear display body 412. The front display housing 411 is provided with a display having a predetermined shape for displaying various types of information and an audio output unit that outputs audio to the other party during a call.

  5 and 6 are enlarged perspective views of the fixing portions of the rotary hinge mechanisms 509 and 609, the front display housings 511 and 611, and the rear display housings 512 and 612. FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the front display housing 511 on the top surface, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the rear display housing 612 on the top surface.

  In FIG. 5, the fastening side surface 520 of the rear display housing 512 has screw holes 519 corresponding to the female screw nut holes 513 a and 513 b of the front display housing 511 and the screw holes 517 a and 517 b of the fastening plate 515. Here, the screw holes 519 of the rear display housing fastening side surface 520 correspond to the two internal thread nut holes 513a inside the front display housing 511, and are screwed. Further, the rotary hinge mechanism 509 includes a fastening plate 515 that rotates about the rotation axis. The fastening plate 515 has a flat plate shape orthogonal to the rotation axis, and has two screw holes 517a and 517b through which the male screw 516 in the screw direction parallel to the apparatus long side direction 507 passes. The fastening side surface 520 of the part facing 513b and 517b is a notch. Therefore, the fastening plate 515 is directly coupled to the front display housing 511.

  The fastening plate 515 of the rotary hinge mechanism 509 has a positional relationship with the front display housing 511 so as to overlap the front display housing fastening side surface 514.

  The fastening side surface 514 of the front display housing 511 has a structure in which female screw nuts 513 having a screw direction in the long side direction of the device are embedded in two places on one side, a total of four places on the one side.

  In FIG. 6, a fitting groove 618 having a shape that sandwiches and fits a fastening plate 615 that is a part of the rotary hinge structure is provided outside the front display housing fastening side surface 614. By providing the fitting groove 618 on the outer side of the front display housing fastening side surface 614, the rotary hinge mechanism is incorporated into the display portion side housing, so that the size in the apparatus long side direction is reduced. Therefore, the portable device can be downsized.

  Next, the manufacturing method of 2nd embodiment is demonstrated.

  The fastening plate 615 of the rotary hinge mechanism 609 is incorporated in the fitting groove 618 on the outer side of the front display housing fastening side surface 614, and the fastening side surface 614 and the fastening plate 615 are matched. Next, the female screw nuts 613a and 613b of the front display housing 611 are aligned with the screw holes 617a and 617b of the fastening plate 615, respectively. Next, the screw holes 617b of the rotary hinge mechanism 609 and the screw holes 613b of the front display housing 611 are fastened with screws, and the rotary hinge mechanism 609 and the front display housing 611 are fixed.

  Next, the rear display housing 612 is incorporated into the front display housing 611 so that the fastening side surface 620 of the rear display housing 612 is positioned on the opposite side of the front display housing 611 across the fastening plate 615 of the rotary hinge mechanism 609. . The screw hole 619 of the rear display housing 612, the female screw nut 617 a of the fixed rotating hinge mechanism 609 and the screw hole 613 a of the front display housing 611 are matched, and the male screw 616 is tightened.

  As described above, the three components of the rear display housing fastening side surface 620, the fastening plate 615, and the front housing fastening side surface 614 can be fastened.

7 and 8 are sectional views of the display unit side body 711 with the rear display case fastening side surfaces 720 and 820, the fastening plates 715 and 815, and the front case fastening side surfaces 714 and 814 fastened.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion where the screw hole 713b of the front display housing 711, the screw hole 719 of the rear display housing 712, and the screw hole 717b of the fastening plate 715 are fastened with the male screw 716. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion where the screw hole 813a of the front display housing 811 and the screw hole 817a of the fastening plate 15 are screw-fastened by the male screw 816.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the front display housings 711 and 811 and the rotary hinge mechanisms 709 and 809 are screwed at four locations. The rear display housings 712 and 812 and the rotary hinge mechanisms 709 and 809 are screw-fastened at four locations on the inside and the outside, and the front display housings 711 and 811 and the rear display housings 712 and 812 are screw-fastened at the two locations on the inside. Has been. With this structure, the display housing 5 and the rotary hinge mechanism 8 are fixed by screw fastening at four locations.

  In the above-described second embodiment of the present invention, both the front display housing and the rear display housing are screwed to both sides of the rotary hinge mechanism that are screw-fastened. For this reason, the screw fastening between the housings exists in the screw fastening of the rotary hinge mechanism, and it is not necessary to provide the screw fastening between the housings separately from the screw fastening of the rotary hinge mechanism. Therefore, the efficiency of component dimension distribution in the display casing long side direction is improved, and the display casing long side can be reduced.

  Further, there are a plurality of sets of screw fastening locations symmetrically about the rotation axis center, and the rear display housing is fastened only by the inner set of these sets. Therefore, when removing the rear housing from the device assembly state in maintenance work such as confirmation, adjustment, replacement, etc. of the electrical components inside the housing, the rear display housing is removed by removing the fastening screws at two locations in the inner set. It becomes possible to remove from.

  When the rear housing is removed, the screw fastening between the rotating hinge mechanism and the front display housing is made up of the outer group, and the coupling between the front housing and the rotating hinge mechanism is maintained, so the entire device It is easy to handle. Therefore, even in a configuration in which multiple housings of the present invention are fastened with a hinge mechanism, the efficiency of maintenance work for removing only a single housing is not reduced, and the display unit side housing is reduced in size and weight. Can be realized.

  The configuration shown in the embodiment is merely an example for the purpose of explanation, and the present invention can be implemented with a configuration different from the example. The rear display housing, the front display housing, and the rotary hinge mechanism may be tightened at two locations on the outer side instead of two on the inner side. In addition, the rear display housing, the front display housing, and the rotary hinge mechanism can be configured to be tightened at all four locations, not just the two inside. Moreover, the structure which makes the fastening screw location of a housing | casing and a hinge mechanism into 2 places of 1 set of rotational axis symmetry instead of 2 places of 2 sets of rotational axis symmetry is also possible. In addition, screw fastening locations are not provided on the fastening side surface of the front display housing having the main display surface, but screw fastening locations are provided on the rear display housing fastening side surface, and the rear display housing fastening side surface-hinge mechanism is provided from the inside of the housing. A configuration in which the fastening plate and the front display housing fastening side surface are arranged in this order is also possible. It is also possible to insert a screw fastening point into a resin display housing and form a female screw by tapping the side surface of a resin housing or magnesium housing instead of forming a female screw on the side surface of the housing. Is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 1st housing | casing 20 2nd housing | casing 30 Hinge mechanism 31 Fastening plate 40 Screw hole 201,301,401 Portable electronic device 202,302,411 Display part side case 203,303 Operation part side case 204 Device short Side direction 205, 305 Opening / closing hinge structure 206, 306 Display case 207, 307 Hinge case 208, Device long side direction 209, 309, 509, 609 Rotary hinge mechanism 210, 310 Display 211 Operation key group 411, 511, 611 711, 811 Front display housing 412, 512, 612, 712, 812 Rear display housing 507, 607 Rotating hinge mechanism 513 a, 613 a, 813 a Female screw nut hole (outside)
513b, 613b, 713b Female thread nut hole (inside)
514, 614, 714, 814 Front display case fastening side 515, 615, 715, 814 Fastening plate 517a, 817a Screw hole (inside)
517b, 717b Screw hole (outside)
520, 720, 820 Fastening side surface of rear display housing 618 Fitting groove 901 Support arm portion 902 Support frame 903 Flat plate portion 904 Female screw function 905 Fastening screw

Claims (5)

A substantially flat first housing and a second housing having screw holes on the side surfaces;
A first rotating shaft for arbitrarily shifting an open state and a closed state of the display side housing including the first housing and the second housing, and the operation unit side housing; and the first A rotation hinge mechanism having a second rotation axis orthogonal to the rotation axis, and the hinge mechanism includes a fastening plate that rotates about the second rotation axis and the thickness direction of the first casing A screw hole in the direction orthogonal to the fastening plate,
The screw hole of the fastening plate is located outside the first casing,
The screw hole of the second casing is located on the opposite side of the first casing across the fastening plate,
The first of said housing and said fastening plate second housing is fixed through a screw hole, electronic apparatus characterized Rukoto comprises a female thread nut in the screw hole of the first housing. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the screw hole of the first housing, the fastening plate, and the second housing are fastened together.
A first fixing part to which the first casing, the fastening plate and the second casing are coupled; and a second fixing part to which the first casing and the fastening plate are fastened. , there are a plurality of sets symmetrically rotating hinge axis center, according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first housing in the connecting portion and the first fixing portion made of the second fixing portion is a curved surface The electronic device as described in. 4. The electronic device according to claim 3 , wherein the first fixing portion is in the vicinity of a convex portion of the curved surface among a plurality of sets having a rotational hinge axis center symmetrically. 5. The first outside of the case side of the female screw nut holes of the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a fitting groove sandwich the fastening plate.

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