TW202437053A - Portable electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A foldable electronic device including a first body, a second body, and a hinge module connecting therebetween is provided. The first and the second bodies are rotated relatively to be folded or unfolded through the hinge module. The hinge module includes a first shaft, two casings, and a linkage set. The first shaft connected to the first body has a protruding portion. The linkage set is pivoted to the casings and has a first slot, and the protruding portion is movably coupled to the first slot. The protruding portion moves from one end to another of the first slot when the first shaft rotates in a first stroke. The first shaft drives the linkage set to separate the casings or to combine the casings when the first shaft rotates in a second stroke.

Description

Folding electronic devices

The present invention relates to a foldable electronic device.

In recent years, the use of laptops has become more and more diverse, so the functions they have are also increasing. For example, in order to use a laptop as a tablet, a double-axis hinge has been developed. The host and screen of the laptop can be opened from 0 degrees in the closed state to 360 degrees in the flip state through the double-axis hinge.

Generally speaking, in the tablet state, the touch screen of a laptop is actually flipped to the back of the host computer and can be supported on a platform through the host computer for easy operation by the user. However, since the flipped screen is still parallel (horizontal) to the platform it supports, users standing on one side of the screen often face problems such as insufficient viewing angle or reflection, which causes the user to use additional objects to raise part of the laptop computer so that the screen is tilted and the viewing angle is adjusted before the user can smoothly view and operate the touch screen.

The present invention provides a foldable electronic device, wherein the hinge structure is used to generate a corresponding structural conversion in response to the operating mode of the body.

The foldable electronic device of the present invention comprises a first body, a second body and a hinge module. The hinge module connects the first body and the second body so that the first body and the second body rotate relative to each other through the hinge module. The hinge module comprises a first rotating shaft, two housings and a connecting rod assembly. The first rotating shaft connects the first body and has a convex portion. The connecting rod assembly hinges the two housings and has a first expansion hole groove, and the convex portion is penetrated in the first expansion hole groove. When the first shaft rotates at a first stroke, the protrusion moves from one end of the first expansion slot to the other end of the expansion slot. When the first shaft rotates at a second stroke, the protrusion abuts against the other end and drives the connecting rod assembly to drive the two shells to separate and combine through the connecting rod assembly. When the shells are separated, one of the shells protrudes from the first body, so that the first body is supported on the platform in an inclined manner by the protruding shell.

Based on the above, the foldable electronic device is provided with two housings and a connecting rod assembly in its hinge module, wherein the two housings are respectively hinged at different positions of the connecting rod assembly, and the convex portion of the first rotating shaft is inserted into the first expansion slot of the connecting rod assembly. Accordingly, when the first body and the second body rotate relative to each other through the hinge module, the connecting rod assembly can be driven to produce a folded state or an expanded state. Furthermore, when the first rotating shaft rotates with a first stroke, the convex portion moves from one end of the first expansion slot to the other end without driving the connecting rod assembly, that is, the first stroke is only used for the rotation of the body and the two housings, and the connecting rod assembly remains in its original state. When the first shaft rotates in the second stroke, the convex part abutting against the other end will drive the connecting rod assembly to drive the connecting rod assembly to be folded or expanded, thereby separating or folding the two housings together.

More importantly, one of the two separated shells will protrude from the body, so that the body can be supported on the platform at an angle by the protruding shell, thereby achieving the effect of lifting the body and providing the user with a convenient viewing angle and operating angle.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the portable electronic device of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic diagram of a hinge module of the portable electronic device of FIG. 1 . Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 simultaneously. In this embodiment, a foldable electronic device 100, such as a notebook computer, includes a first body 110, a second body 120 and a hinge module 130. The first body 110 is, for example, a host of a notebook computer, having an input surface 111 (with a touch pad and a keyboard) and a bottom surface 112, and the second body 120 is, for example, a touch screen of the notebook computer, having a (touch) display surface 121 and a back surface 122. The hinge module 130 connects the first body 110 and the second body 120 so that the first body 110 and the second body 120 can rotate relative to each other through the hinge module 130. This embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, that is, the tablet mode of the foldable electronic device 100, at which time the second body 120 has been flipped from the input surface 111 of the first body 110 to and backed against the bottom surface 112, and the (touch) display surface 121 of the second body 120 is exposed to the outside, so that when the foldable electronic device 100 is placed on the platform 200 as shown in FIG. 2, the user can directly view or operate the (touch) display surface 121.

More importantly, as shown in FIG. 2 , through the state change of the hinge module 130, the foldable electronic device 100 can further provide a partial lifting effect on the first body 110 when in the tablet mode, so that the part of the hinge module 130 protruding from the first body 110 can be supported on the platform 200, so that the first body 110 is supported on the platform 200 in an inclined manner by the protruding part, and the second body 120 stacked on the first body 110 is also inclined, which is beneficial for the user to operate or view the display surface 121. As shown in FIG. 2 , the foldable electronic device 100 has a tilt angle θ relative to the platform 200 due to the above-mentioned support mechanism. In order to facilitate identification of the tilted state of the foldable electronic device 100, FIG. 2 uses different magnifications for partial magnification.

FIG. 4 shows another state of the portable electronic device of FIG. 1. Please refer to FIG. 1, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 at the same time. In this embodiment, FIG. 4 shows that the foldable electronic device 100 is in a closed state, that is, the first body 110 and the second body 120 are relatively closed and stacked together, wherein the (touch) display surface 121 of the second body 120 faces the input surface 111 of the first body 110, and the back surface 122 of the second body 120 and the bottom surface 112 of the first body 110 are substantially exposed to the outside. The foldable electronic device 100 in this closed state is the shutdown state of a conventional notebook computer. However, in order to provide a better component identification for FIG. 1 , the first body 110 and the second body 120 are shown in an inverted manner in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate exploded views of the hinge module at different viewing angles. Please refer to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B at the same time and compare them with FIG. 4 or FIG. 3. It should be noted that the exploded view of this embodiment is based on the relative positions of the components shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the hinge module 130 includes a first shaft 131, two shells (the first shell 136 and the second shell 137 are used as examples in this embodiment) and a connecting rod assembly. The assembly portion C1 of the first shaft 131 is connected to (and fixed to) the first body 110. The two shells (the first shell 136 and the second shell 137) are respectively connected to the different parts of the connecting rod assembly and are in a movable state, such as the folded state shown in FIG. 4 and the unfolded state shown in FIG. 3. In this way, as the connecting rod assembly is folded or unfolded, the two shells can be driven to move relative to each other and achieve a relative separation or folding effect. When the two shells are separated, one of the two shells will protrude from the first body 110, as shown in FIG. 2, so that the first body 110 is supported on the platform 200 in an inclined manner by the protruding shell.

In detail, the hinge module 130 of this embodiment further includes a second rotating shaft 132 and a torque member TR, wherein the assembly portion C2 of the second rotating shaft 132 is connected to (and fixed to) the second body 120, that is, the hinge module 130 of this embodiment is substantially a double-rotating shaft mechanism, the first rotating shaft 131 has a central axis X1, the second rotating shaft 132 has a central axis X2, and the central axis X1 is parallel to the central axis X2, so that the body can relatively rotate from 0 degrees (as shown in FIG. 4) to 360 degrees (as shown in FIG. 1). Furthermore, the first rotating shaft 131 and the second rotating shaft 132 are rotatably disposed in the torque member TR, and the torque member TR provides the torque required by the hinge module 130. It should be noted that the dual-shaft mechanism has been adopted in the existing notebook computer technology, so it will not be described in detail.

The connecting rod assembly of this embodiment includes a first rod 133, a second rod 134 and a third rod 135, wherein the first rod 133 has a first pivot shaft 133b and a first expansion hole groove 133a, and the second rod 134 has a second expansion hole groove 134a, a second pivot shaft 134b and a third pivot shaft 134c, the first pivot shaft 133b is movably coupled to the second expansion hole groove 134a, and the third pivot shaft 134c is pivotally connected to the first pivot hole 136a of the first housing 136. The third rod 135 has a fourth pivot shaft 135b and a third pivot hole 135a, wherein the fourth pivot shaft 135b is pivoted to the second pivot hole 137a of the second housing 137, and the second pivot shaft 134b is pivoted to the third pivot hole 135a. The first rotating shaft 131 has a protrusion 131a, and the protrusion 131a is penetrated in the first expansion slot 133a. It is also worth mentioning that the above-mentioned pivot shafts can be riveted to prevent the rods from separating and falling off along the pivot shaft. The pivot shaft can also be passed through another rod and then impacted and flattened so that the local outer diameter of the pivot shaft is larger than the hole diameter of the pivot hole of the rod through which it passes, which can also achieve the effect of preventing it from falling off.

In this embodiment, the first expansion slot 133a is a rotational expansion slot and is fan-shaped. The central axis of the first expansion slot 133a is consistent with the central axis X1 of the first rotating shaft 131, and the protrusion 131a is eccentric to the central axis X1 of the first rotating shaft 131, and the protrusion 131a is also fan-shaped and rotatably adapted in the first expansion slot 133a, wherein the central angle of the protrusion 131a is smaller than the central angle of the first expansion slot 133a. Accordingly, when the first rotating shaft 131 rotates, the protrusion 131a can either move (rotate) in the first expansion slot 133a, or abut against the side wall of the first expansion slot 133a to drive the first rod 133. In addition, the second expansion slot 134a of the present embodiment is a sliding expansion slot in an elongated strip shape, so that the first pivot shaft 133b passing therethrough can slide in the second expansion slot 134a while pivoting.

6A to 6D show that the hinge module changes into different states as the body rotates. Please refer to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B first. In this embodiment, FIG. 6A shows the closed state shown in FIG. 4 above. The first body 110 and the second body 120 are stacked together, the input surface 111 and the display surface 121 face each other, and the bottom surface 112 and the back surface 122 are exposed to the outside. At this time, the first shell 136 and the second shell 137 of the hinge module 130 are closed to each other, and the connecting rod assembly at this time is regarded as a retracted state. Next, the first body 110 rotates relative to the second body 120 through the hinge module 130 to switch from the state shown in FIG. 6A to the state shown in FIG. 6B . This switching process is equivalent to the first shaft 131 rotating at the first stroke T1, and the protrusion 131a moves from one end of the first expansion slot 133a to the other end of the first expansion slot 133a. At the same time, the hinge module 130 also generates a 180-degree flip in this process.

At this time, for the connecting rod assembly, the first stroke T1 is actually an idle stroke, which is only used for the rotation of the body, and the connecting rod assembly is not driven to maintain the folded state shown in FIG. 6A, which can be clearly seen from the hinge module 130 shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B. In other words, the process from FIG. 6A to FIG. 6B is equivalent to the first body 110 and the second body 120 rotating from the first folded state (FIG. 6A) to the intermediate unfolded state (FIG. 6B). Taking the state shown in FIG. 6A as the foldable electronic device 100 being in the 0-degree state as a reference, FIG. 6B is equivalent to the state in which the first body 110 rotates 270 degrees relative to the second body 120, and the foldable electronic device 100 still maintains the general operation mode of a laptop during this process.

Next, please refer to FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C , which show the conversion process in which the first body 110 continues to rotate with the second stroke T2 (i.e., the first stroke T1 and the second stroke T2 are the same direction rotation strokes), and the first body 110 and the second body 120 rotate from the intermediate unfolded state to the second folded state, wherein the second folded state is shown in FIG. 6C , where the first body 110 is again stacked on the second body 120, but the display surface 121 is exposed to the outside, which is the aforementioned tablet mode (state).

More importantly, in this process (when the first shaft 131 rotates at the second stroke T2), the protrusion 131a abuts against the other end of the first expansion slot 133a and drives the connecting rod assembly, thereby driving the connecting rod assembly to expand and causing the second housing 137 to protrude from the input surface 111 of the first body 110, so that the second body 120 is supported on the platform 200 by the first body 110 and the second housing 137 protruding from the input surface 111, as shown in Figures 1 to 3. In addition, it can be further learned from the process of Figure 6B to Figure 6C that the direction in which the second housing 137 is separated and moved away from the first housing 136 by the connecting rod assembly is consistent with the line connecting the center axis X1 of the first rotating shaft 131 and the center axis X2 of the second rotating shaft 132, thereby ensuring that the second housing 137 actually moves in a direction perpendicular to the input surface 111 and protrudes from the input surface 111.

Next, please refer to FIG. 6C and FIG. 6D , the conversion process shown is the process of restoring the foldable electronic device 100 from the tablet mode, which also follows the aforementioned stroke principle. As shown in FIG. 6C and FIG. 6D , when the first shaft 131 rotates clockwise with the first body 110 in the figure, the convex portion 131a of the first shaft 131 is equivalent to moving in the first expansion slot 133a with the first stroke T11, so when it is converted to the state shown in FIG. 6D , it is equivalent to the first stroke T11 being an idle stroke, and only causing the first body 110 and the hinge module 130 to flip, and no driving effect is caused for the connecting rod assembly, so that the hinge module 130 still maintains the same unfolded state as FIG. 6C . Next, in the state shown in FIG. 6D , the user continues to rotate the first body 110 in a clockwise direction, that is, to move the first shaft 131 with a second stroke T12. At this time, the protrusion 131a abuts against the other end of the first expansion slot 133a to drive the connecting rod assembly to restore the connecting rod assembly from the expanded state shown in FIG. 6D to the retracted state shown in FIG. 6A .

Based on the above, the first folded state and the second folded state of the present invention are respectively one of the states where the input surface 111 of the first body 110 faces the display surface 121 of the second body 120 and the input surface 111 of the first body 110 faces away from the display surface 121 of the second body 120.

Fig. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a hinge module according to another embodiment of the present invention, and the state shown is the same as Fig. 3 of the aforementioned embodiment. Referring to Fig. 7, in the hinge module 130A of the present embodiment, the first shell 139 has a sandwich structure, and the hinge module 130A further includes a fork structure 138 disposed on the inner surface of the second shell 137 to be movably inserted into the sandwich structure or partially removed from the sandwich structure. This allows the hinge module 130A to move during the separation/combination of the shell, such as the conversion process of Figure 6B and Figure 6C, and the components that are far away from each other will not be deflected or rotated due to the action of the connecting rod assembly. That is, the aforementioned sandwich structure and fork structure 138 provide a limit for the movement of the components, thereby maintaining the relative movement of the shell in a substantially linear movement trajectory.

In summary, in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the foldable electronic device is provided with two housings and a connecting rod assembly in its hinge module, wherein the two housings are respectively hinged at different positions of the connecting rod assembly, and the convex portion of the first rotating shaft is inserted into the first expansion slot of the connecting rod assembly. Accordingly, when the first body and the second body rotate relative to each other through the hinge module, the connecting rod assembly can be driven to produce a folded state or an expanded state. Furthermore, when the first rotating shaft rotates with a first stroke, the convex portion moves from one end of the first expansion slot to the other end without driving the connecting rod assembly, that is, the first stroke is only used for the rotation of the body and the two housings, and the connecting rod assembly remains in its original state. When the first shaft rotates in the second stroke, the protrusion abutting against the other end will drive the connecting rod assembly to fold or expand, and the two shells will be separated or folded together accordingly. More importantly, one of the two separated shells will protrude from the body, so that the body can be supported on the platform at an angle by the protruding shell. Therefore, the effect of lifting the body can be achieved, providing users with a convenient viewing angle and operating angle.

100: Foldable electronic device 110: First body 111: Input surface 112: Bottom surface 120: Second body 121: Display surface 122: Back surface 130, 130A: Hinge module 131: First shaft 131a: Protrusion 132: Second shaft 133: First rod 133a: First expansion slot 133b: First pivot axis 134: Second rod 134a: Second expansion slot 134b: Second pivot axis 134c: Third pivot axis 135: Third rod 135a: First pivot hole 135b: Fourth pivot axis 136, 139: First housing 136a: First pivot hole 137: Second housing 137a: Second pivot hole 138: Fork structure 200: Platform C1, C2: Assembly part TR: Torque member X1, X2: Axis θ: Tilt angle

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the portable electronic device of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic diagram of a hinge module of the portable electronic device of FIG. 1 . FIG. 4 shows another state of the portable electronic device of FIG. 1 . FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show exploded views of the hinge module at different viewing angles, respectively. FIG. 6A to FIG. 6D show that the hinge module is transformed into different states as the body rotates. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a hinge module according to another embodiment of the present invention.

100: Foldable electronic devices

110: First Body

111: Input surface

112: Bottom

120: Second body

121: Display surface

122: Back

130: Hinge module

Claims (15)

A foldable electronic device includes: a first body; a second body; a hinge module connecting the first body and the second body so that the first body and the second body rotate relative to each other through the hinge module, the hinge module including: a first shaft connected to the first body, the first shaft having a convex portion; two housings; and The connecting rod assembly, the two shells are respectively connected at different points of the connecting rod assembly to be movable, the connecting rod assembly has a first expansion hole slot, the convex portion is penetrated in the first expansion hole slot, when the first shaft rotates with a first stroke, the convex portion moves from one end of the first expansion hole slot to the other end of the first expansion hole slot, when the first shaft rotates with a second stroke, the convex portion abuts against the other end and drives the connecting rod assembly, so as to drive the two shells to separate and combine through the folding or unfolding of the connecting rod assembly, when the two shells are separated, one of the two shells protrudes from the first body, so that the first body is supported on the platform in an inclined manner by the protruding shell. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the two shells include a first shell and a second shell, and the connecting rod assembly includes: A first rod having a first pivot and the first expansion hole slot, A second rod having a second expansion hole slot, a second pivot and a third pivot, the first pivot movably coupled to the second expansion hole slot, the third pivot pivot pivoting to the first pivot hole of the first shell; and A third rod having a fourth pivot and a third pivot hole, wherein the fourth pivot pivot pivots to the second pivot hole of the second shell. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 2, wherein the first expansion slot is a rotational expansion slot and is fan-shaped. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 3, wherein the central axis of the first expansion slot is consistent with the central axis of the first rotating shaft. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 3, wherein the protrusion is fan-shaped and rotatably adapted to the first expansion slot, and the central angle of the protrusion is smaller than the central angle of the first expansion slot. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 2, wherein the second expansion slot is a sliding expansion slot and is in the shape of an elongated strip. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the hinge module further includes a second shaft and a torque member, the second shaft is connected to the second body, the first shaft and the second shaft are rotatably inserted into the torque member, and the torque member provides the torque required by the hinge module. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein when the two shells are separated from each other, one of the shells protrudes from the input surface of the first body, so that the second body is supported on the platform by the first body and the shell protruding from the input surface. As described in claim 1, the foldable electronic device, when the first shaft rotates in the first stroke, the first body and the second body rotate from the first folded state to the intermediate unfolded state, and when the first shaft rotates in the second stroke, the first body and the second body rotate from the intermediate unfolded state to the second folded state. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 9, wherein the first folded state and the second folded state are respectively one of: the input surface of the first body faces the display surface of the second body and the input surface of the first body faces away from the display surface of the second body. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 7, wherein the direction of separation and combination of the two shells is consistent with the line connecting the central axis of the first rotating shaft and the central axis of the second rotating shaft. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the protrusion is eccentric to the central axis of the first rotating shaft. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the first stroke is an idle stroke so that the first rotating shaft does not drive the connecting rod assembly. A foldable electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the first stroke and the second stroke rotate in the same direction. The foldable electronic device as described in claim 1 further includes a sandwich structure disposed in one of the shells, and a fork structure disposed in the other shell, and the fork structure is inserted into or partially moved out of the sandwich structure as the shell moves.

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