FR2855664A1 - Electronic device e.g. mobile telephone, has connection sheet inserted in tube of hinge, and having segments that are folded in S shape and unfolded in tube and coaxial cables that are folded in S shape in plane - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a base case and a hinge (3) for placing a cover on the case. A connection sheet (14) is inserted in a tube (8) of the hinge for connecting electronic circuits contained in the case to electronic circuits contained in the cover. The connection sheet has segments that are folded in S shape in the tube and are unfolded in the tube. The sheet has coaxial cables (47) folded in S shape in a plane (30).

Description

Electronic device, comprising a hinge allowing passage

cables folded in S

  The present invention relates to an electronic device 5 comprising a base housing and a cover folded over the base housing.

  This type of device is used in particular when the electronic device is portable: that is to say when it is for example a mobile telephone, a portable computer, or an electronic personal assistant. However, such an electronic device with base housing and cover can also be found in fixed installations, in particular when the cover by closing can protect the base housing from dust or even from rain. The electronic devices concerned by the invention are those in which the cover and the basic housing include electronic circuits which must be connected together. For example, the cover 15 comprises a screen and the basic housing comprises a keyboard, among others.

  The problems encountered in this type of electronic devices are linked to the coexistence, in the hinge which links the cover to the base housing, of mechanical devices ensuring rotation and of electrical connections, in large number, serving to connect the various circuits to each other. 20 of the cover and the housing. Whichever solution is chosen, it appears necessary to provide a clearance for these electrical connections in the hinge, or outside thereof, so that these electrical connections can play their role when the cover is folded down on the housing. base, that is to say when the edges of these two parts are necessarily distant from one another, and when the electronic device is open, when these edges of these parts are pressed against each other.

  To solve this problem of elongation or retraction of the electrical connections, provision is made, in particular as presented in document US200 444 34-A1, see in particular FIG. 7b, to produce a loop of electrical connections. The loop is helical, the electrical connection cable then being provided with two connectors for connecting to the circuits of the housing and the cover. Schematically, the two connectors are offset from each other by a distance equal to the width of the sheet. In the document presented, the electronic device concerned is a mobile phone.

  In a mobile phone, especially when the cover includes a screen, and in general also an antenna, a vibrator and speakers, the number of electrical connections is around a hundred, more or less 10% depending on the electronic architectures retained. However, the juxtaposition of the parts of the ply, imposed by the mounting in a helical loop, requires that the passage reserved in the hinge for the connections is shared in width between an input ply of the propeller and an output ply of the propeller. As a result, only half the width of the passage is usable. This half-width is insufficient.

  To solve this width problem, it is then planned to mount the sheet in several thicknesses. However, with these constraints of exiguity, numerous superimpositions are achieved: 4 or 5 superimposed layers together forming a helix. Such an embodiment has many drawbacks in particular related to the radius of curvature of the inner ply 15 with the helix smaller than that of the outer ply. This internal radius of curvature may be too small compared to a minimum radius forming a tolerance limit for correct operation. In addition, the sliding of a sheet one over the other in this superposition leads to friction, which themselves can cause jamming in opening or closing of the electronic device. Forcing then inevitably leads to a tearing. The electronic device is then out of service.

  In practical terms, the number of opening and closing operations that such a hinge must bear, while maintaining proper operation, is of the order of 200,000 and this constraint is difficult to satisfy.

  The problem is further complicated by the fact that the cover, in particular in the context of a mobile telephone, can comprise an antenna whereas in general the basic housing comprises the emission amplifier. It is therefore advisable to also pass a coaxial cable through the hinge to connect this antenna to this reception transmission circuit. This coaxial cable also occupies part of the passage further reducing the useful section for the sheet.

  In the invention, this problem of reducing the useful space, imposed by the solution in a helical loop, is solved by an embodiment in the hinge of an S-shaped superposition of the sheet. The forming in S leads to forming the sheet with meanders, at least two successive, of orientation reversed one compared to the other. Depending on the opening or closing position of the device, the meanders of the S are more or less elongated and overlap more or less. When they are more elongated, the hinge itself stores the excess length of the electrical connections of the ribbon cable. On the other hand, when the electronic device is closed, the meanders of the S straighten releasing useful lengths of connection. In the invention, the result is that the radius of curvature of the ply, at the location of the curved parts of the meanders and at the junction of these meanders, remains substantially constant, so that the mechanical flexural stresses applied to the tablecloth never goes beyond acceptable constraints. In practice, the flexural stresses are the same, whether the electronic device is open or closed. By doing so, of course the web can occupy the entire width of the passage. In addition, due to the relative constancy of the curvature of the ply, it is possible to superimpose in the S several plies without a ply being stressed beyond its limits.

  The invention therefore relates to an electronic device comprising a base housing, a hinge held in a sheath, a cover folded over the base housing by means of the hinge, and a structure of electrical connections inserted in the sheath of the hinge for connecting circuits contained in the housing to circuits contained in the cover, characterized in that the structure comprises at least one ply 25 of connections folded in S in the sheath, and moreover capable of deploying, at least partially, in the scabbard.

  The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows and on examining the figures which accompany it. These are presented for information only and in no way limit the invention. The figures show: - Figure 1: a schematic representation of an electronic device in which the improvement of the invention is implemented; - Figure 2: a perspective representation of the different parts of the hinge of the device of the invention; - Figure 3: a schematic sectional representation of the device of Figure 1 and the routing profile of the S-shaped connection ply according to the invention Figures 4a and 4b: an embodiment of a ply of electrical connections and mounting it in the hinge of the invention; - Figure 5: a schematic sectional representation of a variant of the S-fold of the connection sheet; - Figures 6a and 6b: a schematic perspective representation of a variant of the S-fold of a coaxial cable.

  Figure I shows an electronic device 1 in which can be implemented the improvement of the invention. The device 1 comprises a base box 2 and a hinge 3 for connecting the base box 2 to a cover 4, folded here on the base box 2. In one example, the electronic device 1 is a mobile phone, the box base 2 then comprises all the demodulation, signal processing and control circuits as well as a keypad of the mobile telephone, while the cover 15 4 comprises a screen, a speaker, an antenna or even a camera for taking of views.

  In the example described, the hinge 3 is of the bi-axis type, also shown in FIG. 2. The two axes of rotation 5 and 6 allow the opening of the device 1 so as to reveal one of the 20 the other, on the one hand the keyboard and on the other hand the screen. In the folded position of the device 1, this keyboard and this screen are pressed against each other. It is however conceivable to have a screen on the back 7 of the cover 4 and in general to arrange the different functions differently.

  The bi-axis solution is a preferred solution of the invention. However, a single-axis solution, in particular of the type described in the document cited above, is conceivable.

  Figure 2, the hinge 3 comprises a sheath 8 now on either side of the hinge mechanisms 9 and 10 and clearing between them a passage 11 to allow passage, inter alia, a sheet of electrical connections 30 used to connect the contained circuits in the base box 2 and in the cover 4. The mechanisms 9 and 10 are shown here bi-axis. They could however be single-axis mechanisms.

  The sheath 8 is here in the form of a cylinder whose profile is generally rectangular, with rounded angles, however. The passage 11 crosses the cylinder, perpendicular to its generatrix and perpendicular to the short side of the rectangle profile.

  FIG. 2 is a detached view of an example of all the parts of the hinge 3. The parts contained in the sheath 8 and useful for the passage of the electrical connections in the passage 11 are also shown in perspective from two ways, above and below in sets 12 and 13 respectively. Of course, only one of these sets is put in place in passage 11.

  Essentially, the sheath 8 of the hinge 3 comprises a connection ply 14 forming an S in the sheath. FIG. 3 shows in section 10 how the ply 14 is capable of being placed in the sheath 8 for a device 1 in the closed position. The ply 14 is used to connect electronic circuits, not shown, of the base housing 2 to electronic circuits of the cover 4. For this purpose, the ply 14 has a first segment 15 substantially coplanar with a plane of the base housing 2. A 15 the place of its introduction into the sheath 8 the ply 14 undergoes a bending 16 bringing it in a plane at right angles to the orientation of the segment 15. A segment 17 of the ply then rises from the bending 16, in the direction of the cover 4. This segment 17 is then folded in an S shape comprising a first meander 18 and a second meander 19, 20 consecutive from one another, forming the folding in S. The meanders 18 and 19 are oriented in opposite directions from each other. The meander 19 is continued by a segment 20 of orientation substantially parallel to that of the segment 17. The segment 20 is continued by another curvature at 90 21, before being continued by a segment 22 parallel, in the cover 4, to the segment 15 25 of the base unit 2.

  When the device 1 is closed, the segments 17 and 20 are shortened and their shortening makes it possible to provide the ply 14 with the additional length which it needs to connect the circuits of the base housing 2 to those of the cover 4. This additional length allows the ply 14 to cross the stack of edges of the base housing 2 and the cover 4. On the other hand, when the housing 1 is open, in the sheath 8, the segments 17 and 20 are elongated, the ply 14 in S is deployed at least partially in the sleeve 8. Here, this elongation is shown in dotted lines, while the position should correspond to an opening of the housing. Figure 3 shows in this regard only what is likely to happen in the hinge 3. This elongation allows respectively, at 23 and 24, to swallow the excess connection length, of the ply 14, the segments 15 and 22 which cannot move respectively in the base case 2 and the cover 4.

  The opening of the device 1 moreover has the consequence of reducing the length of curvature of the curves 16 and 21, as well as of increasing their radius of curvature, thus causing the segments 15 and 22 to be respectively in the extension of the segments 17 and 20. This increase in the radii of curvature of the curvatures 16 and 21, associated with the rigidity of the ply 14, leads the segments 17 and 20 to enlarge and occupy the places of the segments 23 and 24. Of course, the shape in S is preserved since the continuity of the sheet is not altered by these openings and closings, and in this case the meanders 18 and 19 are separated from one another. They then occupy positions 25 and 26 located closer to the 15 short sides of the rectangular profile of the sleeve 8 than were the meanders 18 and 19.

  So, fundamentally, the passage 11 makes it possible to accommodate the ply 14 folded in S. We could be satisfied with such a simple assembly without additional parts. Indeed, the stiffnesses of the planes of the sheet and the forcing in the meanders 18 or 25 and 19 or 26 are such that, overall, while the openings and the closings follow one another. The S-shape remains confined inside the sheath 8. As a variant, one could place inside the meanders 25 and 26 of the holding rollers 27 and 28 (FIG. 2). These rollers, the diameter of which is in relation to the minimum radius of curvature 25 authorized for the ply 14 would facilitate the maintenance of the S-structure inside the sheath 8.

  In an improvement, however, provision has been made to confine the folding in S of the ply 14 in the sheath 8 by a cage 29, FIG. 2, preferably without using rollers 27 and 28. The cage 29 in practice comprises a plate 30 laterally held by low walls 31 and 32. This plate 30 receives on one of its faces, one face of the sheet 14, in the example the segment 24 of this sheet. The assembly of the assembly is carried out as follows. The ply 14 is slipped inside the passage 11 with the meanders 25 and 26 reconstituted, and for example held by hand. This assembly can be done simultaneously or prior to the placement of the cage 29 on the meanders 25 to 26. The low walls 31 and 32 serve to maintain the meanders, one above the other, so that that they don't deviate. The cage 29 is placed in the passage 11 which it occupies exactly. Noses of the walls 31 and 32 for this purpose bear on the edges of the sheath 8, at the location of the short sides of the rectangle profile of the passage 11.

  Once the cage is thus put in place, a lock 33 is forced to be introduced into the sheath 8 on the other side of the cage 29 relative to the plate 30. The lock 33 for this purpose has small walls 34 and 35 10 intended to be embedded in rebates respectively 36 and 37 produced in the base of the walls 31 and 32. The latch 33 generally has the shape of a hollow square structure. The walls 34 and 35 forming the edges of this square are interconnected by rollers or half rollers 38 and 39, located at the ends of these walls 34 and 35. The rollers 38 and 39 have rounded surfaces. They serve to limit the friction forces of the ply 14. In practice, the rollers 38 and 39 are fixed and have only an outer surface in the form of a roller. One could nevertheless imagine making them mobile.

  The rollers 38 and 39 release between them a hollow space 40 in which the segment 23 of the sheet 14 can be deployed. This segment 23 is then not straight but can be slightly curved. The roller 38 accommodates for example the curvature 16 between the segment 15 and the segment 17. The roller 39 can in practice accommodate the curvature 21, when the housing 1 is closed.

  From this point of view, Figure 3 is approximate and should be modified, the segment 20 not actually rising parallel to the segment 17, but rather being inclined, in the direction of the segment 22, which reduces the radius accordingly of curvature of curvature 21.

  The latch 33 also has two pins 41 and 42 made next to the walls 34 and 35. They are intended to press against the internal face of the sleeve 8, at the location of the long side of the profile of this sleeve 8. The walls 31 and 32 have, in the upper part, a shape 43 and 44 adapted to the interior shape of the sheath 8. When the cage 29 and the latch 33 are thus inserted in the sheath 8, the vertices 43 and 44 are pressed against the inside of this sheath 8. They are pushed back there by the latch 33, the 35 lugs 41 and 42 of which bear on the opposite face of this sheath 8. The low walls 31 and 32 also have front rabbets, near their noses, such as 45 and 46, to come to be embedded in the slightly rounded parts of the rectangular profile of the sleeve 8.

  Preferably in the invention, FIG. 3, in addition to the ply 14, a coaxial cable 47 has been put in place to come and connect an antenna 48 in the cover 4, to emission circuits not shown in the housing. base 2. The coaxial cable 47 is also folded back in S in a plane 49. The plane 49 is the plane of the plate 30. This plane 49 is perpendicular to the plane of the S profile of the ply 14. This plane 49 is in particular parallel to the plane of the ply 14 in the segments 20 and 24 or 17 and 23. Preferably the plate 30, on the side opposite to that which receives the segment 14, is provided with two hollow pins 50 and 51 rising perpendicular to the plane of the plate 30, and forcing the passage between them of a strand of the coaxial cable 47. A flat cap 52, preferably provided with two pins 53 and 54, comes to be pressed above the plate 30 to maintain the structure in S of the coaxial cable 47 in the plane 49. The pins 53 and 54 are for example intended to fit together ter within the hollow pins 50 and 51.

  The cable 47 is formed with inverted meanders like the ply 14 and comprises two end strands 80 and 81 extending each on either side of the meanders. The strands 80 and 81 are also curved in the direction of the base housing 2 and of the cover 4. To facilitate this curvature, the plate 30 is provided with two notches 82 and 83 respectively, diagonally opposite one another on the plate. 30.

  During assembly, preferably the ply 14 is fitted with the cage 25 29 which itself is (optionally) previously fitted with the coaxial cable 47 blocked by the presence of the cap 52. In FIG. 3, it has been shown that the coaxial cable 47 could be located in the interior part of the ply 14. It is however conceivable that the coaxial cable 47 occupies a position 55 external to the ply 14.

  FIGS. 4a and 4b give an example of an embodiment of the ply 14. In FIG. 4a, the ply 14 is shown as formed integrally and continuously with a first plane 56 of contacts, intended to correspond to the keyboard of the mobile telephone placed in the base unit 2.

  It also includes a second contact plane 57, for example 35 intended for supplying and controlling a screen located in the cover 4. As much as the contact planes 56 and 57 are copper-plated planes, of the type double-sided (with two copper faces), as many of the connection strands 58 and 59 which connect them are preferably single-sided strands. The strands 58 and 59 thus generally form two flat handles 5 connected on either side to each of the two planes 56 and 57. These two handles 58 and 59 can be folded one on the other according to the folding primers shown. by dashes 60 in Figure 4a.

  While FIG. 4a shows one face of the plane 56, FIG. 4b, in which the handles 58 and 59 are folded over one another, shows the other face 10 of this plane 56. Due to the folding, the handles 58 and 59 are folded over each other and give rise, together, to a ply 14, here of the two-layer type (since it is formed by two separate handles 58 and 59), the apparent shape of which is that of 'a T with a leg of the T having to correspond to the strands 15 to 26 and a bar 61 of the T having to correspond to the positioning 15 of a connector 62 on the plane 57 of contacts for connecting to the circuits of the cover 4.

  In practice, the connector 62 must have a large number of contact points equal to the number of connections conveyed by the sheet 14.

  This large number justifies the presence of the bar of the T. However, it is noted that this bar 61 of the T is wider than the width of the leg of the T forming the ply 14. Now the passage 11 in the sheath 8 is limited, precisely at this ply width 14. Also, to carry out the assembly, provision is made to temporarily fold the bar 61 of the T through a bias 63 on the leg 64 of the T. There is then a narrower stump 65 capable of passing through 25 the passage 11. Once the stump 65 has passed, the temporary fold 63 can be unfolded. At this time, the cage 29 can be put in place at the same time as the meanders 18 and 19 are folded over. the ply 14. The cage 29 has possibly been previously provided with the coaxial cable 47 and the cap 52. Then the bolt 33 is engaged, and the sheath 8 is then electrically fully equipped.

  In practice, the hinge mechanisms 9 and 10 can be subsequently put in place in order to have the space they occupy to check or assist in mounting the ply 14.

  As a variant, the ply 14, produced in practice from a flex, 35 will comprise two rods 66 and 67 instead of the two handles 58 and 59. A flex is a flat plastic structure covered on one face on another (or even in intermediate planes) by engraved metal connections.

  The two rods 66 and 67 make it possible to produce an open structure freeing up an internal space 68, inside which it is possible to reserve space for another sheet 69 (shown in dashes). By doing so, the flex surface losses are reduced at the time of manufacture.

  Otherwise, all of part 68 would be lost according to the first example described.

  In one example, the handles 58 and 59 or the rods 66 and 67 are of the single face type and have a useful width of 10 mm (correspond to the width of the ply 14) while these handles can be connected to the contact planes 56 and 57 by strands, of the double-sided type whose width is then less, for example 8 mm. In one example, each of the handles 58 and 59 carries around 50 connections, as does each of the rods 66 and 67. A two-layer ply 14 is thus produced with a large number of 15 connections, whereas in the prior art to achieve at a comparable number of connections, at least four layers of flex were required. In one example, the retraction extension of the ply 14 in the sheath 8 is of the order of 15 mm.

  FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of the S-structure of the ply 14. In this structure the ply 14 has a double S-structure, two rollers 70 and 71 being held fixedly relative to one another while that two other rollers 72 and 73 can move away from one another under the effect of a spring (or vice versa, or even the four rollers can be elastically spread apart for some and brought together for the others at the same time 25 time). With such a solution, the displacement in length of the ply 14 is twice that of the preferred mode, of the order of 30 mm.

  In an improvement, FIGS. 6a and 6b, the pins 50 and 51 are not present on the plate 30. This plate 30 on the contrary has an opening 70 in which the pins 53 and 54 of the cap 52 come to engage. The opening 70 is preferably not circular, but has a shape, for example in the form of a cross, in which the pins can find a stable equilibrium position in rotation by locking by quarter turn. During assembly, the cable 47 is previously wedged between the pins 53 and 54, FIG. 6a, of the cap 52. Then this cap 52 is mounted on the plate 30, with the input and output strands 80 and 81 of the cable. 47 engaged in the notches 82 and 83 of the plate 30. Once in this position, the cap 52 is turned a quarter of a turn, the rotation of the lock 72 constituting the meanders 73 and 74 of the cable 47. If necessary, the cap 52 can be fixed, and an autonomous lock 72, containing the pins 53 and 54, be movable in rotation in the opening 70 and in a facing opening made in the cap 52. By doing so, one simply ensures that the setting up of the meanders of the cable 47. At the moment when the latch 72 is turned, the strands of the cable 47 come to bear against raised areas 75 and 76 rising from the other side of the plate 30 relative to the walls 31 and 32. In this position, the stiffness of the cable contributes to a stable maintenance of the cable l when placed in the sleeve 8.

Claims (11)

  1 - Electronic device (1) comprising a base housing (2), a hinge (3) held in a sheath (8), a cover (4) folded over the base housing 5 by means of the hinge, and a structure (14) of electrical connections inserted into the sheath of the hinge to connect circuits contained in the housing to circuits contained in the cover, characterized in that the structure comprises at least one connection ply folded in S (15-26) in the sheath, and moreover 10 capable of deploying (17, 23) in the sheath.   2 - Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the structure comprises a coaxial cable (47) folded in S in a plane (30), this plane being perpendicular to a plane of the S profile of the sheet.   3 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the sheath is cylindrical, is provided at each of its two ends with a hinge mechanism (9, 10), and is provided between these mechanisms d '' a passage (11) to receive the sheet, a cage (29) being arranged in this passage to guide the deployment of the sheet 4 Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the cage 20 is held in the sheath by a latch (33) hollow, the ply being located in the passage between the cage and the latch.   - Device according to one of claims 3 to 4, characterized in that the cage comprises a plate (30) and a cap (52), a space being provided between this plate and this cover to receive a coaxial cable 25 folded in S in a plane perpendicular to a plane of the S-profile of the sheet, the sheet being located on the other side of the plate.   6 - Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the plate comprises two pins (50, 51) for guiding the cable.   7 - Device according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the latch is hollow in that it comprises friction limiting rollers (38, 39).   8 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the hinge is bi-axis (5, 6).   9 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the sheet is two-layer (58, 59).   - Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the sheet has about 100 connections.   11 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the sheet forms a contact plane of a keyboard and contact planes with circuits.   12 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the ply has a T-end (61, 64), a bar (61) of the T can be temporarily folded (63) on a leg of the T for its passage in a passage of the sheath.   13 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the sheet is coppery double-sided.   14 - Device according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the structure comprises a coaxial cable (47) folded in S in a plane (30), this plane being perpendicular to a plane of the S profile of the sheet , the folding in S comprising a bolt turned (70, 73, 74) by a quarter turn.