WO2008108545A1

WO2008108545A1 - An opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments

Info

Publication number: WO2008108545A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/000995
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kwang-Duck Park
Original assignee: Laird Technologies Map Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-03-02
Filing date: 2008-02-20
Publication date: 2008-09-12
Also published as: KR100853660B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments, more specifically the electronic equipments are capable of sliding opening and closing in both directions. The opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments comprises a first slider, a second slider coupled with the first slider slidably, and an elastic module mounted between the first slider and the second slider and adding elastic force by mounting one end on the first slider and another end on the second slider, wherein each side of the elastic module is mounted on the first slider and the second slider to rotate respectively.

Description

AN OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM FOR ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENTS

Technical Field

[I] The present invention relates to an opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments, more specifically the electronic equipments are capable of sliding opening and closing in both directions.

Background Art [2] Recently, as use of portable terminals becomes universalized, as well as the simple intrinsic function of the wireless communication, additional functions are also being required for an opening and closing operation in order to satisfy the taste of each user. [3] According to this request, the portable terminals have been developed from general bar- type terminals to flip-type terminals, flip-up-type terminals and folder- type terminals, etc. Currently, the folder-type terminals are predominantly used. [4] That is because the folder-type terminals have sufficient special room enough to employ a wide LCD module as a display device and have superior portability to other terminals due to be foldable in half. [5] Meanwhile, a sliding-type terminal has been known. It can be equipped with the display device having the wide LCD module with similar size of that of the folder-type terminal. Also, it can be conducive to minimization of the portable terminal. [6] In case of the sliding-type terminal, a sub body as a cover is opened and closed on a main body in a sliding operation. It has an additional advantage of being opened and closed in a new operation while maintaining the advantages of the folder-type terminal. [7] As a kind of such sliding-type terminal, a sliding-type portable wireless terminal has been filed by the applicant, Himac Corporation, under the Korean Utility Model

Application No. 2003-0000136. [8] The terminal disclosed in the above application comprises a guide means for guiding a sub body onto a main body and at least one elastic means for changing the direction of pressure in a direction of opening or in a direction of closing based on a certain sliding position of the sub body between the sub body and the main body. [9] Also, when the sub body performs a complete opening or a complete closing by the elastic means, it can maintain the maximum opening position or the maximum closing position without a stopper. [10] As the elastic means, a torsion spring is employed. One end of the torsion spring is fixed to the main body and the other end is fixed to the sub body.

[I I] In case of such terminal, one end of the torsion spring is fixed to the main body and the other end is fixed to the sub body so that the elasticity is applied to the torsion spring during the action of the sub body, thereby the torsion spring gets strained and relaxed widely.

[12] For this reason, the torsion spring with wide motion but less elasticity power is used. In order to complement the insufficient elastic force, two torsion springs are arranged.

[13] Therefore, the conventional opening and closing mechanism aged easily due to fatigue with repeated actions and lost its normal function early since the torsion springs changed widely. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[14] To solve the above mentioned problems, a first object of the present invention is to normally open and close the electronic equipments although the electronic equipments are opened and closed repeatedly for a long time, and to easily open and close the electronic equipments in both directions. Technical Solution

[15] In order to achieve the object, the present invention comprises a first slider, a second slider coupled with the first slider slidably, and an elastic module mounted between the first slider and the second slider and adding elastic force by mounting one end on the first slider and another end on the second slider, wherein each side of the elastic module is mounted on the first slider and the second slider to rotate respectively.

[16] Although the second slider is vertically coupled with the first slider, the elastic module is mounted to incline to the first slider and the second slider in the movement direction of the second slider at a free status.

[17] The elastic module is compressed and then restored to be the free status while the second slider is pushed upward in the free status of the elastic module, and the second slider moves upward to the first slider.

[18] A free stop module with a roller is mounted on the first slider in the direction of the second slider, and a rail is formed on the second slider in the direction of the first slider, and a placing groove is formed on the rail where the roller of the free stop module seats when the second slider moves in a down direction of the first slider.

[19] The rail is formed to protrude from the first slider.

[20] The roller is mounted vertically on the free stop module, the roller is provided to add the elastic force downward by a support spring, and the elastic force of the support spring is stronger than the elastic force of the elastic module to tie up the placing groove when the roller is seated on the placing groove. Advantageous Effects

[21] There are following effects according to an opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments of the present invention as illustrates above. [22] The present invention is provided to normally and smoothly open and close the electronic equipments although the electronic equipments are opened and closed repeatedly for a long time. [23] Moreover, the electronic equipments may be easily opened and closed in a vertical direction smoothly by applying the present invention to the electronic equipments thereby the keys are arranged more variously. [24] Furthermore, the present invention is provided to improve productivity and assembly ability due to a simple structure and simple assembly.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[25] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[26] Fig. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments as shown in Fig. 1.

[27] Fig. 3 shows an exploded perspective view in another direction of the opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments as shown in Fig. 2.

[28] Fig. 4 shows a perspective view illustrating a coupled state with a first slider, an elastic module, and a free stop module as shown in Fig. 2.

[29] Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a second slider as shown in Fig. 2.

[30] Fig. 6 shows an exploded perspective view exploded a part of the free stop module as shown in Fig. 2.

[31] Fig. 7 shows an exploded perspective view in another direction of the free stop module as shown in Fig. 6.

[32] Fig. 8 shows a sectional view illustrating an operation state of the free stop module as shown in Fig. 6.

[33] Fig. 9 shows (a), (b), and (c) which are a perspective view and plane views illustrating an initial state of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in Fig. 1.

[34] Fig. 10 shows (a), (b), and (c) which are a perspective view and plane views illustrating an opening state in up a direction of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in Fig. 9.

[35] Fig. 11 shows (a), (b), and (c) which are a perspective view and plane views illustrating an opening state in a down direction of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in Fig. 10.

[36] ** Description of reference numbers in the drawings ** [37] 10: a first slider 12: a guide portion

[38] 20: a second slider 22: a guide groove

[39] 25: a rail 26: a placing groove

[40] 30: an elastic module 32: a connecting bar

[41] 34: a spring 40: a free stop module

[42] 41: free stop housing

[43] 42: a free stop cover

[44] 43; a vertical slider

[45] 43a: a first slant surface

[46] 44: a roller 45: a fixed shaft

[47] 46: a horizontal slider

[48] 46a: a second slant surface

[49] 47: a support spring 48: a guide groove

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[50] Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[51] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments as shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view in another direction of the opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments as shown in FIG. 2.

[52] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view illustrating a coupled state with a first slider, an elastic module, and a free stop module as shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a second slider as shown in FIG. 2.

[53] FIG. 6 shows an exploded perspective view exploded a part of the free stop module as shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 shows an exploded perspective view in another direction of the free stop module as shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 shows a sectional view illustrating an operation state of the free stop module as shown in FIG. 6.

[54] FIG. 9 shows (a), (b), and (c) which are a perspective view and plane views illustrating an initial state of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 10 shows (a), (b), and (c) which are a perspective view and plane views illustrating an opening state in up an direction of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 shows (a), (b), and (c) which are a perspective view and plane views illustrating an opening state in a down direction of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in FIG. 10. [55] An opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments comprises a first slider 10, a second slider 20, an elastic module 30, and a free stop module 40 as shown in Figs. 1 through 11.

[56] The first slider 10 and the second slider 20 are slidably coupled each other.

[57] A guide portion 12 is formed respectively at the both sides of the first slider 10 and a guide groove 22 where the guide portion 12 inserts and slides is formed respectively at the both sides of the second slider 20. [58] One of the first slider 10 and the second slider 20 is coupled with a main body of the electronic equipments, and another is coupled with a display part of the electronic equipments, because the first slider 10 and the second slider 20 may move mutually and relatively in a vertical direction. [59] In the present embodiment, the first slider 10 is mounted on the main body of the electronic equipments and fixed and the second slider 20 is mounted on the display part of the electronic equipments, so as to move in the vertical direction. [60] The elastic module 30 and the free stop module 40 are mounted between the first slider 10 and the second slider 20. [61] One end part of the elastic module 30 is mounted on the first slider 10 and the other end is mounted on the second slider 20, so as to pull the second slider while the second slider 20 goes away from the first slider 10 and to push the second slider while the second slider 20 approaches closely to the first slider 10 by applying elastic force. [62] The elastic module 30 includes two mounting holes which are open in a contrast direction each other in an elastic housing, and each mounting hole has a spring 34 and a connecting bar 32. [63] One of the connecting bar 32 is coupled with the first slider 10 and another is coupled with the second slider 20. [64] At this time, the elastic module 30 is mounted slantly on the first slider 10 and the second slider 20 in a moving direction of the second slider 20 in a free status. [65] In other words, the elastic module 30 is slantly mounted in the moving direction of the second slider 20 in the free status as shown in FIG. 9. The elastic module 30 is compressed and then restored to be the free status while the second slider is pushed upward, and the second slider 20 moves in an up direction of the first slider 10 as shown in FIG. 10. [66] In that case, both ends of the elastic module 30, more specifically the connecting bar 32 is mounted to rotate on the first slider 10 and the second slider 20 respectively so that the elastic module 30 does not break the movement in the vertical direction of the second slider 20. [67] The free stop module 40 is mounted on the first slider 10 in the direction of the second slider 20 for stopping after moving predetermined distance while the second slider 20 goes downward as shown in FIG. 10.

[68] The free stop module 40 comprises a free stop housing 41, a free stop cover 42, a vertical slider 43, a roller 44, a horizontal slider 46, and a support spring 47 as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

[69] A top of the free stop housing 41 is open, and the vertical slider 43, the roller 44, the horizontal slider 46, and the support spring 47 are mounted on an inside of the free stop housing, and the free stop cover 42 is coupled with the top of the free stop housing 41.

[70] The vertical slider 43 is mounted on the inside of the free stop housing 41 to move upward and downward, and the roller 44 is mounted on the lower of the vertical slider 43 to protrude in the lower direction of the free stop housing 41.

[71] The horizontal slider 46 is mounted on the free stop housing 41 to move backward and forward by moving in the vertical direction of the vertical slider 43, wherein the vertical slider 43 and the horizontal slider 46 are contacted to each other with a slant face.

[72] In other words, the vertical slider 43 includes a first slant face 43a which is protruded as the first slant face goes from a top of a bottom, and the horizontal slider 46 includes a second slant face 46a corresponding to the first slant face 43a, which is protruded as the second slant face goes from the bottom to the top.

[73] And the support spring 47 which adds the elastic force to the vertical slider 46 is arranged in the rear of the horizontal slider 46

[74] Therefore, the horizontal slider 46 moves backward with compressing the support spring 47 while the vertical slider 43 and the roller 44 are moved upward, and the horizontal slider 46 moves forward by an elastic stability of the support spring 47 when the force for moving the vertical slider 43 and the roller 44 upward is disappeared, so that the vertical slider 43 and the roller 44 move downward.

[75] The roller 44 is mounted on the vertical slider 43 to rotate by the fixed shaft 45 which is externally protruded from the vertical slider 43, and the guide groove 48 which guides to move the fixed shaft 45 upward is formed in the free stop housing 41.

[76] Thus, the roller 44 and the vertical slider 43 may easily move up and down within the free stop housing 41.

[77] On the one hand, the rail 25 is formed on the second slider 20 in the direction of the first slider 10, and the rail 25 contacts to the roller 44 of the free stop module 40.

[78] The rail 25 is formed to protrude from the surface of the first slider 10, and a placing groove 26 for seating the roller 44 of the free stop module 40 is formed when the second slider 20 moves in the down direction of the first slider 10.

[79] Hereinafter, the operation state of the present invention will be illustrated.

[80] Figs. 9(b), 10(b), and 1 l(b) show mainly the state of the elastic module 30 in each operating states, Figs. 9(c), 10(c), and l l(c) show mainly the state of the free stop module 40 in the each operating states. [81] Fig. 9 shows a basic operating state of the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the electronic equipments maintain the close state. [82] In this case, the elastic module 30 is slantly mounted to keep the free status and the free stop module 40 is located on the initial part of the rail 25. [83] Fig. 10 shows an operating state that the opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments is open upward wherein the display part of the electronic equipments maintain the open status upward. [84] In that case, the elastic module 30 is slantly mounted in the opposite direction comparing with the elastic module 30 as shown in FIG. 9. [85] In other words, the spring 34 of the elastic module 30 is compressed when the second slider 20 is pushed upward, and the slider 20 is slid automatically upward by elastic stability of the elastic module 30 when the second slider 20 passes one point where the moving directions of the second slider 20 and the elastic module 30 cross at the right angles. [86] At this moment, the each side of the elastic module 30 couples with the first slider

10 and the second slider 20 to rotate, so that the elastic module 30 may rotate from the state as shown in FIG. 9 to another state as shown in FIG. 10 without difficulty. [87] Fig. 11 shows an operating state that the opening and closing mechanism for the electronic equipments according to the present invention is open downward, wherein the display part of the electronic equipments maintains the open state downward. [88] When the second slider 20 is pulled downward, the elastic force of the elastic module 30 is applied so that the second slider is pulled by a little more force downward. [89] At this time, the free stop module 40 is raised to the top of the rail 25 as shown in

Fig. 8(b), and the roller 44 and the vertical slider 43 move in the up direction because the rail 25 is formed to protrude. [90] The horizontal slider 46 moves backward with compressing the support spring 47 by movement of the roller 44 and the vertical slider 43 in the up direction. [91] The horizontal slider 46 moves forward by the elastic force of the support spring 47 when the second slider 20 is moved to the placing groove 26 formed on the rail 25, thereby the roller 44 and the vertical slider 43 move downward to seat the roller 44 on the placing groove 26. [92] At this moment, the elastic stability which the spring 34 of the elastic module 30 pulls interacts with a force which the roller 44 is tied up the placing groove 26 by the support spring 47 of the free stop module 40 at the second slider 20. [93] In this condition, the elastic force of the support spring 47 is established to strengthen more than the elastic force of the elastic module 30 when the roller 44 seats on the placing groove 26 because the second slider 20 maintains a fixed state, so that the roller 44 does not leave from the placing groove 26.

[94] Several placing grooves 26 form on the rail 25 to control movement distance in the down direction of the second slider 20.

[95] When the second slider 20 is pushed upward for changing one state as shown in

Fig. 11 into another state as shown in Fig. 10, the roller 44 is raised on the rail 25 and the second slider 20 is moved by the elastic stability of the elastic module 30 so as to move the state as shown in Fig. 10.

[96] Although an opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments of the present invention has been described with reference to above mentioned embodiment, the description is illustrative of the invention is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications and variations may occur to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims. Industrial Applicability

[97] The opening and closing mechanism of the present invention is applied to electronic equipments with a slide opening and closing device, so that the electronic equipments normally operate despite of a repeated opening and closing for a long time, and easily open and close a display part in both sides direction.

Claims

[1] An opening and closing mechanism for electronic equipments comprising: a first slider; a second slider coupled with the first slider slidably; and an elastic module mounted between the first slider and the second slider and adding elastic force by mounting one end on the first slider and another end on the second slider; wherein each side of the elastic module is mounted on the first slider and the second slider to rotate respectively.

[2] The opening and closing mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic module is mounted to incline to the first slider and the second slider in the movement direction of the second slider at a free status, although the second slider is vertically coupled with the first slider.

[3] The opening and closing mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic module is compressed and then restored to be the free status while the second slider is pushed upward in the free status of the elastic module, and the second slider moves upward to the first slider.

[4] The opening and closing mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein a free stop module with a roller is mounted on the first slider in the direction of the second slider, and a rail is formed on the second slider in the direction of the first slider, and a placing groove is formed on the rail where the roller of the free stop module seats when the second slider moves in a down direction of the first slider.

[5] The opening and closing mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rail is formed to protrude from the second slider.

[6] The opening and closing mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the roller is mounted vertically on the free stop module, the roller is provided to add the elastic force downward by a support spring, and the elastic force of the support spring is stronger than the elastic force of the elastic module to tie up the placing groove when the roller is seated on the placing groove.