This present disclosure relates to flexible electronic device, and in particular, to a flexible wearable electronic device.
As people's attention to health is gradually increasing, more and more wearable smart devices are designed, such as smart watches, smart bracelets, smart running shoes, smart clothes, smart backpacks and so on. People use various sensors integrated in the smart device to monitor human body's data to maintain health.
Smart bracelet has become popular among wearable smart devices due to its small size and light weight. However, the shape of existing smart bracelet is basically fixed and cannot meet application requirements of more occasions.
The present disclosure provides a flexible electronic device which can meet the application requirements of different occasions.
A flexible electronic device, includes: a functional component and a deformation supporting assembly. The functional component is arranged an outer side of the deformation supporting assembly. An inner side of the deformation supporting assembly is used for attaching an external device when the flexible electronic device bends and deforms.
The deformation supporting assembly includes a plurality of rotating units. Adjacent rotating units of the plurality of rotating units are rotatably coupled with each other in sequence.
The deformation supporting assembly further includes at least one connecting member. Each of the at least one connecting member is rotatably coupled between two adjacent rotating units of the plurality of rotating units. And, at the outer side of the deformation supporting assembly, a surface area of each connecting member is larger than that of any one of the plurality of rotating units.
The deformation supporting assembly further includes two moving members. The two moving members are rotatably coupled to a first rotating unit and a last rotating unit of the plurality of rotating units respectively, the first rotating unit refers to one of the plurality of rotating units that is closest to one end of the flexible electronic device, and the last rotating unit refers to one of the plurality of rotating units that is closest to another end of the flexible electronic device. At the outside of the deformation supporting assembly, a surface area of the moving member is larger than a surface area of any one of the plurality of rotating units.
The deformation supporting assembly further comprises a plurality of damping fins. Each of the plurality of damping fins sandwiches between the connecting member and the two rotating units adjacent to the connecting member; or, between first rotating unit and one of the two moving members, or, between the last rotating unit and one of the two moving members, is configured for positioning when the flexible electronic device bends.
The damping fins is located between the rotating arm of one of the plurality of rotating units and the groove of a rotating seat of an adjacent rotating unit.
Each of the plurality of damping fins includes a base plate and a supporting seat extending outwardly from the base plate. The supporting seat includes a rotating arm and a rotating seat. The rotating arm sleeves with a rotating seat of a supporting seat of an adjacent rotating unit.
Each of the plurality of rotating units further includes bolt. The rotating arm defines a rotation hole. The rotating seat defines a groove. Two through holes are defined on two sides of the groove symmetrically. When the rotating arm sleeves with the rotating seat of the supporting seat of the adjacent rotating unit. The rotating arm is partly received in the groove of the rotating seat of the adjacent rotating unit. The bolt passes through the two through holes and the rotation hole.
Each of the plurality of rotating units includes two supporting seats. The two supporting seats are arranged on opposite sides of the base plate.
The rotation hole has a shape of a circle, an ellipse or a polygon having a plurality of corners. The bolt is slidably sleeved with the rotation hole. When one of the plurality of rotating units is rotatably coupled to the adjacent rotating unit, an outer edge of the rotating seat of one of the plurality of rotating units abuts against an outer edge of the rotating seat of the adjacent rotating unit; and one end of the rotating arm of one of the plurality of rotating units abuts against an inner wall of the groove of the rotating seat of the adjacent rotating unit.
One end of the rotating seat away from the base plate is circular bead; and one end of the rotating arm abutting against the inner wall of the groove of the adjacent rotating seat is circular bead.
The flexible electronic device further includes an elastic plate, and the plurality of rotating units; the connecting member, and the moving member are attached to a same side of the elastic plate.
The functional component is a flexible touch screen; and the flexible touch screen is attached to the other side of the elastic plate.
The flexible electronic device further includes a flexible housing. The flexible housing includes a hollow chamber and a cover plate. The cover plate has a transparent region. The functional component and the deformation supporting assembly are received in the hollow chamber of the housing; and the flexible touch screen is configured corresponding to the transparent region of the cover plate.
The flexible electronic device further includes electronic components; the electronic components are received in the hollow chamber of the flexible housing.
The electronic components include at least one selected from a combination of a battery, a microphone, a circuit board, and a loudspeaker; the electronic components are located on one side of the moving member.
By using a deformable flexible component, the flexible electronic device may deform according to an occurring situation, thereby the flexible electronic device has different shapes to adapt to application needs for a variety of different scenarios.
In order to illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the drawings to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skill in the art can also obtain other obvious deformation methods according to these drawings without exerting creative labor.
The technical solution in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
Referring to
The functional component 20 is determined by actual application or function of the flexible electronic device used by the user. When the flexible electronic device is used for displaying information, the functional component 20 is a component having a display function. When the flexible electronic device is used for wireless communication, the functional component 20 refers to a component having functions of sound collecting, playing, and wireless communication. When the flexible electronic device is used for data detection, the functional component 20 is a component including one or more kinds of sensors. When the flexible electronic device is used for playing music, the functional component 20 is a component including an audio decoding chip and a player. The functional component 20 can be determined by a practical application or a function of the flexible electronic device used by a user, or can be determined by at least one actual application or at least one function of the flexible electronic device used by the user. For example, the flexible electronic device can be used for displaying information, and can also be used for wireless communication, music playback, and data detection. The functional component 20 corresponds to a collection of one or more function assemblies 20.
The deformation supporting assembly 10 has a function of bending and deforming. In the present embodiment, the deformation that has occurred refers to changing from a plane state to a curved state or changing from the curved state to the plane state. When in the plane state, the flexible electronic device is spread out wholly, thereby facilitating the user to use the functions of the flexible electronic device and perform man-machine operations. When in the curved state, the flexible electronic device wholly bends to form a wearable device, thereby facilitating the user to wear the flexible electronic device on the body. Of course, the deformation of the flexible electronic device can also be changed according to requirements, in order to meet the requirements of more application occasions. For example, switching from an arch-shape to a circular-shape, switching from a flat-shape to a wavy-shape, switching from a U-shape to an S-shape, and so on.
When the deformation supporting assembly 10 is in the plane state, the outer side surface of the deformation supporting assembly 10 is a flat surface. When the state of the deformation supporting 10 is changed from the plane state to the curved state, the outer side surface of the deformation supporting assembly 10 changes to be a curved surface; the inner side surface of the deformation supporting assembly 10 gathers towards a curved direction; and the gathered inner side forms an accommodating space. Two ends of the deformation supporting assembly 10 cooperating with each other serves as a clamping functions. The flexible electronic device can be mounted or attached to the external device by utilizing the accommodating space, for example, the flexible electronic device can be attached to the user's wrist, so that the flexible electronic device is worn on the user. When the deformation supporting assembly 10 is in the plane state, the flexible electronic device can be removed from the user's wrist. When the deformation supporting assembly 10 bends and the two ends are in contact with each other, the flexible electronic device forms a closed ring.
Referring to
In this embodiment, the deformation supporting assembly 10 further includes a connecting member 200; the connecting member 200 is rotatably coupled between two rotating units 100; at the outer side of the deformation supporting assembly 10, a surface area of the connecting member 200 is greater than a surface area of any one of the plurality of rotating units 100. In other embodiments, the deformation supporting assembly 10 may have no connecting member 200 or may have multiple connecting members 200. When there is no connecting member 200, the deformation of the deformation supporting assembly 10 is solely determined by the plurality of rotating units 100, and the deformation state of the flexible electronic device is adjustable. Additionally, when a connecting member 200 having a large spread plane is configured among the plurality of rotating units 100, the functional component 20 is more easily arranged on the outer side of the deformation supporting assembly 10, thereby facilitating operation and using of the user.
The deformation supporting assembly 10 further includes two moving members 300. The two moving members 300 rotatably couple to a first rotating unit and a last rotating unit respectively. The first rotating unit refers to one of the plurality of rotating units 100 that is closest to one end of the flexible electronic device among the plurality of rotating units 100, and the last rotating unit refers to one of the plurality of rotating units 100 that is closest to another end of the flexible electronic device among the plurality of rotating units 100. At the outer side of the deformation supporting assembly 10, the surface area of the moving member 300 is larger than the surface area of any one of the plurality of rotating units 100. The moving members 300 are set to facilitate for converting the flexible electronic device from the plane state to the curved state or from the curved state to the plane state. Furthermore, the moving member 300 is configured at two ends of the deformation supporting assembly 10, and the surface area of the moving member 300 is larger than the surface area of any one of the plurality of rotating units 100, thereby preventing the flexible electronic device from coming off the external device when it attaches to the external device.
Referring to
In one embodiment, as the deformation supporting assembly 10 includes the connecting member 200 and the two moving members 300, and the connecting member 200 and the two moving members 300 are both rotatably coupled to the rotating units 100, therefore, the damping fins 400 may be sandwiched between the rotating units 100 and the connecting member 200, or between the rotating units 100 and the two moving members 300, for positioning the rotating units 100, the connecting member 200 and the moving member 300 when the flexible electronic device is bending and deforming. The bendability of the flexible electronic device can be controlled by the arranged positions, the material and the quantity of the damping fins 400. When the flexible electronic device is easy to bent, the corresponding flexible electronic device is less likely to maintain the curved state. When the flexible electronic device is hard to bent, it is required the user to use a larger force to bend it, accordingly the flexible electronic device is easier to maintain the curved state after bending. The damping fins 400 are arranged to facilitate the user to control the bendability of the flexible electronic device according to the actual using scenario.
Referring to
In this embodiment, each of the plurality of rotating units 100 includes two supporting seats 140 vertically extending upwardly from the base plate 120 and coupling to the base plate 120. The two supporting seats 140 are symmetrically arranged on the base plate 120, and each of the two supporting seats 140 includes a rotating arm 144 and a rotating seat 142. The two supporting seats 140 of each of the plurality of rotating units 100 are arranged in a row. When the rotating arm 144 sleeves with the rotating seat 142 of the supporting seat 140 of the adjacent rotating unit 100, the rotating arm 144 and the rotating seat 142 of the plurality of supporting seats 140 of the rotating units 100 are collinear. The two supporting seats are provided to improve a connection strength and stability of the deformation supporting assembly 10 when the plurality of rotating units 100 rotate.
Referring to
The rotation hole 148 has a shape of a circle, an ellipse or a polygon having a plurality of corners. Referring to
The rotation holes 148 are provided with different lengths and the circular bead of the outer edge of the rotating seats 142 are provided with different curvatures, therefore a range of rotating angle of two adjacent rotating units 100 can be adjusted. In this embodiment, the rotating angle between the two adjacent rotating units 100 is limited to 1 degree or more and 5 degrees or less.
Referring to
Referring to
The connecting member 200 is also provided with corresponding rotation structures rotatably coupled to the rotating arms 144 and the rotating seats 142 of the plurality of rotating units 100. In this embodiment, the rotation structures of the connecting member 200 are the same as the rotating arms 144 and the rotating seats 142 of the plurality of rotating units 100. When the rotation structure of the connecting member 200 comprises a rotating arm, after the rotation structures of the connecting member 200 rotatably couple to the plurality of rotating units 100, a rotating seat of one rotating unit 100 of the plurality of rotating units 100 closest to one end of the connecting member 200 rotatably couples to the rotating arm of the rotation structure of the connecting member 200. When the rotation structure of the connecting member 200 comprises a rotating seat, after the rotation structures of the connecting member 200 rotatably couple to the plurality of rotating units 100, a rotating arm of one rotating unit 100 of the plurality of rotating units 100 closest to one end of the connecting member 200 rotatably couples to the rotating seat of the rotation structures of the connecting member 200. The rotation structures locate at two opposite ends of the connecting member 200 can have different structures. The damping fins 400 are also arranged between the rotation structures of the connecting member 200 and the rotating arms or the rotating seats of the rotating units 100 closest to opposite ends of the connecting member 200.
The moving members 300 each is also provided with corresponding rotation structures rotatably coupled to the rotating arms 144 and the rotating seats 142 of the plurality of rotating units 100. In this embodiment, the rotation structures of each moving member 300 are the same as the rotating arms 144 and the rotating seats 142 of the plurality of rotating units 100. When the rotation structures of each moving member 300 has a rotating arm, after the rotation structures of each moving member 300 is rotatably coupled to the plurality of rotating units 100, a rotating seat of one rotating unit 100 of the plurality of rotating units 100 closest to one end of each moving member 300 rotatably couples to the rotating arm of the rotation structures of each moving member 300. When the rotation structure of each moving member 300 comprises a rotating seat, after the rotation structures of each moving member 300 rotatably couple to the plurality of rotating units 100, a rotating arm of one rotating unit 100 of the plurality of rotating units 100 closest to one end of each moving member 300 rotatably couples to the rotating seat of the rotation structures of each moving member 300. The damping fins 400 are also arranged between the rotation structures of each moving member 300 and the rotating arms or the rotating seats of the rotating units 100 closest to each moving member 300.
Referring to
In this embodiment, the functional component 20 is a flexible touch screen, and the flexible screen is attached to the other side of the elastic plate 50. In addition, the functional components 20 are not limited to the flexible touch screen, and may also include other kinds of functional components 20 according to different requirements, such as other types of functional components 20 like indicating screen, functional sensor, loudspeaker, microphone, and so on. Other types of functional components 20 can be hard functional component with various areas like electronic ink screens, LED light panels, etc., which can be attached to a top surface of the elastic plate 50. The functional sensor may include a body temperature sensor, a temperature sensor, a speed sensor, a gravity sensor, a height sensor, an angular velocity sensor, an acceleration sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a heart rate sensor, a pulse sensor, a sweat sensor, a light sensor, a myoelectric sensor, etc., which may be set at various positions of the flexible electronic device according to different purpose of use.
Referring to
In view of the fact that the electronic components 40 such as battery are not resistant to bending, in order to protect these electronic components 40, the electronic components 40 are arranged on one side of the moving member 300, which can effectively save an internal space of the flexible electronic device, making the flexible electronic device thinner and lighter.
It should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting; although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skilled in the art should understand the scope of the protection is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived within the scope of the present disclosure are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure should be determined by the scope of the claims.
The present application is a National Phase of International Application Number PCT/CN2016/108747, filed Dec. 6, 2016.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2016/108747 | 12/6/2016 | WO | 00 |