BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an in-use state of a conventional external device,
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the construction of an external device in accordance with the present invention:
FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an in-use state of the external device in accordance with the present invention before an external module is rotated:
FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating the in-use state of the external device 11 accordance with the present invention before the external module is rotated;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an in-use state of the external device in accordance with the present invention while the external module is rotated;
FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating the in-use state of the external device in accordance with the present invention while the external module is rotated;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating an in-use state of the external device in accordance with the present invention after the external module is rotated; and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an in-use state of the external device in accordance with the present invention, in which the external module is connected to a main device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same elements will be designated by the same reference numerals although they are shown in different drawings.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an external device 10 in accordance with the present invention includes an external module 20 having a connection terminal 21 and a module housing 30. The external module 20 is accommodated in the module housing 30 in a manner such that the connection terminal 21 can be exposed to or drawn into the module housing 30 by rotating the external module 20 in the module housing 30. The module housing 30 rotatably accommodates the external module 20, and has an opening 35 on a side thereof. Therefore, by rotating the external module 20 about a hinge axis Al, the connection terminal 21 can be exposed to the outside through the opening 35 or drawn into the module housing 30 to be protected and hidden from the outside.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, hinge means 40 for defining the hinge axis Al and allowing the rotation of the external module 20 in the module housing 30 is arranged between the external module 20 and the module housing 30. The hinge means 40 includes hinge projections 41 and hinge grooves 42. The hinge projections 41 project from center portions on the upper and lower surfaces of the external module 20 to be rotatably received in the hinge grooves 42, and the hinge grooves 42 are defined in the module housing 30 to rotatably receive the hinge projections 41.
Referring to FIGS. 2. 4 and 6, clicking means 50 is provided to the hinge means 40 such that, w hen the hinge projections 41 are rotated integrally with the external module 20, friction occurs to provide a clicking effect. The clicking means 50 includes at least one clicking projection 51 and at least one friction groove 52. The clicking projection 51 is formed on the outer edge of each hinge projection 41 to be engaged in the friction groove 52 such that the clicking projection 51 is rotated integrally with the external module 20 to produce a frictional force. The friction groove 52 is defined in each hinge groove 42 to be engaged with the clicking projection 51 such that a frictional force is produced when the hinge projection 41 is rotated.
Referring to FIGS. 2. 5 and 7, the module housing 30 includes first and second housings 31 and 32. The first housing 31 is coupled to the second housing 32 and defines a rotation space 33 for allowing the rotation of the external module 20, and the second housing 32 is coupled to the first housing 31 and defines another rotation space 33 for allowing the rotation of the external module 20.
Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, 7 and 8, the module housing 30 has a connection member 60, which is connected to a ring I a provided to a main portable terminal 1. The connection member 60 has first and second connection elements 61 and 62. The first connection element 61 has one end 61a which is connected to a ring 34 formed on the module housing 30 and the other end 61b which is formed with a threaded locking portion 61c to be threadedly locked with a threaded portion 62c formed on the second connection element 62. The second connection element 62 has one end 62a, which is connected to the ring la provided to the main portable terminal 1 and the other end 62b, which is formed with the threaded portion 62c to be threadedly locked to the threaded locking portion 61c of the first connection element 61. The connection member 60 allows the external device 10 to be used as a handstrap or an accessory of the main portable terminal 1.
Hereafter, the operations of the external device 10 in accordance with the present invention, constructed as mentioned above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 through 8.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the external device 10 is composed of the external module 20 having the connection terminal 21 and the module housing 30. The module housing 30 is composed of the first and second housings 31 and 32. The first and second housings 31 and 32 are coupled to each other, and the external module 20 is rotatably accommodated in the rotation spaces 33 defined in the respective first and second housings 31 and 32.
Thereupon, the hinge projections 41 which project from the center portions on the upper and lower surfaces of the external module 20 are rotatably received in the hinge grooves 42 respectively, which are defined in the first and second housings 31 and 32.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the connection member 60 is connected to the ring 34 formed on the module housing 30. The connection member 60 is composed of the first and second connection elements 61 and 62. One end 61a of the first connection element 61 is connected to the ring 34 formed on the module housing 30. The threaded locking portion 61c formed on the other end 61b of the first connection element 61 is threadedly locked with the threaded portion 62c formed on the other end 62b of the second connection element 62. One end 62a of the second connection element 62 is connected to the ring la formed on the main portable terminal 1.
In this state, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when a user wants to transmit the data stored in the main portable terminal 1 to the external device 10 a portion of the external module 20 which projects out of the opening 35 of the module housing 30 is rotated about the hinge axis A1.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the clicking means 50 is provided to the hinge means 40 such that, when the hinge projections 41 are rotated integrally with the external module 20, friction occurs to provide a clicking effect. Thus, if the external module 20 is rotated about the hinge axis A1, the hinge projections 41 are rotated along with, the external module 20, as a result of which the clicking projection 51 is brought into contact with the surface of the friction groove 52 defined in the hinge groove 42 and produces a frictional force to provide the clicking effect.
Referring to FIG. 7, as the external module 20 is rotated, the connection terminal 20, which is received in the rotation spaces 33 of the module housing 30 is exposed to the outside through the opening 35. Next, the threaded locking portion 61 c and the threaded portion 62c formed on the first and second connection elements 61 and 62 of the connection member 60 are rotated and decoupled from each other.
In successions the connection terminal 21 of the external module 20 is fitted into and electrically connected to the interface connector 2, which is provided to the main portable terminal 1.
Here, the main portable terminal 1 indicates all terminals, which can be carried. Also, the connection terminal 21 can be electrically connected to the earphone terminal (not shown) provided to the main portable terminal 1.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 8 after the data is transmitted from the main portable terminal 1 to the external device 10, the external device 10 is disconnected from the interface connector 2 of the main portable terminal 1. Then, as the external module 20 is rotated about the hinge axis A1, the connection terminal 21 is also rotated along with the external module 20 and is drawn into the rotation spaces 33 of the module housing 30.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 7, the threaded locking portion 61c of the first connection element 61 is threadedly locked with the threaded portion 62c of the second connection element 62. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the external device 10 can be used as a hand strap or an accessory of the main portable terminal 1 by virtue of the connection member 60.
As is apparent from the above descriptions, the external device according to the present invention provides advantages in that, since the external device can be carried along with a portable terminal portability of the external device is improved, and since a connection terminal can be exposed to or hidden from the outside by rotating an external module, it is possible to prevent the connection terminal from being damaged.
Wile the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080043420
