Patent Application
20090247246
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-093083, filed on Mar. 31, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a mobile terminal device. For example, a mobile terminal device in which a movable side housing and a fixed side housing are connected to each other in an overlapping manner with a connecting part. Also, a mobile telephone having a protective structure for a power connector of a circuit board is provided in the fixed side housing.
Recently, miniaturization and weight reduction of a mobile telephone have been achieved because of a multifunctional demand. Therefore, an occupied space of a battery storage portion in which a battery pack is stored is also reduced.
The battery storage portion and battery pack, provided in the mobile telephone, will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
A circuit board is provided in the fixed side rear case 120, and a power connector 151a having a connecting terminal 152 is fixed to the circuit board. As illustrated in
The battery pack 20 is stored in the battery storage portion 123, and the electrode terminal of the battery pack 20 is electrically connected to the connecting terminal 152 of the power connector 151a, which allows the power to be supplied onto the device side.
A space for a stroke of the connecting terminal 152 of the power connector 151a is hardly ensured because the mobile telephone is miniaturized as described above. A profile of the power connector 151a may not be ensured in the mobile telephone.
In cases in which the mobile telephone is accidentally dropped, sometimes the electrode terminal of the battery pack 20 and the connecting terminal 152 of the power connector 151a are instantaneously disconnected due to the drop impact.
For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-172693 discloses a technique of protecting the power connector provided in the circuit board. In the mobile terminal device disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-172693, a reinforcing frame is fitted in a circumference of a stacking connector to withstand the drop impact.
In such mobile telephones, the protection of the power connector is achieved to some extent. However, there remains such a problem caused by a displacement of the power connector in that the power is instantaneously cut out when the mobile telephone is dropped.
The problem will be described with reference to
In cases where the mobile telephone is dropped, the power connector 151a is moved in a direction of a right arrow of
Accordingly, it is an object in one aspect of the invention to provide a mobile terminal device that can prevent the instantaneous cut-out of the power. It is another object of the invention to provide a mobile terminal device which can prevent the terminal separation of the power connector when the drop impact is applied.
According to as aspect of the invention, a mobile terminal device includes a fixed side housing including a fixed side front case and a fixed side rear case, the fixed side rear case having a circuit board and a frame chassis disposed adjacent to the circuit board, a movable side housing including a display, the movable side housing being connected to the fixed side housing with a connecting part, a power connector that is provided in an end portion of the circuit board and has a connecting terminal, the connecting terminal being electrically connected to an electrode terminal of a battery pack when the battery pack is stored in a battery storage portion formed in the fixed side rear case, and a connector supporting member that is provided in an end portion of the frame chassis, the connector supporting member supporting the power connector by covering a circumference of the power connector.
The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
A mobile terminal device according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The mobile terminal device of the first embodiment is applied to a mobile telephone. The invention is not limited to the first embodiment.
An entire configuration of the mobile terminal device will be described with reference to
The fixed side housing 100 is used for the telephone. The fixed side housing 100 includes various operation keys such as a ten-key pad 111 having numerical keys in which numerical characters 0 to 9 are printed and a function key 112 for a mode setting. The movable side housing 200 includes an LCD module having a size substantially identical to that of the fixed side housing 100. The fixed side housing 100 and the movable side housing 200 are connected to each other in the overlapping manner with the connecting part 300 including two hinge parts 310 and 320. The fixed side housing 100 and the movable side housing 200 are formed into a box shape, and are made of a light-weight and high-strength magnesium alloy.
The fixed side housing 100 has a two-section structure, which includes a fixed side front case 110 and a fixed side rear case 120. An operation panel 115 having various operation keys such as the ten-key pad 111 is disposed in the fixed side front case 110. The fixed side rear case 120 is located in the backside as illustrated in a lower portion of
The fixed side front case 110 includes the ten-key pad 111, a function key 112, a videophone key 113, and a mouthpiece 114. A microphone is provided in the mouthpiece 114 to convert a speech sound of a user of the mobile telephone 10 into an electric signal. The cases 110 and 120 are fixed to each other at four points by attaching screws.
The movable side housing 200 has a two-section structure, which includes a movable side front case 210 and a movable side rear case 220. An LCD panel 211 is disposed in the movable side front case 210. The movable side rear case 220 is located in the backside as illustrated in an upper portion of
The cases 210 and 220 are fixed to each other at four points by attaching screws, and screw blindfold covers 213 are provided in a top portion of the LCD panel 211.
An internal configuration of the fixed side rear case 120 constituting the fixed side housing 100 will be described with reference to
In the mobile terminal device of the first embodiment, a connector supporting member 135 is provided in a frame plate 130 provided in the fixed side rear case 120 in order to protect a power connector 151 fixed to an end portion of a circuit board 150.
The fixed side rear case 120 constituting the mobile telephone 10 includes the circuit board 150 and the frame plate 130, which is disposed adjacent to the circuit board 150. The power connector 151 is provided in one of the end portions of the circuit board 150, for example, on the right of
The connector supporting member 135 is provided in one of the end portions of the frame plate 130, for example, on the right of
The detailed internal configurations of the fixed side housings and fixed side rear case will be described with reference to
The frame plate 130 entirely molded by a resin material is provided in the fixed side rear case 120 included in the fixed side housing 100 while laminated on a circuit board base plate 140 on which the circuit board 150 is mounted.
The fixed side rear case 120 of the fixed side housing 100 illustrated in
The circuit board base plate 140 is formed by a sheet metal chassis having a square shape, and the circuit board 150 is provided in the circuit board base plate 140. The power connector 151, in which the plural connecting terminals 152 are provided, is fixed to one end portion of the circuit board base plate 140. For example, the three connecting terminals 152 are provided.
The frame plate 130 includes a frame main body portion 131. The frame main body portion 131 has a square shape and is molded by a resin material. An extended plate portion 132 extended outward is projected from one of end portions of the frame main body portion 131, for example, on the right of
The connector supporting member 135 is formed by a resin member having a substantial U-shape. The resin member includes a lower-surface support plate 136, a backside support plate 137, and a pair of side face support plates 138 and 139. The lower-surface support plate 136 supports a lower surface of the power connector 151 fixed to one end portion of the circuit board 150. The backside support plate 137 supports a backside portion of the power connector 151. The pair of side face support plates 138 and 139 supports side face portions.
A pair of metal fixing pins 160 made of stainless steel is press-fitted in and fixed to the extended plate portion 132. The pair of fixing pins 160 is pieced through a pair of through-holes 142 of a fixed plate portion 141 provided in one end portion of the circuit board 150.
The pair of fixing pins 160 is fitted in and fixed to a pair of fitting holes 128 of a post portion 127 provided in one end portion of the fixed side rear case 120. In the mobile telephone 10 of the first embodiment, the circuit board 150 and the fixed side rear case 120 are fixed and supported by the pair of fixing pins 160, so that the displacement of the circuit board 150 may be prevented.
The fixed side rear case 120 included in the mobile telephone 10 includes the circuit board 150 and the frame plate 130 disposed adjacent to the circuit board 150. The power connector 151 is provided in one end portion of the circuit board 150. The power connector 151 is electrically connected to the electrode terminal of the battery pack 20 when the battery pack 20 is stored in the battery storage portion 123 formed in the fixed side rear case 120. The connector supporting member 135 is provided in one end portion of the frame plate 130. The connector supporting member 135 supports the power connector 151 while covering the circumference of the power connector 151. Accordingly, the terminal separation of the contact 153 of the power connector 151 and the instantaneous cut-out of the power, which are caused by the impact, may be prevented.
In the first embodiment, the invention is applied to the folding type of mobile telephone in which the hinge part is used. However, the invention may also be applied to mobile terminal devices having various hinge structures. For example, the invention may be applied to a mobile terminal device having a sliding type connecting structure or a turning type connecting structure.
In the first embodiment, the invention is applied to a mobile telephone as the mobile terminal device. The invention is not limited to the mobile telephone, but may be applied to various mobile terminal devices including an information processing terminal device such as PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a music reproducing device, a mobile television, and a mobile game player.
All examples and conditional language recited herein for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such example in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the present inventions have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the sprit and scope and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-93083 | Mar 2008 | JP | national |
