KR102419478B1 - Foldable hinge apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a foldable hinge device includes: a hinge base; a first swing arm rotatably connected to the hinge base; a second swing arm spaced apart from the first swing arm at the hinge base and rotatably connected thereto; an interlocking link means for connecting the first swing arm and the second swing arm so that the first swing arm and the second swing arm rotate simultaneously by linear movement between the first swing arm and the second swing arm, and thus it is possible to improve durability by preventing damage to a display layer by ensuring a large refraction space of a foldable portion of a display.

Description

Foldable hinge apparatus

The present invention relates to a foldable hinge device, in particular, by means of the hinge device, both cases of a portable terminal are folded and slid to secure space according to a change in the curvature of the display, and the display is stably fixed to the portable terminal. It relates to a foldable hinge device capable of preventing damage and responding more flexibly to an exterior design.

In general, in order to wirelessly use services such as communication and broadcasting while moving in a place other than a fixed location, portable terminals such as a mobile phone, a PDA, a notebook computer, and a DMB phone are widely used.

The mobile terminal is positioned as one of the essential necessities indispensable to enjoy the convenience of life according to the information age, and in particular, in the case of mobile phones, the distribution target is very wide ranging from elementary, middle, high school, and the elderly.

As described above, with the recent rapid increase in demand and user base for portable terminals, consumers who use them continue to expect products with new designs or functions.

In the early days of portable terminals, a main body provided with a keypad and a cover provided with a display panel were coupled to each other so as to be opened and closed, and were classified into a folding method, a sliding method, and a swing method according to the opening and closing structure of the cover with respect to the main body.

Currently, with the development of touch screen technology, a bar-type smartphone-type mobile terminal that does not require a keypad is mainstream. The bar-shaped mobile terminal has a display having a size corresponding to the entire front area.

On the other hand, in the next generation, with the development of flexible display technology, a portable terminal with a foldable display frame is expected to become mainstream.

A portable terminal to which a flexible display is applied can provide a display having the same horizontal and vertical dimensions of a conventional portable terminal when being carried, and larger than a conventional portable terminal when unfolded.

However, the flexible display cannot use the hinge device used in the conventional folder portable terminal because the length change occurs when folded according to the position of the rotation shaft and the hinge structure.

Accordingly, there is an urgent need to develop a new type of foldable hinge device that can respond to a change in length while allowing both ends of the flexible display to be uniformly folded at the same angle.

1 discloses a conventional hinge device.

This hinge device consists of a pair of support parts 1 for bisecting the bottom surface of the display to support each, each support part 1 is a rotating part 20 fixed to be rotated around a rotating shaft 10 and a rotating part ( 20) and consists of an elastic part 30 for providing a pushing force.

Each of the rotating parts 20 has a gear unit 22 formed thereon, and the two gear units 22 are meshed with each other so that each rotating unit 20 rotates at the same time at the same rotation angle.

A circular arc-shaped first cam surface 24 is formed on the rotating part 20 , and a second cam surface 32 sliding along the first cam surface 24 is formed on the elastic part 30 , and the second cam surface 32 . A separate elastic means (not shown) for pushing the to the first cam surface 24 is installed. The elastic part 30 pushes in the closing direction when the rotating part 20 is in the closed position by the contact action between the first cam surface 24 and the second cam surface 32, and when the elastic part 30 is in the open position, pushed in the open direction.

The hinge device having such a structure performed a role of supporting the display to be stably folded and unfolded by supporting both sides based on the center of the display.

However, the hinge device of this structure increases in length due to the folding curvature when the display is folded, but the conventional hinge does not respond to the change in length according to the folding of the display. Due to the external structure of the portable terminal, when the display is pushed back due to folding, a space for hiding the display is required, thereby limiting the external design.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2019-0124110

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and while both cases of the mobile terminal are rotated at a uniform angle at the same time, both cases of the mobile terminal are folded and slid by a hinge device to secure space according to the change in curvature of the display It is an object of the present invention to provide a foldable hinge device capable of preventing damage to the display by stably fixing the display to the mobile terminal and responding more flexibly to the exterior design.

In order to achieve the above object, the foldable hinge device of the present invention comprises:

hinge base;

a first swing arm rotatably connected to the hinge base;

a second swing arm spaced apart from the first swing arm at the hinge base and rotatably connected to the second swing arm; and

and an interlocking link means connecting the first swing arm and the second swing arm to rotate at the same time by linear motion between the first swing arm and the second swing arm.

The interlocking link means,

a cam curved portion formed on the first swing arm and the second swing arm; and

and a link having a contact portion that linearly moves between the first swing arm and the second swing arm and converts rotational motion into linear motion by contacting the cam curved portion.

The interlocking link means, on the contrary,

a contact portion formed on the first swing arm and the second swing arm; and

The link may include a link having a curved cam portion that moves linearly between the first swing arm and the second swing arm and converts a rotational motion into a linear motion by contacting the contact portion.

The foldable hinge device of the present invention firmly supports the display when the first swing arm and the second swing arm are open, and provides the display when the first swing arm and the second swing arm are off. a display support cover to ensure space so that it can have the shape of a water droplet; and

When the first swing arm and the second swing arm are open, the display support cover is horizontally supported, and when the first swing arm and the second swing arm are turned off, the display support cover is spaced on the display. It is made to further include an assist lever for supporting in a state that can provide.

a first cam means for applying a force in a closing direction when the first swing arm is closed, and applying a force in an opening direction when the first swing arm is opened; and

It further includes a second cam means for applying a force in a closing direction when the second swing arm is closed, and applying a force in an opening direction when the second swing arm is opened.

A first hinge portion having an arc-shaped surface is provided on the first swing arm,

A first guide portion having an arc-shaped surface corresponding to the arc-shaped surface of the first hinge portion is formed on the hinge base,

A second hinge portion having an arc-shaped surface is provided on the second swing arm,

A second guide portion having an arc-shaped surface corresponding to the arc-shaped surface of the second hinge portion is formed on the hinge base.

The first cam means and the second cam means,

a link having a spring, a first cam surface that receives an elastic force from the spring, and a second cam surface that contacts the first cam surface to change the direction of the elastic force.

A sliding guide is formed on the first swing arm and the second swing arm so that the link is slidably coupled.

The foldable hinge device of the present invention comprises:

It is characterized in that the first swing arm and the second swing arm move at the same time by a sliding motion in order to secure a radius of curvature of the foldable display while implementing a left-right interlocking rotation operation.

The foldable hinge device of the present invention enables both cases of a mobile terminal to be folded and slid by the hinge device to secure space according to a change in the curvature of the display, and to prevent damage to the display by stably fixing the display to the mobile terminal And it has the effect of being able to respond more flexibly to the exterior design.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional hinge device;
2 is a perspective view of a foldable hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a plan view of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2;
4 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2 in an unfolded state;
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the folding process of the hinge device shown in Figure 2;
6 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2 in a folded state.
7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation process of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0023] The following detailed description of the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings, which show by way of illustration a specific embodiment 1 in which the present invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain shapes, structures, and characteristics described herein with respect to one embodiment may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, it should be understood that the location or arrangement of individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the following detailed description is not intended to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention, if properly described, is limited only by the appended claims, along with all scope equivalents to those claimed. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same or similar functions throughout the various aspects.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

2 is a perspective view of a foldable hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2 .

The foldable hinge device of this embodiment includes a hinge base 100 , a first swing arm 200 rotatably connected to the hinge base 100 , and a first swing arm 200 in the hinge base 100 and A second swing arm 300 that is spaced apart and rotatably connected is provided.

In addition, there is provided an interlocking link means for connecting the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 to rotate at the same time by linear motion between the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 . do.

The interlocking link means is formed between the cam curved surfaces 220 and 320 formed on the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 , and the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 . It is made of a link 170 having a contact portion 172 that moves in a straight line and converts the rotational motion into a linear motion by contacting the cam curved portions 220 and 320 .

When the first swing arm 200 is rotated, the curved cam part 220 pushes the link 170 through the contact part 172 , and the contact part 172 of the link 170 is again the second swing arm 300 . The cam curved portion 320 is pushed so that the second swing arm 300 rotates at the same time as the first swing arm 200 at the same angle.

In addition, when the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are open, the display 1000 is firmly supported, and the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are turned off. In the state, the display support cover 800 is provided to ensure a space so that the display 1000 can have the shape of a water droplet. The display support cover 800 is rotatably installed on the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 by a hinge 810 .

In addition, when the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are opened, the display support cover 800 is horizontally supported, and the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are turned off. In this state, the display support cover 800 is provided with an assist lever 900 supporting the display 1000 in a state that can provide a space. The assist lever 900 can perform this action because the assist lever 900 is formed with a hinge rotation point at the position shown in FIG. 7 in the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 . . A guide 820 for guiding the assist lever 900 to slide is formed on the support cover 800 .

The first cam means 400 and the second swing arm 300 apply a force in the closing direction when the first swing arm 200 is closed, and apply force in the opening direction when the first swing arm 200 is opened. ) is provided with a second cam means 500 that applies a force in a closing direction when it is closed, and applies a force in an open direction when the second swing arm 300 is opened.

The hinge base 100 is provided on the lower surface of the center of the display device 1000 in the mobile terminal, and is formed in a flat hexahedral shape.

Here, the display device 1000 is made of a flexible material and can be folded and unfolded, and is folded by forming a rotation center in the upper space of the portion where the hinge base 100 is disposed.

The first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are formed in a plate shape to support half of the display device 1000, respectively.

A first hinge part 130 having an arc-shaped surface is provided on the first swing arm 200 , and the hinge base 100 is provided with a first hinge unit having an arc-shaped surface corresponding to the arc-shaped surface of the first hinge part 130 . One guide part 140 is formed.

A second hinge part 150 having an arc-shaped surface is provided on the second swing arm 300 , and an arc-shaped surface corresponding to the arc-shaped surface of the second hinge part 150 is provided on the hinge base 100 . A second guide part 160 having a

The first cam means 400 and the second cam means 500 have springs 410 and 510 and first cam surfaces 420 and 520 that receive elastic force from the springs 410 and 510, and come into contact with the first cam surfaces 420 and 520 to have an elastic force. Links 600 and 700 having second cam surfaces 610 and 710 for changing the direction of are provided.

The links 600 and 700 are coupled to each other to flow with the first hinge part 130 and the second hinge part 150 . That is, the first hinge part 130 and the second hinge part 150 are slidably coupled to the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 when rotating, thereby having overall structural stability.

The springs 410 and 510 always apply an elastic force to the first cam surfaces 420 and 520 so that the first cam surfaces 420 and 520 are pushed toward the second cam surfaces 610 and 710 . Accordingly, when the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are closed, the force is applied in the closing direction, and when the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are closed, the force is applied in the opening direction. Therefore, when the user applies force to the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 only at the initial stage to operate, after the intermediate region, the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 200 and the second swing are operated by the elastic force of the springs 410 and 510. The arm 300 is automatically closed or opened.

The links 600 and 700 are formed to be long so that the force of the first cam means 400 and the second cam means 500 can be transmitted to the middle region between the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 .

Sliding guides 210 and 310 for slidably coupling the links 600 and 700 are formed on the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 .

4 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2 in an unfolded state, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the folding process of the hinge device shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge device shown in FIG. .

When the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are closed or opened, the links 600 and 700 apply the pushing force of the first cam means 400 and the second cam means 500 to the first swing arm. (200) and the second swing arm 300 is transferred to the middle region so that it can be automatically operated after half of the section has passed. In addition, a flat section is provided at the center point of the cam surfaces 420 and 520 of the first cam means 400 and the second cam means 500 so that the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are connected to each other. It is possible to provide a partial section (about 10 to 15 degrees) of the free-stop function that does not move in either direction.

In this process, the sliding guides 210 and 310 of the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 slide and move at the same time as the links 600 and 700 rotate. 2A pushing force is applied to the swing arm 300 .

6 and 7, in the closed state of the mobile terminal, that is, the state in which the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 rotate and the ends meet, the first swing arm 200 and the second swing The arm 300 is rotated by 90° or more, and the display 1000 has a water droplet shape in the center. This is because the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are installed to be spaced apart from the hinge base 100 .

As described above, both cases of the mobile terminal, that is, the first swing arm 200 and the second swing arm 300 are folded and slid by the hinge device of the present embodiment to respond to the length change of the display 1000, By stably fixing the display 1000 to the portable terminal, it is possible to prevent physical and electronic damage to the display 1000 and to respond more flexibly to an exterior design.

The present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and therefore such modifications should be construed as being within the scope of the present invention. something to do.

100: hinge base
200: first swing arm
300: second swing arm
400: first cam means
500: second cam means
600: first link
700: second link
1000: display

Claims (9)

hinge base;
a first swing arm rotatably connected to the hinge base;
a second swing arm spaced apart from the first swing arm at the hinge base and rotatably connected to the second swing arm; and
and interlocking link means connecting the first swing arm and the second swing arm to rotate at the same time by linear motion between the first swing arm and the second swing arm;
A first hinge portion having an arc-shaped surface is provided on the first swing arm,
A first guide portion having an arc-shaped surface corresponding to the arc-shaped surface of the first hinge portion is formed on the hinge base,
A second hinge portion having an arc-shaped surface is provided on the second swing arm,
The foldable hinge device, characterized in that the second guide portion having an arc-shaped surface corresponding to the arc-shaped surface of the second hinge portion is formed on the hinge base.
The method of claim 1,
The interlocking link means,
a cam curved portion formed on the first swing arm and the second swing arm; and
and a link that moves linearly between the first swing arm and the second swing arm and has a contact part that contacts the cam curved part and converts the rotational motion into a linear motion.
The method of claim 1,
The interlocking link means,
a contact portion formed on the first swing arm and the second swing arm; and
and a link having a cam curved portion that linearly moves between the first swing arm and the second swing arm and converts rotational motion into linear motion by contacting the contact portion.
The method of claim 1,
In a state in which the first swing arm and the second swing arm are open, the display is firmly supported, and in a state in which the first swing arm and the second swing arm are off, the space is provided so that the display can have the shape of a water droplet. Display support cover to ensure; and
When the first swing arm and the second swing arm are open, the display support cover is horizontally supported, and when the first swing arm and the second swing arm are turned off, the display support cover is spaced on the display. A foldable hinge device further comprising an assist lever for supporting in a state that can provide.
The method of claim 1,
a first cam means for applying a force in a closing direction when the first swing arm is closed, and applying a force in an opening direction when the first swing arm is opened; and
and second cam means for applying a force in a closing direction when the second swing arm is closed, and applying a force in an opening direction when the second swing arm is opened.
delete 6. The method of claim 5,
The first cam means and the second cam means,
A foldable hinge device comprising: a link having a spring, a first cam surface receiving an elastic force from the spring, and a second cam surface contacting the first cam surface to change a direction of the elastic force.
The method of claim 1,
The foldable hinge device according to claim 1, wherein a sliding guide for slidably coupling the link is formed on the first swing arm and the second swing arm.
9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, 7 to 8,
The foldable hinge device, characterized in that the first swing arm and the second swing arm move at the same time through a sliding motion in order to secure a radius of curvature of the foldable display while implementing a left-right interlocking rotation operation.

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