Patent Application
20080168624
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge, and more particularly to a hinge that has a first bracket, a second bracket and a vertical-angular-positioning assembly having a sleeve to prevent dust from accumulating in the vertical-angular-positioning assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Foldable electrical devices such as foldable cellular phones are used widely due to their compactness.
A conventional foldable cellular phone has a body, a cover and a hinge. The hinge connects the cover pivotally to the body so the cover may cover the body when the cellular phone is folded. The hinge has a positioning assembly that may position the cover at a specific angular position relative to the body.
However, the positioning assembly are exposed on the hinge and dust may be accumulated on and fail the positioning assembly.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a hinge to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a hinge that has a first bracket, a second bracket and a vertical-angular-positioning assembly having a sleeve to prevent dust from accumulating in the a vertical-angular-positioning assembly.
The hinge in accordance with the present invention comprises a base, a first bracket, a second bracket and a vertical-angular-positioning assembly. The first bracket is mounted pivotally on the base. The second bracket is mounted pivotally on the base. The vertical-angular-positioning assembly is mounted on the base, positions the second bracket in specific angular positions relative to the base and has positioning rings and a sleeve. The sleeve is mounted on the base and prevents dust from accumulating in the sleeve.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The hinge comprises a base (10), a first bracket (20), a vertical shaft (30), a horizontal-angular-positioning assembly (40), a second bracket (50) and a vertical-angular-positioning assembly (60).
With reference to
The shaft hole (11) is defined vertically through the base (10).
The horizontal-angular-positioning recesses (111) are defined in the bottom of the base (10) and are arranged around the shaft hole (11).
The vertical-angular-positioning tab (12) is formed on and protrudes perpendicularly from one side of the base (10) and has an outside, an outer edge, a shaft hole (121), multiple mounting notches (123) and two inside positioning recesses (125). The shaft hole (121) is defined horizontally through the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12). The mounting notches (123) are defined in the outer edge of the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12). The inside positioning recesses (125) are defined in the outside of the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12).
The mounting tab (13) is formed on and protrudes perpendicularly from the other side of the base (10) and has a shaft hole (131) defined horizontally through the mounting tab (13).
The first bracket (20) connects to the body (10), is mounted pivotally on the bottom of the base (10) and has a shaft hole (21) defined vertically through the first bracket (20) and having a non-circular cross section.
The vertical shaft (30) is mounted vertically and rotatably through the shaft hole (11) in the base (10) and is mounted non-rotatably through the shaft hole (21) in the first bracket (20) to allow the first bracket (20) to rotate horizontally on the base (10). The vertical shaft (30) has a top end and a non-circular cross section corresponding to that of shaft hole (21) in the first bracket (20).
The horizontal-angular-positioning assembly (40) is mounted on the base (10) and the vertical shaft (30) and has a horizontal-angular-positioning ring (41), a stationary limit (43) and a limiting ring (42).
The horizontal-angular-positioning ring (41) is mounted non-rotatably and slidably around the vertical shaft (30) adjacent to the bottom of the base (10) and has a shaft hole and two positioning protrusions (411). The shaft hole is defined through the horizontal-angular-positioning ring (41), allows the vertical shaft (30) to extend through the shaft hole and has a non-circular cross section corresponding to that of the vertical shaft (30). The positioning protrusions (411) are formed on and protrude from the positioning ring (41), are arranged around the shaft hole in the positioning ring (41) and selectively engage respectively with the horizontal-angular-positioning recesses (111) in the bottom of the base (10).
The stationary limit (43) is mounted on the top of the base (10) and has a limiting protrusion (431) formed on and protruding from the stationary limit (43) toward the vertical shaft (30).
With reference to
The second bracket (50) connects to the cover, is mounted pivotally on the base (10) and has a first connector (51), a first horizontal shaft (53), a second connector (52) and a second horizontal shaft (54).
The first connector (51) connects to the cover and is mounted pivotally on the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12).
The first horizontal shaft (53) is mounted rotatably through the shaft hole (121) in the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12) on the base (10) and is mounted securely on the first connector (51) to allow the first connector (51) to pivotally mount on the base (10). The first horizontal shaft (53) has an inside end, a non-circular cross section and a flange (531). The flange (531) is formed on and protrudes radially from the inside end and abuts the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12) to prevent the first horizontal shaft (53) from falling out of the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12).
The second connector (52) connects to the cover and is mounted pivotally on the mounting tab (13) on the base (10).
The second horizontal shaft (54) is mounted rotatably through the shaft hole (131) in the mounting tab (13) on the base (10) to allow the second connector (52) to pivotally mount on the mounting tab (13). The second horizontal shaft (54) has an inside end, a non-circular cross section and a flange (541). The flange (541) is formed on and protrudes radially from the inside end of the second horizontal shaft (54) to prevent the second horizontal shaft (54) from falling out of the mounting tab (13).
With further reference to
The sleeve (61) is hollow, is mounted on the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12) on the base (10) around the first horizontal shaft (53) and has an inside open end, an outside open end, multiple inside mounting protrusions (613) and multiple outside mounting notches (615).
The inside mounting protrusions (613) are formed on the inside open end and are mounted respectively in the mounting notches (123) in the vertical-angular-positioning tab (12) to securely mount the sleeve (61) on the base (10).
The outside mounting notches (615) are defined in the outside open end.
The inside vertical-angular-positioning ring (62) is mounted non-rotatably and slidably around the first horizontal shaft (53), is covered by the sleeve (61) and has a shaft hole and two positioning protrusions (621). The shaft hole is defined through the inside positioning ring (62), allows the first horizontal shaft (53) to extend through the shaft hole and has a non-circular cross section corresponding to that of the first horizontal shaft (53). The positioning protrusions (621) are formed on and protrude from the inside vertical-angular-positioning ring (62), are arranged around the shaft hole and selectively engage respectively with the inside positioning recesses (125).
The outside vertical-angular-positioning ring (63) is mounted non-rotatably and slidably around the first horizontal shaft (53), is covered by the sleeve (61) and has a shaft hole and two positioning protrusions (631). The shaft hole is defined through the outside vertical-angular-positioning ring (63), allows the first horizontal shaft (53) to extend through the shaft hole and has a non-circular cross section corresponding to that of the first horizontal shaft. The positioning protrusions (631) are formed on and protrude from the outside vertical-angular-positioning ring (63) and are arranged around the shaft hole in the outside vertical-angular-positioning ring (63).
The spring (64) is mounted around the first horizontal shaft (53) between the inside vertical-angular-positioning ring (62) and the outside vertical-angular-positioning ring (63), is covered by the sleeve (61) and presses against the inside vertical-angular-positioning ring (62) and the outside vertical-angular-positioning ring (63).
The outer vertical-angular-positioning plug (65) is mounted securely on the outside end of the sleeve (61) and has an outer edge, a shaft hole, multiple mounting tabs (655) and two positioning recesses (651). The shaft hole is defined through the outer vertical-angular-positioning plug (65) and allows the first horizontal shaft to extend through the shaft hole. The mounting tabs (655) are formed on and protrude from the outer edge of the outer vertical-angular-positioning plug (65) and are mounted respectively in the outside mounting notches (615) in the sleeve (61). The positioning recesses (651) are defined in the outer vertical-angular-positioning plug (65) and selectively engage respectively with the positioning protrusions (631) on the outside vertical-angular positioning ring (63).
The vertical-angular positioning assembly (60) has the sleeve (61) covering the inside and outside vertical-angular-positioning rings (62, 63) and the spring (64) to prevent dust from accumulating in the vertical-angular positioning assembly (60). Therefore, the hinge is durable.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
