WO2005071926A1

WO2005071926A1 - Folding electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2005071926A1
Application number: PCT/JP2005/000186
Authority: WO
Inventors: Takeshi Tambo; Shinichi Morikita
Original assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2004-01-27
Filing date: 2005-01-11
Publication date: 2005-08-04
Also published as: JP2005217470A

Abstract

A folding electronic device operable without losing a balance at the gravity center of an entire casing even if the attitude of the casing is rotated for use so that image information can be easily observed and capable of preventing an erroneous operation in the standby state. In a cellular phone (1A) having an upper casing (2) with a display part on the principal plane thereof, a lower casing (3) with a first operation part (31) on the principal plane thereof, and a hinge part (4) rotatably connecting the first casing (2) to the second casing (3), a second operating part (5) rotated according to the opening/closing operations of the hinge part (4) and concealed between the casings (2) and (3) when the upper and lower casings (2) and (3) are folded and exposed to the outside when the upper casing (2) is opened is formed at the hinge part (4).

Description

Specification

Foldable electronic device

Technical field

The present invention relates to a foldable electronic device in which a pair of housings are connected by a connecting portion, and more particularly to a foldable electronic device capable of performing broadband communication.

Background art

As a conventional mobile terminal device, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a first housing 101 having a display unit 104, a second housing 102 having an operation unit 105, a first housing 101 2. Description of the Related Art There is known an openable / closable mobile phone 100 including a hinge section 103 that connects two housings 102 to each other so that the housing 102 can be opened and closed. In the figure, reference numeral 106 denotes a second operation unit, 107 denotes a reception unit, and 108 denotes an operation unit.

In the foldable mobile phone 100, the mobile phone 100 is normally opened in a vertical position such that the first housing 101 is in an upper position and the second housing 102 is in a lower position, and the display unit 104 (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, in recent years, with the spread of Internet communication, camera-equipped mobile phones, videophones, and the like, even in mobile phones, image information to be displayed on the display unit is only horizontally long (vertical orientation). The horizontal (horizontal orientation) image information in which the image is displayed large is also increasing. At present, foldable mobile terminals that are widely used, especially foldable mobile phones, use the first housing at the top and the second housing at the bottom, as described above. In general, the display unit is configured to be vertically long in the vertical orientation. For this reason, for example, when viewing horizontally long image information, it is necessary to reduce the horizontally long image information by software on the vertically long display unit, and the image information is difficult to see.

[0004] Further, in order to display the horizontally long image information without reducing it, in order to change the display portion to the horizontally long one, for example, the folding mobile phone is rotated 90 degrees (tilted), and the housing is folded. It is also conceivable to use the camera in a horizontal lying position. However, when the mobile phone is in a posture in which the housing is opened in a horizontal (horizontal) orientation and extended for a long time, the center of gravity is near the hinge, so if you try to operate keys with the operation unit, The balance of the weight of the mobile terminal become worse. That is, since the position of the operation unit to be held at the time of key operation becomes far from the center of gravity, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to operate, for example, when the key is pressed for operation, the operation unit swings greatly.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, a first housing 201 having a display unit 204, a second housing 202 having a first operation unit 205, and a first housing 201, a second housing 201, A foldable electronic device 200 having a hinge portion 203 for rotatably connecting the 202 to each other has been proposed in which a second operation portion 206 is provided on a rotation axis of the rotation hinge 203.

In the electronic device 200, since the second operation unit 206 is provided on the hinge unit 203, even if the housing (the display unit 204) is rotated 90 degrees in accordance with the image information of the display unit 204, If the electronic device 200 is held near the rotating hinge 203 that is close to the center of gravity of the entire housing, the second operation unit 206 can be operated in a stable state (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002- 374434

Patent Document 2: JP 2003-134212 A

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0006] In the folding electronic device 200 described in Patent Document 2, when performing a standby operation with the first and second housings closed, as shown in FIG. In addition, since the switch of the second operation unit 206 provided on the rotating hinge 203 is exposed, there is a problem that the switch is likely to be accidentally inserted when it is put into a bag or the like, such that the switch is likely to malfunction. I

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even if the housing is rotated in accordance with the direction of image information so that it is easy to see, the balance of the center of gravity of the entire housing can be maintained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a foldable electronic device that can be operated without breaking the telephone and that can prevent malfunction during standby.

Means for solving the problem

[0008] A foldable electronic device according to the present invention includes a first housing having a display unit, a second housing having a first operation unit on a main surface, the first housing and the second housing. And a hinge for rotatably connecting the Foldable electronic devices

When the first and second housings are folded, the hinges rotate with the opening and closing operation of the hinges to hide between the housings and open the first housings. Sometimes, it has a configuration having a second operation unit that is exposed to the outside.

[0009] With this configuration, even if the holding state of the foldable electronic device is changed to the vertical, horizontal, or misaligned state in order to match the orientation of the display unit with the orientation of the display image, the second operation unit can be used. Since it is installed in the hinge section, it is possible to perform stable operations in the second operation unit while holding the vicinity of the center of gravity of the foldable electronic device by hand, that is, while holding the foldable electronic device in a well-balanced manner. In addition, since the second operation unit rotates together with the opening and closing operation of the hinge unit, the switch can be hidden in conjunction with the closing operation of the housing, and malfunction during standby can be prevented.

[0010] Also, in the foldable electronic device of the present invention, the hinge portion extends from the first housing side and has a first connecting portion projecting a rotation axis on both sides, and a hinge portion extending from the second housing side. A second connecting portion extending and having a shaft hole for supporting the rotation shaft,

The second operation section is provided at a predetermined position of the first connection section.

With this configuration, the second operation unit is exposed to the outside only when the housing is opened to use the foldable electronic device. Therefore, when the housing is closed and not normally used, for example, When the mobile phone or the like, which is one mode of the foldable electronic device, is in a standby state, it is possible to prevent the second operation unit from malfunctioning in a bag or a pocket to be stored.

The invention's effect

[0012] According to the present invention, by providing the second operation portion that rotates together with the opening and closing operation of the hinge portion integrally with the hinge portion, the folding electronic device can be rotated according to the direction of the display image. Even if the orientation is changed, the second operation can be performed in a stable state while maintaining the foldable electronic device in a well-balanced manner.

[0013] Further, according to the present invention, the second operation unit is installed using the hinge unit, and the second operation unit is connected to one of the housings provided with the first operation unit. There is no need to separately provide it in the other housing. For this reason, it is not necessary to increase the size of the other housing and install the second operation unit therein, so that the folding electronic device can be downsized. Moreover, the folded wait In the receiving state, the second operation unit can be hidden inside the housing, so that the folding operation has an effect of preventing a malfunction such as a switch of the second operation unit being accidentally inserted at the time of folding. It is possible to provide a type electronic device.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 (A) is a perspective view showing an open state of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (B) is a perspective view showing its closed state.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an enlarged state of a main part of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an illustration showing an operation when the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention is used in a horizontal position. Figure

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of a modification of the mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 (A)-(C) is a perspective view showing the operation of the second operation unit of the modification of the mobile phone of the present invention shown in FIG. 4

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of another modification of the mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of still another modification of the mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional foldable mobile phone.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another conventional folding electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

[0015] 1A—1D foldable mobile phone (foldable electronic device)

2 First case (upper case)

2A 1st connection

2B Rotation axis

20 First main surface

21 Display

22 Receiver

3 Second housing (lower housing)

3A 2nd connection

3B Hinge side end face

30 Second major surface 31 1st operation section

32 Transmitter

4 Open / close hinge

5 Second operation section

6 Third operation section

7 Cursor switch

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

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

FIG. 1 shows a mobile phone 1A according to an embodiment of the foldable electronic device of the present invention, and the mobile phone 1A has a display unit 21 for displaying character information and image information, a receiver 22 and the like. A first housing (hereinafter referred to as an “upper housing”) 2 and a second housing (hereinafter referred to as an upper housing) including a first operation unit 31 for inputting characters, symbols or numbers, and a transmission unit 32, etc. A lower housing 3); a hinge portion 4 for rotatably connecting the upper housing 2 and the lower housing 3 in a direction facing the upper housing 2 (that is, a vertical direction in FIG. 1A); It has a configuration including a second operation unit 5 provided in the unit 4.

[0017] In FIG. 1 (A), the hinge portion 4 includes a substantially columnar first connecting portion 2A extending integrally from the center of the lower end of the upper housing 2 toward the lower housing 3 side. A pair of substantially cylindrical second connecting portions 3A extending from the left and right sides of the upper end of the lower housing 3 toward the upper housing 2 with the first connecting portion 2A sandwiching both side forces. It is equipped with.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first connecting portion 2A is provided with a pair of rotating shafts 2B that also project outwardly at both end surfaces (portions corresponding to the upper surface and the lower surface in FIG. 2). The second connecting portion 3A is not shown in the drawing to support the rotating shaft 2B so as to be rotatable on each surface (referred to as an opposing surface) facing both end surfaces of the first connecting portion 2A. A shaft hole having a bearing (referred to as a bearing hole) (not shown) is provided.

The second operation unit 5 is installed integrally with the first connecting portion 2 A extending from the upper housing 2, among the hinge portions 4, so that the second operating portion 5 rotates with the opening and closing operation of the hinge portion 4. Has become.

Note that, in the case of the present embodiment, the second operation unit 5 includes a direction instruction button for instructing a moving direction of a cursor displayed on the display unit 21 of the upper housing 2. This second operation The operation function of the work unit 5 is not particularly limited to the cursor movement instruction function as in the present embodiment.

When the upper and lower casings 2 and 3 are closed, the second operating section 5 has an end face 3B facing the hinge section 4 of the lower casing 3 (a part corresponding to the left end face in FIG. 2; This is referred to as a “hinge-side end face” (in other words, hidden in the hinge part 4) so as to face each other. Therefore, even when the upper and lower casings 2 and 3 are closed and the mobile phone 1A is put in a bag or a pocket in a standby state with the switch of the mobile phone 1A inserted, the button of the second operation unit can be prevented from malfunctioning. It is configured as follows.

[0020] Further, since the second operation unit 5 is installed integrally with the first connection unit 2A, the upper housing 2 is rotated by approximately 180 degrees to open the upper and lower housings 2, 3 in the open state. , The second operation unit 5 is also rotated by the same angle together with the upper housing 2. For this reason, the lower housing 3 comes into contact with the hinge-side end surface 3B and comes out and is exposed to the outside, that is, the state where the lower housing 3 faces the user's face. Only when it is in the open state, the second operation unit 5 can be operated.

Therefore, according to the mobile phone 1A according to the present embodiment, when displaying the image information in the horizontal direction (horizontal orientation) on the display unit 21, for example, the vertical state shown in FIG. Then, the display unit 21 changes the orientation of the mobile phone 1A to a laterally long posture as shown in FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, by holding the mobile phone 1A near the center of gravity and holding the vicinity of the hinge 4 by hand, the mobile phone 1A can be held in a well-balanced manner, and the second operation unit 5 can be held. Can be maintained in a stable state. As a result, even when the mobile phone 1A is used not only in the normal portrait orientation but also in the landscape orientation, the user can reliably operate the menu selection by the second operation unit 5 in a stable state.

When the upper and lower casings 2 and 3 are closed and folded, the second operation unit 5 is connected to the inside of the upper and lower casings 2 and 3 (to be precise, the second casing 3 (In a state of being opposed to the hinge part side end face 3B), and the malfunction of the second operation part 5 during standby can be prevented. Furthermore, by providing the second operation unit 5 on the hinge 4 side that can indicate the moving direction of the cursor displayed on the display unit 21, the first operation unit 31 installed on the lower housing 3 can And notes It can be limited to the function of inputting numbers and numbers. Therefore, the number of switches provided in the first operation unit 31 can be reduced, and the size of the mobile phone 1A can be further reduced.

The mobile phone according to the foldable electronic device of the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and may have a configuration as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

That is, the mobile phone 1B shown in FIG. 4 is provided with the second operation unit 5 and the third operation unit 6 in the hinge unit 4.

Among them, for example, in the case of the present embodiment, the second operation unit 5 serves both as a rotary switch for recognizing the cursor left / right direction (or for selecting a menu left / right item) and a push switch for determining the rotation switch. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when recognizing the left direction of the cursor (or selecting the left item of the menu), the second operation unit 5 rotates upward as shown in FIG. When the right direction of the cursor is recognized (or the right item of the menu is selected), the cursor is rotated downward as shown in FIG. In addition, when determining these cognitions (or selections), press the buttons at the respective cognition positions or selection positions as they are, and when not determining these cognitions (or selections), see FIG. As shown in (B)-return to Eutral position.

The third operation unit 6 is provided adjacent to the left and right sides of the second operation unit 5. For example, in the case of the present embodiment, the third operation unit 6 is pressed vertically to the outer surface of the hinge unit 4 to move the cursor up and down. It consists of a push switch that recognizes (or selects a menu up / down item). That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the third operation unit 6 recognizes the upward (down) direction of the cursor with the right (left) push switch (or selects the upper (down) item of the menu). In order to determine these recognitions (or selections), the user may press the second operation unit 5 while keeping the respective recognition positions or the selected positions.

[0025] In addition to the above-described modified example, the mobile phone according to the foldable electronic device of the present invention includes, as shown in FIG. 6, a mobile phone 1C shown in FIG. A second operation unit 5 and a third operation unit 6 may be provided. Alternatively, a cursor switch 7 may be installed on the upper housing 2 near the hinge part 4 as in a mobile phone 1D shown in FIG.

[0026] As described above, in the foldable electronic device of the present invention, the center of gravity of the entire housing is hinged. It is desirable that the position be as close as possible to the part. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist thereof.

Although the present invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-018064 filed on Jan. 27, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Industrial applicability

The folding electronic device of the present invention holds the entire housing of the electronic device at the center of gravity even if the orientation of the housing is changed in accordance with the orientation of the display image and the operation is performed in a vertical or horizontal direction, and the posture is shifted. In addition to the fact that the second operation part of the operation part is moved to the hinge part, the second operation part of the operation part is also moved to the hinge part, so that the second operation part is not installed, so that the size of the second housing can be reduced. As a result, the size of the electronic device can be reduced.

Furthermore, the foldable electronic device of the present invention is configured such that when the first and second housings are closed, the second operation unit is hidden inside the space between the housings, and is not used. It has the effect of preventing erroneous operation of the second operation unit sometimes, and is useful as a foldable electronic device in which a pair of housings are connected by an open / close hinge, for example, a mobile phone, a PHS, a PDA, and the like.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] A first housing having a display portion on a main surface, a second housing having a first operation portion on a main surface, and a hinge rotatably connecting the first housing and the second housing. In a foldable electronic device with

When the first and second housings are folded, the hinges rotate with the opening and closing operation of the hinges to hide between the housings and open the first housings. A foldable electronic device that has a second operation unit that is sometimes exposed to the outside.

[2] The hinge portion includes a first connecting portion extending from the first housing side and projecting a rotating shaft on both sides, and a bearing extending from the second housing side and supporting the rotating shaft. A second connecting portion having a hole,

2. The foldable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first connection unit has the second operation unit at a predetermined position.