Hinge assembly for a multi-configuration portable electronic device
A hinge assembly (2100) includes a hinge body (2102) made of two hinge body halves (900). Each hinge body half is identical so that only one part need be manufactured, and two of them used to form the hinge body. Each hinge body half has a first leg (902) that is longer than a second leg (904). The first leg has a retaining lip (912) at the end which forms a retaining feature. Each leg of the hinge body defines an axis of rotation for the body elements (104, 106). A portion (1508) of a flexible circuit board (1506) is captured between the hinge body halves so as to electrically interconnect circuitry placed in each body element. A detent mechanism is provided to hold the body element in preselected positions with respect to each other, and includes a spring (2106), a cam (2108) and a cap (2110) having cam follower features (2118). The cam is held in place with respect to the body element housing, while the cap is fixed in position with respect to the hinge body. To stabilize the rotation of the body elements, a hook (2404) retains a collar edge (2402) upon rotation of the respective body element.
This application is a divisional of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/150,244, filed May 17, 2004, and assigned to Motorola, Inc.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates generally to portable electronic devices, and more particularly to portable electronic devices having multiple elements, and the means of connecting those elements.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMany portable electronic devices exist that are designed for making life easier and more productive. Devices such as cellular phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) perform valuable functions such as communications, messaging, data storage and recall, etc.
These portable electronic devices often have two parts, a hinged cover having a display and a body having a keyboard. The display is typically chosen to match the intended purpose. For example, PDAs typically have a relatively large display, useful for displaying text and graphics. Cellular phones, on the other hand, typically have smaller displays designed for displaying a limited number of alphanumeric characters. This makes sense, as production costs may be kept down by including only the required capabilities in the device.
More and more, people find such portable electronic devices to be invaluable for keeping in touch with co-workers, family, and friends, and for organizing a busy lifestyle. As the demand for portable electronic devices increases, these devices tend to increase in functions, features, and complexity. However, such devices still tend to remain as distinct units due to the increased complexity and difficulty of use that often comes with integration of multiple devices.
Integration of multiple devices is understandably difficult, due to the need for providing different functions that intermesh operationally while sharing inputs, outputs, and other resources. This is further complicated by the need to create a device that is intuitively simple to use.
Non-integration of portable electronic devices produces several drawbacks. First, there are the obvious drawbacks such as needing multiple devices to accomplish all desired functions, along with the attendant size and weight inconvenience. Second, non-integration means that multiple devices have duplicate components, such as heavy and bulky displays, input devices, and power sources. Third, the increased use of microprocessors and their increasing capabilities allow devices to be developed that are flexible and can be configured to perform multiple functions. Fourth, integrating devices to share common components and to cooperatively function could provide increased value to consumers while reducing prices.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. A brief description of the prior art is also thought to be useful.
A multi-configuration portable electronic device comprises at least two body elements. Typically one element comprises a display for displaying information graphically, and the other element comprises an input mechanism such as a keypad or keyboard and other buttons for navigating a cursor or pointer displayed on the display. Now turning to
The device illustrated in
The present invention solves these problems by use of a novel hinge mechanism that uses a flexible circuit board to interconnect the two elements of the multi-configuration portable electronic device, but does not twist the flexible circuit board. The hinge mechanism uses a pair of identical, asymmetric hinge body halves that interlock when put together. Each hinge body half has a recessed portion throughout the elbow portion and partially along each axial portion or leg so that a portion of a flexible circuit board may be captured between the hinge body halves. The asymmetric legs of the hinge body half, when placed together, form capturing features for retaining a portion of a flexible circuit board in a manner that eliminates twist, and spring-loaded cam mechanisms to provide detent to hold the elements in closed, portrait, or landscape configurations for ease of use. Hooks disposed on the body elements interlock with the hinge assembly to stabilize movement of the elements with respect to each other.
Referring now to
The reason for the asymmetric axial portion lengths, is that two identical hinge body halves can be placed together to form the hinge body. Referring now to
Referring now to
The rolled portions 2104 can be seen in
The hinge assembly further includes a means for providing detent so that the body elements are urged into particular positions when being reconfigured. Detent provides a soft locking of the body elements into certain positions. If detent were not provided, the body elements would simply fall to whatever position they were allowed, and it would make the multi-configuration device difficult to operate because the body elements would not stay in place, requiring the user to hold them while trying to operate the device.
The detent mechanism of the preferred embodiment includes a spring 2106 on each leg, abutting the barrel portion 918. A cam 2108 is then loaded over each leg of the hinge body, and abuts the spring. The cam has anti-rotation features on its outer diameter which mate with features inside the housing hinge portions 2109, which are preferably substantially tubular or cylindrical in shape. The housing hinge portions are the portions of the housing of the multi-configuration portable electronic device in which the legs of the hinge body reside. They are shown here as cut-away segments for clarity. The cam may have rails or slots or an eccentric shape or other features that correspond with features in the housing hinge portion to prevent it from rotating with respect to the housing. A cap 2110 is then placed over the end of the hinge body leg and against the cam in a way that compresses the spring, thus biasing the cam against the cap. The cap has cam following features 2118 that fit in the cam valleys between the cam lobes 2114. The cap is held in place by an integral cantilevered member 2112 which engages the retaining feature of the first axial portion of each hinge body half. A cut-away view of the cap 2200 so engaged is shown in
The cams have lobes 2114 and valleys 2116 formed thereon which correspond to cam followers 1611 on the caps 2110. As a body element is rotated, the cam is rotated with respect to the cam followers on the cap, which cause the cam to compress the spring initially. As the body element reaches its intended position, the cam followers fall into the other valley on the cam, and the spring biases the cam against the cap, thereby holding the body element in place for ease of use. This detent mechanism is used on both legs of the hinge body so that detent can be provided for the portrait, landscape, and closed positions. Thus, detent is provided by the hinge assembly. To prevent over-rotation of the body elements, it is contemplated that ridges may be formed on the outer surface of the housing hinge portions that meet when the body elements are opened to the detented positions.
In order to determine when the body elements are moved, a magnet 1620 is disposed in the cap 2110. The magnet is sensed by one or more Hall effect sensors (not shown) in the body of the device. The device has circuitry for sensing the presence of the magnet via the Hall effect device, and can then configure its operation to match its physical configuration. That is, when the device is opened into a portrait configuration, the device will operate as, for example, a cellular radio-telephone. Hall effect sensing in this manner is well known in the art.
Thus far the hinge assembly has shown how a hinge can allow dual rotation, while carrying a flexible circuit board within and through the hinge, without twisting the flexible circuit board. It also provides a means for holding different elements into preferred positions via a detent mechanism. This hinge is particularly suited for use in a multi-configuration portable electronic device, but may have other applications in addition to such devices. The hinge, as described so far, allows rotation about the axis of either hinge body leg. To stabilize the body element being rotated, an additional feature is provided by the invention. A collar portion that interlocks with a hook member, each disposed on different body elements of the multi-configuration device, provides the added stability.
Referring now to
The invention therefore includes a unique hinge body half, and uses two hinge body halves to form a hinge body. Each hinge body half is identical so that only one part needs to be manufactured, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. Each hinge body half has a corner portion, a first axial portion extending from the corner portion along a first axis, a second axial portion extending from the corner portion along a second axis, barrel portions formed on each of the first and second axial portion at points equidistant from the center of the corner portion, a recessed portion formed contiguously along a portion of each of the first and second axial portions and through the corner portion, and wherein the first axial portion being longer that the second axial portion. The first axial portion has a retaining feature formed at a distal end of first axial portion. Each hinge body half preferably comprises a means for interlocking with a second hinge body half. For example, each hinge body half may comprise a raised member formed on the corner portion adjacent the first axial portion along the first axis, and a receiving notch formed on the corner portion adjacent the second axial portion along the second axis. The raised member and receiving notch are located equidistant along the first and second axes from the center of the corner portion. To provided anti-rotation for detent action, it is further preferred that each hinge body half comprises a grooved portion on at least one of the first or second axial portions, and preferably both portions. Typically the grooved portion will be located at a distal end of at least one of the first and second axial portions.
The invention also provides a hinge assembly for a multi-configuration portable electronic device. The hinge assembly comprises the hinge body made up of first and second identical hinge body halves, as described above. The hinge body is formed by placing together two hinge body halves such that the first axial portion of the first body halve is coaxial with the second axial portion of the second body half thereby forming a first leg of the hinge body, and the second axial portion of the first body halve is coaxial with the first axial portion of the second body half thereby forming a second leg of the hinge body, the recessed portions of each of the first and second hinge body halves forming a passageway through the corner portion. To electrically interconnect circuitry disposed in each of the body elements, a flexible circuit board having a first board portion, a second board portion, and a connecting portion corresponding to and disposed in the passageway through the corner portion is included. As stated before, it is preferable to provide a detent means. In the preferred embodiment, the detent means comprises a spring disposed coaxially with at least one of the first and second legs of the hinge body, and against the barrel portion, a cam disposed coaxially with the spring and against the spring, the cam having at least one lobe and valley, and a cap having at least one cam follower corresponding the cam, and fixed in position with hinge body leg.
The invention also provides a multi-configuration portable electronic device utilizing the hinge and hinge assembly. The multi-configuration portable electronic device includes a first body element having electrical circuitry disposed therein, a second body element having electrical circuitry disposed therein, and a hinge for allowing configuration of the first and second body elements into at least portrait, landscape, and closed positions, and for routing a flexible circuit board between the first and second body elements wherein upon movement of the first and second body elements the hinge prevents twisting of the flexible circuit board. It is further preferred that the hinge assembly provide detent for holding the first and second body elements in at least portrait, landscape, and closed positions. In addition to the detent mechanism, the stabilize the body elements during rotation to either the portrait, landscape, or closed positions, and between those positions, the invention provides a hook member disposed on each of the first and second body elements and each hook member being located in correspondence with a collar portion of the other body element. The hook member retains the collar portion upon rotation of one of the body elements about the hinge.
Thus, the invention solves the problems associated with the prior art with regard to electrically interconnecting circuitry disposed in different body elements of a multi-configuration electronic device. The invention solves these problems with a novel hinge comprised of identical hinge body halves which capture a portion of a flexible circuit board between them so as to prevent twisting of the flexible circuit board. Furthermore the invention provides neck portions on the flexible circuit board that are wrapped around the hinge body to prevent stressing the flexible circuit board upon movement of the body elements. The invention also provides a means for stabilizing movement of the body elements with respect to each other by securing the end of the hinge away from the corner of the hinge during rotation of the body elements about the different hinge axes.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A multi-configuration portable electronic device, comprising:
- a first body element having electrical circuitry disposed therein;
- a second body element having electrical circuitry disposed therein;
- a hinge for allowing configuration of the first and second body elements into at least portrait, landscape, and closed positions, and for routing a flexible circuit board between the first and second body elements wherein upon movement of the first and second body elements the hinge prevents twisting of the flexible circuit board.
2. A multi-configuration portable electronic device as defined by claim 1, further comprising a detent mechanism in the hinge for holding the first and second body elements in at least portrait, landscape, and closed positions.
3. A multi-configuration portable electronic device as defined by claim 2 wherein the detent mechanism comprises a spring, a cam, and a cap having cam followers, all coaxially located, and wherein the cam is held in position with respect to one of the body elements of the multi-configuration portable electronic device, and the cap is help in position with respect to the hinge.
4. A multi-configuration portable electronic device as defined by claim 1 further comprising a hook member disposed each of the first and second body elements and each in correspondence with a collar portion of the other body element, wherein the hook member retains the collar portion upon rotation of one of the body elements about the hinge.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 29, 2004
Publication Date: Apr 14, 2005
Inventors: James Tracy (Coral Springs, FL), Rudy Yorio (Pompano Beach, FL), John Jennings (Libertyville, IL)
Application Number: 10/812,330